viking rhone river cruise- answers to your most frequently asked questions

 

Happy Monday friends! Today I am so excited to start sharing about the recent trip to France that I took with my mom through Viking River Cruises. I know I have already shared this before, but this trip was life-changing in deep and profound ways. Traveling on the Rhone River was absolutely breath-taking and I definitely have fallen in love with that area of the world. Experiencing it on Viking was something that I will never forget, and  I would recommend everyone take this Rhone River Cruise at least once in their lifetime. It was just simply amazing.

In the next couple of weeks I am going to be sharing all about the cruise, including our stateroom, the cruise itself, the excursions, the people, the incredible crew, and so many fun things, including our entire Rhone River itinerary for those of you that may want to do this exact trip in the future. (And just a side note- right now through May 31st Viking is offering a special 2-for-1 deal on this and many of their cruises and some even include FREE airfare! You can check out this incredible deal HERE!) 

To start things off I wanted to spend a little bit answering the most frequently asked questions that I received prior to the trip, during our cruise, and since I have returned. Some answers to questions I was asked you can find on Vikings Frequently Asked Questions Page (HERE) so I am not answering those but am trying to answer questions that aren't covered on their page. If you still have questions after this post please feel free to leave a question in the comment section below and I will answer it! So here we go... 

1. I heard that Viking River Cruises are just for seniors or those who are 60+ in age- is this true?

This is probably the #1 question that I received across the board from so many people. I discussed this last time regarding our Rhine River Cruise with Viking, but I definitely got a lot of questions about this. On the Rhine River Cruise I made good friends and there were definitely a mixture of ages that attended. After going on this particular cruise I walked away thinking a couple of different things. 

First, in general Viking River Cruises don't have a predominately young crowd but that doesn't mean that there isn't a lot of variety of ages on the cruises that they offer. On the Rhine River Cruise I would say that about 1/3 were over 60 years old, 1/3 was in their 40s through 60s, and a 1/3 were younger. I believe that the wide ranges of ages on that cruise was that it was over the holiday season. On this cruise it was not a holiday season (nor the height of summer season) and so one of the reasons that this didn't have as much of a mixture was simply due to work schedules, family commitments, and a variety of responsibilities that allows people to only travel at some specific times of the year. I think that if you are looking for a mix of ages that the holiday cruises would be the surest bet, but think you will find at least some age variety on each cruise. For this Rhone River Cruise there were maybe about 5 or 6 people my age and the rest fell into an older demographic- so more like 1/2 being 50s-60s and the other half being 60s and above.

Second, while Viking has not marketed themselves as a "college cruise ship" many people of all ages are starting to realize the wise investment that Viking actually is compared to some of the ship offerings of other cruise lines that appear to be cheaper. I will talk about this more in a minute! 

Third, I think the real question is whether or not younger people will be bored on the cruise ship if it is for those that are older. That could not have been farther from the truth. Let me answer that question next... 

2. Since it appears to be for those of an older generation will I be bored if I take this cruise?

My answer to this question is two-fold. First, I think that it depends on what you are looking for in a cruise. If you are looking for a party ship and want to just head to the Caribbean, lay out on the beach, and not think about anything than you may find this to be a bit overwhelming. Not boring- the exact opposite. Second, the days are so busy that if you are bored it is simply because you picked the wrong type of cruise to come on. 

I think it is important to note going into a Viking Cruise that when they say it is a trip of a lifetime filled with amazing sites, amazing culture, and amazing learning they are not being flippant with that statement. This is definitely not the cruise to take if you don't want to be immersed in beauty, culture, inspiration, and see a ton of things. 

The days are PACKED full of excursions and opportunities to really delve into the culture of where you are. I "studied abroad" (trip was cut short due to 9/11) in Europe when I was in college and spent only a few days in Paris. For our Rhine River Cruise we spent a day in both Colmar and Strausburg (which I adored), but other than that I would not even come close to claiming I know much about France. For this, I walked away feeling like I had truly seen an overview of the Rhone River area through this cruise and fell in love with it. I participated in nearly every single excursion that was included (plus an additional one that we purchased) and my day often started at 6 am to get ready for the day, then breakfast, then an excursion, then lunch, then an afternoon activity or excursion, then dinner and then there was the option for after dinner activities. 
It was full. 
It was non-stop. 
It was just amazing.

 Now many people flexed the schedule and chose to relax or not join in on every excursion (choosing to see the town or village that we were near at their own pace) but either way bored was never a word that was whispered or said among anyone.

3. Viking Cruises look wonderful but they are so expensive that I could never afford one. Is it really worth the investment?

Yes. Yes. Yes. 

Honestly as I started to do a comparative cost rate on Viking versus other cruises that I have been on I was shocked to realize how cost effective Viking actually is. On the Rhone River Cruise that we were on we had included excursions for every single day that we were on the boat. While there was the option to purchase additional excursions most people did not and those that did paid at most $289 (for a full day excursion of 9 hours). We chose to do an optional excursion which I will share about and the cost would have been $119 for each of us. Due to a media discount for this collaboration it was discounted 50%, but the excursion was so good I would recommend it completely.

Compared to other cruises that I have done where each excursion ranges from $100 to $500+ the fact that all of the excursions were included is a HUGE selling point to me immediately. In my opinion most people go on cruises to see different places and typically you have to purchase the things that you are doing on top of the cost of the cruise that you have purchased. That quickly adds up and pretty soon you are spending a lot of money simply to get off the boat. That is not the case at all in this situation since there are included excursions each day. 

Another thing that is very cost effective about the Viking Cruises is the included alcohol and drinks. Now Viking does offer a package at a discount for day time alcohol/special alcohol or wine products but at every meal (and sometimes even when you got back from excursions!) you have the offering of the house wines and beer that are simply a part of the package. This includes soft drinks and juices for those who are not drinkers. And for those who love water like me there is an unlimited supply of bottled water in your stateroom. Absolutely wonderful! 

I think one of the main things that is an amazing selling point also for Viking Cruises is the fact that there are so many deals that they constantly are offering (like their 2-for-1 sales that I mentioned above). On our last cruise there was a couple on their honeymoon and on this cruise there were several celebrating anniversaries and other special occasions.  One of the ladies and I were talking and she said that she had compared all of the costs for where to go for their anniversary. After researching, she realized that they could fly to Europe for the cost of one person through Viking and get to see France together (something that they thought they would have to wait another 5 or 10 years to do) for under $4000! They said that they started saving for this trip and it was the best investment that they could have done for their marriage. They were so sweet and they truly made a good point. 

4. Did you have access to the internet?

I am giggling a bit as I write this because yes, technically, you do have wi-fi, but it was a little slow sometimes. As this was a collaboration trip, I had planned on posting everyday, making reels, etc... and honestly I quickly realized that I wanted to immerse myself fully in the trip and was so thankful Viking was supportive of that. I personally found the wi-fi to be fine because my focus was on the trip itself, but depending on your needs and desires you may find it a little slow... which is common on any cruise that I have taken. 

5. Are you fluent in French? Did you have to know French for this Rhone River Cruise?

The simple answer to this is no. Everything on Viking (including the local tour guides) uses English as the official language. 

I am giggling again because if you know me well then you know that I have always wanted to be fluent in French and quietly work on it behind the scenes but I knew immediately that while I was able to understand somethings, I was out of my element. Here is what I found friends...as I took time to explore on my own and spoke with people they were more than exceptionally kind. Everyone that I ran into- even in the smaller villages spoke English fluently and was kind enough to speak that to me (despite the fact that I was in their country). We encountered some of the kindest people on this trip and I am grateful for their patience. 

6. What are the other passengers like? Are the other passengers nice? Are the passengers all rich? Etc.

These questions (and a variety of versions of them) made me smile because there were a lot of them. I think that the Viking Marketing team has done an amazing job to show that you will be on a 5-star resort vacation on their cruises. With that comes so perhaps pre-conceived pre-judgment without truly any basis. On this trip I felt like I truly was able to talk with everyone and what was nice was that unlike the last trip, no one knew who I was or that I was a blogger on the trip. So yes, I do admit that there were a handful of people who were proud to just share all about their previous cruising experiences and where they had traveled to, BUT 99% of majority of people on board were sweet and kind people who were excited to have the experience with loved ones and friends. 

At the end of the day I think that this is like any cruise or vacation experience- I think you choose who you hang out with and what you take away from any experience- the good and the bad. But if you are looking for the bad you will be hard pressed to find it as it was just amazing. 

7. What were the crew on the Viking Delling like?

Incredible. Incomparable. 

I do want to say as a disclaimer that this had nothing to do with the fact that I was doing a collaboration with Viking. With the exception of the senior staff no one on the crew really knew that I was doing a collaboration with Viking and it was incredible to watch. It wasn't just me - it was every single person who was treated with respect and kindness. I saw people kindly respond to guests who may have been a bit disrespectful and still were gracious. I saw crew go out of their way to try to bring happiness and kindness. I saw crew go the extra mile not only for the guests but for each other. 

Captain Francois, First Officer Francisco, Hotel Manager Daniel, Program Director Nuno, Executive Chef Adam, Maitre D David, and the entire crew of the Viking Delling are nothing short of incredible. I will be sharing more in detail about different crew and roles in the weeks to come, but in the meantime I can't speak enough about this specific crew. 

8. You have mentioned several times that the experience was life-changing. How So? Can you please share more? 

As the weeks continue I will be sharing more, but for now, please know that both trips with Viking have been incredible... but this one... I have walked away deeply changed. 

9. Did you have a favorite town/village/city you visited?

Honestly, this is so hard for me to choose. I loved the whole region and area... each place was so different in unique ways... maybe Viviers, Arles, and Peruges? Hmmm... it is to difficult to pick! *smiles*

10. Do you have some favorite memories from the trip?

There are so many to choose from.... but a few of my favorites were... spending time with my mom, falling in love with the Rhone River region, the charming towns and villages, the incredible crew, extended time on a boat, the unique opportunity to get to spend time with the senior staff, the opportunity to have conversations with the captain, sitting on our balcony cruising, walks in the villages, new friendships that were made, inspiration from so many things, and so many more things...

I hope that these answers helped! If you have any additional questions that I didn't answer please let me know in the comments and I will be happy to answer them for you! I can't wait to start sharing next week pictures and details from the cruise. It was amazing!!

Happy Monday friends!