Why did Viking give us a $1,000 refund? Lyon to Provence Viking Riverboat Cruise – October 2024

Why did Viking give us a $1,000 refund? Lyon to Provence Viking Riverboat Cruise – October 2024

Chapters:
00:19 Day 0 Paris, France
03:29 Day 1 Paris to Lyon
05:50 Day 2 Lyon, Perouges and Vienne
11:13 Day 3 Vienne, France
18:26 Day 4 Vienne to Tournon
22:06 The Food Interlude
22:38 Day 5 Tournon to Chateauneuf de Pape
25:41 Day 6 Chateauneuf de Pape to Arles
28:44 Day 7 Arles back to Avignon
32:30 Day 8 Heading Home
33:03 Bonus 1: Game Night!
36:22 Bonus 2: A Tribute to the Heimdal Crew

Hi, Steve here. Thank you for joining me on the Panoramic Travels YouTube channel.

We’re got off of the Viking Riverboat Radgrid after our 80th anniversary of D-Day cruise, which was the subject of a previous Panoramic Travels video. We spent a day in Paris before starting the Lyon to Provence cruise with our friends Don and Kim. Stick around to the end of this video for two bonus sections: Game night on the riverboat and a tribute to the crew of the Heimdal.

Let’s talk about the food. It’s always high quality with excellent presentation. They offer a great selection of food throughout the cruise and are somehow able to get it to the table hot, in spite of the very small kitchen. If you want to see a tour of a Viking riverboat kitchen check out the bonus content at the end of my video entitled “What Happens on a Viking Riverboat” that I published in August 2024.

Day 5 high water talk by the captain … basically, the captain explained that it wouldn’t be safe to sail through the night. That resulted in us docking at a different location – outside of Avignon. Viking had to scramble to get coaches to take us on tomorrow’s tour into Avignon. Unfortunately, it also resulted in us missing the Pont du Gard Aqueduct tour; a tour we were really looking forward to. Viking, of course, refunded us for the cost of that tour. After we got home we got a letter from Viking apologizing for any inconvenience and they refunded each of us $500.

A Tribute to the Heimdal Crew
We’ve been on five Viking riverboat cruises and one Viking ocean cruise over the past five years. This is the first time we witnessed the grueling task of loading the boat for the next cruise. This was a very unfortunate dock to have to load from since the dock is so long.

This was all hands on deck! You can see the program director, the head of guest services, wait staff, hotel staff and many others of the 55 person crew; crew members from fourteen countries working together – and continuously – for around two hours to load the Heimdal. It’s a real testament to how hard Viking crew members work. So, this is my tribute to the crew of the Heimdal. I thank them for their hard work, whether it’s when we can see them or the work they do behind the scenes.

A couple of requests …

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And, finally, think about leaving a comment. Are you thinking about taking this cruise? Did this video help you make a decision? Have you already taken this cruise? What were your most memorable tours? Or, do you have any questions for me about this cruise?

Ok, that’s all for now. Thanks for watching!