We had packed the night before because we had to get up at 5:30AM to shower and get dressed have our bags outside our door at 6:30AM. We ate breakfast quickly, returned to the room and then I had to go outside to identify our bags for the shuttles to make sure the right bags were getting on the right shuttle. Not so easy. It was dark outside and most bags were black with red Viking ID tags, but I pointed our three bags out and they were put on Shuttle 1.

We arrived early at Charles de Gaulle airport for our Lufthansa flight which was scheduled to leave at 10:30ish as I remember, but I felt good that we had arrived with our bags. The shuttle driver had pulled a bag off at our stop (their first at the airport) and left it on the sidewalk outside the terminal. We just left it sitting there when we we saw that no one had claimed it. We wheeled our bags into the terminal. What else could we do. We checked in at a self-service terminal with the help of a Lufthansa agent. The thing had so many quirks and work arounds that he had a hard time getting our E-tickets out of it. Once that was done I checked our bags through. Believe it or not we were able to check all three without any charges. The agent was wonderful, fluent in English and very helpful. We picked seats and asked for a wheel chair so Susan didn't have to walk a mile to the gate. After 15 mintues of waiting the wheel chair arrived and we were on our way. Security is always easier with a wheel chair, but still a hassle to take off your belt, rings, watches, change out of pockets, etc. I was wanded down, but we had plenty of time to get to the gate.

Long story short, we left on time and according to Lufthansa we were to arrive at gate 62 and our connecting flight to Philadelphia was at gate 65... no problem. Right! We had to take a bus to our arrival gate, then walk through the terminal for what must have been at least a half mile. Then there was the endless moving sidewalk, customs officials to stamp our passport and security. I thought we were going to miss our connection and Susan was having trouble standing in line without a place to sit. The wheel chair we had been promised never arrived. That said, we made our connection. So, now we could relax into a 9+ hour flight. At about 2:30PM we were flying east over Paris some 8 hours after we woke up in Paris on the Viking Spirit. A stressed out 8 hours to go virtually nowhere. Once again, book your own flights. Viking made a mess of it and we were just lucky to not get stranded in Frankfort.

The flight was just plain long. Even with the movies and entertainment offered it was just plain long. Did I say just plain long. The good news is Lufthansa service and food is very good. The flight attendants were always helpful and smiling, but that didn't mean we had enough leg room back in coach. By the time I got home and looked at my ankles I looked like I had Elephantiasis. To long of a sit. Too long of a flight.

Once we landed in Philadelphia everything went smoothly. Got a wheel chair for Susan, our bags, breezed through customs, called the car park shuttle, loaded our bags and arrived home at about 4PM as I recall. We stayed up till our regular bed time and were pretty much normal the next day. The details are a bit foggy though.

Flight Booking - 1 star - Never again
Airport transfer - 4 stars - No complaints. Make sure your bags are on the shuttle.
Hotel selection in Paris - 2 stars - Chosen for their convenience, not ours. Nothing special at all.
Guides for tours - 3-5 stars - Great, good, and average.
Accommodations on board - 3.5 stars - A bit dated. Some of the newer boats have flat screens, WiFi in the rooms, in room refridgerators and more.
Food on board - 2 stars - They can do better. The Captain's Dinner proved it. Disappointing.
Staff - 5 stars - They were all great people
Service - 5 stars - No complaints.
Price - 2 stars - Not really 2 for 1 when compared with other river cruises.
Making new friends - 5 stars - Priceless

Would we take another river cruise? I would have to say yes. Would we take another Viking River Cruise? That depends on price and which boat in their fleet we were considering. I can say that I was impressed with the service and personnel on board, but the food for the most part was nothing special. Overall score comes out 3.2 stars which I think is just right for the Paris to Normandy Cruise Itinerary in late October. Value for price? We were disappointed, paying a 5 star price for a 3.2 star cruise.