The Eurostar Experience - Traveling as a Viking escorted group from London to Paris

The Eurostar is a high speed train that travels part of the way underneath the English Channel (a tunnel structure known as The Chunnel) as it travels between London, Paris, and a few other cities in Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. It can be an easy option for day trips between these European cities. 

There are three classes of tickets you can purchase where the comfort level and inclusions get better the higher class and thus higher price that you book. A Eurostar Standard ticket gives you the smallest seat space and no included food or beverage service. The highest level, Eurostar Premier, gives you pre-boarding lounge access, the largest seats, and at seat fine dining service. 

Viking included the cost of our tickets and booked everyone at the middle Eurostar Plus level which includes a light meal served at our seats and the more spacious seats. Viking assigned everyone of us a seat with some passengers getting seats around a proper four top table while the rest of us were given seats that were arranged by twos or singles. Each non table seat had a tray table that folded down from the back of the seat in front of it that was wide enough to fit our lunch tray. They did try to accommodate anyone who let them know they were traveling with friends so they could be seated with each other. The seats were fairly spacious even by fluffy standards and we had storage similar to the tour bus overhead our seats for our small carry-on bags. Restrooms that were bigger than an airplane bathroom but smaller than an interior cruise cabin were spaced out enough that every train car had one. It could be very tricky for even those without mobility issues to walk the aisle between the double and single seats to reach those bathrooms while the train was moving. The train ride runs about 2 hours and 20 minutes. Each train car also had a ride time left countdown tracker that would display on an overhead TV alternating with informational messages and fun facts. Free onboard Wi-Fi was available for all the ticket classes.

As with any company's customer service, it's best to ask your questions of a couple different reps. Prior to the cruise, we had read in our trip information that you would be required to walk 300 yards to get to the train seats. Those who could not do so, were to let Viking know so that handicapped seats could be arranged. There was a warning that these would be first come first serve and may not be guaranteed. 

My first attempt to contact Viking customer service to request the handicapped seating (believing that it was simply less distance to walk or some sort of tram to get to the car versus more of a place for parking wheelchairs or transferring from them), resulted in a rep who insisted that to use the handicapped seating I was required to download a form, make an appointment with my local doctor (thus paying for it too), get them to fill it out as proof, submit the completed form back to Viking and wait to see if they decide to approve it. 

My second attempt to contact Viking customer service resulted in a rep who cheerfully assured me that it was as simple as letting the Viking reps at the hotel know that you'll be needing mobility assistance at the train station. No extra forms, no proof signed by our family doctor, no extra hoops necessary. I was glad to see that it was indeed as simple as that when we checked in with our Viking rep at the hotel. We also confirmed the night before that we were on the list for assistance. 

Sticking with the same tour bus #1 that our group had been assigned to all along, we were told to be on the bus ready to head to the train station by 10:15AM as our tickets were for the 12:31PM train. The letter received the night before informed us that we needed to handle checking out of the hotel ourselves by 10:05AM. Since we had charged two on site restaurant dinners to the room, we did have a charge to confirm on our credit card while checking out. We opted not to bother with the hotel buffet breakfast and used the time it would have taken to eat to wait in the long lines to check out. We still made it to the bus in plenty of time.

Once on the bus, our guide shared that while he was made aware of our mobility assistance needs, we would be required to walk with the group for a while just to get into where the mobility assistance desk is stationed. Our guide left the four of us needing assistance with the employee at the desk and started to take off with the rest of the group. When we started checking in, the employee started talking about how she wasn't seeing the mobility requests and was going to refuse to provide it. We called the guide back over and the employee changed her claim to now say that she couldn't provide it because they didn't have enough employees to push the wheelchairs for four people. Each of the more able people in the groups of 2 offered to walk along behind the escort if they could at least provide one person to push the other two people in the provided wheelchairs. 

The employee agreed and I got my power walking in whether I wanted to or not trying to keep up with the very kind employee who came to escort Dad in the wheelchair. She was so considerate and apologetic about our experience with the first employee. She did everything she could to work around the crowds and get us onto the small elevator lift. After checking us in with a desk employee monitoring the reserved handicapped seating around 11:20AM, she promised that someone would be back by 12:20PM to escort us to the train. She ended up coming back herself and spent the entire time apologizing that I had to walk and checking to make sure I was okay. I assured her that I could handle this much intermittent walking since we had over two hours of time sitting ahead of us. Before we boarded the train, she assured us that she had arranged for two wheelchairs to be available when we got off in Paris.

Our assigned seats were two seats on the right side of the train car about four rows from the back. 

Dad is just over six foot and he felt the leg room was comfortable. I had room to keep my backpack in front of my seat. Our row was that in between row where you can see the edge of the window for the row in front of you and I could look just behind my chair to see where the next window started. When you're fully inside the Chunnel, it is pitch black so you can't see anything but your own reflection. For the rest of the time it's a matter of watching grass, trees, and power lines go by so you don't miss much not having full on window views. 

Allergies and dietary preferences were asked about by the train employees before they served our light lunches. While the choices were more limited if you did have a dietary concern, for us it was simply a matter of choosing the protein in these pre-made meals.

We both chose the chicken as I believe the other choices were fish or vegetarian. Our meal choice came as a prepared bowl with slices of seasoned chicken, some spicy roasted cauliflower, kale salad, and some sort of quinoa with carrots mixture. Each meal came with a roll, an individually wrapped chocolate for dessert, and your choice of beverage including soda, wine, tea, and/or coffee. They did come back around near the end of service offering tea and/or coffee a second time. Drink refills seemed free flowing. Dad stuck to the bread and the chicken parts of the meal while I ate most of every item. 

True to the first wheelchair escorting employee's promise, we were met with two wheelchairs and two employee escorts once we arrived in Paris. The crowds getting off the train were much more hectic and it was made more frustrating by our escorts constant repeated queries about whether we really needed the chairs and whether we were really the passengers they were told to pick up. It was clear that they weren't happy with being told to pick us up and were looking for an excuse to bail. I lost count how many times I had to repeat that yes, we indeed were the passengers matching the names you were given. 

Once reunited with the rest of our Viking group, the entire lot of us were being misdirected back and forth by security guards. Finally, our local Paris Viking rep showed up and got security guards to leave us to them. They then speed walked the entire group through the station and across a couple blocks and a busy street to the waiting buses. Thankfully, one of the Viking reps saw Dad struggling to keep up and had him wait with her until she could stop traffic to give him time to get across the street. Once we were settled on the bus, we could see the groups of police officers and security guards that were cornering pickpockets and holding them against the walls of the station. Such a crazy environment that makes it a ripe situation for pickpockets to take advantage of travelers. Always play it smart as a safe traveler being careful with your personal effects and be aware of your surroundings.

The bus ride was fairly chaotic as our driver took to the Paris streets like he was in training for Le Mans. Our new Paris Viking guide tried to keep up with commentary as we drove through the city to our waiting river cruise, the Viking Radgrid. Our ship was docked at such a location that if you looked aft, you could see Paris' Lady Liberty and if you looked forward, you had a wonderful view of the Eiffel Tower. Pro Tip - snag a spot out on the open bow after it gets dark and you'll be treated to a wonderful light show coming from the Eiffel Tower. Check out my social media for a quick video of the show.

Checking in onboard was fairly quick even though only two crew were manning the desk. Unlike our past two Viking Cruises' arrival onboard as a group experience, this time we were soon acknowledged as suite guests once we checked in. The hotel manager, Sven, who was standing nearby, immediately insisted on escorting us directly to our suite cabin personally. Once there, he went over everything in the layout of the cabin and confirmed that we didn't have any needs or questions at the moment. See my earlier posts for photo walkthroughs of our aft Explorer's Suite. We spent the evening tied up with another Viking river cruise ship close enough that we could reach out and jump onto their aft Explorer's Suite balcony if we wanted to. 

On approach to sidle up next to us:

Knock knock fellow suite passenger - do you have any Grey Poupon? The closer brown railing is our balcony and the parallel one is lining the other ship's balcony.

Outside of the option for suites to get room service breakfast, all meals are served at structured times either in the Main Dining Room or starting about 30 minutes later on the Aquavit Terrace with the same menu. All dining is seat yourself and tables are shared. 

Our first meal onboard I enjoyed escargot (though my first time having it served with a pesto sauce), prime rib, and a fruit plate for dessert. Dad also went with the prime rib but chose a sweeter flaky dessert.

A little surprised to see the paired bread option be a long thin crunchy crouton versus a soft breadstick that I usually enjoy to soak up the remaining butter and garlic.

Prime Rib served with a formed mound of au gratin potatoes and string beans.

Fruit plate - most of the pieces were tender and fresh. Pretty impressive for tropical fruit in the beginnings of winter in Paris.

Dad's almond mousse caramel dessert - 

Final day in London - Bletchley Park

Our final day of included touring from our hotel in London had the whole day devoted to Bletchley Park. Each of our London hotel based days featured included tours that were the only tours offered. If you were not interested in visiting these locations, you were free as always to find your own transportation and pay your own way if you'd rather spend the time seeing other things like London's famous city attractions. We did have some group members who chose to do that. If this had been our first visit to London, I would have been tempted to do the same. This itinerary is such an immersive program designed around one theme that it really caters to those who have a deep interest in the history of D-Day. 

This museum complex is spread out over a series of buildings where they have turned the actual dwellings into exhibits. It does require a lot of walking between the buildings but there are benches throughout as well as ramps and elevators. Some areas require walking up hills and steep inclines but is mostly paved asphalt. Tickets cost £28 per adult but our admission was covered by Viking. Our Coach 1 tour time ran from 8:30AM to 5:30PM.

During the drive to Bletchley Park (a good drive away from the city so not something you can easily return early from), our guide told us that we'd be free to roam on our own for the entire time. By the time we arrived, that plan had changed to wanting us to do a guided walking tour with a guide from the museum that we were supposed to meet about halfway up amongst the buildings. Then the rest of the time would be ours to explore on our own. For some reason, only one illustrated map was provided to our guide so he had us all gather around him holding it open once off the bus in order to get a picture to use during our time here. 

After we got pictures of the map, we headed up to where we expected to meet the tour guide. The weather was cold and blustery and by the time we made it up the hill to find no sign of a tour guide, we decided to bow out of the guided outdoor walking tour and start exploring on our own. There were a couple school groups being led around but it was only crowded in the smaller buildings where a lot of the display is in one space.

There were a good bit of video components to these exhibits allowing visitors to sit and take a break from the walking to watch. Plenty of signs and written explanations so you can spend as little or as long at each display as you wanted.

I thought this way of displaying D-Day with a nod to the codebreakers outside of the Teleprinter buildings was really interesting.

Looking at the display from behind:

Large print and "tactile" or braille guides were available to pick up as you entered some buildings.

Hologram images of those who worked in these buildings were displayed on the walls along with quotes about their time here. 

There were also audio features throughout the exhibits where you could listen to the people tell their own stories.

Another section featured an example of the limited information the codebreakers would have been handed and tools for you to try your hand at figuring out the rest of the information like they did.

More geared towards kids was an area where you could learn about all the jobs held by the people who worked here and try on examples of their uniforms.

After touring several of the buildings and ending with their newest exhibit dedicated to the use of A.I. and how Bletchley Park's work was such a precursor to this new technology, I left Dad to rest on the benches while I walked over to see the exterior of The Mansion. I opted out of walking further to see the stables etc.

Once back at the main building, we visited the little cafe on site to grab sandwiches, waters, and a rocky road brownie treat for Dad. He wasn't a fan because it was also rock hard and included cherries so he went back for ice cream. Lunch was on our own and at our own expense.

After lunch, we returned to another movie viewing space inside the main building that we had skipped since there was a crowd and no more seats when we first arrived. After the movie, I browsed the gift shop and picked up a couple puzzle books featuring crosswords and cryptograms. I had visions of passing the downtime on our cruise working to solve the puzzles in these books. They sat in our suitcases untouched so long that I accidentally stored away our suitcases at home before remembering they were in the front pocket! Now I keep them next to the couch and enjoy solving the puzzles at home.

Once we returned to the hotel, we stopped at the Viking desk within the hotel lobby to turn in our Quiet Vox boxes and receive our information and train tickets for the next day's Eurostar transfer to the Viking Radgrid. We were told to keep our earbuds so we could reuse them with the ship's provided boxes but also assured that the ship would provide their own earbuds. We returned back to our room to quickly pack up our suitcases as the luggage pickup from our rooms would begin at 6:30PM. We were sent luggage tags with our transfer stickers in the mail pre-cruise but were also given ones to use when we checked in with Viking at the hotel on the first night. The information letter for this ship transfer step insisted that these new tags were the ones that had to be on our luggage or it wouldn't be picked up from our hotel rooms. I visited the Executive Lounge one last time to grab snacks and we relaxed in the room for the rest of the night.

Day 2 of included tours - Part 2 - Covent Garden & The Imperial War Museum

Our second day of included tours continued with a bus ride to the Covent Garden Market. This shopping center is part brick and mortar shops and eateries as well as open air booths for craftspeople to sell their homemade goods. After a brief explanation of the area, we were left on our own to grab lunch and/or shop with a time to meet back at the bus. The market was decorated for the holiday season.

Dad and I walked through the market grounds which were even more crowded since the sun had come out. We didn't find much of interest in the shops but did stop briefly to watch a street magician. Making our way back to the bus, we came upon a small bakery and ice cream shop. Dad's lunch choice consisted of ice cream while I enjoyed a more savory option that looked like an inside out rectangular slice of pizza. No pictures as we were a bit too hangry by this point to think of the camera needing to eat first. 

Our final stop of the tour was to the Imperial War Museum, a stop that thankfully allowed our buses to pull up right in front. This visit was also self led with a time to meet back at the bus. There wasn't enough time to really tour every section so you had to be selective as to on which level you wanted to devote your time. We focused mainly on the World War II level.

This was a fun interactive feature that used a touchscreen to teach you how to set up an enigma machine with a new code key and decipher a sample message written in code.

We appreciated how there were several small benches throughout placed strategically near screens playing a loop of video footage. You could get a chance to rest in general or take the time to sit and watch the footage. I also liked to see that the video footage was accompanied by video of an ASL translator.

The view while standing on the front steps:

A section of the Berlin Wall on display as you walk back down to the street:

Looking back at the front door while standing by the above pictured piece:

On the drive back to the hotel, our guide and driver took us a longer way around so that we could get a view down the Thames River and see several of today's earlier landmarks at once.