As you can see, this is a new travel blog and this entry is its prologue as many of you don't know the background.
Late last year I took part in some market research designed to discover what we 'baby-boomers' are looking for in our travel experiences -- specifically cruises
.
After a few days of participating in an on-line forum, we were all invited to a 'salon' - a discussion group --in a gorgeous waterfront apartment right on the harbour's edge at Kirribilli.
For those who know the area, it was that huge old spooky block of flats closest to the Bridge that's now been completely refurbished and turned into fab luxury apartments.
The salon was fun and interesting -- and even if it HAD been boring -- the delicious tapas and wine would have kept us very happy, plus the view was amazing. As a few of us mentioned -- it was just like being in an ocean liner -- so close to the water's edge-- with a picture window that made it seem as if we were looking out of a huge porthole on to the Harbour.
Which was probably NOT quite a coincidence.
As this very pleasant evening drew to a close, an elegant young woman, who up until then had passed un-noticed as she intermingled with the kitchen / catering crew, stepped forward and introduced herself as CEO for Viking River Cruises (Australia and NZ)
.
I can still hardly believe what she proposed.
Apparently, what we'd all had to say proved SO interesting and useful, that she offered to send us on any cruise of our choice.
All WE had to do was get ourselves to and from the starting point and keep a video diary or something similar.
Since we'd already planned to be in Europe in 2015, this sounded like the best deal of my life!
A whole lot better than that water bed Rick won at his Florida high school reunion, that's for sure.
We decided to go somewhere totally different from our usual travel destinations, so chose the Waterways of the Tsars cruise.
The format will be rather different as I'll be doing my best to keep my end of the bargain with the wonderful Teresia Fors -- to give our honest impressions of the cruise, from beginning to end -- with fresh eyes and very willing hearts!
And just to whet the appetite ---we're being treated exactly the same as 'proper' travellers so we get the full picture -- they sent us, along with a detailed itinerary, a travel pack of yummy L'Occitane goodies as a taste of what's to come.
Don't worry -- this isn't going to be one big marketing exercise for Viking - after all, the whole exercise is about HONEST reactions. It'll just be a bit different.
Maybe I'll be so busy enjoying it all that I won't have time to publish it until we get home. I hope so actually... that would mean we're having a great time, which I'm sure is what Teresia and the Viking crew would want.
So, thank you Teresia and Viking. We're ready to set sail on the Ingvar next Wednesday!
From Viking, with Love
Thursday, June 18, 2015
London, Heathrow, England, United Kingdom
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Comments

2025-02-14
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Illyce Mac Donald
2015-06-19
Wow! I will look forward to reading about your trip. The cruise sounds most interesting.