Bateaux Mouches

We are thinking of booking a dinner cruise on this line during our upcoming trip to Paris. We wondered about the overall experience as well as the quality of the food. Is this worthwhile or perhaps too "touristy"?

We love taking a boat on the Seine but the dinner cruises will give you quality of food one would expect on a tourist boat :(. We prefer to dine at a nice restaurant and simply take one of the boats for the view (not dinner).

Hank

We are thinking of booking a dinner cruise on this line during our upcoming trip to Paris. We wondered about the overall experience as well as the quality of the food. Is this worthwhile or perhaps too "touristy"?

We just did it. It's a great overall experience. You won't get better views, especially when it gets dark. All tables are window views. There is live music. Each couple gets a bottle of champagne and either a bottle of red or white wine. The quality of both is good. The food is also good. Maybe it's not great and the other review here may not have enjoyed his food. We ordered from the prestige menu. I thought the game hen was pretty good. Overall, it's a great night out and a great thing to do once. My wife found it to be romantic. There is nothing like the Seine under the lights. But if you're looking to do Paris on a budget and don't view this as a special experience, then do a cheaper less intimate boat tour and grab a bite to eat at a nearby bistro. It was a special night for us and worth every dime or euro.

I haven't done the dinner cruise, just the evening cruise after eating dinner at a bistro.

Maybe it was just me, but I couldn't see all that well. And there were many other boats on the river with bright lights that would shine in your eyes and make it difficult to see what was on shore.

Was it nice? Yes. But I rather wish I'd done it during the daytime.

I haven't done the dinner cruise, just the evening cruise after eating dinner at a bistro.

 

Maybe it was just me, but I couldn't see all that well. And there were many other boats on the river with bright lights that would shine in your eyes and make it difficult to see what was on shore.

 

Was it nice? Yes. But I rather wish I'd done it during the daytime.

The restaurant cruise boats are different from the passenger ones. The restaurant boats must have a different type of glass windows because I never noticed lights from other boats in my eyes. The routes may be different as well as the strictly passenger ships go for a little over an hour and the dinner cruise routes are closer to three hours.

OP, you should read the trip advisor reviews from people who used Bateaux Mouches this summer AND did the dinner cruise. I haven't reviewed it yet. But my experience is similar to those who have.

We are thinking of booking a dinner cruise on this line during our upcoming trip to Paris. We wondered about the overall experience as well as the quality of the food. Is this worthwhile or perhaps too "touristy"?

We took the midnight cruise several years ago after eating a wonderful dinner near les Invalides. There was little other boat traffic, it was uncrowded and we sat on the open top deck with wonderful view of everything unobstructed. I highly recommend it. For daytime travel on the Seine I recommend the Bat-o-Bus whichs connect several different sights (Notre Dame, Musee d'Orsay,etc.) from which you can get on and off like a hop on-hop off bus.

I have done both day and night, but never the dinner cruise. Each offered a different experience so its hard to say which is better. I have awesome photos from each.