CroisiEurope River Cruises

Looking for comments from anyone who has sailed CroisiEurope River Cruises!!

They have Spain itineraries that other companies don't offer.

Thanks for assist..

Not many posts on this line. If you search CC you will find a few comments.

A French line catering for an international market. On both trips I have made there have been many different nationalities on board. French is the main language with English second and German third. Although announcements were also made in Spanish, Italian and Norwegian when I cruised the Danube. I understand this line is not so well known outside of Europe, although it is one of the largest with over 30 vessels. I have had no problems with them and am booked on the Douro in July.

Hello milling73,

pacmom has been on a cruise / land trip of sorts:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1879696

Reviews from German customer can be read on various booking sites. Info in English seems a bit scarce.

As it has beeen linked to on CC before, I would like to link you to a site with a page on CroisiEurope by Ralph Grizzle:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1879696

Perhaps there is some info to be had in the links from there.

@squarevanman,

I read a nice review from a German lady about the Douro cruise. She stated that she lives close to the Moselle (wine region!), loved the Douro landscape (vinyards even more amazing to look at!), ship was great, the food had "room for improvement", but was o.k..

notamermaid

We were on an Croisieurope boat on 2013 from Paris to Normandy.

The entire week trip was a charter by a US travel company from the Midwest. I did not like the set menus for lunch and dinner without any choices. I am not a fussy eater, but I do like alternatives especially when paying the price you pay for a river cruise. One night venison was served. Lunch was a drawn out affair with courses just like dinner and it lasted at least an hour. It really did not give you a chance to go back to your cabin and relax before heading out for the afternoon activities. For dinner we were assigned to a table with the same companions for the entire cruise. Again there was no choice. We like to mingle and have a chance to talk to a variety of our cruise companions.

The boat was well taken care of and the crew was great. All of the passengers were from the US.

Note: Each time this topic comes up, I come back with this same report. This is the 4th time since May 2013

I am Australian and have just found an Australian company offering a 3 river cruise with hotel, train and other land transport. 28 days $8999AUD which includes air fares. Compared to $6400 for one river 10 days with uniworld. This makes it a seemingly good deal. Carol and I are well travelled and accept a number of inconveniences but like to be aware what these are before finding out the hard way. We generally keep to ourselves and are not over worried about mixing with different people at meals, we do like to go on some excursions, which we like to choose ourselves but are happy to sort ourselves in smaller places. We drink very little. Thus all inclusive itineraries are not really our preferred option. I do have concerns about some issues raised in different places.maybe someone can comment on them.

1. the vessels are weak build and noisy, in that you can hear everything that goes on in the cabins around you

2. the crew speak very poor english, at best

3. tea and coffee, outside of meal times has to be paid for

4. meals are fixed plate with no alternative offered. (any commenton the quality of the food?)

5. offered excursions are sparce and expensive

Any comments on the ships will be greatly appreciated

Peter

We sailed on the Cyrano last summer as part of a Road Scholar trip.

Ship was brand new and immaculate, don't remember noise between cabins.

Yes, you do pay for coffee, tea, etc. outside of meals. They do not accept charge cards. On our trip you bought a drink card for 30 euro and presented when your drink arrived. We did keep soda in our cabin, so my caffeine fix was cold.

The meals were served at a single seating. Breakfast was a buffet and only okay. Lunch and dinner were plated. The menu was posted out by reception. You could always claim that the entrée was not on your diet and probably get chicken. Lunch and dinner were good, served promptly and hot.

Last year the crew was very new and trying very hard to learn English--fun to talk with--most of the women were quite shy.

Forgot to mention, wine was free flowing at both lunch and dinner.

We never missed a port and docking facilities were good. At one stop they were building a small terminal building.

Can't help with the excursions as ours were included in our trip. We had a wine lecture/tasting each morning and then tour 2-3 chateaux in the afternoon.

w

We have been on Croisieurope twice and go on our third cruise with them later this week.

We chose them over the main players as they offer shorter breaks (4,5, or 6 days as well as the usual 7 or 8 day trips), so you can build your own itinerary around a shorter break. We were also taking my octogenarian mother along and reckoned a shorter rather than longer trip would be more suitable.

Our first trip was to the middle Rhine in October 2012 - Strasbourg to Koblenz, returning to Strasbourg over 5 days. The second was to the Douro valley last April, also for five days, and we leave this thursday (without my mother, as sadly overseas travel is now too strenuous for her) for Bordeaux and the five day Gironde/Garonne and wine country trip.

The boats are comfortable without being plush and all have the same layout - the newer ones have french balconies in the cabins, the older ships have large picture windows. I always describe the trip as a 3* no frills and no pretension trip - more Travel Lodge than Intercontinental. However, the routes and more importantly the excursions are exactly the same as the other more upmarket companies and one is often moored alongside these other boats. In Heidelberg, we trailed round after a Uniworld group for instance. When in the Douro last year, our trip was badly affected by the water levels, and we in fact became a floating hotel going everywhere by bus - all the other companies were in the same position. It wasn't possible to to do the tour to Salamanca so a different tour was laid on to Coimbra and as compensation there were different local entertainments every night, a fado evening, folklorique evening etc. It was all handled very well by the company to make up for the disappointment. The Douro valley is stunningly beautiful and we were blessed with wonderful weather.

As far as the food is concerned, there is no choice, but the chef is always happy to offer an alternative if you let him know in advance that there is something you cannot eat or do not like. We have really enjoyed the food, and the gala evening meal in particular was really special. The wines poured are very good and there is an excellent choice. On previous cruises drinks were only included at lunch and dinner, but this has changed for this season and now drinks from the bar are to be included as well (which will include teas and coffees as well). Only fine vintages and spirits will be chargeable as extra.

The passengers are mainly French speaking but the crew speak English and German (and in Portugal Spanish and Portuguese) as well. The English speakers are sat together for meals and are fellow passengers have included Australians, and Canadians.

I have no hesitation in recommending Croisieurope and look forward to reporting further after we board on Thursday.

I should add, we have been on a variety of cruise lines - ranging from luxury lines Seabourn and Silversea, to adventure vessels (the Eclipse in Galapagos, and the Maris Australis in Patagonia), as well as Star Clippers, so have had a range of experiences: and have found that the more you pay doesn't necessarily buy you the best experience!

Thanks all. Sounds like this may be a good option for us. We went on a gate1 cruise down the Danube a couple of years ago and this soundas about the dsame standard. It was very good for the price and went where the others went. Not subsidising the drinkers on board and not having prepaid unnecessary excursions can make a huge difference to the overall costs.

In relation to excursions do CroisiEurope offer a good range of excursions to choose from?

I have a minor concern about the set plated meals as Carol does not eat seafood but I am sure this is a problem which can be quite easily overcome.

Thanks again for your advice

Peter

In relation to excursions do CroisiEurope offer a good range of excursions to choose from?

 

I have a minor concern about the set plated meals as Carol does not eat seafood but I am sure this is a problem which can be quite easily overcome.

 

Thanks again for your advice

 

Peter

In regard to the excursions, the Croisieurope cruise (Paris to Normandy) we were on had only included excursions. There were no optional excursions. So check the online information about the cruise for the daily itinerary.

I did not see anyone that received alternate meals although I am sure they must accommodate allergies or specific diet choices. I remember seeing many plates returned uneaten the night venison was served.

When we booked we were asked if we had any special dietary requirements I don't but I'm actually quite a fussy eater and don't particularly like pork products so if something was served on those lines I just asked for something else and it wasn't an issue at all.

Excursions can be booked as a package or individually on line - or you can just wander off on your own. The excursions seem to be pretty identical to the ones offered on the other lines. I shall report back from bordeaux next week.

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Individually on board ...

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In relation to excursions do CroisiEurope offer a good range of excursions to choose from?

I have a minor concern about the set plated meals as Carol does not eat seafood but I am sure this is a problem which can be quite easily overcome.

On the Danube trip and again for the Douro in July excursions were (are) optional. I pre booked all for the Danube (as I did on the CroisiMer adriatic cruise which was run just like a river trip). However for my Douro holiday I have not booked any excurions.

If I remember correctly the lunch and dinner menu was posted outside the restaurant at breakfast. Some fellow passengers did have a word with the purser and alternatives were forthcoming.

@squarevanman we didn't take all the tours but the mateus tour was excellent and the wine road superb. Salamanca was cancelled due to high river levels but a substitute day in coimbra was subsituted. All tours were first rate with English guides.

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