Le Havre Train to Paris with Luggage

This question is for those who have disembarked their cruise early and taken the train from Le Havre to Paris.

We will be disembarking in Le Havre and have already received written authorization from Celebrity. Our research tells us that we need to be able to handle our luggage ouselves (no problem) and that there is some storage space above the seats and some dedicated luggage space at the end of the cars.

We know that getting a cab to the train station will be a little bit of a challenge.

We also know that the conventional wisdom is to travel light and we have done that when traveling to the far east with numerous plane trips (so no need to advise us how to travel light) but we would like to bring at least one large 32" bag so that we can bring formal wear, etc.

1) Is the space over the seats large enough to accomodate a 24" roll on bag?

2) Are the luggage racks typically jammed to the point that we would have a problem finding space with a large bag? Is there a luggage rack in each car?

3) Has anyone ever attempted to take the ship's "Paris on your own" tour with luggage? This would be pricier than the train but the bus would likely have storage space underneath where we could store luggage. See question 4.

4) If you disembarked early at Le Havre on Celebrity, was there a customs process - how long, etc?

We recently took the train from Gatwick to London and there were no luggage racks on the train that we chose so we stood at the door with our luggage. No big deal for that 30 minute trip but would not like to do that for 2+ hours from Le Havre to Paris.

We recently (this past May) did jump off a Princess cruise a day early to take the train to Paris (and spend a month in France). We booked (in advance) the noon train (I think its actually about 11:55) which meant we could enjoy our final morning on the ship. Our luggage was waiting in the small terminal building and it only took us about 10 min to get a taxi to the station. We were not traveling light and had 2 large bags (50 pounds each) plus our 2 carry-ons. One must be able to handle all their own luggage since there is no help for the trains. The overhead might take a 24" but we simply stashed our large bags at the luggage rack area (we have small travel cable lock device we use to further secure our luggage in the rack area. Our carry ons always stay with us...and easily fit in the overhead racks. The biggest hassle of the day was getting a taxi from the station in Paris in mid-afternoon. Our apartment was pretty far away in St Germain des Pres so a taxi was very necessary. We walked out of the station and trekked about half a block to find a taxi stand away from the station (where the taxi queue was very long). It took about 15 min until we were able to signal an empty taxi to stop at our stand.

There are luggage racks at the end of each car, and although they can get crowded we have always found room.

As to the process, we can only relay our Princess experience. We did notify the cruise line prior to our cruise and again notified the onboard Guest Relations folks on the ship. We did not have any special French Immigration procedure and there were not customs folks present in the small Le Havre terminal when we finally left the ship around 11am. If this is not the final stop for your cruise and there are only a few folks debarking, you should find everything quite simple and relaxed.

Hank

Hank,

Thank you for taking the time to respond and for all of the detail that you have provided. It sounds like we can take at least one big bag without too much difficulty. We are both capable of handling the luggage without any assistance. We have never felt the need for a luggage lock but I may just get a bike cable lock based on your comments. The info on the taxis is helpful as well. We will be prepared for that. Thanks again for your response.