Viking Paris & Normandy Cruise ... a question for veterans

We are booked on Viking’s Paris and the Heart of NormandyCruise in early July. We have added theParis pre-extension and my daughter the “uber-planner” has a full agenda forthe time we will be on our own but we have a question about Paris once we onthe ship.

The first full day of thecruise (day after embarkation) includes a city tour and there is an optionalhighlights of the city tour and the Louvre. This is not our first trip to Paris so we would prefer setting our ownagenda for that first day. Weunderstand that there is a shuttle from the ship into the city but it is notclear how that works. Is there a schedule(i.e.: every hour or so)? Or is it aonce in and once back sort of arrangement? Either is fine but it would help as we try to plan for that day. We may ultimately decide to “take it easy”and just go with the tour from the ship but want to make an informeddecision.

Have any veterans of this cruise had any experience with theshuttle? Do they still have theshuttle? Is there anything to see or doin the area near where the ship is berthed?

If I remember correctly, there may be more than one option into Paris in the AM. I think there is only one pick up in the afternoon about 3-4 ish and the pickup and drop off was at the Grand Palais in the center of Paris at the Alexander III bridge across from Les Invalides. Easy walking to most central sights.

We did this cruise last fall. The shuttle from Paris back to the ship left from the Winston Churchill statue across the street from the Grand Palais at 5 pm on our cruise. It was a good location and gave you a full day in Paris which was nice. If you would rather stay near the ship St Germaine en Laye is beautiful. Be sure and take the Welcome walk there on arrival day if you get there in time. Very interesting place that I had never seen.