Princess or private excursion for normandy

We will have one day in LeHavre and want to take a tour of the d day beaches at Normandy. Has anyone had any experience with princesses excursions there? The other suggestion has been Overlord tours.

I did a cruise line excursion that included The Memorial museum--HIGHLY recommended, lunch, and 3 of the beaches and finally the American cemetery. The problem was that we were rushed thru the museum. We had about an hour there while I could easily have spent 3 hours. Then we drove to a sort of country club where we had a 2 hour lunch (I'd have preferred a sandwich and more time at the museum), and finally drove to the beaches. We definitely didn't need to visit 3 beaches. 2 of them did have memorials, so those were somewhat worth seeing.

If I could have redesigned the excursion, I'd have spent significantly more time at the museum, Seriously, it was one of the best museums I've EVER seen. I'd have made lunch some sort of "quick serve" situation or even a box lunch, done a max of 2 beaches, and spent whatever time was left at the cemetery. Again, there were things there that we didn't have time to visit.

I didn't really research private options and went with what the cruise line offered. If I had it to do over again, I'd do it differently. This was several years ago--the excursion offerings may have changed.

We will have one day in LeHavre and want to take a tour of the d day beaches at Normandy. Has anyone had any experience with princesses excursions there? The other suggestion has been Overlord tours.

The Princess tour was good but with a bus load of passengers there was more time waiting for everyone & thus less time at stops. For Omaha Beach it was a quick stop before returning to the ship.

The next time I’d research making a reservation for cruise ship passengers with Overlordtour. Their tours are in either 8 passenger minivans or a 19 passenger minibus & have more tour options.

Overlord was great and being cheaper than a Princess excursion we got more bang for our buck. We were in a small van (no waiting for missing stragglers at each stop that occurs frequently with an entire busload) and had an excellent guides who had a notebook full of pictures taken during the landing and shortly thereafter. We were all able to easily see them and follow along her commentary. You can't do that with a busload of people.

Overlord tour was excellent. Highly recommend it.

Overlord was great and being cheaper than a Princess excursion we got more bang for our buck. We were in a small van (no waiting for missing stragglers at each stop that occurs frequently with an entire busload) and had an excellent guides who had a notebook full of pictures taken during the landing and shortly thereafter. We were all able to easily see them and follow along her commentary. You can't do that with a busload of people.

We did it with Overlord tours a few years ago and they did a great job. Cheaper and smaller group that worked well together and even had time to see an extra beach.

Anybody up for driving? On two of our trips there, we hired a car and drove. Easy peezy and at least they drive on the same side of the road as we do here in the colonies

Make sure whatever you plan, it's refundable if the ship doesn't make Le Havre -- it usually gets cancelled a few times during the season due to bad weather.

I have been on many Princess excursions. The worst by far was this one. The Grand arrived late and the guide had no clue how to adjust. On the way to the site the guide talked about the local cows rather than WWII. We had a 2 hour lunch and 30 minutes at the cemetery of which 10 minutes were taken by everyone exiting the bus. We are not permitted to see the new museum. The guide lied and said it was because they were preparing it for an Obama visit. Only trouble was Obama was visit was 6 weeks away. The real reason was we spent too much time at lunch. Granted this is just one example on a bad day with one lousy guide. But I would not take a chance on such an important excursion. I would take a private tour. I would think you would have more control over what you see and how long each stop would be.

I have been on many Princess excursions. The worst by far was this one. The Grand arrived late and the guide had no clue how to adjust. On the way to the site the guide talked about the local cows rather than WWII. We had a 2 hour lunch and 30 minutes at the cemetery of which 10 minutes were taken by everyone exiting the bus. We are not permitted to see the new museum. The guide lied and said it was because they were preparing it for an Obama visit. Only trouble was Obama was visit was 6 weeks away. The real reason was we spent too much time at lunch. Granted this is just one example on a bad day with one lousy guide. But I would not take a chance on such an important excursion. I would take a private tour. I would think you would have more control over what you see and how long each stop would be.

This seriously sounds like our excursion, except that we weren't late.

We also did Overlord, and ours was fantastic. I would highly recommend them.

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Have you joined the Roll Call for your cruise? There are probably people planning private tours. Some may have space still available

The first time we went, we went with the ship's tour (NCL) only because of time restraints. All the private tours were 8 hours and our ship was only in port about 8 1/2 hours so we were afraid of missing the ship's departure on a private tour. As it was, even the ship's tour was longer than the port time so the ship waited for us to return.

On our second visit, we weren't restrained by time and went on a private tour (someone else from Cruise Critic set it up so I don't know who the operator was) and it was so much better and cheaper. So go with a private tour if you can.

Thank you for your helpful input! I think the Overlord tour wins!

"Private" may also be more receptive to what you want. For instance, if you put together a group of 12 persons in a 12 person vehicle, you may be able to specify that you want more time at the museum and less time on lunch....or that you want to visit more or fewer of the 5 beaches...or whatever. Obviously, if you purchase a pre-described tour and are 2 of the people in the 12 person vehicle, you'll get the "standard" tour as advertised.

We didn't have it happen at Le Havre, but we've had the tour guide ask what we were interested in at other ports and alter the trip somewhat based on what we answered....again, when we were the only group on the vehicle.

We were on this cruise a few years ago and tried to book Overlord, but they were booked up. I did a lot of research and found Pegasus Tours. Absolutely the Best! I set up a tour on our roll call, and the 6 of us had the ultimate tour which included places we wanted to see. Did you know there is a German cemetery there too? The small private tour was expensive, but it cost no more than the huge bus tour from the ship. Whatever you do, skip the ship's tours if possible.

Make sure whatever you plan, it's refundable if the ship doesn't make Le Havre -- it usually gets cancelled a few times during the season due to bad weather.

Or in our case, because of a strike by dock workers.

By the way, often Le Havre is the last port before the cruise ends back in Southampton and a number of passengers usually arrange to disembark a day early so they can go on to Paris from Le Havre and not the next day from England. These people need to have a plan B in case the ship cannot go to LeHavre. In our case, the ship went to Zeebrugge in Belgium instead. Those who had planned to leave the ship in Le Havre had to choose between leaving the ship in Zeebrugge and making their way on their own from the Zeebrugge dock to Paris or staying on the ship to Southampton.

What was the experience of those who used Overlord for getting back to the ship at a reasonable time? I’ve been looking at their tours also but we tend to worry about getting back on a private tour in some locations.

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What was the experience of those who used Overlord for getting back to the ship at a reasonable time? I’ve been looking at their tours also but we tend to worry about getting back on a private tour in some locations.

 

 

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We’ve used Overlord and had a very positive experience.

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Make sure whatever you plan, it's refundable if the ship doesn't make Le Havre -- it usually gets cancelled a few times during the season due to bad weather.

This is SO true! We have been on two cruises with scheduled stops in Le Harve which were cancelled due to weather. We gave up on seeing Normandy by cruise ship and planned our own 10 day trip by car. We hired a private guide for a two day tour of the beaches and D-Day sites. Worth every penny!!

What was the experience of those who used Overlord for getting back to the ship at a reasonable time? I’ve been looking at their tours also but we tend to worry about getting back on a private tour in some locations.

 

 

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No problem at all. Even had time to visit the Canadian beach. They did an excellent job

Thanks for the comments. I will contact them about the time for return as well, I know we'd want to plan to be back to the ship with plenty of time to spare. We are in port from 7 am to 8 pm. I see that now they require pre-payment, and do have a cancellation penalty. I'll find out if the ship missing port would still require cancellation penalty.

We rented a car at the port last week (reserved ahead) and had a lovely day exploring the Normandy Beaches at our own pace. Nice stops for food and picnic, lots of time to spare (and the outlet mall in Honfleur). Not for everyone but it is a very easy drive and impossible to get lost..

We went on the British Isles cruise in May. We did mostly private tours. Private tour companies WILL get you back to the port in time. If they had a bad track record of getting people back late they would not be in business long.

We did the group shore excursion through Overlord. The owner was our driver and guide. It was excellent! Comfy shuttle, great in depth info, and a nice overview of the Memorial and Beach as well as pretty French villages.

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