CroisiCruise

[malsgal]

Has anyone made a river cruise journey with Croisi Cruises? We are interested in a Danube cruise and they have one called Trans-Europesan from Strasbourg to Budapest that is reasonably priced but we would love somr information/feedback on this company and the boats. Thanks

[nana541]

Go read about them on Trip Advisor...they cater to French speaking passengers...but you need to go read there are 19 reviews there.

Have never heard of them but that does not mean anything.

Good luck with your research!

 

 

Opps just went in to read more ofthe reviews and they are Nearly ALL in French...kinds says it all to me, unless of course you are French ;)

[malsgal]

Thanks, no not French speaking, so hopefully someone who has cruised will pick up on this thread with some advice. :)

[nana541]

Thanks, no not French speaking, so hopefully someone who has cruised will pick up on this thread with some advice. :)

 

But do read the reviews there are 4 or 5 in English and are recent reviews... So would be valuable info.

[soccerref]

We did the Rhone on CroisiCruise MS VanGogh and had a good time. The information below is from my review of our whole trip. This bit deals specifically with the company and our boat so will probably have some relevance to your proposed Danube cruise.

 

CrosiEurope is a French company and has cruise ships based on many European rivers plus The Mekong. It also has small ocean cruise ships which sail the Med and Aegean.

Our boat was less ‘glitzy’ than those belonging to Tauk and Avalon that we passed as we sailed the Rhone and the price of our cruise reflected that. However, we felt that we got good value for money as the boat was clean, the food good and the cabin adequate.

 

MS Van Gogh.

• The ship mainly caters for Europeans and the passengers on our sailing were roughly 50% French speaking and 50% English speakers. We met people from the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

• The ship holds 158 passengers and appeared to be almost full but it never felt crowded.

• The age group was generally 50+ although there were some younger people but I didn’t notice any children.

• Accommodation is on 2 decks. We were on the main deck and paid a supplement for our cabin.

• There was a sun deck with a canopied area to give shade and ample lounging chairs (not the most comfortable seats in the world though!)

• There was a lounge with a variety of seating configurations. It had a bar and small dance floor. There was a very small shop and a reception area with notice boards containing information about the next port and that day’s menus.

• There was evening entertainment which, over the week, consisted of a local singer, a Provencal folkdance troupe and a crew show plus nightly dance music played by the resident musician.

• Most sailing was done during the afternoon with 2 all night sailings. These made for noisy nights (much more so than on any ocean cruise) especially when going through the locks and when docking.

• The boat was ‘cashless’ so you were required to purchase €30 drinks cards. Any money remaining on it at the end of the cruise was returned.

• Recommended tips were €4pppd.

• The crew members were pleasant, helpful and hard working.

 

Dinning

• All meals were taken at designated tables in the dining room.

• Breakfast was buffet style with a variety of fruits, cereals, cold meats, cheeses breads and juices. There was a toasting machine and a DIY egg boiler but no ‘English’ cooked breakfasts.

• Lunch and dinner were ‘no choice’ set menus which initially concerned me but I found the food to be generally very good and I never had a meal that I couldn’t eat. However, there could be problems if you are a ‘picky’ eater.

• Complementary wine (red, white and rosé) plus beer and soft drinks were freely available at lunch and dinner. The wine was by the bottle and was replenished when requested.

 

The cabins

• We were in cabin 277 which was the first one on the upper deck next to reception. This was particularly convenient for me as I have some mobility problems so I was able to reach the cabin easily.

• It is my understanding that all cabins are the same size but the upper deck cabins have larger picture windows.

• Most cabins have 2 fixed single beds as did ours. There are a few which have a double bed.

• There was plenty of storage space – a wardrobe, dressing table, space for cases under the beds, a cupboard between the beds and a bathroom cabinet.

• I found the bed to be reasonably comfortable. We requested, and received, extra pillows. The bed had a duvet.

• The bathroom was small and the shower stall was tiny with the usual ‘sticky’ curtain but the water pressure was great and there was always plenty of hot water.

• Towels were changed daily.

 

My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole trip and we felt we got value for money on the cruise boat. There were bigger and much more expensive cruise boats on the river but we didn’t pay a lot so were happy with what we got. It was a pleasant way to see parts of France but I would have liked longer in each port. However, I realise that, with the distance we covered, we had the maximum time available.

Would I river cruise again ....yes but not the Rhone. We have seen what we want to see.

Would I use CroisiEurope again.....yes, it was good value for money but fairly basic.

 

I hope this helps.

[nana541]

Thanks for taking the time to write this balanced review!

[malsgal]

Thanks so much for this detailed review. We have been able to find a cruise on Croisi on the Danube but were not sure how reliable they were. Your review helps us out so much.

[squarevanman]

If you search Croisieurope on here you should find my comments on my Danube cruise in 2010. If my memory serves 14 nationalities with announcements in 6 languages. Youngest Brit was a 12 year old with his parents and I think the oldest passenger was in their 90's. I was on the MS France which seems very similar to socceref's review of the Van Gogh. I enjoyed sailing with Croisi and went on their Adriatic cruise last month. I have said it elsewhere but I do believe they are the largest operator of European river cruises with 26 river boats. I am looking forward to using them again in 2014 (next year it is Russia).

[malsgal]

Thanks for taking the time to comment. We have now made a booking with Croisi for May 2013 on the Danube. I will post a review next year after our trip.

[soccerref]

Have a great time. I'm glad we were able to help. This is why this site is so good. I'll look forward to your review.

Regards SR

[jpver]

Well, what can I add more as the excellent presentation that socceref made.

I agree in full with the presentation. I wud only give following precisions:

- agree it is a one menu, however if there is really something you don't want, simply talk to the waiter and they will arrange something for you, without problem.

- I would also draw the attention to the fact that French is indeed a major spoken by the French , Belgians and Swiss on board, however the staff speaks English. Announcements are also in English... and if there are groups of other languages they will also adapt it. On the Douro there were a group of Spanish people and there were also Spanish annoucements. Last month at Bordeaux there was a group of Germans, and again the language was also adapted. They are quite flexible

- Regarding the excursions also there their prices are honnest and of excellent quality.

Croisieurope gives an excellent price/quality factor.

[nana541]

Thanks for the great information about a company most cruisers in North America know nothing about!

[meldreth]

We cruised the Danube with Croisi Europe and had a wonderful time. The Company, as already mentioned, is French. The Staff a mixture of nationalities. You will be sat with people speaking the same language as you ie English for meals. All announcements are in the languages of clients aboard. They have different buses on the trips with a guide speaking your language. The fact that it is a French owned company has no bearing on the enjoyability of the cruise! I would certainly book with them again!

[malsgal]

We have returned home after our extended European holiday. During that time we spent 13 nights on the MS L'Europe with Croisi Cruising the Trans European route from Strasbourg to Budapest. This was a very enjoyable trip, our first experience of river cruising. From the moment we boarded the boat we knew we had made a good choice. The welcome from the staff was very friendly, we were accompanied to our cabin with a crew member and given leaflets on the cruise itinerary. The cabin was a good size as mentioned in posts above. It was very airy & light, lots of storage, very clean and bed was really comfortable. We were on the middle deck, but I think the cabins on all the decks were the same size, just had different window sizes. Of the 150 passengers on board there were only 6 English speakers, but we were really well catered to with menus printed daily for us in English as well as daily itineraries printed in English. Our tour director on board spoke English so all walking tours with her were translated for us after she had spoken to the main group in French. We were also put into a group with a bi-lingual guide on excursions that were provided with a local guide. The food on board was delicious with a different menu each day. There were set menus for lunch & dinner (3 courses). It was not a problem to have something changed if there was a food you could not eat. There were people on board who had special dietary needs (eg gluten free) and they were catered for with alternative options when necessary. The staff were mainly French & Hungarian. Most of them spoke some English. The shore excursions were either walking tours of the riverside towns we tied up at or we were bussed further away to areas off the river. We had a really good overview of the towns & cities we visited along the trip. Overall we were pleasantly surprised with the standard of cleanliness, meals and tours as even though we were not on a 5 star ship, we could not have wished for a better holiday. Thank you Croisi Cruises. :)

[KCcruisin07]

Thank you for your information about CroisiEurope. I'm looking at them for the Rhone/Saone cruise. Could someone comment about the tours please? I would want to go to everything (entire package), but my husband is an avid hiker.

 

I know in some instances the riverboat will be in a different town at the end of the tour, so hiking would be out. I know he'd have to take the tour to see the Camargue too.

 

He does meet interesting people and see different things hiking, so I hope we can work this out. (On our Danube cruise he hiked from Durnstein to another village and ended up helping to pick grapes in a vineyard. Despite the language barrier it was a good experience.)

 

If you have taken the Rhone/Saone cruise, which ports do you think would be feasible for hiking?

 

Thanks so much.