Experienced cruisers Paris to Normandy - which itinerary?

[Cruising Quilter]

Thanks for all of the information

 

My husband and I will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary in early October so we wanted to sail in late September or early October. As I am trying to check on prices it seems like a lot of choices are limited then. I hope we didn't wait too long to plan this trip....

[Got2Cruise]

I'll just add my .02. We sailed this itinerary with Avalon in an aquarium class cabin (lower level). We enjoyed the scenery by sitting in the outdoor seating area of the ship. We like to get up and walk around, we are not relax in the cabin types for more than an hour types). We loved this itinerary very much, of course we spent additional days in Paris. Plus we were there Bastille Day and could view the fireworks over the Eiffel Tower from the ship.

[cruiseryyc]

Sailed this itinerary in September, we were on the Scenic Gem which was purpose built to fit into the port of Honfleur. It was an extremely interesting entrance as the ship had to be turned around and then we backed in as there is not enough room once at the dock to turn around. There is only room for two ships and I don't think they could do any rafting of ships there.

[Cruising Quilter]

cruiseryyc - Thanks for the info. Why did you choose the Scenic Gem cruise? Were there other special things besides sailing to Honfleur? Did the size of the ship make any difference at other stops?

[cruiseryyc]

Chose the Scenic Gem because Scenic is our preferred river cruise line.

 

The rest of the itinerary was pretty much the same as any other cruise line doing this route.

 

Size of ship made no difference at any of the stops; we were rafted only once at Giverny.

[patrickmoran]

I suppose I should have asked this question as well - or maybe it should be a separate question - but here goes. For us the total price is a concern. Would you consider a less expensive line with a room with a Juliet balcony or a more expensive line with a cabin with the small windows? On the Seine is the time spent cruising very scenic?

 

I recommend that you pay for a less expensive cabin and extend your stay in Paris. If you haven't been before, there is way too much to see even if the ship docks at the Eiffel Tower and run like mad while in Paris. Secondly, we did Viking's cruise this past October and the fall colors were gorgeous. You want to be up on deck to take it all in and go from side to side not sitting on a balcony or looking out a cabin window. You would miss too much. Plus you won't believe what happens when the ships approach some of the low bridges near Paris! You want to be up on deck for that.

[TravelerThom]

Sailed this itinerary in September, we were on the Scenic Gem which was purpose built to fit into the port of Honfleur. It was an extremely interesting entrance as the ship had to be turned around and then we backed in as there is not enough room once at the dock to turn around. There is only room for two ships and I don't think they could do any rafting of ships there.

I was on the Vantage River Venture in Honfleur less than a year ago. GCCL Bizet was already docked when we arrived. We rafted onto the Bizet, and since the decks levels were not compatible we had to exit via the sundecks. Those were the only two river boats in Honfleur the days we were there.