Marina Lisbon to Amsterdam-where will the ship dock for Bordeaux?

[Europe and beyond]

I’ve heard it’s in the boondocks and you have to take O’s excursions. No shuttle to center city. Is this true?

[Harters]

When we were looking at a cruise last year that involved Bordeaux, it generally seemed to be the case that, if you were in port overnight, you'd dock right in the city centre . If not, then  it would be one of the outer docking areas near the estuary (maybe 20 miles or so from the centre). I have it in mind that there are no shuttles from the outer area but am not sure as our planning didnt get that far. 

[willmschen]

We were there in 2019 overnight, and stayed in the heart of the city. Wonderful location for exploring on foot. Beautiful city!

[Europe and beyond]

1 hour ago, willmschen said:

We were there in 2019 overnight, and stayed in the heart of the city. Wonderful location for exploring on foot. Beautiful city!

Were you on Marina or one of the smaller Oceania ships?

[ORV]

27 minutes ago, Europe and beyond said:

Were you on Marina or one of the smaller Oceania ships?

I was on a similar cruise at the same time and it was on Marina. We overnighted at Bordeaux. 

[Europe and beyond]

21 minutes ago, ORV said:

I was on a similar cruise at the same time and it was on Marina. We overnighted at Bordeaux. 

A similar Marina cruise last year was docked in Bordeaux in what passengers called the boon docks! 

[EJL2023]

13 hours ago, Europe and beyond said:

I’ve heard it’s in the boondocks and you have to take O’s excursions. No shuttle to center city. Is this true?

I think the key is what it states on the iternary.  If simply states Bordeaux appears may be in city.  The one way out appears to actually be Bordeaux, but Le Verdon-sue-mer port. Oceania actually shows both in their included ports. I looked at a couple of cruises and one looks like they made a stop at the Le Verdon port for a few hours and then proceeded to the city Bordeaux port for overnight. Also, check the Cruisemapper port schedule for both of these ports for the selected cruise.  I saw both with Oceania ships in port schedules. 

[auldlassie]

Vista recently overnighted right on the river in the centre of Bordeaux.

[willmschen]

4 hours ago, Europe and beyond said:

Were you on Marina or one of the smaller Oceania ships?

We were in Marina. 

[Europe and beyond]

Thanks for info. It would be lovely to dock right in Bordeaux. 

[the more ports the better]

I am on the June 13, 2024 Marina sailing and it states that it docks in Bordeaux so hopefully in the center of the city.

[EJL2023]

5 minutes ago, the more ports the better said:

I am on the June 13, 2024 Marina sailing and it states that it docks in Bordeaux so hopefully in the center of the city.

It looks like it will be as Marina is on City Bordeaux port schedule for arrival at 5:00 am.  Shows leaves at 3:00 pm….same day but may be an error and actually departs on the 18th at that time.  Marina is not listed for any dates in June at the outer port. 

[Europe and beyond]

Thanks for info. It would be lovely to dock right in Bordeaux. 
I am on the June 13th sailing too! I was previously scheduled for a similar itinerary and had to cancel. For that cruise, the Bordeaux port was actually Le Verdon which is not convenient at all. 

[Harters]

If the visit is in the not too distant future, the port authority will know where it's intended for the ship to dock. Email them, as I did, to ask. They were very helpful, giving me the actual birth number in the city, so I knew exactly where it would be. I emailed in English (with a Google Translate into French) and received a reply in English. 

[lilybug]

On 9/7/2023 at 5:23 PM, Europe and beyond said:

Thanks for info. It would be lovely to dock right in Bordeaux. 

Bordeaux is one of those places I do hope to visit one day.  Overnight ... wonder how much fine wine I could taste?  After reading posts about this port, maybe a river cruise is a better way to experience this area.

[Europe and beyond]

I think an ocean cruise would be fine if it overnights in Bordeaux. You could take a an all day wine tour each day going to two different wine regions. Trust me-that’s a lot of wine. 

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

Last year we (on Sirena) docked near the Bourse on the river - so much fun!  One of the larger ships had docked there earlier in the year.  If you're overnighting, with "Le Verdon" on your itinerary, I'm guessing you'll dock on the river.  We weren't allowed off in Le Verdon unless we took an Oceania excursion to Bordeaux or arranged something private from there.  But there were no taxis or buses or trains or vendors to use around the area, and we were only there a couple hours.  (The stop there is to await favorable tides to get onto the river.)  Just for fun, here's what the bow cam showed while we were docked. 

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

On 5/7/2024 at 6:25 AM, lilybug said:

Bordeaux is one of those places I do hope to visit one day.  Overnight ... wonder how much fine wine I could taste?  After reading posts about this port, maybe a river cruise is a better way to experience this area.

I don't know about that.  We saw the river cruise ships up (or down?) the river a ways.  The cruise along the river was pretty uninteresting compared to some river cruises.  But the location where we docked was fabulous - tram a block away, places to walk to, etc. 

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

On 9/8/2023 at 5:35 PM, Europe and beyond said:

Thanks for info. It would be lovely to dock right in Bordeaux. 
I am on the June 13th sailing too! I was previously scheduled for a similar itinerary and had to cancel. For that cruise, the Bordeaux port was actually Le Verdon which is not convenient at all. 

Le Verdon stop is just to await favorable tides. We docked in the heart of Bordeaux.

[BarbaraM]

You should see the docking location on your itinerary— in the (**) if there is an alternative docking. We once had alternative docking, a shuttle was provided to the heart of the old town, and was 20 minutes maybe.. definitely not ideal, but still better than Le Verdon. It can be confusing— as stated above, the ship might make a stop in Le Verdon due to tides, but leave later the same day up the river to dock in Bordeaux. Many tours (ship and private) can depart in Le Verdon and drop off in Bordeaux.  The river journey is a bit boring, and long. I highly suggest taking a tour on arrival at Le Verdon. Once we took a 6 hour tour and still arrived in Bordeaux before the ship. 

Edited May 10 by BarbaraM