Jump to content

Shore excursions le Havre


jeffvinci

Recommended Posts

:) First family cruise is coming up in July 2005 and I need help with shore excursions from Le Havre.

 

It sounds like www.minibus-tours.com is the way to go in Normandy.

But as first time cruisers I'm nervous about booking an excursion on our own.

With 6 in our family I'm trying to keep the cost down to something reasonable and it's seems really reasonable.

Anyone cruising before and booking a tour with minibus tours, would you let us know how it went? :confused:

 

When is a good timeframe for booking excursions?

I've never cruised before and not sure when to book ?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First, I think you have the website wrong...This will frustrate a lot of folks...here is the correct link:

 

http://www.minibus-tours.com/index.html

 

Their tours are 9 hours and go by the tour, rather than by the person...

1-4 people is 600 Euros, 5-8 is 700 Euros...

 

Lunch and Admission to the Bayeux Tapestry are not included...

I believe Admission to the Bayeux Tapestry is 6.4 Euros per person...So, for six people, add another 40 Euros plus, say 15 Euros apiece for lunch (you are in touristland)...So, your cost for 6 is about 830 Euros for the tour...At today's approximate exchange rate of 1.30 dollars per Euro, that comes out to around $1080...or $180 per person plus tip...

 

I cant seem to get into the Celebrity or RCCL Shorex sites right now (maintenance), but I was able to log on to Princess (And all of the cruise lines are usually fairly comparable)...

 

Princess has a 10.5 hour D-Day beaches tour for $159 per person, a 10-hour Giverny and Rouen tour for $149 per person and more...

 

The ship's full day excursions usually include lunch and any admissions charges...

 

So, you really do NOT save any money with the private tour...When it all sorts out, you are typically paying $20 - $30 MORE per person apples-for-apples...

 

There are some benefits--you don't deal with large buses and the inevitable inefficiencies of moving 30 or 40 people off a bus (although, on my last Europe Cruise--to the Med- I had some ship excursions with as few as 11 passengers on a tour with two guides in Rome! ...and for a full day with lunch for $119 per person)...and you can call some of your stops and timing...

 

BUT, if your main reason for doing so is to save money, chances are you are not...If you had EIGHT people on that tour (which may seem cramped or crowded in the van), then your cost goes up to around $1163, divided 8 ways...which brings it down to around $146 per person plus tips...

 

Another thing to consider is the conversion rate from Dollars to Euros...I know the Euro finished yesterday at around $1.30...but most observers figure this will go up between now and summer...The cruise line excursions are paid in US dollars, so the rising exchange rate won't hurt you...

 

As to when to book...If doing a private tour, there is a greater chance on the provider being booked...Most have limited capacity in terms of vans/guides...When 2,000 people show up on a ship, someone might beat you to those limited vans, you'd want to book soon...

 

With the cruise lines, they generally do buses and reserve larger capacity...still SOME popular tours do book up...I try to book mine at least two months in advance--around the time we also need to pay in full for the cruise itself...With the cruise line booking, you can always change tours, even up to the day before and get full credit...We actually changed our Shore Excursion in Livorno the morning of the tour--about a half an hour prior to when we were to leave...We asked...and since they had the room on what we wanted, they accommodated us--and credited our ship account for the decrease in price...

 

Which ship and sailing are you on? We are also stopping in LeHavre in July--we're on the July 16 sailing of the Constellation...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...