Has Anyone Taken ship tour to Normandy?

[San Diego Ellie]

We are going to be on a spring TA on Grand, and one of our ports is Le Havre. Some of us are considering renting a car and going to Normandy on our own because we have heard the Princess excursion is very expensive. Obviously excursions are not listed yet with prices, but I was wondering if anyone who took such a tour could give me an approximate figure.

 

Thanks.

Ellie

[JanetAlice]

I think I remember reading that it costs $199 per person. Normandy is about 1 1/2 hours from LaHavre.

[paul929207]

We have rented a car twice in LeHarve and had a wonderful day each time

[Pam in CA]

I took the Princess tour last year and it was fabulous. I thought it was worth the expense but I know people have booked independent tours that were less-expensive and very good as well.

[Cruise Junky]

I think I remember reading that it costs $199 per person. Normandy is about 1 1/2 hours from LaHavre.

 

LaHavre is in Normandy.

 

I'd highly recommend renting a car. We spent 5 days in Normandy in June and absolutely loved it. Can't wait to go back. There's far more to Normandy than the beaches. Stop in Honfleur if you can.

[Astro Flyer]

We took the Normandy tour in May & it did cost $199 which included a nice French meal at a farm restaurant including wine.

 

Based on the amount of time in port, we opted for the ship's tour to see as much as possible. Picking up & dropping off a rental car for the day is time consuming & we felt more comfortable having someone else navigate our Normandy tour.

 

Undoubtedly anyone who's comfortable driving around a foreign country will have a great trip because it's mostly wide open country but it's not for us.

 

We did some limited research on independent tours but didn't find anything that would work with our time in port. Although I'm sure there are some excellent independent tours also...we just couldn't find any.

 

Either way, it's an incredible experience & I'd suggest learning more details about D-day before going which makes it an even more meaningful experience.

[DesertDaisy]

We did this tour in April TA. We did feel it was worth the cost, $199. The lunch at the farmhouse was very good. We had a chance problem with a dock workers strike, which delayed our tour, and everyone else's, weather private or ship sponsered. I believe we were to leave at 8, they wouldn't let anyone out of the port area, many Paris trips were cancelled. Princess did a good job helping people book another tour. We sat on our bus for about an hour, then reboarded, watched the strike from our balcony. They called it off about 10:30 and we had our tour. Instead of returning by 5, we didn't get back until 7:30. It was our last night on board, so a bit rushed. We saw alot, I'm sure we could have seen more with a private tour. It was our first time there, and this was comfortable for us. If we ever have the chance to do this again, I would look into private tour. I cannot complain, we were very moved and enjoyed the excellent guide and the written material we were provided.

[San Diego Ellie]

Thanks to all of you for your very helpful replies.

Ellie

[rehab444]

I took this Princess tour as part of a Western European cruise some years ago. I thought the tour was professionally escourted and worth every penny. Especially worthwhile were the American Cemetary, the D-Day beaches, and

the D-Day museum. An awe-inspiring tour, in my opinion.

[xpcdoojk]

We were traveling with our English friends in November and we rented a car from Hertz in both Le Harve and Cherbourg. We took the coast roads all the way to the American cemetery, and the highway down the middle of the penisula back from Le Harve. I had my GPS and it would take me to cemeteries and other historical markers. We ended up at one little cemetery that was initially dedicated to WW1 soldiers, and ended up having both English and German WWII soldiers in it. There is so much history and it is a lovely place in general to visit. I don't need a tour guide because there are so many great books and films on this particular battlefield that I have read and watched most. My eyes were moist most of the day. The next day from Cherbourg we headed south to Mont St Michel. Which is simply spectacular. I can't wait to return to the region. Obviously, $199 is a lot more than the rental car and lunch and gas, especially since there were four of us. I would guess we saved more than $600.

 

jc