Paris and a Cruise

[bella c]

We are 6 active seniors who like to travel and have for many years.

This year one of our ladies said she wants to visit Paris

The rest of us have been there but we are willing to go again if we can combine it

with a cruise. I have looked into River Cruises but they are not in the budget of

some of our ladies. So we thought a Big Ship cruise from France or an easy train ride

to another port.

I did some checking and Royal Carib does one that leaves from Marseille round trip.

Stops in Spain and Italy. Legand of the Sea

 

Some comments on travel sites say the ship is small and old, not great and I wonder if it will be Mostly French and somewhat inhospitable to Americans.

 

We are willing to tranfer by Train but don't know where to pick up a cruise. We have done the Venice, Greece - Turkey cruise so that wouldn't work. Spain, Portugal and maybe Italy could work.

 

Help! I need some advise. Looking at May 1213 but could do June or late Sept.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I think I found the perfect cruise for you and your friends.

 

Celebrity Constellation does one this September, October, and November of 2012 and also in 2013 that has a great itinerary and is reasonably priced. The great thing about it is you're overnight in LeHavre which means anyone in your group who is not interested in Paris can do something else and your friend could even do an overnight in Paris and get back on the ship. You also overnight in Bordeaux. I am so excited about this cruise- I'm emailing it to my friends who want to do France. The Constellation is a fantastic ship. The rates for this October are dirt cheap- like $994 for an outside and $844 for an inside.

 

Here is the itinerary...

Day Date (2012) Port Arrive Depart

1 Fri, Sep 7 Southampton 5:00 P

2 Sat, Sep 8 Le Havre 7:30 A

3 Sun, Sep 9 Le Havre 11:00 P

4 Mon, Sep 10 At Sea

5 Tue, Sep 11 Bordeaux 8:00 A

6 Wed, Sep 12 Bordeaux 6:00 P

7 Thu, Sep 13 Bilbao 7:00 A

8 Fri, Sep 14 Bilbao 3:00 P

9 Sat, Sep 15 Vigo 12:00 P 8:00 P

10 Sun, Sep 16 Leixoes 7:00 A 6:00 P

11 Mon, Sep 17 At Sea

12 Tue, Sep 18 At Sea

13 Wed, Sep 19 Southampton 4:00 A

[Chloe1500]

Also, most of the Princess British Isles cruises RT from Southampton include the port of Le Havre for Paris. If you want more time in Paris, look for the cruise that has Le Havre as its last port before returning to Southampton. Some people here on CC have talked about disembarking early there to add on a stay in Paris. DH and I are mulling that one over ourselves. We have been to Paris but there is so much to see and do there, it would be great to go back!

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I am one of those people that did disembark from Grand Princess on day 11 and it worked great for me. However, I couldn't find an itinerary on Princess that does LeHavre on day 11 on their 2013 itineraries. But it is a great plan if you want to spend time in Paris.

 

But then I stumbled upon the Celebrity Constellation one and I think that would be fantastic because the ladies that have done Paris might not be interested in more than an overnight there.

 

But I agree that the disembarking early would work and if you check with the cruise line- you may even be allowed to embark a day late and skip Southampton (looks like Princess now does Paris first on their itineraries).

[Chloe1500]

Thanks for the good info, R-L! We have also thought about going someplace else from Le Havre and then, from Southampton, taking the train to Paris for a nice, leisurely stay and flying home from there.

[crazygirl!]

Just this past May we were on a Celebrity cruise in/out of Southampton and we went to Paris pre-cruise. We flew into LHR and then took the train to Paris (less expensive than flying). It worked out quite well for us.

[hubofhockey]

Just this past May we were on a Celebrity cruise in/out of Southampton and we went to Paris pre-cruise. We flew into LHR and then took the train to Paris (less expensive than flying). It worked out quite well for us.

 

We did Paris pre-cruise. We flew into Paris, spent three and a half days there (I started a thread here which goes through all logistics), took the $65 Eurostar to London on Saturday afternoon, saw a show there, and left the next morning using Smiths for Airports shuttle to Southampton (about $42 per person for our party of 6). I suppose you could also take a train on Sunday morning to London and then have Smiths pick you up there and take you right to the cruise.

 

The Le Havre option gives you a nice three day weekend in Paris as well.

 

For us, it's cheaper to fly right to Paris. On all fares to London, the prices seem to drive the price higher than fares to Paris. It wouldn't seem worth the hassle to fly to London and then take a train to Paris. But maybe prices are different from other airports.

 

OP does not seem to want a British Isles cruise and seems to be looking at Med, which is a tough combination with Paris. There are some cruises that do start in Marseille. I suppose that's an option too.

[Chloe1500]

I am one of those people that did disembark from Grand Princess on day 11 and it worked great for me. However, I couldn't find an itinerary on Princess that does LeHavre on day 11 on their 2013 itineraries. But it is a great plan if you want to spend time in Paris.

 

 

Oh, I just found three British Isles cruises in 2013 that have Le Havre at the end of the cruise before coming back. These are the ones that go to the Orkney Islands rather than Liverpool. I'd rather go to the Orkney Islands anyway. So, maybe we will do what you did and stay on in Paris at the end.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Good idea! If I could change on thing.. I would have stayed more than two nights in Paris. It's so beautiful there.

[crazygirl!]

We did Paris pre-cruise. We flew into Paris, spent three and a half days there (I started a thread here which goes through all logistics), took the $65 Eurostar to London on Saturday afternoon, saw a show there, and left the next morning using Smiths for Airports shuttle to Southampton (about $42 per person for our party of 6). I suppose you could also take a train on Sunday morning to London and then have Smiths pick you up there and take you right to the cruise.

 

The Le Havre option gives you a nice three day weekend in Paris as well.

 

For us, it's cheaper to fly right to Paris. On all fares to London, the prices seem to drive the price higher than fares to Paris. It wouldn't seem worth the hassle to fly to London and then take a train to Paris. But maybe prices are different from other airports.

 

OP does not seem to want a British Isles cruise and seems to be looking at Med, which is a tough combination with Paris. There are some cruises that do start in Marseille. I suppose that's an option too.

 

For some reason it was cheaper for us to fly in/out of London and then take the train to Paris. But, we also spent several days in Paris and several days in London before/after the cruise, so it wasn't that bad to take the train (for us). Our cruise was through the Med, not British Isles. It stopped in Malaga, Nice (Villefranche), Rome (Civitavecchia), Florence (Livorno), Genoa, Gibraltar, and Lisbon.

[Illyria]

We did an Azamara cruise a few years back that started in Barcelona and sailed west, through Gibraltar. It made a stop in Rouen, and from there we took an excursion into Paris. (but it wasn't an overnight so it didn't give us enough time to go to the Louvre or top of the Eiffel tower or any other museums - only about 6 hours in the actual city)

[hubofhockey]

Good idea! If I could change on thing.. I would have stayed more than two nights in Paris. It's so beautiful there.

 

We stayed three and a half and wish we could have stayed longer. If I had to do it over again, I would have not done the cruise and spent a week in Paris and some time in Amsterdam or London (nearby cities easily reachable by high speed train). We may even do that instead of a cruise in a couple of years.

[marylizcat]

There is an overnight sleeper train between Paris and Barcelona. We used it last summer and it was great. There are a very large number of cruises sailing ex-Barcelona to choose from. See www.seat61.com for advice on trains in Europe. 'The Man in Seat 61' - a brilliant website!

[jc75644]

We are 6 active seniors who like to travel and have for many years.

This year one of our ladies said she wants to visit Paris

The rest of us have been there but we are willing to go again if we can combine it

with a cruise. I have looked into River Cruises but they are not in the budget of

some of our ladies. So we thought a Big Ship cruise from France or an easy train ride

to another port.

I did some checking and Royal Carib does one that leaves from Marseille round trip.

Stops in Spain and Italy. Legand of the Sea

 

Some comments on travel sites say the ship is small and old, not great and I wonder if it will be Mostly French and somewhat inhospitable to Americans.

 

We are willing to tranfer by Train but don't know where to pick up a cruise. We have done the Venice, Greece - Turkey cruise so that wouldn't work. Spain, Portugal and maybe Italy could work.

 

Help! I need some advise. Looking at May 1213 but could do June or late Sept.

 

This Nov. we're actually traveling on Celebrity's Constellation on a "wine immersive" cruise. We're in the first port, Le Harve, France for two days and a group of us are going to Paris (private transfer) and stay overnight and most of the 2nd day. However, there is non-stop train service, too. I think of the group traveling to Paris it might be our first visit there and we'll probably come away wanting more. Most people that make recommendations for visiting Paris suggest traveling from London on the train (2 hours) and staying 3-4 days in Paris. That can easily be done either before a cruise departure or after a cruise from the ports serving London. I'm sure we would have taken their advice if we had read it before making our plane reservations. Good luck!

 

Jim Cline

[suzyluvs2cruise]

There is an overnight sleeper train between Paris and Barcelona. We used it last summer and it was great. There are a very large number of cruises sailing ex-Barcelona to choose from. See www.seat61.com for advice on trains in Europe. 'The Man in Seat 61' - a brilliant website!

 

Thanks for the link.

 

Next August we're looking at cruising out of Barcelona, taking the train to Paris.....staying 2 nights, then taking the train to London.....staying 3 nights and finally taking the train from London to Harwich to pick up a TA cruise home. We've sailed out of Harwich before and know a bit about the train from London but are not familiar with hotels in London that would be convenient to the train stations and attractions.

 

I'm hoping some of you seasonsed travelers can give me your suggestions about London and a good area and hotel recommendations in Paris that is convenient for both the Austerlitz and Gare de Nord train stations. Any other hints/suggestions on making this easier are definitely appreciated.

[jvalastro]

Hi, I don't know if any of this sounds good, but July 1, 2012 we are going on the 7 Night Western Mediterranean cruise aboard the Liberty of the Seas and we are planning on going to Paris afterwards for a few days also. The cruise itinerary is:

 

Day 1:Provence (Toulon), France

Day 2:Villefranche (Nice), France

Day 3:Livorno (Florence), Italy

Day 4:Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

Day 5:Naples (Capri), Italy

Day 6 :Cruising

Day 7: Barcelona, Spain

Day 8:Provence (Toulon), France

 

Afterwards, we are actually planning on flying directly to Paris instead of taking a train. We are doing this for one, it saves about three hours, and two, it was surprisingly cheaper. The flight is an easy 1 hr 25 min flight and costs only $103.00 per person, about $100.00 cheaper than a train from Toulon to Paris. Hope this helps!

[Bethwte]

Inter-Europe flights are ridiculously cheap. When I did my Holland America Med cruise (out of Barcelona) we flew to Paris first and stayed a few days, and then flew to Barcelona. I definitely think that is the way to go for someone who has not yet been to Paris.

 

Make sure you do a lot of research with the flights. I am thinking of booking a cruise out of Malaga, Spain this fall, and was going to do a couple of days in Paris as an add on. I priced flights using a multi-destination search: Home--->Paris; Paris--->Malaga; Malaga--->Home and got a fairly reasonable number. However then I tried simply pricing Home --->Paris; Malaga--->Home and then the Paris to Malaga flight with a completely separate booking and ended up coming up with a rate $150/per person cheaper. It's definitely worth it to look for a deal.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Be careful booking flights between cities in Europe. Unless it is part of a transatlantic flight, you may have weight restrictions on luggage. RyanAir for instance charges for checked bags AND you are limited to 12 kg (25 pounds).