transatlantic port question

[lostinmt]

Hi all, we are booked on Vision for a transatlantic cruise in April and my question is about the port of call in La Havre, France. We are planning on taking the train to Paris and it appears that there will be one other boat in port at the same time. Is it better to book the train ticket here or fight the crowds in the station? I have gotten conflicting info as to the actual time of arrival in port and am a little leary about prepurchasing the tickets. Does anyone have advise on this?

[Clarea]

You might try posting this in the Ports of Call section also.

[lostinmt]

I'll give it a try. Thanks

[138east]

Get some good advice on this. If you miss the train coming back, you miss the ship. It's a marathon trip and if you must do it, buy the ship's excursion as an insurance policy against any kind of delay.

 

I'm going on the Brilliance TA in August and only the folks who have never been to Paris are even considering it. Most people are doing excursions in Normandy or to Mont St. Michel or Giverny.

[KeywestK]

I also recommend that the OP book the transfer/excursion between Le Havre to Paris though the cruise line. It's a long train ride (about 2 hours) and the sights in Paris that you would want to see are very spread out throughout the city and would require metro rides from place to place.

 

I would not recommend you doing this independently, especially if this is your first time to Paris. Book an excursion and let someone else do the driving.

[138east]

The RCl excursion is $129 and the rt train fare is about $92+ and you have to pay to get yourself from the port to the train station, which as far as I can figure out is not really walkable from the port in LeHavre. When I am there in August some of us are just taking the train to Rouen for the day.

 

For the extra $37 you get a bus tour of the highlights of Paris plus 3.5 hours of free time. As KeyWestK points out, these sights are scattered around the city and it will be time consuming and/or expensive for you to see them on your own. You also get the security of being on an RCL excursion, so it's RCL's responsibility to get you back to the ship.

[John Bull]

The RCl excursion is $129 and the rt train fare is about $92+ and you have to pay to get yourself from the port to the train station, which as far as I can figure out is not really walkable from the port in LeHavre. .

 

Something wrong with the train fare you've quoted, number 138. Perhaps you got it from a rip-off international website ;)

The french national railway (SNCF) return fare, bought at the station is in the order of 45USD return.

Service is pretty infrequent, about every two hours, journey time 2 - 2.5 hours.

The station in Le Havre is about a mile / 25 min walk from the cruise terminal.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=Av.+Lucien+Corbeaux%2FPont+Quinette+de+Rochemont&daddr=Cours+de+la+R%C3%A9publique&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=49.488814,0.125399&spn=0.020239,0.132093&sll=49.492856,0.124497&sspn=0.01122,0.033023&geocode=FREL8wIdS8cBAA%3BFeQz8wIdneYBAA&oq=Cours+de+la+R%C3%A9publique+Le+Havre&dirflg=w&doflg=ptm&mra=dme&mrsp=1&sz=16&t=m&z=14&layer=c&cbll=49.493,0.124368&panoid=6ecCRTu1b66uSERhWOMZAQ&cbp=11,180,,0,0

The number of ships in Le Havre won't make much difference to numbers on the train.

The station in Paris is Gare St Lazaire, close to the centre & of course with a metro station.

 

Don't ships normally offer a choice to Paris?

Either "Paris on your own", ie a simple bus transfer from/back to Le Havre, usually dropping/picking up by the Eiffel Tower.

Or a full day of touring the sights in the bus?

 

Though I'd not recommend it, some folk rent a car or van. In the centre of Paris it's surely more of a hindrance than a help :eek:

A shared van plus driver might have its merits - have you checked your RollCall?

 

There are pros & cons with all choices.

 

Usually ships have a late departure from Le Havre, something worth checking before deciding if/how to travel to Paris. Bring that time forward by half-an-hour for all-aboard time, and by a further allowance for delays.

 

I don't know your ship's itinerary, but a further option might be to jump-ship at Le Havre to spend longer in Paris & catch up with the ship at the next port.

Or even, if its at the tail end of your cruise, jump ship at Le Havre, spend a few days in Paris & fly home from there.

 

JB :)

[Hlitner]

Would to JBs post that if you are 60 or older you also qualify for a 25% discount on the SNCF (French) trains. Personally, we do not normally take the train to Paris since we prefer to spend multiple days/nights in that city while we are in France. However, assuming the train schedule fits your times in port, the trains are faster then the buses. From my point of view the train would normally give me about 5 - 6 hours in Paris to do as I please rather then be confined on a bus (speaking to the previous post). The thought of seeing Paris from the inside of a bus is enough to make DW and I shudder! Paris is one of our favorite cities in the world and we much prefer to spend our time walking its delightful streets and parks, browsing shops, sipping wine and enjoying food in a well-placed outdoor cafe, visiting one of our favorite museums in the world (Musee d'Orsay), etc. If I want to see Paris from a bus window I can easily watch a tour video which gives me the same view.

 

Hank

[lostinmt]

All your information does give us something to think about. We usually try and do things on our own, but might have to seriously consider the RCCL shore excursion on this one. We don't really relish the idea of being on a bus for 2.5 hours versus being on a train. Thank you all for your information.

[138east]

Good info that there are cheaper train rates - I think I was looking at TGV 2nd class.

 

I am lucky - my TA leaves from Harwich UK with Le Havre as the first port. I am satisfying my craving for Paris by flying there first and then on to London and Harwich and back to Le Havre. I looked at the Paris day trip and said no way.

 

My point was that if you've never been to Paris and don't know your way around at all, the bus trip will cover the major sites and give you 3.5 hours on your own. It's certainly not an ideal trip, but it does cover the basics. The bus could be a lot of fun with other cruisers.

 

Another suggestion would be to go on some of the TA roll calls that are stopping in LeHavre and ask for other opinions. I know this has been discussed on the Brilliance Aug 31 cruise. Don't make a hasty decision and give it time to get a variety of feedback.

[John Bull]

Good info that there are cheaper train rates - I think I was looking at TGV 2nd class.

 

I am lucky - my TA leaves from Harwich UK with Le Havre as the first port. I am satisfying my craving for Paris by flying there first and then on to London and Harwich and back to Le Havre. I looked at the Paris day trip and said no way.

 

My point was that if you've never been to Paris and don't know your way around at all, the bus trip will cover the major sites and give you 3.5 hours on your own. It's certainly not an ideal trip, but it does cover the basics. The bus could be a lot of fun with other cruisers.

 

Another suggestion would be to go on some of the TA roll calls that are stopping in LeHavre and ask for other opinions. I know this has been discussed on the Brilliance Aug 31 cruise. Don't make a hasty decision and give it time to get a variety of feedback.

 

A couple of points for you to consider, number 138:

 

If you're going to spend a day or two in London your plan makes sense. But if you're simply passing through on your way to Harwich, you might do a lot better to join the ship at Le Havre, subject to permissions.

 

Or if you stick with your plan, for your day ashore at Le Havre consider a lazy day at Honfleur or a rather more hectic & expensive day touring the D-Day beaches.

 

JB :)

[138east]

Thanks John Bull. We are on the same wave length. I am taking the train to London midday Friday along with several other cruisers who are also going to Paris precruise. Someone found a great Hotwire deal on the Doubletree Westminster, where many others on the roll call have stayed before. Someone has also arranged for buses to transport folks directly to Harwich Saturday morning, so no need to get myself and luggage to Liverpool Station to take the train. I am looking forward to the 2+ hour bus trip with fellow cruisers.

 

I am excited because Buckingham palace is open to the public in late August, so I will be doing a late afternoon tour there. The hotel is within walking distance of the Palace. It's also possible Parliament might be open for an earlier quick tour.

 

The first thing I did was to ask RCL if I could board in LeHavre, they checked, and told me that I could NOT do that.

 

We will be in Le Havre on Sunday. A small group of us are taking the train to Rouen to enjoy the Sunday market, to walk around the city, and to see the cathedral. Hopefully this will be a low key relaxing day. I've been to the Normandy beaches, Mt. Saint Michel, and Giverny, so no need to run all over the area on organized tours.

 

Any other ideas or suggestions you might have would be appreciated. I stumbled on this cruise by accident last spring just after it became available to book. It's incredibly organized with many repeat cruisers and even has its own web site. The roll call already has about 2000 posts. The cruise ends in my home port of Boston, so all I have to do is call my husband to pick me up at the pier!

[Wineenthusiast]

Hello there, my husband and I will be in a transatlantic Princess cruise in April stopping at Le Havre twice, with a day in South Hampton in the middle. We have asked permssion to disembark for the 3 days and 2 nights so we can go to Paris. We have been to Europe 4 different times but we have not been to Paris, and we are thinking we might not be back to Europe for a while so we would like to do Paris this time. John Bull posts good information as I had already check both prices and time to Paris. I have a couple of questions for any cruisers who are familiar with Le Havre.

 

Our cruise ship will be in Le Havre May 11 and May 13, our only concern is the weather, Princess of course does not guarantee stopping if the weather does not cooperate, which means we will eitheer lose all the reservations or if it is on the last day, we will have to make it on our own to the next port. DO you know how the weather is in May? Has anyone skip this port due to weather in May?

 

My other question, is it very hard to get a taxi at the port to the train station in Le Havre ? I could also try to see if I can reserve one in advance. and how about from the train station to the port, is there a way to catch a taxi at the Le Havre station?

 

Thank you