Trying to coordinate Paris day with a cruise..

[stanze5]

I need expert help. We would like to take a dream visit to Paris along with a European cruise. What cruise ports of call would work best to fit in a day trip to Paris? Which line do you suggest? We can only do a 7-8 day cruise...time off work is the issue.

If it can't be done with a cruise port stop, our next idea is to fly in a day or so early and see Paris and then go on to our cruise. If so, what is the closest location by train to get to a cruise embarkation point?

Any advice is appreciated.

[cberge]

I need expert help. We would like to take a dream visit to Paris along with a European cruise. What cruise ports of call would work best to fit in a day trip to Paris? Which line do you suggest? We can only do a 7-8 day cruise...time off work is the issue.

If it can't be done with a cruise port stop, our next idea is to fly in a day or so early and see Paris and then go on to our cruise. If so, what is the closest location by train to get to a cruise embarkation point?

Any advice is appreciated.

Where are you coming from?? That would be of great help to start.

[stanze5]

We will be flying in from Kansas City. But what I am looking for is the closest embarking point from Paris. I know Le Havre is a port, but I cannot seem to find any cruises in our 7-8 day range that stop there. Ideally I would love to find a cruise that has a stop near Paris so we can take a day excursion to Paris. But I don't think that is a possibility unless I am missing something. So my Plan B is to go to Paris a day before our cruise and then either take a train or a very quick (inexpensive) flight to a close cruise port.

[John Bull]

Cruises don't start/finish at Le Havre.

But you can seek out cruises where it is the first or last port-of-call, and join or leave the ship there. It's done quite often (with an OK from the cruise line) & all you miss is one evening & overnite on the ship.

Most will be cruises out of Southampton or Dover, England. So you'd need open-jaw return flights to London & back from Paris, or vice-versa.

This will save a good deal on travel costs and time.

 

For example, MSC Opera, 10 day cruises (9 for you) from 9th July through to the end of September 2014 :

Southampton England, Ijmuiden (for Amsterdam), Guernsey (UK Channel Islands), day at sea, Vigo Spain, Lisbon Portugal, day at sea, Bilbao Spain, day at sea, Le Havre (jump-ship there), Southampton.

 

Or Ruby Princess, 13 day cruises (12 for you), several dates in 2014. Round the UK, Southampton-Southampton, also with Le Havre the day before cruise end.

 

For others, do some leg-work on this site:

http://ports.cruisett.com/schedule/France/379-Le_Havre/June_2014/

 

Do the same with Zeebrugge (often itinerised as Bruges) and Amsterdam.

There may also be cruises which start/finish at Amsterdam.

These will involve a longer train journey, though not as tedious or expensive as you might think.

 

JB :)

[stanze5]

Thank you! This is exactly the kind of guidance I am looking for!

[John Bull]

Thank you! This is exactly the kind of guidance I am looking for!

 

Sorry, should have pointed out one caveat - I'll address it before someone chews me up. ;)

 

Sometimes a port-of-call is dropped last-minute. So if Le Havre is dropped, you need a flexible Plan B.

Le Havre itself is very reliable other than very rare occasions when the locals get up-tight with their government & blockade the port.

But, for example, a major storm screwed-up some itineraries a couple of weeks back, & at least one ship dropped Le Havre to make up time.

Low risk - but it is a risk.

 

JB :)

[TX.Mameow&Papeow]

We are flying to Paris pre cruise for 3 nights and then flying Air France to Barcelona to do a TA back to the US. The airfare from Paris to Barcelona through ChoiceAir (RCCL's airfare program) was only $67. p/p and is under 2hours. I think there are several cruises that leave out of Barcelona.:)

[iancal]

I would NOT recommend trying to see Paris while on an ocean cruise...not unless you want to spend more time travelling back and forth than you do sightseeing.

 

As a matter of fact, I would not recommend really seeing any larger European city on a cruise. There just is not enough time.

 

As other have said, fly into Paris and spend at least an evening and then one complete day.

Edited November 13, 2013 by iancal

[Cruise Junky]

I'm typing this from Paris :). I'd land in Paris, spend a few days and then find a 7 day cruise out of London or Barcelona. Easy and cheap to get to either

[maryann ns]

I would simply fly to Paris and spend your whole time there. A week is nowhere near enough!

[Hlitner]

I will give you an example of a cruise that might work for you. The Ruby Princess is doing a repositioning cruise (leaving Port Everglades) on April 27, 2014. Although the final port is Southampton, the day before the ship stops at Le Havre. There are always a few passengers that will arrange to debark the ship a day early (notify Princess in advance and also notify the Guest Relations desk (on the ship) a few days in advance). From LeHavre it's an easy 2 hour train ride into Paris.

 

Hank

[stanze5]

I would love to have more time in Paris, but that's not an option if we are trying to see as many places as we can in this trip. Ideally, flying in to Paris a day or two before a cruise is our perfect scenario. We are looking for cruise ports that are convenient to get to from Paris... I wish we could do the repo. cruise in April but my daughter is planning to be valedictorian :) so she can't miss school. We are searching dates from May-August.

[Hlitner]

I would love to have more time in Paris, but that's not an option if we are trying to see as many places as we can in this trip. Ideally, flying in to Paris a day or two before a cruise is our perfect scenario. We are looking for cruise ports that are convenient to get to from Paris... I wish we could do the repo. cruise in April but my daughter is planning to be valedictorian :) so she can't miss school. We are searching dates from May-August.

 

Unfortunately, there are really no large ship cruise ports close to Paris. While Le Havre is the most common jump off point for Paris tours, it can take 2 1/2 hours (one way) to drive from that port to Paris and even the fast trains take around 2 hours (each way). Most of the ships that go to Le Havre will have an extended port day (they usually do not depart until at least 8pm) to accommodate tours to Paris. But if that is all the time you have....a short day in Paris is better then no Paris :)

 

Hank

[iancal]

I would consider skipping the cruise altogether.

 

Spend a few days in Paris, fly to Venice for two days, train to Rome for a few days, and home. If you can squeeze it in fly to London and do the chunnel to Paris. Fly home from Rome...or whatever other city gives you the best open jaw ticket.

 

Cruising is fine, but it really is not a great way to see Europe-especially if you are pressed for time.

[frenchrci]

Barcelone is just 1h30 from Paris by plane ! You have Royal Caribbean cruises from there. :)

[steph7021]

We are doing the MSC Armonia cruise for 9 nights out of Venice in May. Iceland Air RT from Denver to Paris was a very good price. Easyjet offers flights from Paris to Venice at around 50 euro. We are staying in Paris on our way home. If find your perfect cruise and then just tack Paris on. Anything is possible!

 

For all of you advising to skip the cruise....umm, aren't we on cruise message boards?! Just sayin

[iancal]

Be very careful with Easyjet and the other discount airlines. Lots of add on prices on top of the fare that could actually make them more expensive than the mainline carriers.

 

We have found that after all charges are considered, we can often get a flight on one of the all inclusive carriers, ie no bag fees, no carry on fees, no booking fee, no other fees, at a better price than the discount airlines. The only exception would be if you had no luggage, ie small amount of carry on.

 

The last two we did were Porto, Portuagal-Rome and Venice-Heathrow. Both times the bottom line price on TAP and BA were less expensive than the so called budget airlines.

 

Also be careful about airports-especially for Paris and London flights. It is much easier, faster, and cheaper to get into the city from LHR and CDG than it is from alternate airports in those respective cities.

[frenchrci]

Be very careful with Easyjet and the other discount airlines. Lots of add on prices on top of the fare that could actually make them more expensive than the mainline carriers.

 

We have found that after all charges are considered, we can often get a flight on one of the all inclusive carriers, ie no bag fees, no carry on fees, no booking fee, no other fees, at a better price than the discount airlines. The only exception would be if you had no luggage, ie small amount of carry on.

 

The last two we did were Porto, Portuagal-Rome and Venice-Heathrow. Both times the bottom line price on TAP and BA were less expensive than the so called budget airlines.

 

Also be careful about airports-especially for Paris and London flights. It is much easier, faster, and cheaper to get into the city from LHR and CDG than it is from alternate airports in those respective cities.

 

I agree !

[steph7021]

Be very careful with Easyjet and the other discount airlines. Lots of add on prices on top of the fare that could actually make them more expensive than the mainline carriers.

 

We have found that after all charges are considered, we can often get a flight on one of the all inclusive carriers, ie no bag fees, no carry on fees, no booking fee, no other fees, at a better price than the discount airlines. The only exception would be if you had no luggage, ie small amount of carry on.

 

The last two we did were Porto, Portuagal-Rome and Venice-Heathrow. Both times the bottom line price on TAP and BA were less expensive than the so called budget airlines.

 

Also be careful about airports-especially for Paris and London flights. It is much easier, faster, and cheaper to get into the city from LHR and CDG than it is from alternate airports in those respective cities.

 

And sometimes you get lucky. I searched and searched and researched the fees. My flights on easyjet to and from Paris CDG were under $100 US dollars. And that's with a checked bag. From the info I got on these boards I was able to be a savy shopper. For some reason in and out of Paris on easyjet is very reasonable....more reasonable than there other cities.

[iancal]

Our reason for advising against a cruise is base on our personal experience. We have had many trips to Europe, some of the extended trip of 3-6 months. We would often tend to spend time in a few areas within one country plus a stopover at a 'favorite city' because our reward tickets allowed for on stop over city plus an open jaw.

 

After many years of independent land trips in Europe (we have done many cruises in the Caribbean) we decided to do Europe cruises. Our Europe trips started in the late 70's when we were younger. Sold everything went over, bought a VW van and travelled. We did exactly the same for four months last year, minus the VW van. And we had many 4-5 weeks land trips in between.

 

The reason for our decision to cruise in Europe was simple. Pricing over the past two-three years has been very, very good. Too good for us to pass up. Half of what it was a few years ago. So we have done three Med cruises. And we combined them with land trips before and after the cruise. We will continue to take advantage of this as long as the cruise pricing is attractive and the itineraries fit in with our land trips (embarkation and debarkation points).

 

We really enjoyed the cruises BUT our reaction to most of the ports stops was that we were very glad that we had been there before on land trips. The experience is simply not the same-partly due to the time constraints and partly due to ship. You are eating and sleeping in an large hotel environment. It is nowhere near the experience that you would get by staying in, lets say, a small family run hotel and frequenting local restaurants.

 

You can visit Rome and see many things in a day by rushing around. But you will not get the experience. Same for Paris, London, and many others. We keep going back to many cities and we always find something new to experience.

Edited November 23, 2013 by iancal

[stanze5]

All good advice. Thank you! I wish we had more time to fully appreciate and explore all the amazing places we want to see in Europe. Still trying to decide what our best option is...

[tartanexile81]

I've read other posts and your own thoughts and I actually think what you want is quite doable with a bit of planning.

 

Option 1- Fly to Paris, 2 days in Paris then Eurostar to London and on to Southampton or Harwich or Dover. Various lines sail from these ports. I wouldn't go from Southampton as you'd have to spend at least a couple of days at sea before your first port. However if you were interested in Norway / Baltic then Harwich or Dover would be a good choice.

Option 2 also involves flying into Paris and spending a couple of days there. I'd then take an overnight train to Barcelona so you don't waste any of your precious time, spend the day exploring then embark on a 7 day Mediterranean cruise (RCCI, Costa, NCL etc). We've used the night train to Barcelona from Paris and had a two-berth private cabin with shower and w.c. and a pleasant meal (included) in the dining car. Obviously when you disembark you could fly straight back home.

[maryann ns]

Iancal's thinking is the same as mine. You can go to Paris for a day or two and see the iconic places, but you will not get to know or understand Paris. I would spend any extra time you have really exploring Venice and leave Paris for another time.

[tartanexile81]

Iancal's thinking is the same as mine. You can go to Paris for a day or two and see the iconic places, but you will not get to know or understand Paris. I would spend any extra time you have really exploring Venice and leave Paris for another time.

 

We used to live near London and it was very easy to go to Paris for the weekend. I can still remember the first time we went and yes we did concentrate on the iconic places but we walked all around the city and got a real feel for it by dau and night. I think it would be amazing to spend a couple of days there and then visit again if/when you can. We recently cruised to the Black Sea and spent two days in Istanbul. We were very lucky as most people have only one day and as there is so much to see and do in that amazing place a week wouldn't be enough. The nature of cruising is that you get a taste of the places and re-visit the ones you particularly like and Paris is the same IMO.

[Hlitner]

Iancal's thinking is the same as mine. You can go to Paris for a day or two and see the iconic places, but you will not get to know or understand Paris. I would spend any extra time you have really exploring Venice and leave Paris for another time.

 

Agree with you both. We are spending a week in Paris this coming spring, but I am starting to think we should have rented the apartment for 2 weeks. Having been all over the world, Paris remains DWs favorite city and it would make my own top 3.

 

For those that can get there for a port day, anytime in Paris is better then no time. But the thought of having to leave around 4 or 5 pm would cause me real pain as one of our favorite treats in Paris is dinner!

 

Hank