Any recent experience with CroisiEurope?

[Langoustine]

Specifically the Rhone cruises on the Camargue? I cannot seem to find any reviews.

Edited August 6, 2015 by Langoustine

[caviargal]

We were able to tour the Camargue when we were on a Rhone cruise last month. She is smaller, modern and clean. Very well maintained. Passengers were off at the time and we were able to see a few of the rooms. Clean, compact and efficient with small bathrooms.

 

Dining room and main lounge were both minimalist. We saw the evening's menu posted and it is fixed. Wines on the table from lunch were one brand. Bar brands were limited.

 

They seem to offer a good value and we wanted to check it out for the future. For us, we enjoy more luxury and amenities than what we saw aboard the Camargue.

[pacmom]

We have taken one trip with them using Road Scholar. It was a week in the Dordogne (sp) Valley in France and a week sailing out of Bordeaux on the Cyrano D'Bergerac. We had our own guide for the trip--so a tour on the ship. In Oct., we are again going with Road Scholar, this time in Spain--part land and part river.

 

Breakfast is buffet, Lunch and Dinner plated--with a fixed menu. If you can't or don't want to eat the dinner entree you can order something else. If you have any other questions, happy to try to answer them. Pat

[Shebely]

We were on the Ms. France in May 2013. Lunch and dinner are fixed menu as was mentioned, but we were not offered nor told that we could ask for an alternative. The night they served venison I saw many plates go back to the kitchen untouched. Since lunch was also a sit down plated meal, it was long and drawn out. There was not much time to relax before heading out for the afternoon tour. Lastly, seating was assigned for dinner so you sat at the same table, with the same group every night. Very boring. We enjoy meeting and talking to our cruise mates.

Edited August 6, 2015 by Shebely

[pacmom]

Our Road Scholar group had 19 pax. We were assigned tables and could sit at any of them for our meals. There were about 5 groups and they rotated at their assigned tables also. We had one woman who was gluten intolerant and the chef prepared many special items for her. The wines were fine table wines. We did so many tastings that satisfied our palates--there were actually evenings that i drank water. Pat

[Langoustine]

Thank you all very much for your answers. Very helpful. I think we're going to book the October 20 cruise out of Lyon and I'll post how it goes.

[squarevanman]

I have cruised 3 times with CroisiEurope and am booked for Venice and the Lagoon later this month.

As they have passengers of many nationalities speaking a multude of languages they assign seating so those speaking the same language sit together. Indeed on one cruise they said they had 14 nationalities on board and made announcements in 6 (French, English, German, Spanish, Italian and Norwegian) languages.

I must be lucky as I have only seen one meal returned. That was a person sitting on my table who did not like the food in question. They quickly found an acceptable alternative. The passenger had not cruised before and had not realised they could request an alternative if the menu was not to their liking.

I agree meals can be longer than expected but I think this is the French way. On a day trip to Lille last year my lunch lasted about 1.5 hours and people in the restaurant before me were still there when I left.

I am not a wine drinker but everyone I have shared tables with have agreed the wines served were of an excellent quality.

I realise my Venice trip is basically a floating hotel but will post a review when I return.

[Shebely]

Our cruise was a charter by a Midwest US based tour company. Everyone was from the US so the table assignments had nothing to do with language.

[DaveinCharlotte]

We did the Portugal river cruise with Road Scholar last year, and CrossiEurope was excellent!