Shore excursions from Le Havre

[Lambo62]

Hello,

We have Northern Europe cruise booked for the fall of 2018. I am penciling in some excursions, and seems I can do Amsterdam and Bruges quite easily on our own, but we really think that if we have gone this far from Canada, we should do a planned tour to Paris from Le Havre.

Does anyone have any recommendations of private tour companies? We had great success last year with private tours in Italy. I am tempted to book the MSC tour but looking for feedback from private tours.

Thank you in advance.

[gerelmx]

The trip to Paris from Le Havre it´s about 3 Hours each way

[easyboy]

Suggest you also consider payment terms of private tour operators. On our British Isles cruise last September, we booked the Ship’s shore excursion for Paris from Le Havre. The port stop was cancelled a day before due to the Le Havre port workers strike. Our $239 was credited back on our folio. Not sure if we got a private tour operator. Our experience though may just be an isolated case.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[TheOldBear]

You may want to check over in the "France Ports" forum https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=593

 

Cruise Critic has their own version of geography - France is under their Mediterranean section.

 

This past September, there was a 90 minute delay leaving Le Harve, as one of the Ships tour busses was delayed. That would argue in favor of a ship's tour - particularly when the next stop is New York.

[SteveH2508]

If you are a history or military buff, Le Havre is a goodish base for D-Day tours or Normandy history (Bayeux for example). If you have days before or after your cruise you might be able to fit Paris in anyway - e.g. Eurostar from London or train from Amsterdam. The 3 or 4 hours you will get in Paris on a ship's excursion will do little more than whet your appetite for Paris.

 

I guess it also depends on whether you are likely to return to Europe as to which option you go for.

[CGinMTL]

I also recommend that Paris should be done with a ship tour.

Another idea from le havre is mont st michel.

 

Sent from my SM-T580 using Forums mobile app

[John Bull]

Suggest you also consider payment terms of private tour operators. On our British Isles cruise last September, we booked the Ship’s shore excursion for Paris from Le Havre. The port stop was cancelled a day before due to the Le Havre port workers strike. Our $239 was credited back on our folio. Not sure if we got a private tour operator. Our experience though may just be an isolated case.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Le Havre is a pretty reliable port for weather, but the French do seem to delight in blockading ports as well as roads when they're upset with their government.

Don't understand your reference to whether you got a private tour operator - all ships use broadly the same tour operators. But getting your money back wasn't an isolated incident - it's one of the few advantages of booking thro' the ship, and something to check in the operator's terms if you book independently.

Another advantage is the one experienced by TheOldBear - getting ship's tours back to the ship is the responsibility of the cruise line.

I'm no fan of ships' tours, it'll be over-priced & you will be herded, but the 2.5+ hours e/w drive to Paris is one example where we too would take ship's tour.

One minor snag that occurs with MSC (and Costa) is that sometimes their English-speaking tours are under-subscribed & are combined with another in a dual-language tour.

 

If you want to do your own thing to Paris there are plenty of private transfer operators in Le Havre but I doubt your driver will have a detailed knowledge of Paris (the roads yes, the history etc no) - the normal routine is to also book a Paris-based guide who you pick up when you get to Paris. So the exercise is pretty expensive and best done by sharing a large van or bus with others on your RollCall.

It's inexpensive & not difficult to do by direct train, but you do lose time to/from stations & have to use the metro, ho-ho boats etc in Paris - again losing you valuable time.

 

But here's a thought :confused: - if this is your last port-of-call before disembarkation in Southampton and you've not yet booked your air tickets, consider arranging to jump ship in Le Havre, spend an extra day or two or more in Paris & fly home from there. Needs cruise line's permission but that's normally given for Le Havre.

 

Would also allow you to spend a day exploring the D-Day beaches, sights, museums, cemeteries etc., as suggested by Steve,

 

Yes, Amsterdam and Bruges (from Zeebrugge) are easy to DIY. :)

 

JB :)

[gkkapp]

On our British Isles cruise 2012 we and our friends did Paris in 4 hours . We chose the "Paris on Your Own" option offered by Princess (MSC probably has a similar tour). The four of us had never been there before and thinking that we might not get there again we carefully picked things we wanted to see and do. The bus dropped us in the heart of the city at the Place de la Concorde. We took in a cab to near Notre Dame and walked along the Seine going in back of the church and up the other side for good photo views. Stopped at a sidewalk cafe next to the church for a quick bite and then toured the inside of Notre Dame.

 

Then we began walking back to the Place de la Concorde stopping along the way as we felt like it. I bought a small painting from a street vendor. We walked through the courtyard at the Louvre and saw the glass pyramid. Then we walked through the Tuileries Gardens and made it to the Place de la Concorde with time to spare. We did not go close to the Eiffel Tower but could easily see it. On the way out the bus went right by it!!!

 

The moral of the story is...it can be done. Did not see everything but at least we can say we were there. Careful planning will make it work.

 

Hope this helps.

 

<<<Karen>>>

[kctwinmommy]

You can check out Operation Overlord if you want to book a private D-Day tour. We did that and it was awesome. We shared it with 2 other groups that we found in our roll call. So it was 8 of us all together. The company is who the cruise ships use, but they have the big charter tour bus, we were in a nice van, could get into more places, saw much more. It's in my review in my signature.

 

As far as Paris, I know some people did it, but it was a pain. We happened to be there on Bastille Day, so things were really crazy!

[easyboy]

Le Havre is a pretty reliable port for weather, but the French do seem to delight in blockading ports as well as roads when they're upset with their government. Don't understand your reference to whether you got a private tour operator - all ships use broadly the same tour operators. But getting your money back wasn't an isolated incident - it's one of the few advantages of booking thro' the ship, and something to check in the operator's terms if you book independently. Another advantage is the one experienced by TheOldBear - getting ship's tours back to the ship is the responsibility of the cruise line. I'm no fan of ships' tours, it'll be over-priced & you will be herded, but the 2.5+ hours e/w drive to Paris is one example where we too would take ship's tour. One minor snag that occurs with MSC (and Costa) is that sometimes their English-speaking tours are under-subscribed & are combined with another in a dual-language tour. If you want to do your own thing to Paris there are plenty of private transfer operators in Le Havre but I doubt your driver will have a detailed knowledge of Paris (the roads yes, the history etc no) - the normal routine is to also book a Paris-based guide who you pick up when you get to Paris. So the exercise is pretty expensive and best done by sharing a large van or bus with others on your RollCall. It's inexpensive & not difficult to do by direct train, but you do lose time to/from stations & have to use the metro, ho-ho boats etc in Paris - again losing you valuable time. But here's a thought :confused: - if this is your last port-of-call before disembarkation in Southampton and you've not yet booked your air tickets, consider arranging to jump ship in Le Havre, spend an extra day or two or more in Paris & fly home from there. Needs cruise line's permission but that's normally given for Le Havre. Would also allow you to spend a day exploring the D-Day beaches, sights, museums, cemeteries etc., as suggested by Steve, Yes, Amsterdam and Bruges (from Zeebrugge) are easy to DIY. :) JB :)

What I meant was if we had booked with a private tour operator, I am not sure if they will really refund the deposit or any pre-payment in case of port cancellation. It was our reason for booking with the ship.

 

In our cruise, there was a group who had prior request and consent for Le Havre to be their final disembarkation, instead of Southampton the next day. They said they arranged everything prior to cruise, transportation from Le Havre to Paris, Paris hotel and Eurostar tickets to St. Pancras for their London stay. They had to rearrange everything upon learning of port cancellation.

[CruiserBruce]

You can check out Operation Overlord if you want to book a private D-Day tour. We did that and it was awesome.

 

Do you mean Overlord Tours? Great outfit.

[geoherb]

We met folks on our Princess cruise this past summer who left the ship in Le Havre so they could go to Paris on their own. We decided to enjoy Le Havre. We toured a couple of churches and enjoyed the MuMa art museum (http://www.muma-lehavre.fr/en).

[John Bull]

What I meant was if we had booked with a private tour operator, I am not sure if they will really refund the deposit or any pre-payment in case of port cancellation. It was our reason for booking with the ship.

 

In our cruise, there was a group who had prior request and consent for Le Havre to be their final disembarkation, instead of Southampton the next day. They said they arranged everything prior to cruise, transportation from Le Havre to Paris, Paris hotel and Eurostar tickets to St. Pancras for their London stay. They had to rearrange everything upon learning of port cancellation.

 

Yes, whereas you'll not be charged for a ship's excursion if the ship fails to make port, terms vary amongst private tour operators & you do need to check the small-print - some refund, some refund minus an admin charge, some don't refund.

There are cruise-specialist consolidators (booking agencies) like cruisingexcursion.com who promise a refund in those circumstances, I've not heard of any reneging on that promise.

 

Sad that happened to the folk on your cruise who'd planned to disembark at Le Havre. They're a tiny minority (in fact that's the first time I'd heard of it happening) but it is a risk - as is the risk of a ship arriving late at its disembarkation port, and I doubt that the cruise line is liable in either event.

Gotta be worth checking the small-print on travel insurance.

 

JB :)

[kctwinmommy]

Do you mean Overlord Tours? Great outfit.

OMG! Yes! LOL!

[Lambo62]

Wow, thank you very much everyone. Le Havre is the first stop on our cruise, so no we can not get off the ship there. We have never been to London either, and chose to spend a few days there pre-cruise this time. I will keep thinking about what to do in this port and do a bit more research. Perhaps when I plan out the rest of our excursions, that may reveal how much time we want to spend off the ship our first day. Thanks again for the info.

[s-Zee-G]

Do you mean Overlord Tours? Great outfit.

 

 

 

Overlord didn’t have a Canadian option for D day tour. I was able to arrange Juno beach and museum, Canadian focused landing beaches and other significant Canadian historical sites as well as a visit to Honfleur. Our ship CC board easily found is a group of 8 to make the trip reasonable. I believe the company we used was Normandy siteseeing tours, but I will verify if you are interested.

 

There were a number of folks on our sailing who wanted Paris significantly enough that they arranged to disembark in Le Havre and then head over to Paris to spend a few days, rather then sail back to Southampton and have the cruise dinner.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[trosebery]

Wow, thank you very much everyone. Le Havre is the first stop on our cruise, so no we can not get off the ship there. We have never been to London either, and chose to spend a few days there pre-cruise this time. I will keep thinking about what to do in this port and do a bit more research. Perhaps when I plan out the rest of our excursions, that may reveal how much time we want to spend off the ship our first day. Thanks again for the info.

 

Have fun with your research and your plans, and be reassured that it's difficult to go wrong in Le Havre. I don't know anyone from our sailing who regretted skipping the trip into Paris for Normandy -- whether they went to the D-Day beaches and Bayeux (which is what we did, with Overlord) or visited Rouen and Monet's Giverny, etc. Wherever you go, you'll be in France and can find a little cafe to sit and eat crepes!