Europe Cruise (Paris)

[hondo1717]

Hello My Princess Friends,

 

We have a question. We are planning on doing the British Isles cruise next year. Since we have a long day in Paris, we would love to be able to not only see the beaches at Normandy, but also visit the Eiffel Tower as well. Is anyone aware of an excursion (Private or Princess) that would give us an opportunity to do both?

 

Much appreciated...

[pris993]

The only way you may do that is get off the ship in LaHarve...if that work with the cruise and stay in Paris.... We have done that when we went to France the 2nd to last day of the cruise. Another option is if you end up in England, take the train to Paris after your cruise. My dh is from Paris, you can't see both in one day... and really enjoy it. Have a great trip.

[hondo1717]

Thank you very much for the reply.

[moki'smommy]

No, and I doubt that it is possible. Paris is inland, not near a port. I'm assuming you'll be docking at LeHavre. That means a reasonably long transportation period to either location. I don't know what you want to do in Paris other than looking at the Eiffel Tower, but I spent a week there on my most recent visit and it wasn't enough.

 

My suggestion--if you want to do the Normandy beaches, there is a museum called simply "Memorial" that was the best history museum I've ever visited. I wasn't thrilled with the timing of our excursion (thru cruise line) as it included only an hour at the museum and then a lengthy, sit down lunch before visiting three of the beaches and the American Cemetery. I would have preferred to cut the lunch time in half or less and spend the additional hour at the museum. And unless you have a particular desire to do so, you don't need to visit all 5 of the beaches. Two would have been perfect in my mind, preferably those with monuments. So do pay attention as to how much time is devoted to the various parts of a similar excursion or arrange to do it privately! There are tour companies that do variations of this day.

 

Paris is roughly 125 miles from LeHavre, and will take you at least 2 1/2 hours each way. If all you want to do is look at the Eiffel Tower, I don't think it is worth 5-6 hours of transportation time. But we each have our own ideas of what is important.

 

Another thought--add a few days to your vacation and spend some time in Paris after the cruise.

[hondo1717]

Great suggestions as well. Much appreciated.

[pwake]

Paris is a 5 to 6 hour round trip from Le Harve. Omaha beach is close to 2 hours from Le Harve. That’s a lot of driving to go to both places. A loop trip would be close to 8 hours on the road.

 

I’d do the Normandy Beach excursion from the ship and then take the Eurostar from London to Paris after the cruise. There is much more to see in Paris than the Eiffel Tower!

 

 

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[nukesubsailor]

We took the British Isles cruise in 2015 and took the Princess excursion to Normandy. It was a long day but well worth it. There was so much to see on this entire cruise that we were exhausted and still did not see all we wanted. So we booked back-to-back British Isles cruises for last year. This time we did the Princess excursion to Paris. It was also a long day but well worth it.

There is no way either excursion was long enough to let us enjoy the sights for as long as we would have liked. There is no way you can see both Normandy and Paris in one day even if you had a full 24 hours.

If I had to pick one over the other, i would pick Normandy. But I am an American veteran and a military history buff so I am biased. I really enjoyed the architecture of Paris though.

[hondo1717]

American Veteran as well my friend Thank you for the advise. Perhaps the best solution would be to spend a few days in Paris to see as much as we can. But, agree Normandy and the Beaches are number one with me.

 

Thanks Again,

[InAlabama]

If you are not interested in visiting English tourist spots this trip you can fly into Paris, see the city and country sights for a few days, and then catch a flight from Paris direct to Southampton. We switched the embarkation port for a Sep transatlantic from Le Havre to Southampton one day late and saved over $3K. Several folks on our cruise also switched with some taking the ferry from one of several French ports to Portsmouth and then hiring a cab to the cruise terminal at Southampton. We booked our Paris to Southampton flight through Air France for less then $100 each and that included a checked bag.

 

If you book your flights from the US with Princess EZair, I think you can fly into Paris and out of London for the return.

[hondo1717]

Some great ideas, thanks.

[Coffeeluvr05]

After my experience with Le Havre being skipped on our cruise and hearing of it happening to others, I won’t go on any itinerary that stops in Le Havre for my chance to go to Paris. That was supposed to be the grand finale of our European cruise and it was so disappointing.

 

 

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[bobby3334]

I lived in Paris for a year and frankly you can’t do justice to either with the couple of hours you get to spend there unless it is your one and only chance to see it...and you just want to check it off your bucket list. If so pick the option for the D day beaches. I agree completely with the previous suggestion

To the take the train from London and spend a few days in Paris. Paris can not be seen in 2-3 hours and you would be exhausted by the 6 hour bus ride. The only way to see both in the allotted time would be to hire a helicopter. Last time I was in Le Harve I toured the city. Mike

 

 

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[Roatanfans]

I'm currently planning a pre cruise stay with 2 says in Normandy and 5 in Paris- it is a good 3 hours each way between Paris and Normandy, plus there are so many things to see and do you really need to choose carefully with just one day- not really possible to do both unless you have a crazy budget, and even then time would not be your friend!

[hondo1717]

After my experience with Le Havre being skipped on our cruise and hearing of it happening to others, I won’t go on any itinerary that stops in Le Havre for my chance to go to Paris. That was supposed to be the grand finale of our European cruise and it was so disappointing.

 

 

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Sorry, that was not my question... Would have preferred you say nothing.. What happened to you won't necessarily happen to us. Thanks any way....

[hondo1717]

I lived in Paris for a year and frankly you can’t do justice to either with the couple of hours you get to spend there unless it is your one and only chance to see it...and you just want to check it off your bucket list. If so pick the option for the D day beaches. I agree completely with the previous suggestion

To the take the train from London and spend a few days in Paris. Paris can not be seen in 2-3 hours and you would be exhausted by the 6 hour bus ride. The only way to see both in the allotted time would be to hire a helicopter. Last time I was in Le Harve I toured the city. Mike

 

 

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Thank you, good suggestions... Agree with you on Normandy..

[wheezedr]

Hello My Princess Friends,

 

We have a question. We are planning on doing the British Isles cruise next year. Since we have a long day in Paris, we would love to be able to not only see the beaches at Normandy, but also visit the Eiffel Tower as well. Is anyone aware of an excursion (Private or Princess) that would give us an opportunity to do both?

 

Much appreciated...

I have cruised many times with Princess including the cruise you are about to embark on. I hope to clarify something which I am not sure you are aware of, if I am wrong I apologize in advance. Princess, as well as other cruise lines, has a subtle means of miscommunication in their listed itinerary. Where they indicate Paris/Normandy you are not actually in either. You are docking in La Havre, which is distant from either of those locations. Princess puts them in because that is where it knows cruisers would like to visit and in fact because it can sell tours to them. Practically Paris is a very long trip and while some cruisers visit it as a dream destination the amount of time there does not do any justice to the city. Even touring Normandy is a busy day and you certainly do not “see it all”. That is would we did, got to a couple of the beach sites, one of the museums and the quite stirring American cemetery. I still want to return for more . Look at Princess tours but also see if anyone on your roll call is arranging a tour with the very highly regarded Overlord tours.

[hondo1717]

I have cruised many times with Princess including the cruise you are about to embark on. I hope to clarify something which I am not sure you are aware of, if I am wrong I apologize in advance. Princess, as well as other cruise lines, has a subtle means of miscommunication in their listed itinerary. Where they indicate Paris/Normandy you are not actually in either. You are docking in La Havre, which is distant from either of those locations. Princess puts them in because that is where it knows cruisers would like to visit and in fact because it can sell tours to them. Practically Paris is a very long trip and while some cruisers visit it as a dream destination the amount of time there does not do any justice to the city. Even touring Normandy is a busy day and you certainly do not “see it all”. That is would we did, got to a couple of the beach sites, one of the museums and the quite stirring American cemetery. I still want to return for more . Look at Princess tours but also see if anyone on your roll call is arranging a tour with the very highly regarded Overlord tours.

 

 

Thank You for your response. Much appreciated.

[Hlitner]

Hello My Princess Friends,

 

We have a question. We are planning on doing the British Isles cruise next year. Since we have a long day in Paris, we would love to be able to not only see the beaches at Normandy, but also visit the Eiffel Tower as well. Is anyone aware of an excursion (Private or Princess) that would give us an opportunity to do both?

 

Much appreciated...

 

Perhaps we should just talk about basic geography. If you were to get off your ship in Le Havre, it would take you about 2 1/2 - 3 hours (one-way) just to get to Paris. If you wanted to go Omaha Beach in Normandy from Le Havre it would take nearly 2 hours (one way). Now you also need to consider that Paris and Omaha Beach are about 90 degrees apart in terms of direction. Now, if you wanted to drive from your ship to Omaha Beach, then to the Eiffel Tower, and then back to your ship it would be approximately 8 hours of driving (without any stops). And that is what we call geography which is a valuable thing when you want to plan a port day.

 

Hank

[hondo1717]

Perhaps we should just talk about basic geography. If you were to get off your ship in Le Havre, it would take you about 2 1/2 - 3 hours (one-way) just to get to Paris. If you wanted to go Omaha Beach in Normandy from Le Havre it would take nearly 2 hours (one way). Now you also need to consider that Paris and Omaha Beach are about 90 degrees apart in terms of direction. Now, if you wanted to drive from your ship to Omaha Beach, then to the Eiffel Tower, and then back to your ship it would be approximately 8 hours of driving (without any stops). And that is what we call geography which is a valuable thing when you want to plan a port day.

 

Hank

 

 

Thanks Hank...

[katrina915]

I am doing 8 day British isle cruise in August. No stop in LeHavre but I would recommend the normandy beaches. I had a better understanding of the sacrifice.

After the cruise, I am going to Paris via the Eurostar from Dover area. I was surprised that the ezair was cheaper with london/ Paris return vs. London roundtrip. About $300 cheaper.

 

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[caribill]

I

I was surprised that the ezair was cheaper with london/ Paris return vs. London roundtrip. About $300 cheaper.

 

 

Part of the reason is that the UK has a significant tax (supposedly to help save the environment) added to all flights out of the country. And the tax for a flight to north American is significantly higher than for a flight tyo mainland Europe.

 

 

No such tax applies to your flight home from Paris.

[MCC retired]

We booked a QM2 Transatlantic for Set 2019 , that stops at La Harve just so we could do a

10 hour shore tour to Paris . A been there , done that thing.

This discussion changed our minds . Normandy Beaches sounds like a better experience for possibly our 1 and only visit to France.

[wheezedr]

We booked a QM2 Transatlantic for Set 2019 , that stops at La Harve just so we could do a

10 hour shore tour to Paris . A been there , done that thing.

This discussion changed our minds . Normandy Beaches sounds like a better experience for possibly our 1 and only visit to France.

Good choice. While your tour guides will explain much of what you are seeing, this is another spot where some advanced reading and research will really enhance your visit. I love reading history and understanding what the allies had to do in the planning for this invasion as well as the sacrifices the troops made really brings the whole tour into focus. Enjoy your visit.

[nukesubsailor]

We booked a QM2 Transatlantic for Set 2019 , that stops at La Harve just so we could do a

10 hour shore tour to Paris . A been there , done that thing.

This discussion changed our minds . Normandy Beaches sounds like a better experience for possibly our 1 and only visit to France.

 

I think you will find the excursion to Normandy to be an emotional experience as did I.

Stand on Pointe de Hoc above the cliffs the American 2nd Ranger Battalion climbed to silence the **** guns.

Stand in the American cemetery and read a cross that says "Known But To God"

Stand on the street of a French village and see a sign in a window in the room above an ice cream shop that, even after over 70 years, says "Thank You America".