NORMANDY LANDING BEACHES

[traveler2100]

We are on the crown princess and arrive in Le Havre 5/24/2019

We only want to see the normandy beaches--nothing else

The Princess excursion is over $400 for 2 and is 10.5 hours which is in our opinion quite high and quite lengthy.

How far from the port are the beaches and can we just take local transportation to save some ?

anybody know of any local excursions that are shorter and less$

[caripoo]

OVERLORD TOURS......You can customize the way you want!!

[CruiserBruce]

Overlord is a wonderful operation, and would highly recommend them.

A little Google Map research would show the drive from Le Harve to Bayeaux (the center of the American beaches) is almost 3 hours each way. The British/Canadian beaches are closer to Le Harve.

$400 for 10 hours is not expensive, by European standards.

[spny84]

Replied in Princess Forum.

http://www.bayeuxshuttle.com/summer-service/7.htm

 

[Cindy]

I replied on the Princess board.

[Turtles06]

We used Overlord Tours a number of years ago, from Le Havre, and they were fabulous.  They are expensive, and book up early.  It's a full day to tour the beaches and other D-Day sites from Le Havre.  (Whatever you do, I would try to stay away from a big bus ship's tour.)

 

 

(photo by turtles06)

[kctwinmommy]

Yep! Overlord is the way to go! We loved our tour, and we had 3 "group" in ours. One couple, a woman with her parents, and then us with our teen son. It was an amazing tour!! We did the Omaha Beach, the American Cemetery, Point Du Hoc, and Bayeux. Our guide was so friendly and knowledgeable, just a wonderful day, the highlight of our trip.

 

 

[FredZiffle]

We're planning on renting a car at the port and driving to the beaches.  The US beaches are not 3 hours away as a previous poster suggested, but rather about an hour and a half.  You can rent a car in the port terminal, but those are rather expensive.  We're planning on walking to the Enterprise office which is about a 15 minute walk from the pier.  Full size cars will run you around $130 if you include insurance.

 

Absolutely avoid the Princess excursions.  If you must take a tour, Overlord has the best reputation, but be aware that they require payment when you make the reservation.

Edited October 19, 2018 by FredZiffle

[Cindy]

1 hour ago, FredZiffle said:

 

Absolutely avoid the Princess excursions.  If you must take a tour, Overlord has the best reputation, but be aware that they require payment when you make the reservation.

 

We paid Overlord in cash the day of the tour in July of this year. Our tour was private...maybe they have different policies for their bigger tours.

Edited October 19, 2018 by Cindy

[FredZiffle]

11 minutes ago, Cindy said:

 

We paid Overlord in cash the day of the tour in July of this year. Our tour was private...maybe they have different policies for their bigger tours.

I have no first-hand experience and am just going by what I've read on this board.  Many people talked about trying to arrange tours for members of their roll call, and Overlord wanting full payment at the time of booking.  Maybe their policy has changed.

[Cindy]

4 minutes ago, FredZiffle said:

I have no first-hand experience and am just going by what I've read on this board.  Many people talked about trying to arrange tours for members of their roll call, and Overlord wanting full payment at the time of booking.  Maybe their policy has changed.

 

My tour was set up on the roll call. Overlord didn’t even require a deposit. I did have to give them my CC to guarantee the reservation, but no actual payment until the tour.

[bigdog188]

We did a tour from Le Havre with Richard H from Tours by Locals, he was the best guide we have ever had, we fit 8 people in his van comfortably, you will not be disappointed.  Hopefully you can get some others and book with Richard 

[traveler2100]

I appreciate the many suggestions

I do like the idea of renting a car

So if I rent a car and just drive what kind of costs can I expect to visit the various areas in Beaches area?

 

[kctwinmommy]

6 hours ago, Cindy said:

 

My tour was set up on the roll call. Overlord didn’t even require a deposit. I did have to give them my CC to guarantee the reservation, but no actual payment until the tour.

That's how ours was last year in July (2017). I did read awhile back that Overlord was starting to require groups to pay in full before though. But I haven't read from anyone exactly if that's what happened, if they did it, etc...

[Cindy]

29 minutes ago, kctwinmommy said:

That's how ours was last year in July (2017). I did read awhile back that Overlord was starting to require groups to pay in full before though. But I haven't read from anyone exactly if that's what happened, if they did it, etc...

 

As of July 2018 they didn’t change it. I know Overlord recommends the organizer getting payment in advance because the price is €980 regardless of the number of people. It could get expensive fast at that price if people backed out at the last minute without fulfilling their obligation. That’s not something I ever thought too much about before, but after having two couples cancel a Dublin tour less than an hour before we left I may not be so trusting in the future. They caused the four of us who send to incur double costs for the day.🤬

[kctwinmommy]

1 hour ago, Cindy said:

 

As of July 2018 they didn’t change it. I know Overlord recommends the organizer getting payment in advance because the price is €980 regardless of the number of people. It could get expensive fast at that price if people backed out at the last minute without fulfilling their obligation. That’s not something I ever thought too much about before, but after having two couples cancel a Dublin tour less than an hour before we left I may not be so trusting in the future. They caused the four of us who send to incur double costs for the day.🤬

 

Yeah, there were people saying that they had to pay the full cost before booking it. And in their FAQ it says that the person booking will have it charged at the time they make the reservations. That made some people hesitate.

 

https://www.overlordtour.com/the-most-popular/#1490371336749-f760ffab-51a3

 

And I get it, like you said, people can really screw others. If we had made the reservations (we didn't), then I would have been nervous too. But honestly, even if we had, and the other people cancelled and we still had to pay that full cost, I would have enjoyed it way more than the ship one.

[CruiserBruce]

13 hours ago, FredZiffle said:

We're planning on renting a car at the port and driving to the beaches.  The US beaches are not 3 hours away as a previous poster suggested, but rather about an hour and a half.  You can rent a car in the port terminal, but those are rather expensive.  We're planning on walking to the Enterprise office which is about a 15 minute walk from the pier.  Full size cars will run you around $130 if you include insurance.

 

Absolutely avoid the Princess excursions.  If you must take a tour, Overlord has the best reputation, but be aware that they require payment when you make the reservation.

I stand corrected...my Google Maps was set to avoid tolls. If you pay the toll on the bridge out of Le Harve, it is about 1:45 to the US beaches.

 

But as you have yet done your trip, how can you be so confident everything is as you say it is? We are not allowed to, on Cruise Critic, recommend things we have not yet done. We were in Bayeaux, and used Overlord, and drove the area, in 2014.

 

Overlord did not require pre-payment from us.

[Turtles06]

5 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

.We were in Bayeaux, and used Overlord, and drove the area, in 2014.

 

Overlord did not require pre-payment from us.

 

For our (fabulous) tour with Overlord in 2012 from Le Havre, they did not require prepayment, but they did require a credit card from one member of the group to ensure payment in case of no shows. In years since, I’ve read on here that Overlord has required actual prepayment, but has made it difficult because, apparently, it won’t let the individual members of a group pay directly, they just want the total from one person. All I can say for anyone interested in an Overlord tour is to contact them and find out the payment terms if not clearly stated on their web site. 

[lamchops]

I have rented cars twice in LeHavre. Once from Europcar in town and the other from rentacar dockside. It cost a few dollars more dockside but you’ll be on the road faster and you won’t have to find the place. I can drive a manual/standard transmission so the price difference wasn’t a deterrent. If you need an automatic, reserve it in advance and note it in the comments. Be aware of photo radar on the highway or you’ll get a souvenir like me. I think the car and gas was just over $100us but it gave us flexibility. We visited Bayeaux to see the tapestry, Juno beach, the cemetery, and Pegasus bridge so you should have plenty of time to do the American landing sites.

Edited October 20, 2018 by lamchops

[cruising in mn]

On 10/19/2018 at 6:47 PM, kctwinmommy said:

That's how ours was last year in July (2017). I did read awhile back that Overlord was starting to require groups to pay in full before though. But I haven't read from anyone exactly if that's what happened, if they did it, etc...

I booked a full day private tour with Overlord for July of 2019. They required one cc, with 100% payment in full to secure the tour. They do NOT allow a CC to hold it, and told me there is no way to pay when you get there as they are usually sold out 6+ months in advance. I found 2 other couples on my roll call and we paid in full last month. Just wanted to make sure you all knew what to expect from them. I hear they are worth it, so I'm happy to have it paid for :-) 

Edited November 16, 2018 by cruising in mn

[Southern Cruise]

On ‎10‎/‎18‎/‎2018 at 8:59 AM, traveler2100 said:

We are on the crown princess and arrive in Le Havre 5/24/2019

We only want to see the normandy beaches--nothing else

The Princess excursion is over $400 for 2 and is 10.5 hours which is in our opinion quite high and quite lengthy.

How far from the port are the beaches and can we just take local transportation to save some ?

anybody know of any local excursions that are shorter and less$

 

On ‎11‎/‎15‎/‎2018 at 7:56 PM, cruising in mn said:

I booked a full day private tour with Overlord for July of 2019. They required one cc, with 100% payment in full to secure the tour. They do NOT allow a CC to hold it, and told me there is no way to pay when you get there as they are usually sold out 6+ months in advance. I found 2 other couples on my roll call and we paid in full last month. Just wanted to make sure you all knew what to expect from them. I hear they are worth it, so I'm happy to have it paid for :-) 

 

On ‎11‎/‎15‎/‎2018 at 7:56 PM, cruising in mn said:

I booked a full day private tour with Overlord for July of 2019. They required one cc, with 100% payment in full to secure the tour. They do NOT allow a CC to hold it, and told me there is no way to pay when you get there as they are usually sold out 6+ months in advance. I found 2 other couples on my roll call and we paid in full last month. Just wanted to make sure you all knew what to expect from them. I hear they are worth it, so I'm happy to have it paid for :-) 

 

We are on the 5/13 cruise out of Southampton and will be in Le Havre on your embarkation day.  We got this quote from Overlord Tour 9B

 

The price below is a price for a bus that holds 16 people and from their quote process I assume they take small groups until the bus is full. 

 

They are requiring full payment before confirmation email is sent which I understand because they do seem to be popular option for private tours.  All other private excursions we have booked have been "your email serves as confirmation, no deposit required" which makes me nervous so we shall see how it goes.

 

Port: Le Havre

Ship: Crown Princess

Pick-up: 8.00am at the dock

Return: 5.30-6pm at the dock

Sites to visit:

From Le Havre: Omaha beach, the American cemetery, Bayeux, Honfleur

The 2019 price for this tour is 110 Euros per person.

 

Our only concern with booking a private excursion is how crowded the whole area will be since it is so close to the 75th anniversary of D Day.

[cruising in mn]

28 minutes ago, Southern Cruise said:

 

 

 

We are on the 5/13 cruise out of Southampton and will be in Le Havre on your embarkation day.  We got this quote from Overlord Tour 9B

 

The price below is a price for a bus that holds 16 people and from their quote process I assume they take small groups until the bus is full. 

 

They are requiring full payment before confirmation email is sent which I understand because they do seem to be popular option for private tours.  All other private excursions we have booked have been "your email serves as confirmation, no deposit required" which makes me nervous so we shall see how it goes.

ry of D Day.

We are in a private van for 6. No bus for us. 

I have no idea on crowds, but we are taking private to avoid them. Also Overlord I'm told, has access to areas other tours./tour groups do not. So I'm hoping it wont be crowded. 

 

Let us know how it goes since you go 2 months before we do!  Have fun!!

[FredZiffle]

Anyone planning to rent a car may find cheaper options by going through autoeurope.co.uk .  Make sure you use the UK site.  I found a mid size sedan for $48 for our upcoming visit in 2019.  Not only was the price less than half what I was seeing at the rental agencies at the port, but they also are supposed to be meeting us in the cruise terminal.  AutoEurope is just a booking agent, so your actual rental will be from a car rental company at the port.  Ours is from Enterprise, so if no one actually meets us in the terminal (and I do question that a bit since the local Enterprise office doesn't seem to offer that perk when you book directly), I figure we can just walk the extra 10 minutes or so to the Enterprise office, which we were planning to do anyway before I discovered this site.

[CruiserBruce]

56 minutes ago, FredZiffle said:

Anyone planning to rent a car may find cheaper options by going through autoeurope.co.uk .  Make sure you use the UK site.  I found a mid size sedan for $48 for our upcoming visit in 2019.  Not only was the price less than half what I was seeing at the rental agencies at the port, but they also are supposed to be meeting us in the cruise terminal.  AutoEurope is just a booking agent, so your actual rental will be from a car rental company at the port.  Ours is from Enterprise, so if no one actually meets us in the terminal (and I do question that a bit since the local Enterprise office doesn't seem to offer that perk when you book directly), I figure we can just walk the extra 10 minutes or so to the Enterprise office, which we were planning to do anyway before I discovered this site.

 A lot of "ifs" here to be recommending something you haven't experienced yet... very cheap...wonder what you might be missing...

[FredZiffle]

31 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

 A lot of "ifs" here to be recommending something you haven't experienced yet... very cheap...wonder what you might be missing...

The only "if" I see is whether someone will be meeting us at the terminal as the reservation states.  Other than that, I'm not concerned.  Auto Europe is a well-known booking agent, so I have no reason to doubt the reservation.  As you say though, I haven't experienced it yet.