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Omaha/Normandy


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Greetings,

 

Traveling on the MSC Preziosa 9/18-9/25. Port at La Havre on 9/24 and looking without much luck for an excursion that will take us to Omaha/Normandy. Can anyone recommend a tour for this stop. So far what I have been able to find is booked solid. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

 

thank you,

Carmen

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Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

In 2012, we arranged a private tour with a total of 8 folks from our Roll Call with Overlord Tours, from Le Havre.  They were fabulous, and you'll see them highly recommended here on CC, for good reason.  (You should also search in the Ports of Call/Europe/Med/France forum for other tour operators.  Normandy is not on the Med, but the France board has plenty of info on non-Med ports, including discussion about tours of Normandy.)   Overlord books up pretty quickly.  

 

Another thing you should do is join the Roll Call for your cruise. Other guests may have set up tours and might still be looking for folks to join them.  What year is your cruise?  I just browsed through the Roll Calls for the Preziosa and there is one for a cruise starting Sept. 22, 2019 that says it's for 10 nights, so if your cruise is also in 2019, are people boarding in different ports?

 

A final option, of course, if you can't arrange a private tour, is taking a ship-sponsored tour.   And some folks might suggest that you rent a car.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

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1 hour ago, Miraed48 said:

Thank you

ship sponsored not an option aS MSC not offering the excursion we are looking for

our travel date is 9/18 to 9/25/2019 

 

  

 

I see you've found a Roll Call for your cruise.   It does not look very active; I would suggest you keeping looking for tour operators who aren't booked.  Again, do a search for Normandy here and on the France board.

 

Also, that Preziosa Roll Call I found earlier for Sept. 22, 2019 (10 nights) appears to overlap with part of your cruise.  Assuming those dates are correct, and that folks are embarking at different ports and you will all have a call at Le Havre on Sept. 24, I would also read that Roll Call and post there.

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We used Overlord tours on our recent cruise too.  It was excellent and good value.

 

We were late booking the cruise and Overlord was booked up, but they added a bus or two because there were several of us on our roll call still looking for a tour, so you might see if they will do the same for you.

 

We did have to wait a week or two to see if they got enough people to make it worthwhile.  And, it wasn't a bus but an extended type van: I think we had 8-10 people on ours.  We went to Omaha Beach, Bayeaux and Honfluer.

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Hi Carmen,

 

Because time is short, and yes D-Day tours book-out early, consider renting a car. Plenty of cruisers do.

Omaha / American cemetery is about 1hr 45mins from the ship, and many other US sights like Pointe du Hoc are only a few minutes from there.

Driving / navigation is pretty easy, and at the venues there's plenty of parking, signage & staff altho' without your own guide a bit of reading-up would improve the experience.

Comparatively inexpensive, I guess no more than €150 for rental and fuel. And half that if you're just two and find another couple to share.

I can help with suggested itineraries.

 

JB :classic_smile:

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We dock in Honfleur next year and plan on hiring a car and driving ourselves.  We can move at our own pace and not feel herded.  Even buying every bit of insurance, the rental cost and fuel will be about half the price of a shore excursion or tour.

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