Alushar Posted April 22, 2020 #1 Share Posted April 22, 2020 Hi All hope everybody is keeping well. In these strange times we were trying to look forward to happier times and our cruise on Silhouette at end April next year. We thought we’d look at excursions Celeb to start does anybody recommend any of the trips esp the Beaches or Versailles. Our mobility isn’t great so looking for low impact. Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4774Papa Posted April 22, 2020 #2 Share Posted April 22, 2020 12 minutes ago, Alushar said: Hi All hope everybody is keeping well. In these strange times we were trying to look forward to happier times and our cruise on Silhouette at end April next year. We thought we’d look at excursions Celeb to start does anybody recommend any of the trips esp the Beaches or Versailles. Our mobility isn’t great so looking for low impact. Thanks in advance We have done cruises that stopped in Normandy (British Isles cruise) as well as in the Med. Versailles is a few miles west of Paris and easily accessible by the RER from downtown Paris. If you port in Le Harve, you have the option to take an excursion to Paris that might include Versailles. We did a wonderful excursion from Le Harve that visited Normandy. We normally do private tours, but this excursion was a long one and its price was pretty reasonable. We visited Omaha Beach, the American Cemetery, Arramanches and Gold Beach as well as Bayeux with it Cathedral and amazing Bayeux Tapestry (900 year old) that tells the story of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. I strongly recommend taking a tour or excursion of Normandy, instead of the long trip to Paris. Paris is a city that needs more than a half day tour. As for the Med, we did cruises out of Barcelona, which is a great place to spent 3-4 days prior to a cruise. If you only have one day there, don't miss Sangrada Familia, the Gaudi designed cathedral that you must see. Also, there is an ancient cathedral, old olympic park and much more. If you port in Malaga, I strongly recommend an excursion or tour to Granada to see the Alhambra. Sorry, but I was not impressed with the beaches in the MED. Perhaps Mallorca has nice beaches. In France, Marseilles is often a port, it is a bit seedy and I recommend going to visit Arles, Avignon or Aix-en-Provence. https://about-france.com/regions/south-of-france.htm Toulon is east of Marseilles and you could visit those same places as well as others. Nice, Monte Carlo and Cannes are other possible ports. If you haven't been to Monte Carlo, it is a good place to see. Also, there are other great places. One of my favorite is a small village called St. Paul de Vence. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frteach Posted April 23, 2020 #3 Share Posted April 23, 2020 Could you give more information about your cruise and the ports you will be visiting, please? I have done both ship sponsored tours, privately arranged tours, and sometimes arranged my own walking tours, not that I am as knowledgeable as many on here, but I am a planner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawkesbaynz Posted April 24, 2020 #4 Share Posted April 24, 2020 I imagine that this is the identical cruise that we were going on next Friday😥. La Coruna, Vigo, Bilbao and Le Havre. We booked some good trips to vineyards in Spain although all the towns are convenient for the port and would have been easy to walk around for a meal/tapas/wine. Paris and Versailles are quiet a distance from Le Havre. The Normandy Beaches and Bayeux are closer and there are good independent tours. As we have been to Paris & Normandy a few times we arranged a trip to a local seaside town. I looked at the Cruise Planner today and found I could still book trips although it is cancelled and the Sihouette is bobbing around off Florida rather than crossing the Atlantic. I recommend you look at the Roll Call for this years cruise to get ideas whilst it is still easily accessible on Cruise Critic. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NantahalaCruiser Posted April 26, 2020 #5 Share Posted April 26, 2020 (edited) In Bilbao, if you are into cooking classes, I highly recommend an independent tour to take a class on cooking Pintos (the Basque version of tapas.) We took this class with Irene, the owner of Northern Spain Gastronomy, last September and thoroughly enjoyed it. They pick you up and drop you back at the Cruise Terminal. Here's a link to their website: https://www.northernspaingastronomy.com/private-basque-cooking-bilbao Have a wonderful cruise Edited April 26, 2020 by NantahalaCruiser 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alushar Posted April 28, 2020 Author #6 Share Posted April 28, 2020 On 4/23/2020 at 7:28 PM, frteach said: Could you give more information about your cruise and the ports you will be visiting, please? I have done both ship sponsored tours, privately arranged tours, and sometimes arranged my own walking tours, not that I am as knowledgeable as many on here, but I am a planner. Thanks for your reply the itinerary is Bilbao overnight, Vigo, La Coruna and Le Harve We spent 5 days in Bilbao for rugby a couple of years ago and know Paris well so choice would probably be Normandy or Versailles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4774Papa Posted April 28, 2020 #7 Share Posted April 28, 2020 On 4/22/2020 at 12:36 PM, 4774Papa said: We have done cruises that stopped in Normandy (British Isles cruise) as well as in the Med. Versailles is a few miles west of Paris and easily accessible by the RER from downtown Paris. If you port in Le Harve, you have the option to take an excursion to Paris that might include Versailles. We did a wonderful excursion from Le Harve that visited Normandy. We normally do private tours, but this excursion was a long one and its price was pretty reasonable. We visited Omaha Beach, the American Cemetery, Arramanches and Gold Beach as well as Bayeux with it Cathedral and amazing Bayeux Tapestry (900 year old) that tells the story of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. I strongly recommend taking a tour or excursion of Normandy, instead of the long trip to Paris. Paris is a city that needs more than a half day tour. As for the Med, we did cruises out of Barcelona, which is a great place to spent 3-4 days prior to a cruise. If you only have one day there, don't miss Sangrada Familia, the Gaudi designed cathedral that you must see. Also, there is an ancient cathedral, old olympic park and much more. If you port in Malaga, I strongly recommend an excursion or tour to Granada to see the Alhambra. Sorry, but I was not impressed with the beaches in the MED. Perhaps Mallorca has nice beaches. In France, Marseilles is often a port, it is a bit seedy and I recommend going to visit Arles, Avignon or Aix-en-Provence. https://about-france.com/regions/south-of-france.htm Toulon is east of Marseilles and you could visit those same places as well as others. Nice, Monte Carlo and Cannes are other possible ports. If you haven't been to Monte Carlo, it is a good place to see. Also, there are other great places. One of my favorite is a small village called St. Paul de Vence. British Isles http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=221137 AMA Rhone River http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=103733 W. Med NCL Epic http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=103808 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4774Papa Posted April 29, 2020 #8 Share Posted April 29, 2020 If you are going to Vigo, the consider taking a tour to Santiago de Compostela. It is a very historical side, well worth visiting. We did a day trip from Porto, Portugal to Santiago after a Douro River Cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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