CroisiEurope France

[Korimako]

I'm thinking of a river cruise next year in France with CroisiEurope. I'd be grateful for any opinions and information from anyone who has sailed in France with this company.

TIA. 

[Queen of my Heart]

I have been on a Croisi Europe ship in France that was chartered to another company. All the crew were CE but the Cruise Directing staff were from the contracting company. I can honestly say that, based on my experience, I wouldn't touch either with a bargepole again. I'm not sure how much more I should say in an open forum such as this.

[ljandgb]

We did a Croisi river cruise down the Rhine.  Not exactly what you were asking, but my general impression was ok.  Very clean ship, exceedingly pleasant staff. The decor was a bit out of date and it was not fancy, shiny like some of the ships we rafted to and walked thru. It was 75% French and 25% English speaking (our tour group and one set of Canadians.)  If you are picky about food, you will have few options.  No menu choices for dinner, just the entree of the evening.  You can have the alternate chicken breast if you notify them that morning after looking at the planned meal.

 

Because we were on a group tour thru Road Scholar, we had our own tour bus and guides for excursions.  I'm not sure what the Canadians did about the excursions.  The announcements were all in French first, rapidly followed by English, sometimes so fast it took a few seconds to realize they'd switched languages.

 

The second to last night, they had a crew talent show.  It was corny, but sweet, and felt a bit like I was watching my kids' friends put on a show.

 

Overall, I might do a Croisi cruise again, for the right place and right itinerary.

 

 

[Korimako]

Queen of my Heart - could you possibly hint at what you found unacceptable? Was it the organisation, the food, the language??
If you feel you can't reply on here, my email is

pm 12 wbt - at - hot mail dot co dot nz

No spaces

Thank you

 

ljandgb

Could you give me some examples of the (lack of) food choice??

Thank you

[ljandgb]

I'll preface all of this with the fact that this was my first river cruise.  I've since been on one with Avalon, but initially had nothing to compare with it except a few ocean cruises which are intrinsically different beasts.  I also will eat almost anything.  I'm not picky other than I like quality ingredients, freshly prepared.

 

On Avalon, there would be a menu for dinner that gave you a choice of two appetizers, two soups, 3-4 entrees (usually beef, fish, vegetarian, and something else), and usually 2 desserts.  Croisi would have no choices.  You get the appetizer, soup, entree, and dessert of the night.  Like I mentioned, you could check that evening's menu ahead of time and request a chicken breast, which my husband did a few times.  I believe they are known for their attention to regional cuisine, and since this was the Rhine, there was a lot of pork and beef.  One night was sausage night.  Dinner was a giant pile of sauerkraut covered in several different sausages and topped with a meatball.  I'm a quasi-vegetarian simply because I prefer veggies and struggled the entire time to find enough green veggies to eat.  (I don't usually order vegetarian because it often results in big plates of carbs - pasta, rice, potatoes - instead of actual vegetables, beans for protein, etc.)  One night dessert was stinky cheese.  I have no idea exactly what cheese, but only a couple of our group ate it while the French tables were calling for seconds. LOL

 

Overall the food was good, and I made do with scavenging garnishes and unwanted salad components from my husband.  I just would have preferred to be able to have a bit more control over what I ate.  For someone who has limited food preferences, it would have been hard, or at the least really boring after their 12th dinner of chicken breast.

 

[Korimako]

Thank you ljandgb

 

Having travelled and lived in Europe, France in particular, the 'stinky cheese' dessert would have had me asking for seconds too, as I prefer cheese to sweet desserts anyway! I'm also quite happy with the  'menu du jour' aspect.

If they still focus on regional cuisine, then a cruise in France would be fine, as I cannot think of any French regional cuisine which would be a problem for me, with the possible exception of andouillettes.

Thank you for replying so fully - nothing you have said would put me off booking with them. This is a good example of the usefulness of the CC boards.

Thanks again

K

[Nikita4]

We traveled with CroisiEurope in France and Germany before Covid. We are a Swiss family and we speak French, so no problem for us.
It's really a french company and the language is French and the food also. We like french food and stinky cheese and we like the cruise with CroisiEurope. 
But if you don' t speak french, I don't cruise with them, the biggest part of the quests are French or people they speak French.
 

[Queen of my Heart]

12 hours ago, Korimako said:

Queen of my Heart - could you possibly hint at what you found unacceptable? Was it the organisation, the food, the language??
If you feel you can't reply on here, my email is

pm 12 wbt - at - hot mail dot co dot nz

No spaces

Thank you

 

ljandgb

Could you give me some examples of the (lack of) food choice??

Thank you

Hi. I am sending you a separate message via email. Joanne

[ljandgb]

You're welcome.  I'd be interested to know what Queen did not like, just for the sake of knowing my options.  I wouldn't be against Croisi cruise in France, but it's not high on my priority list right now.  But having since done the Avalon cruise, I can see how some would be put off by Croisi's mode of operation and decor.

[Queen of my Heart]

1 hour ago, ljandgb said:

You're welcome.  I'd be interested to know what Queen did not like, just for the sake of knowing my options.  I wouldn't be against Croisi cruise in France, but it's not high on my priority list right now.  But having since done the Avalon cruise, I can see how some would be put off by Croisi's mode of operation and decor.

Hi. I've given the original poster some details but I suppose it boiled down to staff attitude and helpfulness when there was a problem. The food was poor quality and cabins pretty basic.  Admittedly it was in 2021 when covid was raging but I was deeply unimpressed with CE and the British contracting river cruise company.

[CastleCritic]

5 hours ago, Queen of my Heart said:

Hi. I've given the original poster some details but I suppose it boiled down to staff attitude and helpfulness when there was a problem. The food was poor quality and cabins pretty basic.  Admittedly it was in 2021 when covid was raging but I was deeply unimpressed with CE and the British contracting river cruise company.

Having done a cruise on another company in 2021(AMA, 2 really if you count US river cruises), thats not an excuse for a bad cruise, unhelpful staff, and especially bad food.

Edited July 15, 2023 by CastleCritic

[Korimako]

13 hours ago, Nikita4 said:

We traveled with CroisiEurope in France and Germany before Covid. We are a Swiss family and we speak French, so no problem for us.
It's really a french company and the language is French and the food also. We like french food and stinky cheese and we like the cruise with CroisiEurope. 
But if you don' t speak french, I don't cruise with them, the biggest part of the quests are French or people they speak French.
 

Thank you. That's exactly what I was hoping to hear! I do speak fluent French and I was hoping to hear that the majority of guests were Francophone and that the food was what I would expect in France.

[ljandgb]

23 hours ago, Queen of my Heart said:

Hi. I've given the original poster some details but I suppose it boiled down to staff attitude and helpfulness when there was a problem. The food was poor quality and cabins pretty basic.  Admittedly it was in 2021 when covid was raging but I was deeply unimpressed with CE and the British contracting river cruise company.

 Thanks. I'll say that the crew on our cruise was delightful.  Truly very nice, and we quite enjoyed them.  The cabins, as well as the ship, were basic, and a tad run down at the edges, but very clean.  As my first river cruise I had no expectations, but after walking thru a Tauck ship while rafted all I could think of was "Shiny!" LOL. All that polished brass, crystal, marble, etc.  Croisi is definitely not looking to wow you in the decor department.

[aquafit]

On 7/14/2023 at 1:30 PM, Queen of my Heart said:

I have been on a Croisi Europe ship in France that was chartered to another company. All the crew were CE but the Cruise Directing staff were from the contracting company. I can honestly say that, based on my experience, I wouldn't touch either with a bargepole again. I'm not sure how much more I should say in an open forum such as this.

Hello, I'm staying on the MS Seine Princess in November...looking for information and not finding much detail, was it this one that you sailed on please?

[Queen of my Heart]

Hi. No, I was on the van Gogh on the Rhône. I've had a swift look at the deck plans and there seems to be a similar layout. I found that the access to the restaurant at the back of the shop meant that everyone had to walk past the cabins on that deck as they went to and fro. In consequence, it could be noisy.