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CroisiEurope River Cruise in the Provence Region of France


terry&mike
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I'll be trying out a river cruise on CroisiEurope in October, so I wanted to do a post, as there is not much information available on these boards in regards to Croisi. I'll start with some basic information, booking information, and other details first, and then add more information once our travels start. 

 

By way of background on us, we are a husband and wife, retired, living in Florida, ages 59 and 64. We are fortunate to take several international trips a year, and often combine land trips with some type of cruise. I love planning and research, and we do a lot of independent traveling. We have visited more than 100 countries on all 7 continents, and have sailed river cruises/barge cruises 10 times in the past on several different lines, and over 30  ocean cruises. 

 

We have never sailed with CroisiEurope, but have long wanted to give them a try, as their prices are reasonable and they have some interesting itineraries. Croisi offers canal barge cruises, river cruises, and coastal sailing ships. They are a French company and have many itineraries in France, as well as other destinations. 

 

The sailing we have booked with Croisi is on the Rhone River, in the Provence region of France, and sails from Lyon heading south to the coast, departing on October 25, 2024. It is named "A Trip to Admire the Beautiful Scenery of the Rhone Valley", and is 5 nights duration (most of their sailings are 5-10 nights). We've had this region of France on our wish list for quite a bit, having visited neighboring regions of France and enjoyed them. We are sailing on the Van Gogh II, which is rated as 5 Anchors by Croisi, their top ranking. We are in Cabin 218, an Upper Deck cabin. For passengers in the U.S. market, the inclusions are drinks with meals and at the bar, tours, and wifi. 

 

This river cruise was not part of our original plan on this trip, but a special offer got my attention. Our original plan had us departing the U.S. on October 8, spending a week in an apartment in Malaga, Spain, then 9 nights in apartments in Valencia, Spain, then a week in an apartment in Trieste, Italy, then a flight back to Spain to board a 12 day transatlantic cruise sailing Barcelona to Miami, and home. In mid-June I received an email from Croisi with some very attractive rates on several river cruises that were departing in the next few months. One of those offerings was in an area we had been wanting to sail, Provence, and fit right into the time period we were scheduled to stay in Trieste. I decided to cancel the Trieste stay, and book the river cruise. We'll keep the front end of our trip as it was, and then fly from Valencia to Marseille, France (because there was a direct flight), spend one night in Marseille, train to Lyon day of and board the ship, then after the sailing stay 2 nights in a hotel in Lyon, fly on to Barcelona for 1 night, and sail the transatlantic cruise home. 

 

Booking the cruise was not difficult, but had a few quirks. The web site takes a bit of study to locate the different offerings and read through the options, and several of the sailings appear to be listed multiple times but are actually slightly different variations. They also offer you a shorter list initially, about 1 page, and you'll want to click the button at the bottom "See All Cruises" to return all the options. I found it best to use a computer to look at the offerings, and make a written list of the specifics to keep them straight. I also focused only on the 5 Anchor offerings, which my research had led me to understand would be more suitable for us. During booking, I was able to choose between Main Deck or Upper Deck, but not a specific cabin. I chose Upper Deck, and when I received my invoice, cabin 218 had been assigned. I paid a 25% deposit via credit card, with the balance due 90 days before sailing. At time of booking I received an email with confirmation documents, a document with ship details, and a document about the sailing itinerary itself. 

 

During booking, I was also able to choose my excursions, which were included at no extra cost. Croisi offers both Classic excursions and Discovery  excursions, I chose a mix. Later, on September 9 I recieved an email marked "Urgent Notice" from Croisi cancelling my Discovery excursion of a "Hike along the Pont du Gard" due to lack of interest, and saying they had automatically booked me on the Classic excursion of a "Guided Tour of Avignon and the Papal Palace". This was slightly disapointing as we love a hike, but no big deal.  

 

On September 23, about a month before boarding, I received an email from Croisi containing our Boarding Passes, Tour Vouchers, information on where the ship will be docked in Lyon along with directions, contact information, information on what to expect onboard, what to wear, and so on. A surprise for us was the phrase in regards to suggested dinner attire as "Semi Formal". We are used to river cruises being one step down from Semi Formal, more along the lines of Country Club Casual, and I have a feeling that is actually what will take place. Either way, we are fine, I am like MacGyver with a scarf, and hubby will have a sport coat handy, so no worries. 

 

I will attach the document that is a booklet of the sailing itinerary and information named "CroisiRhone", and I will attach the document that is the details of the ship named "CroisiVanGogh".

 

Feel free to ask any questions, and I'll try to answer. 

 

 

CroisiRhone.pdf CroisiVanGogh.pdf

Edited by terry&mike
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Looking forward to following along.  We have done the Rhône on AMA and are about to book a return visit on Tauck for 2026, but like you have been intrigued by Croisi so it will be interesting to see how you like their approach.

 

One note:  PDFs don't work on Cruise Critic.  I believe you could put a link to a google drive or some other cloud storage [although I haven't tried this]

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3 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

One note:  PDFs don't work on Cruise Critic.  I believe you could put a link to a google drive or some other cloud storage [although I haven't tried this]

I didn’t realize this. Thanks for the tip. 

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terry&mike-  Hope you have a great trip.  Good job being flexible and grabbing that nice price.  I've looked at Croisi in the past for some of their unique routes, looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

 

I looked up the cruise you're on, and noticed that boarding isn't until 1800 the first day.  We're sailing with Riviera on Monday, and boarding with them isn't until 1700.  This must be a European line thing, as it give the bulk of their customers the day to make the shorter trip (contrasting to the North American leaning lines I've sailed with, where they'll typically have a light lunch on, with cabins ready around 1300/1400).

 

Looking forward to all the other little differences.

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8 hours ago, ural guy said:

 

 

I looked up the cruise you're on, and noticed that boarding isn't until 1800 the first day.  We're sailing with Riviera on Monday, and boarding with them isn't until 1700.  This must be a European line thing, as it give the bulk of their customers the day to make the shorter trip (contrasting to the North American leaning lines I've sailed with, where they'll typically have a light lunch on, with cabins ready around 1300/1400).

 

Looking forward to all the other little differences.

Our boarding documents have our Boarding Time as 4:00pm (1600). 

 

You are probably right as to the why, since most of their guests are coming from Europe.

 

This time works well for us, as we will be coming from Marseille. It allows us to have a relaxed morning, and take the train 11:54a-1:23p into Lyon St Exupery TGV station. From there we'll take the RhonExpress shuttle train to Lyon Part-Dieu station in town. Next we'll take the tram to the Quai Claude Bernard stop (or walk about 36 minutes). This should have us arriving at the ship around 2:45pm, give or take. 

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11 hours ago, ural guy said:

This must be a European line thing, as it give the bulk of their customers the day to make the shorter trip

I think it is indeed typical as most people have a short flight, a car journey under 8 hours or a train journey under 8 hours to get to the ship. that covers the vast majority of the clientele. I would struggle to get to Lyon of course by car but a flight is very feasible and doable. With time zone delay out the way (same time zone or one hour or two hours maximum difference), logistics can be handled differently. CroisiEurope's agent in Germany offers a coach ride with overnight stay for example.

 

I went to Passau by train. I left about 7 in the morning and was there at about three in the afternoon, perfectly early for the  - I think - 16.45pm departure of the Belvedere.

 

A pity about Pont du Gard. For me this is one of the most memorable things of any stay in France as regards sights to see (perhaps topped by Mont St. Michel). I am a fan of old stones.😁

Looking forward to reports. Great details so far. Very helpful.

 

Have a great cruise @terry&mike.

 

notamermaid

 

 

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Looking forward to your review, especially menus - fussy eater here. 🙂 I have 2 cruises that look interesting that I would be interested in, and just found another one.... I have to stop looking!

 

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I agree about Pont du Gard being a "don't miss."  You might consider renting a car in Avignon and doing it on your own – which would allow you to enjoy both the info center and hike/mosey around the bridge itself at your own pace.

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4 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

So they taunt you with a picture of Pont du Gard, but then won't take you there!  😮

Yes, we were able to book the Pont du Gard tour in mid-June, when we did our original booking. On September 9, I received this email from Croisi:  

 

Our head office notified us today that due to a lack of participants, the proposed Discovery Excursion: Hike along the Pont du Gard and visit the museum (day 2 of the cruise)  is canceled.

All guests will join the Classic Excursion: Guided tour of Avignon and the Papal Palace.

 

I'm thinking there could be a small chance that once onboard the tour gains life again, in case some guests didn't reserve their tours in advance. Either way, we'll be fine, as we can find interest in most anything. 

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3 hours ago, terry&mike said:

Yes, we were able to book the Pont du Gard tour in mid-June, when we did our original booking. On September 9, I received this email from Croisi:  

 

Our head office notified us today that due to a lack of participants, the proposed Discovery Excursion: Hike along the Pont du Gard and visit the museum (day 2 of the cruise)  is canceled.

All guests will join the Classic Excursion: Guided tour of Avignon and the Papal Palace.

 

I'm thinking there could be a small chance that once onboard the tour gains life again, in case some guests didn't reserve their tours in advance. Either way, we'll be fine, as we can find interest in most anything. 

Ah, I think I see the problem.  They were offering the special tour that takes you across the Pont du Gard on its upper level (in the water channel, which is now dry).  That requires a special guide with permission to unlock the entry to the channel, and therefore can't run unless there are enough participants.  Our cruise didn't offer that specialized hike, and reviews on Cruise Critic from those who have done it were mixed at best.

 

Too bad they didn't offer a more general-interest excursion to walk around the base of Pont du Gard and visit the museum.  That should have generated more interest, particularly if the Cruise Director talks it up onboard.

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Today we were notified by Ryanair that our direct flight on Thursday, October 24, from Valencia to Marseilles was cancelled. We were given the option to rebook with no fees, or receive a refund.

 

We weren't much interested in a refund, as our total cost for 2 passengers, with seats and 1 checked bag each, and FastTrack, was $123.01 usd.

 

There wasn't another Ryanair itinerary for October 24 from Valencia to Marseilles, so we considered some other routes. In the end, we decided to take the direct flight from Valencia to Marseilles a day earlier, on Wednesday, October 23. Making the change on Ryanair's website was simple, and involved logging in, accessing this booking, and following a few steps to change to another flight, with immediate confirmation on the new flight, plus all of the perks we had purchased before.

 

Then we booked an extra hotel night in Marseille. 

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Posted (edited)

Okay stupid here, having never read the ‘always flexible expression’ I really did look for a contributor with that name dahhhhhhhh I know I’m ageing but at least I can learn new expressions. Thank you ural guy.

Edited by Canal archive
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My brother was a US Marine.  Their motto is Semper Fidelis, or always faithful.

 

When I joined the Army, he told me that it should have been Semper Gumby, always flexible.  That advice served me well.

 

Gumby was a toy from kids cartons, you could stretch him, bend him, whatever.  And he stays good as gold, ready for the next encounter.

 

Screenshot2024-10-0512_24_10PM.png.314f990940fa15a4f6d84b9f9287249a.png

 

Bringing it back to Croisi, saw the Vivaldi on the river a few hours back.  I like the looks of the raked bow, looks like it's ready for business.

 

PXL_20241005_074719228.thumb.jpg.616d9e05c0f264d3a4c80279a26ebf81.jpg

 

 

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5 hours ago, ural guy said:

Semper Gumby, always flexible.  Hope the new routing works out and you have a great cruise.

That's a great phrase, especially in regards to travel. I like it!

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On 10/5/2024 at 3:26 AM, ural guy said:

My brother was a US Marine.  Their motto is Semper Fidelis, or always faithful.

 

When I joined the Army, he told me that it should have been Semper Gumby, always flexible.  That advice served me well.

 

Gumby was a toy from kids cartons, you could stretch him, bend him, whatever.  And he stays good as gold, ready for the next encounter.

 

Screenshot2024-10-0512_24_10PM.png.314f990940fa15a4f6d84b9f9287249a.png

 

Bringing it back to Croisi, saw the Vivaldi on the river a few hours back.  I like the looks of the raked bow, looks like it's ready for business.

 

PXL_20241005_074719228.thumb.jpg.616d9e05c0f264d3a4c80279a26ebf81.jpg

 

 

It looks cute and fun. 

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We live in Bradenton, Florida, and currently have the large and powerful Hurricane Milton headed our way. We are scheduled to fly out tomorrow at 11:44am, and our airport is scheduled to close at 4:00pm for the storm. Fingers crossed that the flight isn’t cancelled, and that we get out and on our way. 

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The spirit of Semper Gumby continues. Our flight out of Sarasota today was cancelled yesterday evening. Hurricane Milton is a serious one and headed to our home. 
 

At first, we rescheduled our flight for Saturday. We both woke up today and realized that we needed to evacuate, and also that it is doubtful local airports would be operational by Saturday. 
 

We pulled things together quickly and hit the road, in extreme traffic with all of Florida, and headed towards Charlotte, North Carolina. 
 

As I write this, we’ve been on the road 10 hours, with a couple more to go. We have secured a direct flight out of Charlotte for tomorrow night in to Madrid. We’ll then either train or take an AirEuropa flight on to Malaga. If all goes well, we’ll arrive one day late to our Airbnb. 
 

As our trip is 5.5 weeks, the off airport parking in Charlotte will be a hefty bill, and will require a flight back there to retrieve the car and drive it home at the end. Given that we are out of harms way, and will be able to go forward with our trip, we feel it’s money well spent. 
 

Please send good energy that our house does well in this storm. 

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