Booking MSC Splendida Shore Excursion to Paris

Hello,

I'm a newbie at cruises and will be going on the MSC Splendida September 28 cruise. We will be docking at the port of Le Havre along the way.

My parents would love to visit Paris but we're too nervous to travel on our own such a long distance so we are looking into one of MSC's least expensive Paris excursions: 'HAV05 'PARIS SIGHTSEEING TOUR.' From what I've read on their website, we'll have 2 hours of free time near Place de la Concorde. Not much details except that there would be a stop at the Eiffel Tower and 'other lovely parts of Paris' on the way back.

Has anyone experienced MSC excursions to Paris? Or any other MSC excursions in general? Any good or bad experiences to share?

Should we book online or can we book the excursion on-board?

Thank you for your help!:)

Let me first start with saying i have never done a Paris excursion (live to close to Paris)...

But you don't mention how long your stop is going to be in Le Havre.

And with how may people are you in total?

Are you to nervous to go on a excursion with a private driver??

I just checked your excursion options:

I would choose to go with the middle priced one, Dreaming Paris full day with packed lunch.

Here are my motivations to why:

The price difference isn't that huge between the tours and from what i understand with your tour is that you drive around get 2 hours of free time (that must include lunch on your own) and a stop at the Eiffel Tower (think 10 minutes for photo stop).

The tour i suggest has 1.5 hours of free time and you have a packed lunch so you can eat in the bus while driving around.

Plus you get a panoramic drive thru Paris and get a guided tour of Sorbonne and Jardin Luxembourg so you get the feeling of real Paris.

And as the kicker of this tour you get to see the Notre Dame inside included in this tour.

On your tour you have todo that in your free time and the lines can be long and it's sooo worth seeing it inside!!!

We have only one day docking at Le Have. There are four of us and I guess don't really mind a private driver. Thank yvet for the good points;I will look into that other tour also.

We have only one day docking at Le Have. There are four of us and I guess don't really mind a private driver. Thank yvet for the good points;I will look into that other tour also.

It's about a two and a half Hour drive from Le Havre to Paris. The risk in taking a private tour is that if you are delayed for any reason and miss the embarkation time the ship WILL leave without you. However with a tour booked through MSC the ship will wait for that tours arrival.

It happened on one cruise we were on that one of the tour coaches was over an hour late getting back to the ship but the ship waited for it.

For "local tours" around the city that we port in we prefer private tours (usually use Tours by Locals) but when the travel distance is that great I would not risk it. Also travel insurance would not cover the cost of getting to the next port of call, which is what you would have to do to re-join the ship.

Did you end up booking the MSC tour? If so, how was it?

Did you end up booking the MSC tour? If so, how was it?

Yes, we ended up booking with MSC's 'HAV05 'Paris Sightseeing Tour' which is basically transportation to/from Paris and two hours of free time there.

On the way to Paris, the bus had a tour guide that spoke English and another language (I have forgotten which but the buses are organized by language spoken). There's a bathroom break on the way to Paris at a convenience store. Once in Paris, there was a 30-minute stop at the Eiffel Tower where you can hop off and take pictures. The bus drove us pass the Arc de Triomphe, the Louve, and Notre Dame. We sat on the right side of the bus (if you face the seats when you first enter bus) and got a nice view of all those sights. The bus dropped us off by the Pont Alexandre III for the 2-hour free time. The tour guide stayed back in Paris once she took a count of everyone after the two-hours- so the bus ride back to the ship was guide-less.

All in all, a very quick introduction to Paris for first-time visitors. It will definitely not be enough time for you to explore Paris but if you are just looking to get a feel for the city and are willing to take in the sights of famous landmarks from inside the bus, this is the tour you can choose to go with. Expect the excursion to be mostly a bus ride (~3 hours each way)! We are actually planning to visit Paris again after seeing how beautiful it is. Hope this helps!

Thank you so much!