All things Avalon Paris to Normandy

My DH and I have booked the September 22 Paris to Normandy cruise on the Creativity. We were able to get a Category A French balcony for an amazing price, thanks to a referral from AMD1234! We weren't planning on doing this cruise until next year but the discounted price made us reconsider. Less than 2 months away and lots of planning to do. Very excited!

What do you mean a referral? did you have a code?

AMD1234 posted information on another thread about a great deal available on Avalon's Paris to Normandy cruise. She was kind enough to post her email on that thread when I asked for more info. I was able to get a similar discount from her travel agent. I think the discount was only for this September. Are you interested in the cruise?

We are booked for this cruise, our first river cruise, and looking forward to it. we are debating the Normandy Beaches tour, but the description on the web page is pretty bleak. Does the US tour go to different beaches than the CA? Or do they just do one tour with both places? The other Normandy tour with the tapestry looks very good as well, but we have never been to the beaches and are interested in seeing them if the tour is well run. Any input?

a few other river cruise questions!

can you bring wine or liquor of your own for your room on the ship?

what type of plugs are on the ship? will I need adaptors from US?

what are the recommended tips for personnel on the boat? an guidance would be helpful! thanks so much!

Islabonita,

I see you are from the Finger Lakes; we are in Rochester. If you're willing to make the drive to Toronto (3 hours for us), Lufthansa and Air Canada have round-trip direct flights to Paris for under $636! That's half of what we would pay to fly from Rochester with multiple flights. Definitely worth the trip to Canada!

Islabonita,

I see you are from the Finger Lakes; we are in Rochester. If you're willing to make the drive to Toronto (3 hours for us), Lufthansa and Air Canada have round-trip direct flights to Paris for under $636! That's half of what we would pay to fly from Rochester with multiple flights. Definitely worth the trip to Canada!

thanks for the info, just looking at this point at river cruises, probably will do one next year

Enjoy the planning; hopefully (at least for us in the US) the dollar will remain strong!

Does the US tour go to different beaches than the CA? Or do they just do one tour with both places?

 

can you bring wine or liquor of your own for your room on the ship?

what type of plugs are on the ship? will I need adaptors from US?

what are the recommended tips for personnel on the boat? an guidance would be helpful! thanks so much!

I am signed up for this itinerary next year so can't help with the question about which beaches you visit, but from what I've read from others who have taken this trip, the Americans go to Omaha beach & the Canadians are taken to Juno beach. I'm not sure what is offered for the other nationalities that may be on board.

You can buy wine / liquor ashore to drink in your own cabin - no problem. You may also be able to enjoy on the Sky deck - it depends.

As to plugs / adapters - it may depend if you are one one of the newer Panorama ships or the older style. I know on the older style we needed adapters because the plugs were the European style. There may be US plugs on the newer ships, hopefully someone else will chime in here who has sailed on a newer ship.

Kelly

We are also going to be taken this River Cruise Sept 12. This will be our 4th River Cruise first trip with Avalon. I haven't looked at the excursions as yet..We are going with our two friends and the husband is a military veteran and I am letting him choose the day in Normandy. Usually the night before the cruise director will outline in detail what to expect. My past river cruises we didn't need an adapter but different cruise line. I am taking an adapter just in case..We will have wine and beer at lunch and dinner. I am sure it would be ok to bring liquor to your room and have a cocktail .... You can inquire when you arrive on ship..We just booked this cruise a last minute trip! You will love River Cruising.. :)

if I remember from past cruise there is a guideline somewhere in our documents that will tell you the gratuity .. Our last cruise it was with Uniworld all inclusive simply great no worries about gratuities. You can also prepay the gratuities ask your TA..

Our last cruise was on the Avalon Luminary, which is the sister ship of the Creativity. We did need to have adapters on the Luminary. We actually brought several because we had a phone, tablet, and Nook to charge. I just bought a multi-port USB charger so now I only need one adapter. If you are traveling pre or post cruise you will likely need an adapter for your hotel.

Avalon did include 'suggested' tips for the crew and cruise director in their documents. It seems like a lot, but in the end we felt that the service provided well deserved the suggested amount and gave the CD an extra tip.

sorry, I had asked the question of needing an adaptor on board ship for outlets, some of the boats need them. do we know if the Tapestry II does?

We are hoping to do the Grand France trip next spring so I was very happy to find this thread. Everyone has pretty much answered all my remaining questions. We are planning to do it northbound, ending in Paria with a 2 night extension. We did Amesterdam to Budapest this past May and loved Avalon and the entire trip!

I went on the Grand France cruise in 2010 or 2011 and loved it. I'll be taking the cruise again in October and have a chance to take different excursions than I did last time.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Hi Pat. What is your departure date in Oct? We will also be on the Grand France in Oct on the Creativity. Just wondering if we're on the same one. Looks like from your previous cruises, you really like Avalon! That's good to know, as this is our first Avalon.

I went on the Grand France cruise in 2010 or 2011 and loved it. I'll be taking the cruise again in October and have a chance to take different excursions than I did last time.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I am on the October 20th cruise. I chose this because I wanted to do a wine-themed cruise. Yes, I love Avalon and already have my 2016 cruise booked (Vienna to the Black Sea) for August.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I'm sorry we won't be traveling together this time! We will be ending our tour about the time you start yours.The wine-themed cruise does sound interesting. Do you remember much about the ships, Creativity and Scenery?Were there excursions you wish you would had not taken, or would have preferred you had taken? Anything in particular we should be aware of ahead of time about the ship, staff, October weather or excursions? Thank you.

I am on the October 20th cruise. I chose this because I wanted to do a wine-themed cruise. Yes, I love Avalon and already have my 2016 cruise booked (Vienna to the Black Sea) for August.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The ships are older but beautifully maintained. I just signed up for several excursions for my trip. On the last cruise I took tours that my late husband wanted to take. This time I signed up for ones I wanted. Both times I was on the Paris by Evening and the Montmartre tours. I love the artist area of Montmartre and Sacre Cour church. In Lyon I saw very little of the city so this time I've signed up for the Maison des Canuts tour. In Avignon I've signed up for the Pont du Gard tour. Arles has two tours I want to see. One is to visit the olive region and the other is the Van Gogh trip.

As this is a wine cruise we will have some onboard lectures, etc. I'm really excited about this trip. So much to see.

The Normandy area will have cooler temps than southern France. Hope to miss the rain, though.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Pat - please come back to this thread after your trip and let us know how your optional excursions are. As stated, I'm going on this in late May 2016 and am really looking forward to it. I enjoy the planning so much - it really helps to build anticipation.

Kelly

I'll share my experiences after I return. I am back in town November 4 and will try to post afterwards or perhaps from the ship in the evenings.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thank you for your response and input! Your suggestions are thoughtful ones too. Have a good trip, as we intend, also;) Looking forward to it!!

The ships are older but beautifully maintained. I just signed up for several excursions for my trip. On the last cruise I took tours that my late husband wanted to take. This time I signed up for ones I wanted. Both times I was on the Paris by Evening and the Montmartre tours. I love the artist area of Montmartre and Sacre Cour church. In Lyon I saw very little of the city so this time I've signed up for the Maison des Canuts tour. In Avignon I've signed up for the Pont du Gard tour. Arles has two tours I want to see. One is to visit the olive region and the other is the Van Gogh trip.

 

As this is a wine cruise we will have some onboard lectures, etc. I'm really excited about this trip. So much to see.

 

The Normandy area will have cooler temps than southern France. Hope to miss the rain, though.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

folks going to Pont du Gard: here is my photo tip!

when you get near the bridge, you will be on a sidewalk with the bridge appearing on your left.

Go past (not over) the bridge and then turn to the left and go down the bank towards the water. Get to the bottom and then look up to the left....there is the bridge and it makes a wonderful picture!

I am not much of a photographer but love getting suggestions! Thanks!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

We recently were able to access our trip information online and are trying to pick excursions. Has anyone taken the Honfleur excursion? Was it worth the cost? I assume the alternative is having the afternoon is free Caudebec. Is there much to see there? Trying to decide between the trip to Honfleur or relaxing in town.

Is the evening drive around Paris worthwhile? We are going to be in Paris for 3 days pre-cruise and are looking at doing an evening cruise on the Seine instead.

We were delighted to read that our cruise director is Nynke, the same CD we had on our Danube cruise. She was very professional and helpful and had a great sense of humor! Very pleased to see we will have her again.

Thanks in advance for any advice; we're getting very excited about our trip!:D

We recently were able to access our trip information online and are trying to pick excursions. Has anyone taken the Honfleur excursion? Was it worth the cost? I assume the alternative is having the afternoon is free Caudebec. Is there much to see there? Trying to decide between the trip to Honfleur or relaxing in town.

 

Is the evening drive around Paris worthwhile? We are going to be in Paris for 3 days pre-cruise and are looking at doing an evening cruise on the Seine instead.

 

We were delighted to read that our cruise director is Nynke, the same CD we had on our Danube cruise. She was very professional and helpful and had a great sense of humor! Very pleased to see we will have her again.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice; we're getting very excited about our trip!:D

I haven't done this cruise, but we are heading over the pond in less than a week for a fly-drive along with a Rhone cruise and I have been researching Paris like crazy. Here's what I have gleaned (and based my own travel plans on):

Honfleur is a charming little port town and well worth the excursion. Some few Seine cruises are actually able to dock there, and get extra-good reviews for doing so. Haven't found anything about Caudebec, suspect it is just the closest your ship can get to Honfleur. I would therefore consider this excursion an excellent choice. [We're staying in Honfleur the night between Giverny and Mont St-Michel on our fly-drive.]

Paris at night is magical. Rick Steves suggests both a Seine cruise and a "Floodlit Paris Taxi Tour" [see his Paris book pp 533-536] I would recommend you take the ship's evening drive and still do a Seine cruise. We are also taking a "skip the line" tour of the Eiffel Tower at 5:30pm, which will allow us stay up top and watch the sunset. At the very least, head for the Arc de Triomphe after dark to see that plus the Eiffel Tower all lit up in their Sunday clothes!

Jazz,

Thanks for the comments! I think we will follow your suggestions. I've been leaning toward Honfleur, if only to see the town where so many great artists have found inspiration. Monet is my favorite artist so the visit to Giverny will be a highlight for me.

It never occurred to me to do both the boat and bus nighttime tour! I guess the views would be different. We will be in Paris 3 nights before the cruise, so we'll have time to do the river cruise.

Have a great time on your land/cruise tour!

'