davidrw

When I was on an Avalon boat this year, the captain explained that they had some control over draft as they used ballast tanks to change their draft (ie go up or down a bit).

When going under a Saone bridge they also banned us from the lower sun deck due to heights which was unusual as normally that is open even when the sun deck is closed - that was pretty tight.

(3) I was told that you can't buy the electronic pass unless you have a French address.

Bottom line--if you are from the US (or Canada, I presume) you must have cash for the French tollbooths.

The good news for the Brits is that we can buy a French pass.

https://www.saneftolling.co.uk/

And other close Neighbours can buy on https://www.bipandgo.com/en/nos-offres/a-la-carte

It is strange that more French drivers seem to prefer the queue to sailing through with the pass !

However please ignore me and enjoy your holiday. I look forward to your reviews of the food on board.

Since there was no staff at the toll booths, I presume there were machines that took your cash? I've had that problem in the States, when there was no way to pay cash at all so if you didn't have a transponder you were out of luck. Do they have transponders in France? Could you have got your car equipped with one? I know they do this in Portugal, for instance.

Most times you will find a manned booth, it is only late at night or small exits that may be unmanned and you will always be able to pay cash - though sometimes no change is provided.

France does have an electronic pass which works on all motorways, toll bridges and some car parks, however I don't think that it is available for short term hire. I have a pass as in a 200 mile stretch from Calais to my apartment in Normandy there are 7 points to either take a ticket or pay !

If you need to know French tolls in advance, plan the route on the viamichelin site (http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/) - it will tell you every time that you need to get a ticket and how much you need to pay at each toll booth.

Note that motorways often become free when they are a bypass to a major city. There is a way of telling the difference between a free one and a toll one one some maps.

We saw a bunch of Viking tour groups going through Rouen today. They were all going in the same direction, on each other's heels. Not good spacing to avoid congestion. .

We were in Bayeaux last week having spent the night there and saw a tired looking group under an Avalon flag at 9:30 in the morning outside the tapestry - I don't know what time they left their ship !

Normandy at leisure is definitely the best way !

Mind you, when I was in Paris in July at the end of a trip, I overhead a fellow traveler ask if they could get a private day tour to Mont St Michel (and that is at the western border of Normandy !)

I I would be unhappy if I was waiting for a holiday and I was told my flight and my cruise was cancelled. That would suck. Give me a couple of hours on the internet, I could come up with an awesome itinerary.

 

jc

However, what if your cruise was running but all flights to Northern Europe were cancelled for a week (like when the Iceland Volcano grounded everything) or after 9/11 when the US grounded everything ?

To be honest, it is best to view a Yangstee cruise as part of a China experience and it is better to look at the whole package.

We did a 3 week China tour with a specialised company of which 3 nights was on a Yangstee cruise.

It was a great holiday.

My post will remain unchanged, Emerald were wrong, they have accepted they were wrong and they have put it right and all the facts are available for everyone read

Totally agree, it is better to see things as they happen at the time.

And can we be a bit nicer to each other ?

October is basically variable in Northern France, as others have said take layers - I am not so sure about the umbrella as it can get windy !

Remember that in Europe the clocks go back on the last Sunday in October and in Northern France can get dark at about 6 pm then.

I usually go to Normandy at the end of October (I have a flat there) and it is fine - but changeable !

and if you meant 'how do I walk to the station'

Turn right out of the front entrance, go to the end of the road.

Gaite is visible on the right.

An entrance to Gare Montparnasse is just before the end of the road on the left.

However Avalon and Ama have desks at the hotel in addition to the standard concierge staff

The simplest station is Gaite as that is a simple station and not a rabbit warren like the Gare Montparnasse.

Options are either Gaite line 13 direction St Lazare change at Invalides, or Gare Montparnasse line 6 Direction CDG Etoille change at Bir Hakeim.

It is very simple and if you go to the Information desk at Gaite, they have a number of free maps - A good one is map 2!

I think that the answer depends on local consumer laws and what your insurance covers.

For example in the UK, if you buy the air ticket and tour from one company that is a package and they are liable for delivering it all & there are strict compensation and protection rules.

When Northern Europe was closed for a couple of weeks due to the Iceland Volcanos, people with separate deals found themselves liable to pay for a holiday that they could not go on.

For an expensive holiday, I will always buy inclusive flights, however will normally specify exactly which ones that I want.

UPDATE. It is now 5 days later and Viking has still not updated it's website with the cancellation!!!!

Also, there is almost no chance of a cruise in this area for the rest of the year. We found 1 cabin on an Aug. 3rd departure in Eastern Europe. The starting price was almost exactly the starting price of our original cruise. Great, right, since we got a full refund and a $1000 each discount on a future cruise. Oh no. We got a good deal on our original booking but now that refund plus the discount leaves us $3,000!!!! SHORT for the new cruise. Bottom line, refund plus discount will NOT get us a replacement cruise!!!

It is worth checking with a couple of other tour companies before giving up, prices are based on availability and someone may have some gaps to fill.

We are on the Rinda Oct. 19. The main reason I wanted to do this cruise was for the Normandy tour. Is it possible to book a private tour so we can see more of the area and skip the ship's tour?

Thank you for any suggestions.

It depends on what options you have time wise and what you want to see in Normandy - if you just want a landing beach experience the included tour is probably ok and will involve a fair bit of travel.

Normandy is not far from Paris and there are a number of transport options if you are able to do it before or after your cruise. The enclosed link for the Calvados Tourist board gives a good idea of the things that Normandy offers (http://www.calvados-tourisme.co.uk/en/).

.... Europe has much to be grateful for.

mmm I am not so sure of that

Don't know why they didn't tell is sooner.

I think that is a deliberate tactic.

When I got stuck in the German lock strikes a couple of years ago the CD remained cheerful, however she went somewhere quiet and spent a day on her phone whilst we were out on outings.

An hour after we were due to sail she made an announcement "You will have noticed that we have not moved, please attend a meeting in an hour""

At least that way most people could relax (I didn't as I had been following the news on the BB) and she had the options available when she talked to us.

It is a bit of a trick question as a lot of cruises go on multiple rivers. When we did Budapest to Amsterdam my favourite part of it for scenery and towns was the Main as the Rhine and Danube are big and busy!

On a recent Rhone / Saone trip, the Saone was a more pleasant river.

It really depends what you are looking for:-

Large Destination towns versus quaint small ones

Superb coach trips to great destinations versus a stroll from the boat.

Sailing along a lovely river with very few boats in site versus your 10th lock of the day.

However all river cruises are great fun and the small numbers on the boat leads to a relaxed friendly environment.

As to cruise lines, read the brochures to see whether they emphasise what is important to you and then read this BB to see any downsides !!

Interesting to note that Disney came top in the Mega Ship Ocean Category.

I just feel that the survey has no value & I am sure that most cruisers on every river boat have a great time.

I am sure that I won't be influenced by the survey to sail on a mickey mouse operation.

I should add that on the new ship we get the same room,the program director and I think the hotel director go with us,and we only pay gratuities once,at the end of the cruise.

I imagine that the hotel director will stay as they manage the hotel team, however the program director will definitely go with you.

Spare a thought for the crew of the 2 ships that will have to do a lot of extra cleaning / bag moving etc , it is normally done under time pressure and they still smile.

However the advantage of the big lines (especially Viking), as said by the op , is that they have loads of boats and they are generally identical so swaps are possible.

A survey from a self selecting group of people that read a particular magazine is no basis to judge anything apart from brand awareness and the quality of their advertising.

I don't really care who is rated where on this survey, it is very suspect & I suspect has a high correlation with advertising budgets, especially in the magazine.

I have only been on Avalon and it suits us, however talking to people on a recent cruise, their view was that Viking was similar in quality once on a cruise, however they did comment that they stopped using Viking after issues with a cruise that Viking cancelled and they said that Viking was not supportive in arranging alternatives and Avalon were.

I do like the layout in the new Avalon boats as the bathroom is a wedge shape which maximises room in both the bathroom and bedroom, I do enjoy sailing along with the window open watching the world go by (and the TV tuned to the front camera).

However, one issue to consider is what you are looking for on a cruise. The Normandy ones do not go far on the boat due to the snake like nature of the Seine and you spend long times on a coach to get to the key sights, my personal view is that itinerary is best done by road. Boat trips work better on straight rivers where you cover a reasonable mileage and you are able to stop off in a town and do a tour without a coach - however that is just my view !!

We are just back from the Avalon Burgundy and Provence tour and it was great, albeit a bit warm.

We flew into Nice and were transferred to an excellent hotel in Monte Carlo (Fairmont) for one night. It was a great hotel in a perfect location.

Around 1:30 on the next day we had a 4 hour coach transfer to Arles and the boat, we had a guide on the bus and it was interesting - the luggage made it from outside of our bedroom to the cabin.

The boat trip generally takes in small French towns that have an interesting past (Romans / Popes etc) and apart from Lyon where we had a coach we had a walking tour direct from the boat at all other stops.

The itinerary describes a cruise after boarding to experience the tranquil vistas of the Carmargue National Park. This did not happen until sailing on day 2 where we had a 20 minute 'token' sail down river with a view of the hedgerow !!

The tours of all of the towns were very good and the whole trip was relaxing, both rivers(Rhone and Saone) were interesting and very quiet.

At the end of trip our luggage left from outside of our cabins and we went for an interesting trip to Beaune, followed by a fast train ride to Paris and transfer to hotel.

Again our luggage found it's way to our hotel (Pulman Montparnasse). The hotel was average, however the room size was good for Paris and there were loads of restaurants close by and a metro station.

In summary a perfectly enjoyable cruise which was nice and relaxing - we only took one optional tour (Beaujolais) as we wanted to concentrate on relaxing.

I would recommend this tour to anyone who wants to relax in a set of lovely French towns with interesting history & if you want loads of coach trips you can have them as well.

The transport website shows it as a 19 minute walk between the quai and the train station. I enclose a link of a journey to the Arc de Triumphe.

http://www.ratp.fr/itineraires/fr/ratp/recherche-avancee?start=Quai+Maurice+Berteaux%2C+78230%2C+Le+Pecq&end=Charles+De+Gaulle-Etoile+%28RER%29%2C+Paris&is_date_start=1&date=14%2F07%2F2015&time%5Bhour%5D=14&time%5Bminute%5D=35&mode=all&route_type=1&avoid=

The stations show train destinations on the electronic boards and the timetable shows the train codes which are on the front of the train (I believe that St Germain En Laye is ZEUS - however the timetable on the platform will confirm that).

We must remember to enjoy our holiday as well.

The only ports that I want to be worried about on a cruise are the ones that we stop at.

I used to enjoy relaxing when flying long haul as I was guaranteed 12 hours without any emails to worry about, unfortunately planes have internet these days.

Too bad they can't fire them like Reagan did.

This is Europe, they all have their 'Human rights'. However, they can not close down the sky as there are minimum services that must be maintained in the air, unlike at the docks where striking workers can block the roads and the train lines.

It is great fun in the UK at the moment with the French trying to block free movement in Europe, however last time I went on a River Cruise it was the German lock keepers on strike.

I hope that the Rhone next week will be peaceful.