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Oceania Marina Port call Le Verdon


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Has anyone been to Le Verdon. I understand this is a difficult port to "do on your own"

Do Oceania supply a shuttle bus to Soulac de Mer

 

Le Verdon is more of an industrial port and it is pretty far from Bordeaux. We arranged a private guide to pick us up at the port and toured the Medoc wine region. I don't know about Soulac de Mer. I doubt there are any shuttles from the port to anywhere.

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I had read that there would be a shuttle, but when we docked there last year, there was none. The stop here is a service call to let off shore ex groups ... and probably to wait for the tides so that the ship can sail up the river. Unless you arrange a private tour or do a ship's tour, nothing to really do around the port area. If you are interested in a tour of the wineries in the Medoc Region, this is a good place to disembark and rejoin the ship in Bordeaux.

 

We stayed on the ship and enjoyed the sail up the river.

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When we were on the Marina 2 years ago, I could not find any excursions out of the port of Verdun. Private tours were expensive and far between, so we chose to take the ship’s excursion into Bordeaux with stops in the Medoc region. The Marina did not continue up the river to Bordeaux. There was talk of work to widen and depend the river to allow larger cruise ships up the river so that in the future, the Marina would be able to sail into Bordeaux, but I don’t know if that has been done yet.

 

 

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We were on the Marina this past September, and docked overnight in Bordeaux in the city center. When I first saw the itinerary it listed Le Verdon so I researched Le Verdon, and from what I could gather, there is no viable public transportation option to get to the train station or nearby towns. I remember reading something (on these boards? not sure) about taxis not being available there. The advice was that passengers really needed to book a shore excursion through the ship.

 

But, someone on our roll call who had been there previously, posted that the port provided a shuttle to Soulac sur Mer. I asked my TA to find out more and she was told that we were docking in Bordeaux city center. I was able to confirm that on the Bordeaux port website. Since we did dock in the city, I have no first-hand knowledge of Le Verdon.

 

You didn't mention which ship you were on or the date of your cruise. Here's a link to the port list of ship calls.

https://www.bordeaux-tourism.co.uk/Pages/Forecasts-of-port-calls-in-Bordeaux

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Thank you very much for that reply it is very useful.

I have checked that info and it still says Le Verdon whereas otherships show Bordeaux.

We did go into Bordeaux 2 years ago on the Braemar.

I have contacted Oceania Marina for details of the port call but they are not able to tell me whether there will be shuttle buses.

We do not want to do trips as we prefer to go it alone.

Did you enjoy the Marina, we have never sailed with Oceania before?

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We were there several years ago on the Marina. The port really has no public transportation so you are at the mercy of private or Oceania tours. We got together with two other couples on the roll call and went on a private winery tour of the Medoc region. It was very nice but not cheap. Another couple who have "been there done that" decided to just hang around. The port may have run a shuttle bus to the nearby town that was having a local festival and they enjoyed themselves immensely. I have noticed in my many years of sailing with Oceania that it is usually the port and not Oceania running the shuttles. You may want to contact the local port authorities. I get more information from them then Oceania.

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Whatsinport.com states that there are no buses, trains or even taxis at this port and that 90 per cent of passengers take cruise ship excursions here. I think you may have to give in and book an Oceania excursion! Or else look for a private operator.

 

 

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Thank you very much for that reply it is very useful.

......

Did you enjoy the Marina, we have never sailed with Oceania before?

 

It was our first cruise on Oceania and we did enjoy the Marina very much, especially the dining. However, I do need to point out that our cruise had no sea days. The cruise we took was 12 days from Amsterdam to Lisbon, so we docked in Dover, along the north and west of France, Spain and Portugal. We had OLife and took 3 O excursions, did some private ones, and explored other ports on our own. We were so busy that we never got to the fitness center, and saw only 1 show. But we are going back on Marina in November on a cruise that will have 2 sea days, so we expect to discover a bit more about the ship.

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Mines in April 2019
Cruise Junky and Kaykearns, after your cruises, would you please come back to this board and let us know where you actually docked?

 

I'm on the September 2019 cruise that shows Bordeaux, not Verdon, as the port. I'm thinking of booking a cancelable hotel room in Bordeaux just in case we dock in Verdon.

 

Thanks!

 

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Cruise Junky and Kaykearns, after your cruises, would you please come back to this board and let us know where you actually docked?

 

I'm on the September 2019 cruise that shows Bordeaux, not Verdon, as the port. I'm thinking of booking a cancelable hotel room in Bordeaux just in case we dock in Verdon.

 

Thanks!

 

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absolutely but if I see any changes to my sailing that say Verdon, I'm out. I'll do a land trip.

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Last year I found a listing of the cruise calls and their berths (see my post #5 above for description of our cruise and what happened). It took a little digging to find the information for this year. It is in French, but fairly easy to figure out. (of course, there is always Google Translate).

 

http://www.bordeaux-port.fr/sites/default/files/images/contenus-site/Programme-paquebots.pdf

 

I had a link to this list saved last year, but clicking on it now, it returned an error, so the 2018 link might not work next year. But fear not, read on.

 

So, to find this link in the future, go to the Bordeaux port website: http://www.bordeaux-port.fr/

In the upper right, choose EN for English in the Language drop down.

Then go to the link for News and Press (in French it's Actualities et Presse) and choose Scheduled Port Calls from the drop down.

Click on the boxed link "schedule of cruise ship and military vessel port calls"

You will then get the schedule (in French).

 

I hope this will help you all out. Enjoy Bordeaux, it is an interesting city with a lot to see, for wine lovers and non-drinkers (that's us) alike.

 

--Marilyn

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