ACWMom "Official" Trip Review-Uniworld SS Joie de Vivre-Paris to Normandy

As many of you know, we were originally scheduled to travel on Uniworld's Provence cruise this year. When lock repairs caused the cruise to be canceled 5 weeks prior to our departure, we "jumped ship" to the Joie de Vivre. Uniworld gave us $100 OBC, and upgraded us from an aquarium cabin to a French balcony cabin.

Since a lot of my pictures are on my phone, there may be some posts with narrative only, followed by a separate post with only pictures. It's just much easier to type on my computer. I will also try to remember questions that had been asked, prior to our departure. If I forget any, let me know.

I will start by saying that the onboard booking discount was an additional 5%, on top of the RHC discount. For us, the RHC discount was a flat fee of $400/passenger. We just booked a Nile cruise, on the River Tosca, for next March.

We live a short seven miles from the Greater Cincinnati Int'l Airport, and Delta still offers a nonstop flight to Paris. Since we had planned to stay in Paris for 2 nights prior to our original cruise, we didn't have to change outgoing airfare. We had an uneventful transatlantic crossing, and arrived to sunny and seasonable weather in Paris.

We chose to stay at the same hotel that we did three years ago, a small boutique hotel in St. Germain des Pres, The Hotel Da Vinci. We were able to score a great price on Black Friday. The hotel had a private driver pick us up at the airport. Because our flight arrived around 8am, we had to suffer through rush hour traffic. We eventually arrived at the hotel around 10:30. The hotel allowed us to enjoy their complimentary continental breakfast, which was finishing up for the morning. Our room was also ready, so we were both able to freshen up, before heading out for the day.

Our hotel rate included breakfast each morning, as well as afternoon tea. In addition, they provide a cell phone for guests to take out with them, which includes not only free local calls, but international calls, as well. Perhaps our favorite feature though, is the private spa in the basement, which can be reserved for an hour.

See the next post for pictures.

Robin

Pictures of the hotel:

Sent from my SM-N950U using Forums mobile app

Love your hotel, looking forward to more.

Can't wait for more! The hotel looks lovely.

Hi Robin:)....looking forward to reading the rest as well!

Looking forward to your review

We booked the River Tosca for next January.

Beautiful review. Shame you missed the Provence cruise. We just departed! The Paris to Normandy is on our list to do. Uniworld was really top notch!

Glad you enjoyed it, Bestie. We will make it to Provence someday.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Forums mobile app

Since we had been to Paris just three years ago, we didn't feel the need to run ourselves ragged, this time. Our plan had been to get a 2 day museum pass, and go to some of the places we hadn't been before. Because of our later than expected start, we ended up ditching that plan, so now we have 2 museum passes to use the next time we visit.

We had Eiffel Tower tickets for 5pm, so spent the rest of the afternoon walking around, enjoying the nice weather. It was a nice change, compared to 3 years ago.

We decided to walk to the tower, which was about 40 minutes from our hotel. Along the way, in addition to the sights, we experienced the normal survey takers, Eiffel Tower salesmen, and of course, the ring on the sidewalk scam. We arrived at the top just in time to see a young man propose to his girlfriend:-) Unfortunately, the champagne bar was closed. The "apartment" was a new feature we hadn't seen before.

We took a cab back to the hotel, as the temperature dropped when the sun went down. The hotel staff left a bottle of champagne in our room, since we were repeat guests. We then had dinner at Cafe Louise, a few blocks from the hotel. The steak tartare was fabulous.

There is currently a lot of construction around the tower, we had to go through security just to enter the tower area.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Forums mobile app

Nice pictures! Glad you're having a good time.

Nice pictures! Glad you're having a good time.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Forums mobile app

Hi Robin,

Welcome back! Enjoying your review & looking forward to more.

Glad to see your review getting started. Love the picture of Grand Palais with Pont Alexander III in the foreground. Perfect Paris postcard shot!

Just back from Australia, where I didn't have much time to follow CC, so looking forward to following along!

Thanks, Robin, for the Parisian photos! Our cruise leaves next Sat. Hopefully, we will see some cherry blossoms and other flowers beginning to bloom. Do they still dock near the Parc André Citroën? Can you to the best of your recollection, tell me how long they stayed docked in Paris and Rouen? Did they dock overnight or did you have to be back on board by the evening to take off for the next port? This could have a bearing on evening concerts or walks into town, etc. It is very nice of you to share your experience and I hope to do the same in a few weeks......Steve

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Thanks, Robin, for the Parisian photos! Our cruise leaves next Sat. Hopefully, we will see some cherry blossoms and other flowers beginning to bloom. Do they still dock near the Parc André Citroën? Can you to the best of your recollection, tell me how long they stayed docked in Paris and Rouen? Did they dock overnight or did you have to be back on board by the evening to take off for the next port? This could have a bearing on evening concerts or walks into town, etc. It is very nice of you to share your experience and I hope to do the same in a few weeks......Steve

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Steve,

Barring high water, you will actually be docked at Quai De Grenelle.....a much better location. I'll have to look back at my dailies, as the first night in Rouen, we arrived back late, from Mont St. Michel, and I honestly can't tell you what we were doing during dinner!

More pics in a bit!

Robin

Yes, Quai De Grenelle is much closer to the Eiffel Tower, which will make walking from the ship much easier. Very cool!

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Going to the top of the Eiffel Tower is such an experience. From level 2, it takes 1 min 15 sec. And, what a ride it is!

The tower will be undergoing a massive renovation, as they remove all of the layers of paint, make repairs, and put on a new coat. It may not be too pretty for the next few years.

Enjoy its parts:-)

Sent from my SM-N950U using Forums mobile app

Still haven't been to the top but love the climb, and your pictures.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Forums mobile app

You must go to the top! And, welcome home:-)

Sent from my SM-N950U using Forums mobile app

A great novel about the building of the Eiffel Tower is Paris by Edward Rutherfurd.

Some views from the top.....in the last picture, you can see the JDV in the distance. If you look more closely, at the 2 Croisi ships, radted next to each other, the JDV would be docked just behind them later on

Sent from my SM-N950U using Forums mobile app

Hi Robin, great photos.........it may be Paris for me in the spring of 2019:D

Robin, the pictures are exhilarating! I mean, how many people can say they walked a few blocks from their ship and go up the Eiffel Tower only to gaze down at your vessel! I have an unrelated question. Is it true that on the first day (Sunday) they actually depart at 6:30 pm heading for La Roche Guyon? That doesn’t give folks arriving that day much time in Paris and so it seems that the only evening available in Paris is the last day the following Saturday. I’m glad you were able to arrive a few days early and highly recommend that even if one has been to Paris before.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Yes, it's true you depart Paris around dinner time. Since this was our second time, we knew we wanted to arrive a couple of days early again!

Robin

Sent from my SM-N950U using Forums mobile app