Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Paris to Cote d'zZur

Go Pack

By Go Pack,
in River Cruising

Recommended Posts

Go Pack

Go Pack

Posted
Posted

We have several reiverboat cruises in our past. Does anyone have experiences regarding the GCT trip from Paris to the south of france. We are considering a late Oct. or an early Nov. departure. any thoughts on weather? Time of year? your general experiences are greatly appreciated.

We love riverboat cruising and want to do thios itinerary. we could wait to spring '12. Your input is appreciated

Link to comment
Share on other sites
bonetta

bonetta

Posted
Posted
We have several reiverboat cruises in our past. Does anyone have experiences regarding the GCT trip from Paris to the south of france. We are considering a late Oct. or an early Nov. departure. any thoughts on weather? Time of year? your general experiences are greatly appreciated.

We love riverboat cruising and want to do thios itinerary. we could wait to spring '12. Your input is appreciated

 

Just got back from this cruise on April 9 and I can highly recommend it. We were fortunate in that we had perfect spring weather, all the spring flowers were in bloom, etc. The ship (Provence) was beautiful - the rooms were large (we were on the bottom floor of the ship) and decorated nicely. I can't say enough about the staff - the Hotel Director, the two dining room waitresses, the room steward were also so friendly and helpful. Our cruise director was very nice, kind, funny and helpful.

 

We flew from LAX to Paris non-stop on Air France, and home from Nice via Paris. The only thing that we had a problem with was the hotel in Paris. Most people were not happy with the location and it took a LONG time to get in to the room after our arrival around noon, after that long flight. The hotel in Nice was in a great location and very nice.

 

All the stops on the cruise were wonderful; we especially enjoyed the Roman ruins in a lot of the towns. The cruising part was so nice and peaceful - I think we went through 15 locks on the river all together.

 

This was our first river cruise, after many ocean cruises. Can't wait to do another!

 

Bonnie

Link to comment
Share on other sites
lddam

lddam

Posted
Posted
We have several reiverboat cruises in our past. Does anyone have experiences regarding the GCT trip from Paris to the south of france. We are considering a late Oct. or an early Nov. departure. any thoughts on weather? Time of year? your general experiences are greatly appreciated.

We love riverboat cruising and want to do thios itinerary. we could wait to spring '12. Your input is appreciated

 

 

Below is a copy of some comments I made regarding this cruise. Following my comments are the comments of another poster who also loved the cruise...but hated the boat. I can't speak about the Provence, but if your dates require sailing on the Chardonnay, I'd do a lot of research and explore alternatives before booking that riverboat.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by lddam

My wife and I did this cruise on Grand Circle's "Chardonnay" a couple of years ago. We have nothing but great things to say about the itinerary and the staff, but we have vowed to NEVER...NEVER...NEVER step foot upon the Chardonnay's decks ever again. The boat has been in GCT's fleet for only a few years, so when they say it entered into service in the 90's, they are technically correct. However, the boat is actually much, much older, the ventilation on the lower deck leaves much to be desired, and the stairs are poorly lit making moving from one deck to another somewhat of a challenge. If you can't get a cabin on the upper deck (cabins have sliding door and French balcony), stay away from this boat.

 

Originally posted by Carhut:

I agree. I've been there, too and have voiced my opinion of that boat on Cruise Critic before and have told Grand Circle people twice that the boat is a tub and I would never go on it again. I just had this conversation with a GCT agent about a week ago. And again last year. I would take this cruise again, because it was a good cruise, but only if they had a better boat. I couldn't believe when I saw it rated in Conde Nast Magazine so highly. They obviously never went downstairs on that boat. It smelled musty down there and they had air fresheners plugged in to the electric sockets in the hallway. Had huge showers though!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
lovetotravel62

lovetotravel62

Posted
Posted

Bonnie--What hotel were you in in Paris? We are taking this trip beginning May 1st, but we are going from Nice to Paris. Our final documents arrived a week ago, and our hotel in Paris changed from what it was originally to the Novotel Eiffel Tower. Is that where you were?

 

So glad to hear your other compliments. We are really looking forward to this trip! It will be our first river cruise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Talisker92

Talisker92

Posted
Posted

We have booked a cruise on the MS Rembrandt through Vantage Travel. We booked it for 2012 because we wanted to get one of the four suites. It only hold 78 passengers, and looks like a nice ship. It is totally sold out for 2011!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
bonetta

bonetta

Posted
Posted
Bonnie--What hotel were you in in Paris? We are taking this trip beginning May 1st, but we are going from Nice to Paris. Our final documents arrived a week ago, and our hotel in Paris changed from what it was originally to the Novotel Eiffel Tower. Is that where you were?

 

So glad to hear your other compliments. We are really looking forward to this trip! It will be our first river cruise.

 

We were at the Le Mercure Paris Montmartre Hotel, which we did have a problem with. Looks like Grand Circle decided to change hotels - hopefully, the Novotel will be better, with a better location.

 

Do you know who your cruise director will be? We had Maurice Lallouet, who was great.

 

Enjoy your trip!!!

 

Bonnie

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...
amomx5

amomx5

Posted
Posted

We are a family group of 18 that are going in 3 weeks time from Paris to Nice. Our hotel in Paris Is also the Mercure. I am wondering if they use the other hotel for the Nice to Paris group. What was so bad about the hotel?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
bonetta

bonetta

Posted
Posted
We are a family group of 18 that are going in 3 weeks time from Paris to Nice. Our hotel in Paris Is also the Mercure. I am wondering if they use the other hotel for the Nice to Paris group. What was so bad about the hotel?

 

The front office staff at the Mercure made us wait many hours (some more than 5 hours)to check in, after the group had flown many hours to get to Paris. The tour director was not able to expedite the check-in process. It was a bad way to start off. Everyone was very upset, especially when hotel guests (other than Grand Circle) would check in and get their room right away.

 

Our room had a leak from the shower/tub, that went into the hall and bedroom area. We went to the front desk and they would not change our room.

 

Plus the location wasn't the best either. Grand Circle got many negative responses on their post-trip survey regarding this.

 

But, other than that, the trip was outstanding. I noticed in Conde Nast Traveler magazine that the river boat "Provence" was rated the second best river ship in Europe, very well deserved.

 

Bonnie

Link to comment
Share on other sites
lovetotravel62

lovetotravel62

Posted
Posted

We just took the GCT trip from Nice to Paris, and loved it. We were on the Provence, which was lovely. (We heard such terrible things about the Chardonnay, that I made sure we were not on that boat.) The rooms on the Provence were large and roomy, and very comfortable. (We were on the loser deck, which was fine.)

 

Our weather was perfect. I don't know if I would want to do this trip in the fall, as the flowers were so pretty--especially in Giverny. We had 80 degrees in Nice, and 70's in Paris.

 

We also flew directly from SFO to Paris on Air France, but this was not my favorite airline. I prefer KLM or Luftansia. The plane was old, the food was poor, and the stewards were rather rude.

 

This was our first river cruise (we have always done large ships), and it was lovely to be with a small group of friendly people. Our cruise director was wonderful.

 

We did the pre-trip in Nice which I would recommend because otherwise you will have little time there. We managed to see all I wanted to see in Paris in the short time we were there.

 

We were in the Novotel Eiffel Tower in Paris--I think GCT has changed the hotel due to so many complaints. The location was good, but the hotel wasn't great--just ok. It is new, but the bathrooms are problematic and there is little room for your clothes. We were only there 3 days, so it was ok, but it you do the pre-or post-trip, it would not be great. The breakfast was pretty bad. But, we were able to check in quickly when we arrived, which was nice.

 

Enjoy your trip!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 1 year later...
hms15

hms15

Posted
Posted

lovetotravel62

 

We are planning a trip onthe MS Provence and I see you were interested in the burgundy to provence trip last year. Did you ever go on this trip?

If you went on the trip could you please let me know if the Provence had air conditioning which can be controlled individually in each room. How was the trip, any interesting highlights?

 

Thank you,

 

HMS15

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Talisker92

Talisker92

Posted
Posted

We just got back from a cruise northbound that ended in Paris on the MS Rembrandt. We loved the itinerary. One of the highlights was the Carriers de Luminares light and sound show we saw in Arles.

The story and pictures are on our website

Link to comment
Share on other sites
bonetta

bonetta

Posted
Posted
lovetotravel62

 

We are planning a trip onthe MS Provence and I see you were interested in the burgundy to provence trip last year. Did you ever go on this trip?

If you went on the trip could you please let me know if the Provence had air conditioning which can be controlled individually in each room. How was the trip, any interesting highlights?

 

Thank you,

 

HMS15

 

Yes, we went on this trip and it was VERY enjoyable. We loved the small size of the ship. Keeping in mind that we went in March, so a/c wasn't an issue with us. We enjoyed all the ports - thought the home hosted dinner was ok, but not spectacular. We loved Lyon, Beaune, and enjoyed seeing and walking thru the town of Viviers and especially, Pont du Gard.

You will love this trip.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
gisnered

gisnered

Posted
Posted
<snip>

GCT trip from Paris to the south of france. We are considering a late Oct. or an early Nov. departure. any thoughts on weather? Time of year?

<snip>

 

Can't speak about the quality of the trip, but regarding the weather: in early November the lower Rhone - Orange/Avignon/Arles - can be fairly nippy. The wind can blow relentlessly at temperatures that require a winter coat, gloves, and hat. The hotel we stayed at in Arles had only a small heat pump that wasn't very effective. We slept with our overcoats spread over the duvets provided and took very quick showers. :p Other than that we had a great trip.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • Cruise Insurance Q&A w/ Steve Dasseos of Tripinsurancestore.com June 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...