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

acwmom · April 24, 2018

More, um, scenery.......I don't know how often the weather is this "perfect" here (it sure wasn't 3 years ago, when we visited the town) but I'm so glad we lucked out.

The tide is starting to roll in. The pathway leads up from the town to the church on top of the hill.

dolllover · April 24, 2018

Wow love your pictures and review. We've lucked out and had good weather traveling off season. Your review makes me want to take this trip!

acwmom · April 24, 2018

Wow love your pictures and review. We've lucked out and had good weather traveling off season. Your review makes me want to take this trip!

Thank you. We tend to travel in the "off-season" due to our budget, fewer crowds, and because our anniversary is in March:-) The one time we did travel in late April, the Danube was miserably cool. But, it's easier to dress warmly, in layers, than try to "undress" if it's too hot!

Robin

SOShrink · April 24, 2018

Wow, those pictures look just like the EPCOT French movie! They should really add Étretat into the schedule for the other excursions. We could easily have fit it in to our Honfleur day. In other words, you shouldn’t have had to sacrifice amazing Honfleur in order to see Étretat.

. We would have been willing to pay extra to do both. It’s not that far away from Honfleur. What do you think?

Sent from my iPad using Forums

acwmom · April 24, 2018

Wow, those pictures look just like the EPCOT French movie! They should really add Étretat into the schedule for the other excursions. We could easily have fit it in to our Honfleur day. In other words, you shouldn’t have had to sacrifice amazing Honfleur in order to see Étretat.
. We would have been willing to pay extra to do both. It’s not that far away from Honfleur. What do you think?

Sent from my iPad using Forums

When we did this trip 3 years ago, we did Etretat in the morning, then went to a Calvados Farm for lunch, then spent a few hours in Honfleur. The ship was docked in Le Havre, though, IIRC. I"ll have to see if I can find the cruise companion. We paid extra, but lunch was amazing. The standard excursion was Honfleur only.

I'll try to post pics of Etretat in the rain......not nearly as scenic! The people on our cruise who went to Honfleur were disappointed, because there weren't many shops/stores open.

Robin

acwmom · April 25, 2018

The "other" side of Etretat......this time, from the beach, cold, damp and a misty rain that was like needles. This was our 2015 venture. Also, a pic of our Calvados farm lunch from that day, and Honfleur. We didn't make it there this trip, but were okay with the trade-off.

acwmom · April 25, 2018

Finishing up our golf round...yes, golf was played!

Sent from my SM-N950U using Forums mobile app

acwmom · April 26, 2018

We finished our round, and by this time, the course was busy. Most had pull carts, some brought along their dogs:-) It was about a 30 minute ride back to the ship. Even though we had been provided sandwiches, we were still hungry. Lucky for us, The Bistro was open! All seven of us ended up there, recounting how the golf gods had smiled on us.

Pictures of food to follow...

Robin

acwmom · April 26, 2018

Well, I thought I had taken pictures. We had Frnch onion soup, and the Steak au Poivre with fries. The steak was cooked to order, but was a little tough. Still, a nice venue to have available to eat during the off hours.

The weather continued to be nice and we enjoyed some time on the sundeck. We were docked in Caudebec, with the Pont de Brotonne nearby. A beautiful stay cable bridge, but not nearly as long as the Normandy Bridge.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Forums mobile app

SOShrink · April 26, 2018

Robin, I think you snuck in a stunning photo of Honfleur! If I’m wrong, let me know...

Sent from my iPad using Forums

acwmom · April 26, 2018

On this night, was the River Heritage Club Cocktail Party. I'm not sure how many RHC members were on board. In the past, this has been held in the main lounge, with an area "roped off" or in one of the smaller venues. I thought for sure this year's would be held in Club E'Sprit, at the aft, but it was held in the main lounge. There were many others in the lounge, in preparation for the nightly Port Talk, so, other than a sign, there really wasn't any indication of anything special going on. Everyone who wanted hors d'oeuvres got them, and since alcohol is included anyway......no one seemed to mind, and, as we soon found out, there were more important issues to be addressed.

We set sail, and headed toward the bridge. Soon, we turned around, and headed back to the dock. Pierre, our cruise director, informed us at the start of his talk, that there was a malfunction. It didn't affect the seaworthiness of the ship, but because the ship was "under warranty" it had to be fixed within the terms of the warranty. Thus, we would stay docked in Caudebac, and not return to Rouen. The following day was the trip to the Landing Beaches. The distance was approximately the same, so that would not be affected.

My husband and I had decided to skip the Landing Beaches, as we had been there three years before, and had traveled to Mont St. Michel two days prior. The weather forecast wasn't looking good, and a snowy day on Monday, followed by a long trip to Mont St. Michel, followed by golf.....made us realize we very much needed a break. Our plan had been to see Rouen on our own, since we would be docked there. With the change in plans, after the port talk, we asked Pierre if we could go to the Monastery/brewery, on Thursday, since it was only about 5 minutes away. We also asked him how to access public transportation, so we could go to Rouen on our own.

There was a big rush to dinner, and since we had eaten at The Bistro, and had some appetizers after that, we weren't exactly hungry.......We had the bar all to ourselves.....Nice:-)

After about 45 minutes, we headed down to dinner.....

acwmom · April 26, 2018

Robin, I think you snuck in a stunning photo of Honfleur! If I’m wrong, let me know...

Sent from my iPad using Forums

I did! It was from our trip 3 years ago. We had it enlarged, put on metal, and it now hangs in our son's room.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Forums mobile app

acwmom · April 26, 2018

First, the menus:. I had the beef crudo and the strip loin, my husband had the halibut, and both of us had the chocolate lava cake for dessert, of course:-)

Sent from my SM-N950U using Forums mobile app

acwmom · April 27, 2018

While we were eating, Pierre found us, an told us that due to the mechanical issue, and change in docking location, he had hired a private driver to take us to Rouen the next day......no charge to us! Wow, that was going way above and beyond! He asked us what time we wanted to leave and return, and told us to meet the driver in the lobby the next morning.

We decided to leave at 9, and return at 2. At 9am, we were met in the lobby....by the same driver who took us to Etretat! We had the 7 passenger van, all to ourselves. The trip took about 30 minutes, mostly by highway. Since we arrived before the stores opened, it was a good opportunity to take pictures of some nearly empty streets. Since we had been to Rouen before, we didn't feel we missed out on any organized tours. The city has a large pedestrian district. We shopped, sauntered, and had a snack before returning to the ship.

jklc123 · April 27, 2018

That's Uniworld, providing an optional excursion due to itinerary change! One reason we've become loyal customers.

acwmom · April 27, 2018

That's Uniworld, providing an optional excursion due to itinerary change! One reason we've become loyal customers.

We were happy to take public transportation, we just needed to know where to go! But, hey, a private driver....okay!

We got back to a nearly empty ship. The hotel manager, Daniela, greeted us on our return. We decided to take a swim....well, at least get in the pool. Daniela took it upon herself to be our "bartender." We had a nice chat with her, and complimented her, Pierre, and the entire staff for being so flexible and "nimble" and being able to adapt to changes and "crises" on the fly. She told us there weren't enough letters in the alphabet for the number of contingency plans they had.

The buses were expected back from the landing beaches around 6pm. We were in our cabin, enjoying our afternoon snack, when the buses arrived, around 5:15! It seems the bus, itself, was due back in Rouen at 6, and since we were in Caudebac, they had to cut their time at the beaches short by about 45 minutes.

The two main tours went to either Bayeux or Sant Ingles de Mar. There were a handful of passengers who wanted to visit Juno Beach, so a private taxi and guide was scheduled to take them there, once they arrived in Bayeux. Because of all of the rain, no one was able to walk amongst the headstones at the cemetery. Also, when we were there 3 years ago, all of the passengers met up at the cemetery, for a joint ceremony. According to our traveling companions, there was no ceremony, and the buses were there at different times.

While there was some sense of feeling rushed, and the weather wasn't the best, we were told the guides were excellent, and the excursion was a moving and memorable experience.

SOShrink · April 27, 2018

So glad you were able to see Rouen in addition to Mont St. Michel. It shows what you can accomplish when you think outside the box! If we had been as bold we could have taken a car to Étretat from Honfleur and been back in time for the 3 pm bus back to the ship! Although that might be cutting it too close what with traffic and last minute changes....

Sent from my iPad using Forums

acwmom · April 28, 2018

So glad you were able to see Rouen in addition to Mont St. Michel. It shows what you can accomplish when you think outside the box! If we had been as bold we could have taken a car to Étretat from Honfleur and been back in time for the 3 pm bus back to the ship! Although that might be cutting it too close what with traffic and last minute changes....

Sent from my iPad using Forums

We were happy to be able to visit Rouen again. It's a nice sized town with a fair number of shops and restaurants, and is easily walkable. Here are a few more pictures from our day. The last 2, being Caudebec.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Forums mobile app

ShyOne60 · April 29, 2018

Beautiful veggies!

acwmom · April 30, 2018

Dinner the evening of the visit to the Landing Beaches was a buffet, so I skipped the pictures. We were joined by our cruise director and hotel manager, as their usual table had been grabbed by other passengers. Because we were in Caudebac instead of Rouen, we had a longer night and morning of cruising ahead of us, as we headed back to Mantes la Jolie. We did find out that we would be able to sail back into Paris, as the water had receded enough to pass under the bridges.

We slept in a little later on Friday morning, and when we opened our curtains, we were cruising past Les Andelys and Chateau Gaillard.

In the following posts, a few pictures of river scenery, and the breakfast offerings onboard. Uniworld does have a menu, in addition to the buffet and omelette and egg station.

acwmom · April 30, 2018

The cooked to order Eggs Benedict, and the cold offerings at breakfast

Sent from my SM-N950U using Forums mobile app

acwmom · April 30, 2018

A few more pics from breakfast, the upper lobby horse, the beautiful lobby chandelier, and scenes from the river[ATTACH]420496[/ATTACH][ATTACH]420497[/ATTACH][ATTACH]420498[/ATTACH][ATTACH]420499[/ATTACH][ATTACH]420500[/ATTACH][ATTACH]420501[/ATTACH]

Sent from my SM-N950U using Forums mobile app