Paris? yes or no?

[LPYRCRUISER]

I've always wanted to do a British Isle cruise.  I'm starting to research for 2024, our 50th anniversary.  I know those schedules aren't out yet, so I'm looking at what's offered next year.  There are a few that have Paris as a port.  I understand it's quite a distance from the port to the city.  I've never been to that part of the world and wondered if we should include Paris. Is it worth the time and effort to get a glimpse?

My plan is to stay in London a few days prior to the cruise to see those sights. We did a Western Med cruise for our 40th anniversary, staying in Rome before and took the train to Venice after. That was DH's bucket list cruise and this one would be mine. TIA.

[WatchHill]

Could you fly first to Paris to spend a few days, then hop on the Chunnel Train to London? That train ride is an experience in itself. Then spend a few days touring London [ could really use a week or more there, plus side trips into the countryside]. 

 

We've done 4 BI cruises and loved all of them. Plus a few other cruises out of Southampton to the Baltics, Scandinavia, and repositoning to the Med. We've frequently rented a car that gave us the freedon to explore outside of the city and not be on a tour schedule. We've done up to a 10 night road trip after leaving London. 

 

Most likely your shjip will dock in Le Havre France. IMO, the long trip from the port to Paris isn't worth it. Work with our roll call group and book a WWII Normandy full day tour with Overlord. I've done 3 tours with them, each one with a different focus. Our last one was Normandy in the morning, then we stopped at Bayeux for lunch, and afternoon in Honfleur. Nice balance of historic sites and places of interest. 

 

Darcy

 

 

[Globaliser]

45 minutes ago, LPYRCRUISER said:

There are a few that have Paris as a port.  I understand it's quite a distance from the port to the city.

 

Big cruise ships do not have Paris as a port. Only river cruises can call at Paris. Any big ship cruise line that pretends that it has Paris as a port is flat out lying to you. It's usually Le Havre, as WatchHill says.

 

To get a feel for what you know is "quite a distance", this is comparable to being on a ship that docks at Philadelphia, and contemplating a day trip to Washington DC "to get a glimpse". It's a waste of time and effort, particularly as Paris really needs a month or more just by herself.

 

FWIW, the same goes for trying to do Paris as a day trip from London. That is also a waste of time and effort.

[John Bull]

I'm going to assume that those cruises which include "Paris" include it as the last port-of-call before cruise-end in Southampton (possibly Dover) - most British Isles cruises do.

If so, much the better plan,  with your cruise line's advance permission (NCL don't give it, Princess & most others do), is to disembark the ship when it ports in Le Havre (occasionally Cherbourg) and take a direct train (2 hours) from there to Paris.

 

Book open-jaw (also known as "multi-city") return flights out to London Heathrow & back from Paris CDG. Open-Jaw flights cost the mid-point of the two return fares. 

That'll save you 24 hours  and more of travel and the associated fares, at the cost of a dinner, bed, and rushed buffet-breakfast on the ship.

It's something that's frequently been done by Cruise Critic members

 

JB 🙂

Edited October 14, 2022 by John Bull

[cyntil8ing]

Maybe? We did it this summer.That day, I was pretty stressed about time management, and the only thing we got to do was go to the top of the Eiffel Tower (which required pre-planning a month ahead for tickets). No coffee at a nice little cafe, or lunch at a nice restaurant. Instead, we bought a baguette from a convenience store. That said, it was quite an experience, and looking back now, a few months later, I am glad we went. But no, I would not do it again on a second visit to Le Havre.

 

 

Review with more here, including our four days in London pre-cruise: 

 

[carlmm]

How desperate are you to see Paris? Will this be your last chance ever?

If the answer are very and yes, than go, maybe on an organized tour to get a nice overview.

Otherwise, no, it is a long trip, and there so many things to see much close, er Rouen.

[Globaliser]

1 hour ago, carlmm said:

How desperate are you to see Paris? Will this be your last chance ever?

If the answer are very and yes, than go, maybe on an organized tour to get a nice overview.

 

If the answers to those questions are "very" and "yes", then frankly the OP ought to be cancelling the cruise and going to Paris alone.

 

No organised day tour from a Le Havre port call can give you any kind of overview, let alone a nice one. All you'd really be able to say is that you saw some famous buildings through a window as you drove by.

[LPYRCRUISER]

Thanks for all the comments. Some were very helpful:

 

All you'd really be able to say is that you saw some famous buildings through a window as you drove by.

 I was pretty stressed about time management

disembark the ship when it ports in Le Havre (occasionally Cherbourg) and take a direct train (2 hours) from there to Paris.

book a WWII Normandy full day tour

 

It's given me some other options and things to think about.  One of the reasons I enjoy this site !

[mskaufman]

If this is likely to be your only chance to see Paris, do it.

[John Bull]

17 hours ago, LPYRCRUISER said:

Thanks for all the comments. Some were very helpful:

 

All you'd really be able to say is that you saw some famous buildings through a window as you drove by.

 I was pretty stressed about time management

disembark the ship when it ports in Le Havre (occasionally Cherbourg) and take a direct train (2 hours) from there to Paris.

book a WWII Normandy full day tour

 

It's given me some other options and things to think about.  One of the reasons I enjoy this site !

 

If you disembark at Le Havre (or Cherbourg) and miss just the overnight sailing back to Southampton you have the choice of heading straight to Paris (so you get two days in Paris within your original schedule, or can add more days in Paris), or spending that day discovering the D-Day and Normandy Campaign sights before heading to Paris.

The problem with the latter is that for immigration / customs reasons, you have to disembark with your luggage in the morning - my understanding is that you can't return to the ship. So you need luggage storage handy to the ship, or a tour operator willing & able to stow your bags in the vehicle, or rent a car big enough for your bags. 

 

JB 🙂

[Tripmaven]

I can't resist adding our experience.  We have been fortunate enough to take more then one British Isles cruises over the years.  We have seen some interesting, unexpected events altar travel plans for others. One event was an unexpected strike in Le Have.  There was a large group expecting to disembark there and head to Paris.  Their plans didn't happen.

 

We did our most recent cruise from Southampton in 2019.  We had been to Paris but wanted to revisit. We flew from the U.S. to Paris, stayed 4 nights then took the Eurostar from Paris to London, where we spent several nights.  Our high point was seeing the show "Hamilton" at the Victoria Theatre.  We took National Express from London to Southampton leaving from Victoria Station.  This is our usual way of getting to Southampton....very reliable and inexpensive, as many have mentioned.   

 

Mostly, we caution people about a short visit to Paris, if it is your only time to be in that fabulous city...too much to see and too much to do.   Hope your plans work out.

[caripoo]

Fly into Paris for a few days.....then take the chunnel....do London for a few days......THEN board the ship, unpack and enjoy.

[BuckeyeMark]

Did a 12-day, 9 port on Princess.  Last stop was Paris.  Two hour bus ride into the city.  Toured the city on the bus, got on a marvelous Seine River cruise (with lunch served) to see more of Paris and then had some free time around the Eiffel Tower.  IT WAS MARVELOUS.

 

No, it wasn't everything. No, we didn't see everything. No, it wasn't long.

 

Guess what? It was a day in Paris and that was more than I'd ever had before.  We got to experience the city, the feel, the ambiance, a coffee at a sidewalk cafe, and see the massive-ness of the Eiffel Tower, and the incredible bridges over the Seine and ... more.  Much more.

 

More than anything, now we know if we want to go back and get all that we missed. 

 

It was wonderful. Just wonderful.  For me and my DW it was greatness.  YMMV!  But we loved it!

[karylrocks]

On 10/14/2022 at 8:22 AM, John Bull said:

I'm going to assume that those cruises which include "Paris" include it as the last port-of-call before cruise-end in Southampton (possibly Dover) - most British Isles cruises do.

If so, much the better plan,  with your cruise line's advance permission (NCL don't give it, Princess & most others do), is to disembark the ship when it ports in Le Havre (occasionally Cherbourg) and take a direct train (2 hours) from there to Paris.

 

Book open-jaw (also known as "multi-city") return flights out to London Heathrow & back from Paris CDG. Open-Jaw flights cost the mid-point of the two return fares. 

That'll save you 24 hours  and more of travel and the associated fares, at the cost of a dinner, bed, and rushed buffet-breakfast on the ship.

It's something that's frequently been done by Cruise Critic members

 

JB 🙂

Can't answer your question first hand as I have never been as well, but this is the option we chose for our cruise next year. We have received permission to disembark in Le Havre and will spend 3 nights in Paris after the cruise.

[mousefan73]

As somebody who lives in the EU, you couldn't pay me to see Paris or Rome as a one day port excursion. But for maybe a non-EU person where this might be their only time to see Paris, then do it to say you have been there. Pick maybe one or two major highlights and do them. 

 

IMO, and just an opinion, if Paris was only a one day thing, I would rather hang out at the base of the Tower or from across the Seine with a better photo shot, save that 1 to 2 hours going to the top and see other sights. in an afternoon with a mix of metro you can walk along the seine ( outside of Louvre is also nice) and walk towards Notra Dame and have a coffee over there. or take the metro to the Arch de triomphe... 

 

I mean the view is nice from the top, but you see things from a far distance. 

 

Le Havre is tricky as unless you are into Normandy WW2 stuff, that area is not really interesting from with that point Paris might be the best option. I definately would do a boat sponsered tour as with those distances and traffic, you never know. 

[yogini06]

Took the cruise line bus “Paris on your own”.  Went to the Musee d’orsay, walked and had lunch along the Seine.  Saw the Arc de Triomphe then boarded the bus to return to the ship.  Very happy we went

[victory2020]

On 1/20/2023 at 3:52 PM, yogini06 said:

Took the cruise line bus “Paris on your own”.  Went to the Musee d’orsay, walked and had lunch along the Seine.  Saw the Arc de Triomphe then boarded the bus to return to the ship.  Very happy we went

Which cruise line? I am going on NCL by myself - not really interested in Paris but want to at least say I've been. I was looking at the Paris on your own & wondering if where you are dropped off you can at least see the Eiffel tower & other must haves. I realize I'll only have a few hours in the city

[TrojanGal]

We are going to take the EuroStar train from London St. Pancras to Paris and stay in Paris 5 nights post cruise. Since Paris has a lot to see and do, we didn’t want to be sitting in a coach the whole time from Le Havre port to the city and not get to even scratch the surface of Paris so we opted to add on the nights there post cruise. I don’t think we will ever get to France again so a one day port of call in Le Havre/Paris felt rushed. We’re going to do the Normandy excursion instead  (we’re on Princess). Again, don’t think we’ll get to France again so we’re going to suck it up and pack our patience for a very long excursion day to Normandy. 

[ontheweb]

17 minutes ago, TrojanGal said:

We are going to take the EuroStar train from London St. Pancras to Paris and stay in Paris 5 nights post cruise. Since Paris has a lot to see and do, we didn’t want to be sitting in a coach the whole time from Le Havre port to the city and not get to even scratch the surface of Paris so we opted to add on the nights there post cruise. I don’t think we will ever get to France again so a one day port of call in Le Havre/Paris felt rushed. We’re going to do the Normandy excursion instead  (we’re on Princess). Again, don’t think we’ll get to France again so we’re going to suck it up and pack our patience for a very long excursion day to Normandy. 

A suggestion for your time in Paris for 5 days--- a site outside of Paris, Monet's Gardens in Giverny.

[edinburgher]

Two other out of the city suggestions.  The Palace of Versailles and Fontainebleau if there is time for both, if only time for one, Palais de Versailles.