Seine river cruise question
We are considering "Cruising the Seine Plus Paris and London" next July. Has anyone taken a Tauck Seine River cruise and chosen to not visit the Normandy D day beaches? We visited the beaches on an ocean cruise a few years ago and do not wish to repeat. There are no alternative tours offered and the boat drops guests off at one location for the departure of Normandy tours and meets the returning busses at another location. This would seem to limit on your own touring options for that day. Any advice is appreciated.
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Interesting question. We did this cruise in 2016 with the same Dday only offering. Then in 2021 took the Normandy land tour and I considered skipping the Dday tour and just staying in the town our hotel was in but I went anyway. It was largely a different day with different sights visited. If you decide to skip it you may just have to remain on board the ship and relax. If no one responds here with a good answer you might want to call Tauck. Fyi, the day we were to reboard our ship it was late getting to the town we were meeting it in. It got held up at a lock. Was only about 15-20 minutes late.
I did this cruise in 2022, I think that if you do not want to visit the Normandy beaches you can just stay and have a relaxed day aboard.
They are offering an alternative to visiting the D-Day beaches for the Seine Holiday cruise in 2025. You can stay in Rouen for free time and a museum visit (see below).
Day 6: Spend the day as you wish, choosing the excursion that interests you most. Embark on a guided visit to the D-Day landing beaches in Normandy (Omaha Beach and Arromanches), the American Cemetery, and, schedule permitting, visit the renowned Caen Memorial Museum that memorializes one of the most important moments in modern history. Or stay in Rouen for free time and a guided tour of its famous Fine Arts Museum, established by Napoléon Bonaparte in 1801. The museum showcases a variety of sculptures and paintings and is especially well known for their collection of Impressionist Art, France's largest Impressionist collection outside Paris.
The ship will be dock in a slightly industrial part of Le Havre just north of the main cruise ship port but still in a safe area. Le Havre unlike a number of French cities was not rebuilt to its historical appearance but rapidly rebuilt to provide housing and reopen the port quickly. There is a shopping area adjacent to the docking site called the Docks Vauban and you can walk into the city. We have visited Normandy three times(twice with Tauck) and each time the tours and the experiences have different. There are some places in the world that require more than one visit. The bus will drop you off and pick you up at the same locations. The bus stays at that location and you can choose to skip part of the tour. For example you may want to skip the Pont du Hoc potion but go to the American Cemetery. They always take you to a great place for lunch. If you choose to skip the day then you can choose to stay on the ship or arrange another activity on your own. You could take the tour to Caen and Bayeux the previous day and make your own arrangement to go to Honfleur which is a fantastic seaside town or even go down to Deauville. Either way I would not let one day of overlap with a previous tour dissuaded from taking this tour.
We have been to the Normandy beaches twice, both on cruise ships. The second time we hired our own tour company who specialized in Normandy. It was probably an experience similar to what Tauck does, and it was vastly different and better than the first time. I am not a particularly religious person, but the second visit was definitely that sort of experience. Our guides also showed us the German side of the story including their cemeteries. We have been to all seven continents, and many of the major tourist sites, and many of the not so common. I would return to Normandy in a heart beat. We have actually talked of doing a trip on our own that is focused primarily on Normandy, while staying in small hotels or B&B sort of places. I would skip Paris before I would skip Normandy.
I have also used a private guide for 5 days in Normandy, Stuart Robertson, a British WW2 historian. This was in August 2015 so quite a long time ago. He wrote many books. It wasn’t enough days. We stayed at his inn. If I remember correctly, he mentioned that the fields behind his inn was the area in which the paratroopers landed.
Normandybattletours.com
Edgee, you are able to go off on your own. Just be sure to let Tauck know. We did that on one riverboat cruise and when we took the land tour of Paris, the Loire Valley and Normandy we skipped the D Day excursion. Decide what you want to do and then contact a taxi company. I notice Day 9 gives you options. If you choose Caen & Bayeux then I can definitely recommend going to Honfleur the next day - really charming. (by the way, no one mentions it but the Satie Museum in Honfleur is really fun) There is also Liseux and near Le Havre is Fecamp which has the Benedictine Palace for a tour and liqueur tasting. Other things to do in that area. Enjoy!
My wife and I are traveling to France for the Seine River Cruise in July (50th wedding anniversary) in June/July '25. Will we be able to see Notre Dame, now that it is completed, and will it be part of the Paris Tour on the first day? We will be in Paris one extra day, so we want to visit places that are not on the Tauck Seine River tour. Any suggestions??
If it is not on the itinerary, Tauck will likely not take you there unless there is a change. Things like that happen. Give Tauck a call.
JJM352 - I can't vouch for the accuracy of the article, but I read that Notre Dame's reservation system for tour groups will open sometime in 2025 April. My thought is that the system will be swamped initially, so I would not think you will see it. I can tell you that on two other Tauck tours we only drove by it. Perhaps in time Tauck will add an inside visit to their itinerary—perhaps a before-or-after-hours tour. That would be wonderful.
Tauck is known for adding 'surprises' to their tours but typically not of this magnitude or for so many people. If this was a small group land tour, it could be feasible. Merely conjecture on my part.
Nonetheless, enjoy your trip and happy anniversary.
JJM Which cruise are you taking, there are many that include Paris. I’m sure there will be a drive by. but for example, the Rendezvous on the Seine says this
‘ Alternatively, take a guided walking tour of the historic Marais district or explore the islands of Paris on a comprehensive walking tour that includes Île de la Cité (where Notre-Dame is located’ So it sounds as if you will walk by Notre Dame of that is the tour you are on.
Have a great time, our anniversary was last year and a wonderful Tauck tour to celebrate.
In general reading the Tauck itineraries unless it says something like "a guided tour" or "a visit to" a specific sight, you're likely to just get a drive/walk by. The three adult Seine cruises don't actually spend much time in Paris. If you want to see more you'll need extra days in Paris at a hotel. Either the Tauck pre or post cruise contracted hotel or booking your own accommodations.
Countries tend to stress their successes in World War II and Normandy (D-Day) was certainly a success. But it was a success because of the defeat of the German armies on the Eastern Front by the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union destroyed almost 200 German divisions on the Eastern Front and lost approximately 20-25 million of their soldiers and civilians (killed), about 13% of their population. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties
By comparison, the United States lost 407,300 soldiers and civilians (killed) (about 250,000 in Europe, the rest in the Pacific), about 0.32% (less than 1 percent) of our population. The UK lost about 0.94% (almost 1 percent) of their population.
Can you imagine if the US had lost even 5-10 percent of their population? Could the government survive? There was as lot of blowback to the number of soldiers killed during a couple of the island invasions in the Pacific (especially Tarawa, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa). I'm not sure a democracy can survive those Soviet Union type losses.
If the Soviet Union had pulled out of the war – which could have happened – Hitler could have moved divisions from the Eastern Front to Europe and D-Day might have failed.
So when you visit Normandy, think of the Allied soldiers who landed, fought, and died there but also think of the soldiers on the Eastern Front who paid an even higher price.
[Added note: Germany lost about 8.5% of their population killed.]
We are going on the Rendezvous on the Seine next month. We are arriving one day early, but extending 3 days post cruise. We are attending a concert at St. Chapelle one night, we bought tickets a couple months ago. We plan to visit NotreDame on our own. If you go to the official website, there is an app to put on your phone. You can register for a time to enter on the app 24hrs before going. Only one person in your party needs the app as you can register everyone in your party. They also offer guided tours on the app.