October vs May - weather and Espirit vs Serene
Hi. Wondering about input on weather and overall experience of Rendezvous on the Seine cruise in May (2026) vs October (2025). Also has anyone recently been on the Ms Espirit? Would be on that this year vs waiting for Ms Serene next year. Planning upper deck suite. Thanks!
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Both months are shoulder season so predicting the weather could be tricky in either case. Either case be prepared for rain. Giverny was one of our favorite stops on that cruise. We've seen it in Jun and in Sep. I liked both but my husband thought it was prettier in Jun.
One advantage of the Oct date is it may be eligible for the Take Off with Tauck airfare offer. One Flat Price - Coach - $990 per person,
Premium - $1,790 per person, Business - $3,890 per person. You need to book by 31 Mar 25.
As to a difference in ship, a suite on one is basically going to be the same as a suite on the other except for soft furnishings/decor. Same layout, same size, same benefits. The new ships have a wellness center which might appeal to you but since they aren't built yet nobody ones what's actually going to be part of that. It also has a pool vs hot tub on the sun deck but given the weather you may not want to use it.
My preference would be to wait until the new ship sails only because I am eager to experience it. I also prefer much cooler weather, so the fall of 2026 would be my choice.
The weather these days is unpredictable. I suggest taking along a light rain jacket, preferably one with a removable liner and hood. And a versatile, mix and match wardrobe works well for me.
We are leaving next week for this cruise. We typically travel in October and have GREAT weather, but this date worked better for us as we have another trip planned in October, so we have booked April 24 - May 7 - we are hoping for good weather, but packing for rain of course.
We did the Swiss Alps and Amsterdam River Cruise the beginning of April last year and all we read was to expect lots of rain - our weather was absolutely perfect, even on our day to Jungfraujoch -- so as others have said, it's way too hard to predict.
As far as which ship, I would be curious to see the new ones, but, to us - we love the ships and have no issues with the older ones. For us it's more about service, food, excursions - so the age of the ship isn't a huge factor for us. If your budget can swing the new ship and prices, then I'd maybe wait - but I don't think you will regret either time.
We are hoping to book the Duoro w/Lisbon & Madrid soon and we do plan to book that for October as we love Europe in October.
Thank you all for this useful information! Terrilyn would love to hear about your Seine trip after you return. Do you post trip reviews usually? Sounds like you travel a lot !
Cindyb - yes. I do always post a review and will after this one also.