Cruising with CroisiEurope in France

The Rhone River in Tournon, France

One of the benefits to being a travel agent is the opportunity to experience a variety of travel options from different suppliers.  The Boss and I just returned from a 7-night river cruise in the Rhone valley in France on The Camargue, a river cruise ship owned by CroisiEurope.  Croisi is actually the largest river cruise line in Europe, but is largely unknown to the North American market.   We travelled with about 40 other travel agents to get a first-hand look at what Croisi has to offer.

The Camargue - one of CroisiEurope's new ships with 104 passengers.

This was our third river cruise – the last two were both on AmaWaterways, a company that is a bit more upscale than Viking, which is probably the most recognized company in the US for river cruises.  As many of you may know, river cruising is a totally different experience than ocean cruising.  The ships are small, typically carrying between 100 and 200 passengers.  The size limitation results from the fact that most river cruises require passage through locks on the rivers, and the ships cannot be wider or longer than the locks.  A river cruise is much more about the destinations than the ships, and a river cruise provides scenery on both sides of the boat 24 hours a day, with at least one stop per day and sometimes more.  A river cruise is more comparable to a land tour, except that the ships serve as a floating hotel, so you don't have to pack and unpack every day or two. Our experience so far is that the ships are pretty similar, layout and feature-wise, with some variation in length and therefore number of cabins.

One of the key elements in Croisi’s marketing strategy is a considerably lower price point than similar Viking or AmaWaterways cruises.  The price of the cruise we just took was about 50% of the cost of the same cruise on AmaWaterways, or a savings of about $4,500 per stateroom.  That’s real money.  In addition, Croisi is more all-inclusive than Viking or AmaWaterways, although with some limitations.  While all of them include beer and wine at lunch and dinner, Croisi also includes unlimited beverages at the bar throughout the trip.  With the largest fleet in Europe, Croisi has a more extensive list of itineraries than their competition.  So if you have done the Rhine and the Danube and are looking for lesser-known rivers and destinations, you might find them at Croisi.

Because we knew their price was substantially lower than competing river cruise lines, our expectations were not high.  We have found in our travels that you usually get what you pay for.   Overall, we were pleasantly surprised.  The ship was new and was bright, comfortable and well-maintained.

The lounge on the main deck with bar in the middle.

Our stateroom was comparable to other ships.  The bathroom was a good size, and we had large picture windows along the entire length of the stateroom.  Closets were a bit small, but OK.  The TV was ceiling-mounted and with a press of a button you could fold it up into the ceiling and out of the way.  Unfortunately, other than CNN, there wasn’t really much to watch in English.

Our stateroom with large picture windows and drop-down TV - not crazy about the twin mattresses pushed together.

The staff on the ship were very friendly and helpful and worked hard, because they did multiple jobs.  Our bartender at night in the lounge was also making up staterooms in the morning.  (She was a much better housekeeper than bartender.)  Our ship had about 100 passengers, and we probably only interacted with about 10 crew members between the lounge, front desk, housekeeping and dining room.  The captain made one or two brief appearances.  Our favorite crew members were Ezster and Tomas (can you guess why?), who both worked in the dining room.  Ezster loved the iPhone case with the big letter “E”on Esther’s phone, and was moved to tears when Esther gave it to her on the last evening. 

From left - Tomas, Esther, Ezster and Tom

For the most part, the food was excellent – very French at every meal.   The breakfast buffet was disappointing if you were looking for typical American food.  The only eggs were scrambled (I think), but looked too strange to eat, and - this may ruin it for Americans - there was NO BACON! A great selection of croissants, bread and pastries kept us from going hungry. Coffee was very strong.

Lunches and dinners consisted of a set menu, typically an appetizer or salad of some type, followed by the main course, and then a dessert.  Our cruise featured duck (twice), veal (twice), fish several times, venison, pork and beef.  Some passengers requested a substitute for the main course if they didn’t want it, and the staff happily obliged, usually with some kind of chicken.  The dining room had the same three wine choices at every meal, one white and two reds.

The duck pate appetizer - very nice presentation.

We usually went through a couple bottles at each meal.

We felt there were some things that suffered in comparison to our previous trips.  We had been told that we would be provided transfers from the airport to the ship, and because we arrived early in the morning and boarding was not till late afternoon, we were going to have a day room in a hotel in Lyon to rest and freshen up.  First, we sat at the airport for about an hour and a half waiting for additional cruise passengers to arrive on a later flight.  Then, we were bused to a parking lot in the city and had to drag our four suitcases a couple of blocks to the hotel. Our day room was actually one of two reserved for about 20 travel agents, so we were sharing the room with about eight or ten others.  When it was time to go to the ship, we again dragged our bags the two blocks through the city back to the bus. To be fair, this may have been something Croisi set up for this travel agent sailing, and may not be the norm.

We missed the coffee/latte/cappuccino machine in the lounge that our other ships had.  Our room was only made up once a day – no turn down service at night.  Although cocktails were included in the lounge, the bartender didn't know how to make a dry gin martini on the rocks, and they had no olives. A professional bartender would be a welcome addition.  I mentioned the breakfast buffet and the lack of menu choices at lunch and dinner, which didn’t bother us so much, but could be an issue for North American travelers.  Tables had a little placard designating whether they were for the French or the English speaking passengers.  A larger wine list or some variety in the wine choices, as we have seen on other ships, would be nice. Only one brand of beer was available, a French beer named Meteor. The alcohol brands were decidedly not top-shelf.  The vodka was Mulligan's - good luck finding that in your regular watering hole. The free wi-fi was so spotty and slow that we could rarely use it.  So yes, the cost is all-inclusive, but there were limitations on those included items.  

Entertainment was unremarkable, to say the least.  One guy played an electric keyboard and sang in the lounge most nights, but he spoke no English.  We had cultural dancers one night and they were actually boring.  A matronly French woman sang French songs one night and was largely ignored by the Americans on board.  And the Crew Show, which had only one or two amusing moments, demonstrated that the small crew was decidedly short on talent. Finally, because this is a French company, all announcements are made in French first, then English.

The Crew Show - Olga, on the right, also worked the bar and made up rooms.

But after unlimited wine and beer at dinner, the evenings were generally pretty lively in the lounge. Dancing the first night was inspired by a French couple in their 80s who showed remarkable energy and got many of us to join in.  They spoke no English but through sign language and drawing numbers on the table with their fingers, we determined that they had been married 63 years and had 24 grandchildren.  Esther thought they were darling, and wondered if we would be like them at the same age.  I said "Yes, but taller."  Seriously, neither of them looked to be 5 feet tall.

This French couple kicked off their shoes and got the dance party started!

I had to teach the French guys how to do The Twist.

Croisi compared very favorably with the included tours on the itinerary.  We had at least one tour every day, and they were excellent, with very good English-speaking guides.  However, unlike our previous trips, we had no choices of tours.  Everyone went on the same tours.  One other note - tours are normally conducted in multiple languages unless there are at least 20 English-speaking guests that can do an English only tour.  We had so many English speakers that two out of the three tour groups each day were done in English, and only one group did the tour in French. This won't always be the case, and tours where the guide says everything in French, and then translates everything to English, are more difficult to enjoy.

Our itinerary started in Lyon, which recently surpassed Marseilles as the second largest city in France.  Lyon is located at the confluence of the Rhone and Saone Rivers, and had a lot of interesting sights and history.  In Lyon, we saw the Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourviere, which sits on the highest hill overlooking the city; we saw the painted murals on building walls which the city is famous for; the traboules, long passageways that connect parallel streets and wind their way through buildings and courtyards in between; and La Tour Rose (the Pink Tower).

The Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourviere can be seen from miles around.

An incredible mosaic mural inside the Basilique.

La Tour Rose - also our Lyon refrigerator magnet selection.

One of several painted wall murals in Lyon.

Passing through one of the traboules in Lyon.

After Lyon, our stops included Macon (on the Saone River), where we took a bus to tour the Abbey of Cluny, founded in 910 AD.  For several hundred years, the three successive churches built at Cluny formed the largest building in Europe, until St. Peter’s Cathedral was rebuilt in Rome in the 16^th century.

A model of the Benedictine Abbey at Cluny, at its height, the largest church in the world.

Only small portions of the Abbey remain today.

From Macon, we sailed to Trevoux, a tiny village along the Rhone, followed by Vienne. Vienne was a Roman provincial capital, and numerous remains of Roman construction are still visible.

Imperial Temple of Augustus and Livia, almost 2000 years old. 

The Cathedral Saint-Maurice.  The Boss and I call this ABC - another beautiful church.

Our next stop was Arles, which may have been my favorite destination.  Arles also has a rich history with Roman ruins, including the Amphitheatre, kind of a mini-me of the Coliseum in Rome.

The Amphitheatre in Arles.

The actual cafe terrace in Arles.

Cafe Terrace at Night, by Van Gogh

Only the most important places in town are on the sign.

After our tour of the city, Esther and I skipped the venison lunch on the ship and went back to an outdoor café in town for a salad, pizza, and 100 cl of wine, because 25 cl didn't seem like very much. Turns out, 100 cl is equivalent to a quart (about 1-1/4 bottle), which is a lot to drink at lunch. Because we needed to make it back for the next tour, we didn't have time to finish it, which made the Boss sad. We then boarded a bus for our afternoon tour of an olive farm outside of town, which included a ride on a cart pulled by a tractor, olive tapenade tastings, and a visit to the farmhouse.

About to set off on our tour of the olive farm outside Arles.  We ended at the table full of samples in the background.

Picturesque farm house at the olive farm.

Next was a trip to the Camargue region (which was also the name of our ship).  The Camargue is like the French version of the Everglades, located south of Arles in the Rhone delta where the two branches of the Rhone River reach the Mediterranean Sea.  The Camargue is western Europe's largest river delta and is a vast plain comprising large brine lagoons cut off from the sea by sandbars, encircled by reed-covered marshes, and surrounded by large cultivated areas.  The Camargue is one of the few habitats in Europe for flamingos.  We also saw large herds of bulls, being raised for export to Spain’s bull rings, and white horses known as the Carmarguais, one of the oldest breeds in the world.  The bus stopped in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, the capital of the Camargue region before returning to the ship.

Fighting bull being raised for export to Spain.

The Camargue is a natural habitat for flamingoes.

When in France, you must have pommes frites (French fries) at least once!

Sunset over the Rhone at Arles before sailing.

From Arles, we turned around and headed back north on the Rhone to Avignon, where we received a tour of the Pope’s Palace, or the Palais des Papes.  We learned that Avignon served as the seat of the Catholic popes from 1309 to 1377, before moving back to Rome.   The city is still surrounded by its medieval stone walls.

The Palais de Papes (Popes Palace) in Avignon.

Our tour of the Palace naturally ended at........ the gift shop, of course!

The medieval walls still surround parts of the old city.

The ship sailed that evening and docked in Viviers, a tiny walled village on the right bank of the Rhone.  We arrived at night, and took a walking tour in the rain through the medieval center of town to the Cathedral of Saint-Vincent at the top of the hill.

Walking through the medieval cobblestone streets in the rain - actually a pretty neat experience.

On our last day of cruising, we arrived in Tournon, and had a walking tour followed by a wine tasting in the castle, which was great fun.  We bought a couple of bottles of wine made in the local vineyards across the Rhone.  They were a Syrah-based blend created by the woman hosting the wine tasting who was a friend of the vineyard owner.  It’s always fun to bring something home that reminds you of your trip.

The Castle Museum and our guide.

The town of Tournon from the castle terrace.

We tasted wine from this vineyard across the river.

We bought this - in spite of the odd spelling.

Not sure why I like this picture so much, but I do.

On the castle terrace in Tournon overlooking the Rhone River.

We always say half the fun of traveling for us is meeting fun and interesting people.  As we walked into the lounge the first evening, a woman seated at the bar asked Esther “Are you a travel agent too?’’  Within minutes, Esther and Jeri determined that they had not only the same birthday, but about 20 other things is common, and we ate and drank with Jeri and John from California quite a bit.  Many of the travel professionals on board were in their 20’s and 30’s, so they were a lively group and we spent a fair amount of time with them as well.  We enjoyed Barney and Anne, also from California.  Barney is a native Australian and he and I traded good-natured insults and banter all week.  The Croisi marketing and sales people on the trip, Nicola, Cindy and Sara, are passionate about their product, and took good care of us.

In summary, if you always wanted to do a river cruise, but thought they were too expensive, CroisiEurope could be a good option for you.  Unless you want a full French immersion experience, though, you should probably go with friends or in a group. We had a good time on this trip - I mean, really, what's not to like?  A floating hotel on the river, charming French towns and villages, interesting and educational tours, good food, plenty of wine, fun people and new friends.

CroisiEurope also offers more affordable barge cruises, which typically have 24 or less passengers and 6 staff, and travel slowly down rivers and canals.  They are also all-inclusive with meals, beverages and tours. We are intrigued enough by these to think we may organize a barge trip for 2017.  Let us know if you want to go!  Here is a link that provides a more information on this unique travel experience:  http://www.croisieuroperivercruises.com/cruises/barge-cruises

As always, all questions and comments are welcome.