artlinda

Has anyone taken a river cruise from Paris that includes Normandy. I've found 3 river cruise companies; Viking, Avalon Waterways, and Uniworld. They each offer different lengths from 8 days to 15 days. Would like recommendations.

trishgastineau

Hi, I sailed with Avalon over Easter this April and really enjoyed it!

I know each one of the lines you mentioned and each one has a slightly vibe. uniworld is a boutique type ship operated by the Red Carnation hotel group. Their properties & ships have a plush, upscale boutique feel.

Avalon Waterways is part of the Globus Family of brands. Globus has been operating group tours for 80+ years. They are experts in ensuring customer satisfaction & because they have been around so long, they have GREAT contacts and connections. They are able to attract the best employees & guides.

Out of the 3 companies listed, Viking is my lest favorite.

PaulHahn

Personally, if I ever decided to do a cruise of any kind, I would pick the one that gave the most time on land at each stop. Also if there was one that did not provide all meals so I could find my own local places to eat at each stop.

Gretchen

We did one in Burgundy with French Country Waterways. Check and see if they do it. LOVED the small barge--not the big river cruiser. Great land tours at ports.

artlinda

Thanks for your reply. We are seriously thinking of going with Avalon. Any suggestions on what time of year? We are thinking late May or early September.

VikingRiverCruises1

Dear trishgastineau,

We are sorry to hear Viking River Cruises is your least favorite cruise line. We would greatly appreciate speaking with you to find out why. Please contact us at [email protected]. We do look forward to hearing from you soon.

Best,

Viking River Cruises

Gwendolynn

Aha! I'm getting a Trip Advisor vibe.

Underhill

Have you looked at Grand Circle Tours? The Danube Christmas Markets cruise that I took with GCT was excellent in all ways; virtually all shore excursions were included in the price, the tour guides were really good (both GCT's own and the extra people in the towns we visited), and the food was plentiful and good. There's an educational orientation rather than fun & games.

tuscanlifeedit

artlinda, just a note since your are fairly new here. trishgastineau, who said such nice things above about Avalon, has never posted here on any other subject, and also just joined. You can see this if you click on her screen name.

That could be completely coincidental, and if it is, I apologize to her. However, her post sounds like thinly disguised advertising.

The Viking rep found your question here, and I'm guessing that an Avalon rep found it too.

Avalon may be great. I just don't think that one post here from a slightly suspicious first time poster should have a lot of influence on your decision.

I understand that the forum called CruiseCritic.com has a lot of information and right here on Fodors you can find a cruise section. It's not as busy as the Europe forum, but you might want to also post your question there.