We will be in Paris in May and are thinking of an evening dinner cruise. We have looked at the Bateaux Parisiens and the Bateau Mauches. On the first one you pay extra depending on whether your seats are near a window or in the front of the boat. On the other there is only one price. Has anyone had any experience with these tours? Are there other better options? We would appreciate any suggestions.

I don't think either the Bâteaux-Mouches or the Bâteaux-Parisiens are dinner cruises, though maybe they do them. But don't do a dinner cruise anyway. Mediocre food, high prices. Take a ride on the Vedettes de Paris and then head out for a nice dinner in a real restaurant/bistro/brasserie.

Actually, I've heard people come back with good reports about Les Yachts de Paris, but I believe they are really expensive.

I agree with StCirq, I have not heard anything special about the cruise dinners on the major toruist cruises.

perhaps...

http://www.calife.com/english/index.html

Unless you do Les Yachts, don't do it. And then maybe not even Les yachts, but like St. Cirq, people say it is a really nice experience and good food. Neither of these has been said about the big boat dinner.
Go for a ride and then go to a nice dinner.

have a wonderful dinner <u>on land</u> - and then take a Bateaux Vedettes from pont Neuf. A much better idea than a dinner cruise IMO

There have been people who brought a bottle of wine and some snacks on to Vedettes.

Location wise, it is an easy to have a very good dinner on Left Bank/Islands, then walk over to Vedettes for an after dark cruise.

Hi ja,

>Help me find the best dinner cruise in Paris <

Why?

You will get a much better meal for your money on land.

La Rotisserie de Beaujolais is very near Pont Neuf and the Vedette for dinner before or after yur cruise.

The best cruise in paris is BEFORE dinner. Then you go to a real restaurant and get decent food. Then you can have a romatic stroll along the Seine after dinner (see Gene Kelly in an American in Paris).

If you eat on a boat you 1) get sub par food and 2) either miss the sights or don't have time to enjoy the dinner (probably a blessing in disguise).

I've always wondered why people take dinner cruises because when you're eating dinner and talking with your travel companion(s), distracted by the waiters and other diners then you're not looking at the sights you're passing.

Even if you do take a dinner cruise take another cruise w/o the dinner - it's only an hour and you'll see what you've missed.

Just look at the prices you would pay, and then make your decision. I just looked up Bateaux Parisian, and they advertise their dinner cruise for €160. A cruise Vedettes du Pont Neuf (admittedly with no dinner) costs around €13.

Do the math and figure what level of dinner you can get in a restaurant for the difference.

If you were to get an interior (not window) table, would lose a lot of the benefit of the cruise.

My only caveat...cruise after dark.

With dinner times at restaurants typically around 7:30PM, that (depending on time of year) works out to a cruise AFTER dinner.

depending on the cruise you take dinner will be mediocore or great. We went on one with a French friend who is the food critic for several French pubications and the food was terrific but it was 2oo dollars a person with the wines we drank. A French friend who lives on a houseboat on the Seine recommended the Calife cruise that St Cirq posted