We will be staying at the Hotel D'Orsay 93, rue de Lille in May. I need to know exactly where do we get the Seine River night cruises (not dinner cruises). How much do these cost, schedule, pick up point etc?

We always take the Seine cruise and we clip the internet coupon for €2 off the cruise with Vedettes du Pont Neuf. I see now that if you prepay by charge card and print your ticket it is €4 off the price. That makes it €7 instead of €11.
Heck that €8 saving buys Sandra and me each a glass of wine at Taverne Henri IV.

http://tinyurl.com/2utnv5


Further details can be found on this site.
Location: Pont Neuf

Thanks robjame! Is there just one pickup point?

I think so for this particular company Vedettes de Pont Neuf".
Are you thinking of something a little closer to your hotel? That never concerns us as we walk so much in Paris or hop on the Metro. You are about 2 km from Pont Neuf - half hour walk along the Seine.

There are also the Bateaux Mouches which run from 10am to 11 pm and are at Pont d'Alma, directly across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower.We have used them as well as Vedettes du Pont Neuf.

Ok for the Vedettes du Pont Neuf cruises at night what would be the best boarding time to catch the Eiffel Tower lights? We are talking mid may where I understand sunset is 9:30.

You could also consider the Batobus. It travels in a loop on the Seine, stops at the seven major sites, and has a reasonably priced hop-on-hop-off pass. I think we paid 13E apiece for an unlimited two-day pass. We were there in early June, and it ran until about 10pm, but I know that varies by season. It is a pleasant way to take a break and ride to your next destination. Also, it's covered in case of rain.
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They have cruises leaving at 9, 9:30, 10, 10:30 so I think you are OK for seeing tower at night. The location for VdPN is good because it is very near Notre Dame, Left Bank,lots of restaurants etc..so you can eat dinner (~8PM) and then walk over. Also at the boarding point is Square du Vert Gallant, which is a very nice park at the tip of Ile de la Cite, with panoramic views of Seine, Louvre,etc... I went there last november specifically because I had read about this park, but had never been. It is worth stopping there if you are in the area. I've been on these boats a couple of times, and it was not sold out, so I don't believe you need to worry about buying tickets beforehand. Others here have made a picnic of the cruise, another idea.

Mike

I'm told that the Eiffel Tower lights up for 10 minutes opn the hour- so I'm guessing that getting the 9:30 boat would be best to catch the lights on the tower.

I thought the Tower was lit up all night, and that it twinkles on the hour. Non?
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Ok - twinkles on the hour- so should I get the 9:30 boarding to catch the twinkling?

That would be a good choice. There is a snack bar at the loading area but pick up your bottle of wine (if you wish) from a Nicholas (or other)location for a better deal.
If you don't want to buy your ticket ahead, print out the internet coupon and at least save €2 per person.
There are some pics from the cruise if you are interested:

http://tinyurl.com/2loo2v

If you don't know Paris well there is also a "circuit" on th4e internet site which has the highlights of the cruise in order.

I guess that would be the advantage of the Pont d'Alma boats, they are quite near the Tower, so you would be "guaranteed" to see the twinkling. But the boats are much larger, I prefer the smaller VPN boats and its location. You will also be able to see the tower twinkling from some of the bridges over the Seine.

The lights twinkle for 10 minutes on the hour, from sundown till 2AM in the summer, 1 AM in the winter.

I'll add another comment...if you want a memorable "first view" of the Eiffel Tower, Metro to Trocadero, then walk between the two buildings of the Palais Chillot...and there is the tower in front of you, great views from Right Bank side of Seine.

bookmarking

When buying the tickets over their internet site- do you need to book a specific day/time or is the ticket good on any day and departure? (for Vedettes du Pont Neuf)

Anytime

Vedettes de Paris depart from right underneath the Eiffel Tower. Also small boats (but with recorded guides, not live). If you take the ones that depart at :00, you can see the lights from the boats.

[Actually, I really don't understand the big deal about seeing the flashing lights from the boat; it looks the same if you're on the shore.]

But definitely take the smaller boats (Pont Neuf or Paris), and not the larger ones. On the Vedettes de Paris boats, you sit on the deck in darkness and see the lights in their real colors. Bigger boats have bright lights that shine onto the buildings, creating a lot of light pollution, in my opinion.

When I tried to buy tickets for Vedettes du Pont Neuf. on their site - my transaction went thru they indicated acceptance but then they indicated that they would send me an email with my tickets to print but no email came. When I tried to send them an email about this it came back undeliverable??? I hope I'm not being scammed here.

Did you check your spam filters? This kind of email from overseas sometimes gets picked off as spam.
I wouldn't worry about a scam as you can always contest the purchase if it goes through.