Should I take dinner on an evening seine cruise?
 

Hello everyone

Planning a trip to Paris at the end of Septeber and intended on taking a dinner cruise with Bateaux Parisiens or Vedettes de Paris, however reading some posts this seems to be a bad idea. We love good food and I would be dissapointed if the dinner was a let down. Am now thinking of doing the evening cruise to see Paris by night and then perhaps dinner at Laperouse. I am hoping to get a reservation at Jules Verne for one of the evenings and don't mind spending if the food is up to standard.

Any advice on which is the best cruise companies would be appreciated. If dining on board is not recommended, I would like a vessel that can offer champagne whilst seated? Is this possible?

Many thanks for any ideas...

Eat elsewhere. The food on board is mediocre and way over priced.

I usually have a nice dinner and then take a late night cruise. My favorite is the Vedettes Pont Neuf - smaller boats and they leave from the foot of ile de la Cite. If you want to eat late then take the boat first.

For a grand night - La Tour d' Argent is walking distance from the Pont Neuf . . . .

I recommend taking a sunset cruise on Vedettes du Pont Neuf and doing dinner afterwards. Bring on a bottle of wine and some bread & cheese (it's a BYOB cruise). It costs 10 Euro, and you can download a 2 Euro discount on their website.

http://www.vedettesdupontneuf.com/ ((b))

If you're serious about Le Jules Vernes, you must phone immediately. They are likely booked up.

Regarding a dinner cruise, much depends on what you have in mind. If it's dining and music and dancing, while cruising past the sites, you would enjoy a dinner cruise.

If all you have in mind is enjoying Champagne while cruising at night, bring your own bottle and glasses. But, go on the Bateaux Mouches. They are huge with much for room to move around and find a private spot for enjoying the views. The smaller vessels just have rows and rows of cramped seats and no real decks for walking all about.

For us, anyway, it's much more enjoyable to just cruise and enjoy a wonderful dinner elsewhere. We'd rather not miss one moment of all the sights along the way "dining" at the same time.

I don't agree on taking the bigger boats as your view is really limited to the window you are sitting at. It means THAT side of the boat as you miss the other side of the river. (you really can't see the other side of the boat). It is also better in good weather in a boat without a roof as the roof also limits vision.

Frankly, unless you have a nice small private boat the night trip is no big deal IMHO as far as really seeing a spectacle.

Hi S,

We took the Batobus.

A one-day hop on/off pass is about 11E.

See www.batobus.com

I agree with bringing your own champagne.

We had a very nice dinner at Laperouse on our last visit.

Tour d'Argent has been reduced to only 1*.

Enjoy your visit.

((I))

Wow, thanks everyone, this was my first post on Fodors which I only submitted last night - what a quick response.

Are all the cruises BYOB or is it just vedettes?

Do you think Tour d'argent would be a better dinner chice than Laperouse? Are there views at Tour d'argent?

Tour D'Argent is located on top floor of building, has a superb view over Seine to Notre Dame

Have not been to Laperouse but dinner at La Tour d'Argent is one of our most memorable times. We requested a window table. View is of Notre Dame. Food was great. Service the best. Price=$$$$$$, but worth it to us. Since we neither speak or read French, our waiter gave us recommendations and was extremely kind and helpful.
Happy travels.

I can't speak for the other boats but we enjoyed the cruise from Pont Neuf AND the discount tickets that we had downloaded (thanks, Fodorites.) Also, the Pont Neuf area puts you within range of many good restaurants. Take your own drinks, and your camera, and enjoy.

bookmark

There are four firms running similar sightseeing trips from different departure points in Paris:
www.bateaux-mouches.fr
www.bateauxparisiens.com
www.vedettesdupontneuf.com
www.vedettesdeparis.com
None of them has a bar on the regular sightseeing trips so, if you want a drink, you must take your own or buy it on the landing stage before departure.
"Bateaux" of course means "boats" and "vedettes" is a term used for smaller passenger boats.

In a word (answering the question in your header): NO

There is one exceptional dinner cruise..but it runs about $200.00 per person , The food is excellent, the wines OTT. There are only abot 20 tables , each of which has about 5 waiters dancing around., We were taken on it by a French food and wine critic and had a wonderful time. Too bad I can't remember the name!!!!!

If you are just going on one of the regular bateaux..skip dinner!

bookmarking as well.

I was invited to a dinner cruise once on the Bateaux Mouches (Pont de l'Alma), and it was quite nice and scenic. But I am sure that it is not worth the price. Take an evening cruise if you wish, but have dinner elsewhere.

Went on a Seine cruise for the first time last week (5th visit to Paris). I found that there was way too much to see that I know I will have trouble enjoying the food and view at the same time, even if cost is not a factor.

RE Tour d'Argent. Somebody posted a report here not too long ago and reported that dinner clocked in at $730. (For two)

Gosh Grandma, I hope my bill doesn't come to that. I decided to ditch the idea of dinner on a cruise and have booked tour d'argent instead!

Found it! Lots of other similar input around. Seems lunch is the best deal.


thor: Katiebug
Date: 06/29/2005, 07:40 pm
Hi cybertraveler,

My husband and I were at La Tour d'Argent for our 8th anniversary in the end of May. You will spend a small fortune. Here's what we had:
2 glasses of champagne
2 starters (scrambled eggs w/ truffles)
I had the lamb medallians
my husband had duck
1 bottle of wine
2 desserts
1 port
1 coffee

The tab came to $733.

The view was spectacular, the service was attentive, professional and very good. In our opinion, no, the food was not the best we've had. It was very good, but not the best. Was it the most elegant restaurant I've been to? Probably. If not the most, one of the most, and, very, very romantic. I probably wouldn't go again to La Tour d'Argent (unless I was a treated guest), but we certainly don't regret the experience. It was special, romantic, beautiful, fun, and a good story to tell. BTW - the wine list was amazing! We got a good chuckle out of it all.

I just posted a link for our photos from our trip, which include photos from our night @ La Tour d'Argent (and the famous wine list is in one). If you'd like you can view them at:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slidesho...0tofc&Ux=1

To get a thumbnail album of the photos (rather than a slideshow), go to the left hand top of the page & click where it says "(1 album)." At that point, you can scroll through. Tour d'Argent is probably about 1/2 way down.