CroisiEurope

River Cruises

Gourmet Food Cruises

Amsterdam

Basel

Europe - All

Europe - River Cruise

Europe - British Isles & Western

France

Europe River

Germany

Netherlands

Switzerland

Rhine River

Excellent

Average

Very Good

Beethoven

Lafayette

Infante Don Henrique

Victor Hugo

Seine Princesse

Gil Eanes

Cyrano de Bergerac

Princesse d'Aquitaine

Vivaldi

Raymonde

Amalia Rodrigues

Gerard Schmitter

Michelangelo

Anne Marie

Modigliani

Symphonie

Botticelli

Renoir

Fernao de Magalhaes

Europe

Madeleine

Jeanine

Elbe Princesse

Elbe Princesse II

Deborah

La Boheme

Loire Princesse

La Belle de Cadix

Leonard de Vinci

Camargue

Van Gogh

Mona Lisa

The ship was nice, cosy and well kept.

Good organization of the space in the cabin with more closets. The equipment and air conditioning in the cabin were well functioning. The acoustic isolation and hygiene in the room was good. The illumination inside the cabin was correct. The cabin and the catering staff were very kind and efficient but insufficient. 

Interesting shore excursions, but the guides were of irregular "quality". Questionable organisation of excursions (insufficient details, inattention to the profile and the age of the customers, etc.). 

Gastronomy of very acceptable level, but less good than in other previous journeys (5 cruises). The buffet is not a reccomendable type of meal due to the rytm of journey.

Entertainment was regular and the staff was kind and helpful. 

The average quality vs price was good but inferior than in previous cruises in same company.

The musical theme cruises could be spread in summer time.

An experience to repeat once again with group of friends.

Fluvial cruises are a wonderful experience!

I have so many great things to say about this cruise I don't even know where to begin! I usually go on two cruises a year, and have been doing so since 1968. This has been one of my favorite cruises in all my years of cruising. The ship was beautifully decorated... The staff, Julien and Julie, were so attentive and were readily available to address any needs, they were so kind hearted and welcoming. The room accommodations were excellent,  the bathroom shower was very spacious and the bedding was very comfortable. The food in the dining room had great presentation, it was also very delicious. I would recommend this cruise to everyone, it was more than relaxing. The bar staff  were also very welcoming, offering drinks. This was a very enjoyable experience. This ship is great for anyone who is looking for a calm and soothing atmosphere. I implore anyone to give it a try. 

Ann G

Just Perfect

Jost Van Dyke

A friend and frequent "cruiser" told us she preferred CroisiEurope  to other river cruises she had taken prior to discovering CroisiEurope.  While we have been on numerable large-ship ocean cruises, this was our first River Cruise. So we took her advice, booked the Lafayette, and now share her enthusiasm!

We were thrilled with our intimate cruise aboard the Lafayette. While no cabins have balconies, both levels have large windows- the larger on  the second level -  and all cabins are spacious with plentiful storage room for clothing and luggage. The outside upper deck has lots of  table seating in sunny and shady areas as well as an abundance of  lounge chairs.

Lafayette's  lounge and dining room, are spacious and well appointed. While most passengers were European -  on our trip they were primarily French and Norwegian -  the staff at all levels speak English.  

Breakfast is open for  two hours and  for those very early risers, coffee and pastries are available in the large-windowed lounge.

There is one seating for lunch and dinner, the timing accommodating the return of  those off-ship passengers on morning and afternoon excursions. The  delicious French cuisine is  beautifully presented and wine is served with both meals. In the dining room we were seated with other English speakers from Jakarta, England and New Zealand.

The local guides on the excursions are very friendly and knowledgeable. Every trip has one guide who speaks English and each person receives a headset that ensures you can hear all the commentary.  Many excursions begin with a narrated coach ride to the town, village or site destination.  At the return of the afternoon trip you are welcomed back by the staff with a cool drink or cocktail  of the day.

So if you are American and looking for a River Cruise we suggest you consider CroisiEurope. We give them five stars in all categories and we plan to book another trip soon!

D&B Smart

Ship, Staff, Excursions and food all excellent!

Loved this small boat and everyone who worked on it.The staff was very friendly and did their best to meet our needs.

I thought that the french meals and wines were lovely and there was plenty of food.

The small size, with about 80 passengers, was just right:  Most of the passengers were French, Spanish, Norwegian, British and then just the 8 of us Americans, and we enjoyed some of the evening entertainment which were friendly competitions with the others on the ship.  The 8 of us were traveling together and we requested one large dining table, and the crew accommodated us, no problem

The guides for our excursions were, for the most part, quite capable and entertaining and these excursions were well organized, some on comfortable buses and others were walking tours of the old towns, castles, cathedrals, etc.

I would have liked a little more time to eat at the local cafes, to have the chance to try the foods from the different regions, rather than returning to the ship for every meal, but the food on the ship was excellent, so it is not a big complaint.

Our cabins were adequate - there was plenty of room to hang up clothes and slide the suitcases out of the way, under the bed, so we could move around easily, and they were cleaned every day, with fresh towels.

The excursions were all included in the cost of the cruise.  We thought that this cruise was a great value for the money.

Cruising down the Rhine

A small ship, with a nice Atmosphere. The crew are very friendly and helpful.

However the biggest disappointment was the food. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, were well below an acceptable standard.  Lunch and dinner was a set menu, no choice, apart from a couple of buffet lunches which were quite good. Cannot understand why all the lunches were not buffet type. Really did not enjoy any of the main courses, this was not fine dining.

Also if I was being pedantic the entertainment is not up to much. Bingo, or quizzes seem to be the order of the day. Apart from the Gala night  where the crew put on an enthusiastic and entertaining display. 

This ship is quite low key and very relaxing. The standard of cleanliness is very high. Had a very nice cabin with excellent shower.

You probably pay for what you get, so this would be at the cheaper end of the market. However, if the could drastically improve the food, this ship would be great value for money.

Poor Food

While reading the only other review of this ship, I agree with many things the reviewer said.  Croise is a French line and everything is directed towards and for the French people.  For example, the only channels available on the television in the state room were French programs, with no subtitles available for English, or Spanish.  When I did get reception on the other channels, the only American station was the news.

The crew was wonderful, every one of them; from the cruise director to the house keeping staff.  Our guide was French and just the cutest little thing ever. Her English was acceptable, but at times she was hard to understand.  As said by the last reviewer, there was no daily program or written instructions.  Everything was told to us as a large group in three different languages.  If you didn't have a pen and paper handy, it was easy to forget what the instructions were.

Croise advertises free Samsung tablets would be available for everyone, however I had to ask for one and I was given the one that was currently being used by the staff.  Then I had to ask the next day for a charger, and was given a charger being used by another computer and was told I needed to return it as soon as possible.  And the tablet was in French, so it wasn't of much use to me.  I asked for an English one, and the director told me he would give me one, but he never did.  Internet was sketchy, which no one was really warned about.  We are in the middle of the Rhine, so one can not expect to have internet.  Just wish on the Croise site, this would have been stated.

The major thing I was not happy about was that excursions were not included, which now when I look at the prices for this itinerary, they are..for an additional $600 or so.  I wanted to go into Cologne on my own, but I was forced to pay for the excursion because the boat was still moving.  If we did not do the excursion, we would have had to stay on the boat and miss Cologne.  Once our tour ended, we all got on a coach which took us to Dusseldorf to meet the ship at the next debarkation.  The same thing happened in Dusseldorf...stay on the boat if you don't want to pay to get off.  I will say, though, that we were put on Mercedes Benz coaches, that were very nice and comfortable.

My room was very nice.  I got one of the four single cabins for no single supplement fee.  But there was no shower door, only a curtain, so all the water would drip out onto the floor.  The bathroom door wouldn't stay open on its' own without me using a trash bin to hold it open.  I think the reason for this was because they didn't want the water from the shower going onto the carpet in the room.  

The entertainment was quite weak.  Croise says "professional entertainment."  This was one of the crew playing the keyboard all day.  Yes, she was good but I wouldn't consider that professional entertainment. They could have saved money by piping in the music and hiring professionals to give us some real entertainment.  The crew put on a show the last night and maybe I don't understand French humor, but it was very silly.  Miming was a major part of the show.

The dining staff was very accommodating and so was the chef.  Any substitutions that were requested were gladly made.  Dinner was good, if you love duck.  They served a lot of duck.  I expected more French cuisine.  Maybe some frog legs and escargot would have been nice as a choice.  The buffet breakfast was lovely but the buffet lunches weren't all that great.  Dinners usually lasted about 2 hours with five courses served.  Dinner ended quite late and it was time to go to bed in an hour on a full stomach.  Not complaining as far as being full.  They didn't let us ever go hungry.  Just wished dinner wasn't so long and ended earlier.

They had several games and quizzes for us to play.  It was very cute.  Tokens were given to us if we answered correctly and the last night we could use our tokens to bid on four different items.  Nothing of value.  One woman got a bottle of water when she had the highest bid.  

Overall, the price was very reasonable and there was not one complaint about the staff.  The food was very fancy.  Not happy about the Samsung tablet promise made by the company and even though there was a fair amount of lounge chairs on the upper deck, there were no chair pads, so not a single person laid on them.  They need more activities to do on board when the ship is cruising.  They did have some board games and cards, but some nightly entertainment would have been appreciated.  A nice thing that they should have had would have been free bicycles to use.

Some of the staff spoke no English at all, so it was difficult at times.  We were seated in the dining room with other Americans, so I thank them for that.

Nice Ship for the Price

The cruise was directed towards French senior citizens. The ship staff tried hard, but were not especially well trained. Their language skills were impressive and they were personable. The ship crew (serving, cleaning, mechanical) were uniformly cordial and helpful.
For persons wanting to explore on their own, the staff had little information. They did not know the docking locations or sometimes, the exact times for returning to the boat. The exact itinerary was never printed, butwas delivered orally the night before in four languages. This was an annoying waste of time and easy to forget by the next day.
The excursions became tedious because at each stopping point, because the guides repeated the information in multiple languages. The Lafayette is a new ship and the lack of effective, innovative technology to impart information was disappointing.
The cruise was 25% English speaking, but none of the staff was really proficient in English. This is an observation, not a complaint. If CroisiEurope desires to attract more of the mono-lingual American market, this should be a priority.
The breakfast buffet was adequate, but fresh fruit was only put out every other day. The lunch buffets were adequate unless you wanted a salad or healthy, heart healthy fare.
The other lunches and all the dinners were heavy, old style country French cuisine. Lots of meat, cheese, butter with few fresh fruits and vegetables. If you want healthy meals, inform CroisiEurope well in advance of your specific needs.
The cabins were well laid out and the floor to ceiling windows were a treat. The boat common areas were tasteful and spacious.
The WiFi almost never worked once the boat left Amsterdam. If you need internet, buy a cellular plan where you can use your phone as a hotspot. I racked up over $200 in extra cellphone data charges trying to find information about the next day's itineraries and to keep from getting lost on our shore excursions.
There is no exercise equipment. Again, this is just an observation. If CroisiEurope wants to attract a younger demographic, they might want ot address this omission.

Good Value, But Frustrating

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