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Croiseurope river tour thru Provence to Arles area

Ive watched a lot of utube videos on croise river tours. We have only done viking tours and i know Croise is a few steps down but we arent fancy people and i think that part will be ok. It gets generally good reviews or nothing that is a real deal breaker for us other than there were quite a few people who said to expect mostly french people and some of them, both passengers and staff, seemed like they really didnt want to interact in english with english speaking people. They just felt they were sort of ignored and were sort of treated rudely. Now I know how ugly some Americans can be and ive been to france a few times and have never had negative thoughts about how we were received and I strenuously object when people who dont know what they are talking about go on about how the french people dont like americans. Most who say that have never been there. Now Croise website of course will tell you they speak french and english on tours and onboard announcements.

Has anybody had experience on Croise provence small barge boats that travels canals or their larger river ships that go down the rhone/soane rivers in provence? What was your experience with the language difference? My husband speaks no french and ive had some french but i am really bad at understanding the spoken word and not very good at speaking. I can read some. Im not great at languages. But we have never found communication to be a problem in France. Do you suspect these people are just “ugly Anericans”?

Dont tell me to take the one that Rick Steves takes in his videos - Papillion I think. I’ve looked into those and they are too expensive for me. But if you know of something that is more like Croise, i will look into them. Thanks.

Posted by
316 posts

Haven't done one myself but had it as a contender for a lower Danube cruise. FWIW my research indicated they tend to come with an expection of small group interaction (e.g. eat, tour, recreate in groups. (This is supported by fixed group dining). I could see where not speaking the language could create a problem with this ethos. So, says my reading of forums, reviews etc anyway.

That's not really our hap
PT place eve in our own language so my research continues.

Posted by
17338 posts

I just wanted to say Road Scholar contracts with Croisieurope for several barge trips in France. Road Scholar says they have the whole ship so their trips would be with other English speakers.

I’m on my iPad and it won’t link the search page (probably user error, haha), so go here and search for France Barge trips.

https://www.roadscholar.org/find-an-adventure/

Posted by
11895 posts

The company name is CroisiEurope, not shorten to Croise, unless something called Croise has flown under my radar.
Yes, it’s a French company and most people speak French, but you would probably find others from various countries who speak English. We have many French friends who have taken their river cruises around Europe and we’re eyeballing one in Asia for ourselves.
CroisiEurope is to the French what Viking is for the Americans, a go-to that is geared to the culture.
Many of the older French don’t speak English, just like you don’t speak French, nor did those people posting about rudeness.

If you have an open mind, it would be truly a cultural experience for you. But your statement that it’s a few steps down is already incorrect. It’s not. But if you think it is, then you should be careful. Not a good fit, and Viking may be your comfort zone.

Posted by
560 posts

I haven't personally done a CroisiEurope cruise, but do hope to one day. I did a super expensive Scenic one and vowed never to spend that much again.

My friend has done two though, one by herself when her husband was on a different trip and the second with him. They enjoyed both, but on one of them, I can't remember which, there was an issue. She had booked an English speaking cruise, which is possible, but was put on a regular one, where there was very little English spoken.

She said she still enjoyed it, but the one with other English speakers was far better, which I can understand.

A great opportunity to learn the language though, so I would risk it.

Posted by
319 posts

If you have a facebook account, you would be well served by joining a group there called "All About River Cruises Tips & Info". There are many members, and they cover all river cruise companies. You will get answers there from actual cruisers. i will post the link here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/520074852422199