Seine River Dinne Cruise (for 2 adults + 2 young children)

Honestly, with kids that age, I would recommend just doing the boat cruise and the dinner separate. I expect that the dinner would be long and drawn out (which is normal for a "nicer" dinner in France) and your kids might start to get restless. But if you take a normal Seine cruise (~1 hour) they would probably really enjoy it. You could grab a casual dinner before or after. Many companies continue their tours until later at night. Depending on what time of the year you are going, you may be able to get one after dark.

Every spring and summer the question about dinner cruises on the Seine comes up. The responses are always hands down, don't do it. It's expensive and the food is lousy. All the companies are about the same. They go one way for a half hour with a multilingual interpretation and then they turn around and go back for a half hour. I've been going to Paris for forty years and still take a boat ride every time I can. Love it both day and night. Avoid the dinner ones though.

And the views from the river is not all that great and at night it would be mostly lights. Part of the problem is that the river has high concrete banks so even on the top deck you are barely more than ground level when on the boat. It makes for a very nice afternoon break. Second, the one dinner cruise that we were on the food was decent - would not call it lousy nor would it be 5 star. Kind of fun but don' think the kids would like it.

Don't do dinner on the boat with young kids! It is VERY LONG and there is nothing else to do. Totally fun for adults, IMHO, but a real drag for kiddos--even well-behaved ones.

Emily, I love the Seine river cruise and it's on my "must do" list every trip. The Bateaux Parisiens is fine, another option is the
Bateau Mouches (http://www.bateaux-mouches.fr/en/tarifs.php). The boats run frequently, no need to purchase advance tickets. I think the entire family will enjoy the trip - agree with the other posters on skipping dinner. Hope you have a great time in Paris!

Yep, ditto what others have said.........dine elsewhere then enjoy just the river trip. The views will be much better from the open-air tour. Go late so you can see the Eiffel Tower all aglow at night. It's fun to see what you've enjoyed seeing during the day from a different vantage point in the evening. Unless it is during the hotest period in summer, you may want to take a light wrap for the evening air. Agree that it is easy to just walk up to a boat and get instant boarding. Check w/ your hotel, as they may offer comp tickets with a stay....some if you show the Rick Steves' guidebook (at least that was the case several years ago).

Emily,, even a well behaved 3 yr old is not going to be well behaved till 11 pm after sightseeing all day,, the child will be tired. Tired children usually are not able to be in the most control of themselves.. Take a normal one hour cruise, the kids can run around ( which they can't on a dinner cruise) and you can have a reasonable dinner, likely a lot cheaper, somewhere else!