Grand Circle Cruise Review, a READER REVIEW of a Southern France River Cruise by Dave & Pat

Aug 30, 2023 | 0

Grand Circle Cruise Review.

Reviewer

Dave & Pat from USA.

Cruise Line

Grand Circle.

Ship

86-pax River Chanson.

Destination

Southern France.

# of Nights

Departure Port

Arles.

Date of Cruise

2023.

Ratings

(5=excellent, 4=very good, 3=good, 2=poor, 1=terrible)

-Overall Experience Rating: 5

-Food Rating: 5

-Service/Crew Rating: 5

-Cabin Rating: 5

-Itinerary Rating: 4

Subscribe to our monthly small ship cruise email

Subscribe to QuirkyCruise.com for monthly curated newsletters highlighting our top small cruise ship reviews, round-ups & offers!

Grand Circle Cruise Review

We loved our first river cruise with Grand Circle in Southern France.

Flew into Nice, a few nights there, then to Arles, for 7 day cruise, then TGV to Paris for a few more days and then flew home.

Loved the “bull farm” and the time we spent independently in Lyon.

70 people on board, split into 2 groups was very good for walking tours.

We have been on canal barge cruises in France and loved them.

This was over the top in comparison.

How many small-ship cruises under 300 pax have you been on?

Contribute to our pool of honest reviews by real passengers. QuirkyCruise wants to hear about your latest small-ship cruise for our Reader Reviews, a growing reservoir of opinions by small-ship cruise lovers around the world. We don’t edit or sugarcoat, we just present QuirkyCruise reader reviews straight from travelers to you.

SUBMIT a QuirkyCruise Reader Review, click here to access the FORM.

And here’s an INDEX of ALL our Reader Reviews. Have a look at what fellow travelers have to say and see what floats your boat.

Don’t miss a post about small-ship cruising, subscribe to QuirkyCruise.com for monthly updates & special offers!

About The Author

QuirkyCruise

Ted & Heidi are long-time travel writers with a penchant for small ship cruising. Between them they've traveled all over the world aboard hundreds and hundreds of small cruise ships of all kinds, from river boats to expedition vessels and sailing ships.

About Us

HEIDI SARNA

I'm up to 78 countries and 110+ cruises worldwide, and it's the small ship journeys that I love writing about most. And so QuirkyCruise.com was born, an excellent research tool for planning your own unforgettable small ship trip.

THEODORE W. SCULL

I have traveled between all continents by sea and cruised along three dozen rivers. Ships and travel are in my blood, and so is writing. My journeys have translated into many books and many hundreds of articles.

More...

Our Small Ship Cruise Reviews & Articles

If you can imagine it, we’ve cruised it! With reviews, articles and destination overviews, we’ve got you covered.

CroisiEurope Rhine River Cruise — Peter Knego Reviews A Week Aboard Croisi’s 106-Passenger Symphonie

CroisiEurope Rhine River Cruise Review By Peter Knego On various journeys with a wide range of river cruise lines on European waterways, I’ve encountered the vessels of French-owned CroisiEurope with a certain level of curiosity. Once or twice, I’ve even walked across...

Mississippi River Cruise: Expert Review of the American Melody on a Lower Mississippi River Cruise between Memphis and New Orleans

Mississippi River Cruise By John and Sandra Nowlan Our first glance of our Mississippi riverboat was from atop a levee in Memphis. We headed down the steep ramp to board the American Melody through its unusual flipped-up bow. Riverboats on the Mississippi have a...

Eastern Europe Viking Cruise Review — Rediscovering My Mother’s Hungarian Roots on a Journey of Tastes and Heritage

Eastern Europe Viking Cruise By Judi Cohen The moment our Viking longship, Viking Ullur, arrived in Budapest, I felt like I was “home.” Here, in the heart of Hungary on the Danube River, I was surrounded by the flavours and scents that defined my childhood. This...

American Cruise Lines New England Cruise — Island Hopping Aboard the American Liberty, A Great Way to Travel

American Cruise Lines New England By Cele and Lynn Seldon As we’ve mentioned before in some of our other QuirkyCruise.com coverage, we often escape the heat and humidity of our South Carolina Lowcountry home in the summer and head to cooler temperatures. This year was...

Viking Eastern Seaboard Explorer Cruise, Including the St. Lawrence Seaway — Peter Knego Reviews the Viking Polaris

Viking Eastern Seaboard Explorer Cruise By Peter Knego It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Viking and have been since first laying eyes on a rendering of the soon-to-be Viking Star at a cruise industry preview event in 2013. I was thrilled to see a new ocean-going...

More Murray River Cruise Options as Australia’s Murray River Adds a New Sidewheeler to its Fleet

Murray River Cruise By Ted Scull For Australia, the mention of river cruises would probably result in blank stares from most people, leaving them in the dark. Such cruises are plentiful in Europe, North America, Asia, and to a lesser extent in South America (Amazon,...

Variety Cruises Galileo Review by QuirkyCruise Reader Jay Katz

Variety Cruises Galileo Reviewer Jay Katz from USA. Cruise Line Variety Cruises. Ship The 49-passenger Galileo. Destination Greece. # of Nights 8. Departure Port Athens, Greece. Date of Cruise Oct 18, 2024. Ratings (5=excellent, 4=very good, 3=good, 2=poor,...

Celebrating Victory Cruise Lines Return to the Great Lakes

Victory Cruise Lines Return By Peter Barnes As an occasional Quirky Cruise contributor, I was invited to a memorable dinner held at the Chef’s Dinner Table in Lower Manhattan last week to celebrate the launch of Victory Cruise Lines. John Waggoner, CEO of Victory and...

Majestic’s Glen Etive — Scotsman Robin McKelvie Reviews the 12-Pax Glen Etive, 8 Years After He Sailed on the Inaugural Voyage

Majestic's Glen Etive By Robin McKelvie When The Majestic Line launched their first purpose-built vessel, the MV Glen Etive, in 2016 she set a new standard for the growing flotilla of Scottish small ships that sleep a maximum of a dozen passengers. I was privileged to...

New Owners for The Majestic Line — Scotsman Robin McKelvie Takes a Look at the Direction of Scotland’s Largest Small-Ship Cruise Operator

New Owners for The Majestic Line By Robin McKelvie It’s hard to overemphasize the role that The Majestic Line have played in the massive success and growth of small ship cruising in Scotland. Over the last two decades they have proved all the doubters — who couldn’t...

Inside Windstar Cruises’ New Star Seeker — Anne Kalosh Shares Some Details of Windstar’s Upcoming New Ship

Inside Windstar Cruises' New Star Seeker By Anne Kalosh Bookings are open for Windstar Cruises' new ship, the 224-passenger Star Seeker that will debut in late 2025. It's going to first sail in the Caribbean, then will operate Windstar's popular Alaska and Japan...

Quirky Cruise Contributors

Heidi & Ted and their team of curious travel writers explore the far corners of the world to share their experiences & insights about small-ship cruising.

Heidi M. Sarna

So far, I’ve explored 78 countries around the world by boat, road, plane, foot, bicycle and camel. My first big journey was a six-month trip around the world back in the days when…

Theodore W. Scull

I am happiest near water, over water or better still on a conveyance moving through water. When my brother Sandy and I were deemed old enough, mother took us to Europe by ship.

Peter Knego

John Roberts

Judi Cohen

Robin McKelvie

Ben Lyons

Dana Freeman

Gene Sloan

Randy Mink

Judi Cuervo

Lynn and Cele Seldon

Elysa Leonard

Subscribe

Sign up for our monthly newsletter to get insider reviews, tips & deals on unusual & small-ship cruises.
Name*
First Last
Email*
Countries*
* I would like to subscribe to the QuirkyCruise newsletters. QuirkyCruise.com will not sell your email. See PRIVACY POLICY
CAPTCHA