Regal Princess 2018 14-Day Transatlantic Cruise Review
Day 11 Cherbourg, France
Scheduled Arrival: 8:30am Scheduled Departure: 6:00pm
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Day 11 Cherbourg, France
Scheduled Arrival: 8:30am Scheduled Departure: 6:00pm
Click Any Photo To Make It Larger!
Arrival : It was a beautiful sunrise that welcomed us to Cherbourg, located at the tip of the Cotentin Peninsula. Cherbourg, an important naval base since Napoleonic times, is the largest artificial harbor in the world and is the gateway to the Normandy region. It was a port of call that the Titanic visited on its first (and last) voyage of its tragic journey. Before reaching the port, we passed old military fortifications. The German forces captured Cherbourg during WWII and it was liberated by the American forces in 1944.
Sun starting to come up
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Beautiful sunrise
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Approaching entrance to port of Cherbourg
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Things to Do in Cherbourg: Located right next to the cruise ship terminal is La Cite de la Mer, a very large nautical museum with exhibits on the Titanic and an aquarium. An old pillbox and the French submarine “La Redoutable” are adjacent to the museum. The main shopping area lies just behind the waterfront in Old Town with its cobbled pedestrian friendly streets with all types of shops and restaurants. You can catch a shuttle or walk the 15 minutes it takes to get there.
Passing entrance to port
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Nautical museum and submarine
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Cruise terminal and Cherbourg in background
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Beautiful French countryside on drive to Mont Saint-Michel
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House along the way
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House along the way
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Excursions: There were excursions that would take you to visit the sites of the Normandy D-Day landing beaches and American cemetery; Cotentin D-Day landing sites; the Bayeux museum and its tapestry; the Normandy Victory Museum with its 17 realistic dioramas; Normandy countryside with tour of a Calvados distillery; and Cherbourg and the 16th century Chateau des Ravalets.
Our Excursion: Since we had previously visited Omaha Beach and the American cemetery, we chose the excursion to legendary Mont Saint-Michel which was about a 2 hour drive from Cherbourg passing through beautiful French countryside. It was a full day tour which took us to the spectacular Norman Benedictine Abbey dating from 709A.D. built in a medieval gothic style of architecture. It is perched atop a 247 foot high rock island located just off the coast of lower Normandy in northern France. According to legend, Archangel Michael appeared to the bishop of Avranches in 708A.D. and instructed him to build a church on the island with a gold statue of St. Michael on top. The pilgrims who first traveled to the abbey thought that the closer they could get to the top, the closer they were to God. After arriving at Mont Saint-Michel, our coach was parked in the designated massive parking area and we walked to where the shuttle buses would pick you up to take you closer to the abbey. A walking bridge has been built to enable you to get to the abbey during high tide when the sea surrounds the abbey and also during low tide when there is mud and quicksand. There are about 350 steep steps to get to the abbey which were much easier to climb than I had anticipated. If you weren’t able to climb all the way to the top, there were many little shops and restaurants to visit in the village at the bottom. Just a view of Mont Saint-Michel, which was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979, and its gold statue of St. Michael were worth the trip!
Our Excursion: Since we had previously visited Omaha Beach and the American cemetery, we chose the excursion to legendary Mont Saint-Michel which was about a 2 hour drive from Cherbourg passing through beautiful French countryside. It was a full day tour which took us to the spectacular Norman Benedictine Abbey dating from 709A.D. built in a medieval gothic style of architecture. It is perched atop a 247 foot high rock island located just off the coast of lower Normandy in northern France. According to legend, Archangel Michael appeared to the bishop of Avranches in 708A.D. and instructed him to build a church on the island with a gold statue of St. Michael on top. The pilgrims who first traveled to the abbey thought that the closer they could get to the top, the closer they were to God. After arriving at Mont Saint-Michel, our coach was parked in the designated massive parking area and we walked to where the shuttle buses would pick you up to take you closer to the abbey. A walking bridge has been built to enable you to get to the abbey during high tide when the sea surrounds the abbey and also during low tide when there is mud and quicksand. There are about 350 steep steps to get to the abbey which were much easier to climb than I had anticipated. If you weren’t able to climb all the way to the top, there were many little shops and restaurants to visit in the village at the bottom. Just a view of Mont Saint-Michel, which was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979, and its gold statue of St. Michael were worth the trip!
First glance at Mont Saint-Michel perched atop a 247' high rocky island. At high tide it is surrounded by water
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Walking bridge that makes it possible to get to Mont Saint-Michel
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Tide is out but people are warned about the deep mud and quicksand. Village just over the wall.
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Beginning the steep walk to reach the abbey
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Better look at the bridge - shuttle buses bring you from the parking lot and then you walk the rest of the way
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Our goal to get to the top
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More steps!
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Inside the abbey
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Inside the abbey
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Courtyard of the abbey
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Inside the abbey
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At one time the abbey was used as a prison - a human hamster wheel was used to bring supplies up from the bottom
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Shops and restaurants
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Shops and restaurants
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Shops and restaurants
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St. Michael's gold statue on top - a beautiful World Heritage Site
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Dinner and Entertainment: We had a later than usual dinner because we didn’t get back from our excursion until after 6:00pm. The ship was supposed to sail at 6:00, but there were several excursion coaches that were coming in late. One really good thing about taking a Princess excursion instead of one you arrange on your own is that if the Princess excursion is late, the ship will wait for you. If you are on your own arranged tour, you might get left and have to find a way to the next port! The entertainment in the Princess Theater was the Production Show: Fiera which was a musical love story set in a fairground. The sets and costumes were fantastic and the Princess singers and dancers were excellent as usual.
Note: Our guest reviewer used her phone to take these pictures. Although the pictures are a bit fuzzy, the food still looks great!
Note: Our guest reviewer used her phone to take these pictures. Although the pictures are a bit fuzzy, the food still looks great!
Appetizer
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Shrimp main dish
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Dessert
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