MS Douce France
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MS Douce France
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Cruises availables
The MS Douce France is a CroisiEurope ship operating on the Danube in Europe, offering a 4-anchor all-inclusive river cruise experience focused on luxury, intimacy, gastronomy and guided excursions. It sails along key European river landscapes on itineraries associated with Danube cruising and cultural discovery, combining continuous navigation with structured shore visits. The onboard accommodation includes cabins with balconies or panoramic windows, supported by fully equipped amenities such as Wi-Fi, air conditioning and satellite TV, as well as shared spaces including a salon-bar, a pont soleil and onboard entertainment and activities. This ship is well suited to travellers seeking a relaxed, culturally focused European river cruise that combines comfort, guided exploration and scenic river navigation.
Itineraries of the MS Douce France
Price and Availability Notice
Prices displayed are provided for informational purposes only. They reflect the rates in effect at the time of their most recent update and are shown in Canadian dollars, per person, based on double occupancy, unless otherwise specified.
Supplier rates, exchange rates, taxes and fees, room or cabin categories, and promotions are subject to change at any time. The applicable price is the one confirmed by a travel advisor at the time of booking, subject to availability. Only the confirmed price shall be considered valid.
It is the traveler's responsibility to confirm the price, inclusions, and applicable terms and conditions before making a reservation. While every effort is made to keep our content up to date, transmission, display, or pricing errors may occur. In such cases, the correct price will be communicated to the traveler before any booking is confirmed. Certain terms, restrictions, and exclusions may apply.
decks plans
Deck 3
Sun deck
Deck 2
Upper deck
Deck 1
Main deck
Technical specifications
- Passengers: 107
- Decks: 3
- Length: 110 m
- Width: 10 m
Frequently Asked Questions
The MS Douce France is 110 m long by 10.10 m wide, across 2 decks. She carries 107 passengers and 26 crew. Built in 1997 and fully refitted in 2017, she holds CroisiEurope's top 5-anchor rating. Her 10.10 m beam is narrower than the fleet's 11.40 m norm. The number of cabins is not published on her official page.
No, and this is the most useful question on this page. A French balcony is a sliding glass door with a railing: no surface to step onto, no chair, no table. You open it, you look, you close it. Resellers who write "cabins with balcony" for this ship are misleading you. And main-deck cabins do not even have that: only wide windows.
Larger than you might think. Upper-deck cabins have wide picture windows with a French balcony. Main-deck cabins have only wide windows, with no French balcony at all. That is a difference in kind, not just in view. On a ship with no lift whose restaurant and lounge are both on the upper deck, the upper deck stacks both advantages.
No. She is a two-deck ship, and CroisiEurope reserves lifts for its three-deck vessels. The aggravating detail here: the forward bar-lounge and the aft restaurant are both on the upper deck. A main-deck passenger therefore takes the stairs before every meal and every outing. For the older travellers who make up the core of river cruising, that is the first thing to check.
Her density. One hundred and seven passengers over 110 metres, where the MS Vivaldi carries 172 over exactly the same length: roughly 60% fewer people aboard. That is a figure, not an adjective, and it is what justifies her 5-anchor rating despite a 1997 hull. A second feature: the bar-lounge and restaurant are both panoramic, with picture windows and French balconies.
Yes, fully in 2017, and CroisiEurope writes that she was "restructured to offer far more spacious cabins". Read the phrasing closely: more spacious than before the refit, not more spacious than the market average. No floor area is published for this ship. And the refit renewed the fittings, not the hull, which dates from 1997.
On the Danube, out of Budapest, Vienna and Passau: the Blue Danube, the Christmas markets of the great Danube capitals, and the Jewels of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 2027. On the guarantee the answer is plainly no, and this ship is the best example: of the five 2026 port-to-port Blue Danube departures, only one is operated by the Douce France. The others are on the MS France and the MS Modigliani.
Yes, and hers are among the best stocked in the fleet for 2027. The Jewels of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, eight days out of Vienna, is assigned to her for departures on 22 and 29 June, 6, 13, 20 and 27 July and 3 August 2027. A Danube New Year is also scheduled for 28 December 2027, shared with the MS Vivaldi. Even so, book on the itinerary and the date rather than the ship's name.
The upper deck, if the budget allows, for two reasons that stack: it is the only deck whose cabins have a French balcony, and it is the deck where the restaurant and bar-lounge sit, so it spares you the stairs. Categories run from A to C, with category C described by CroisiEurope as "standard or slightly smaller".
A bar-lounge forward on the upper deck, a restaurant aft on the same deck, both panoramic with wide picture windows and French balconies, and a sun deck laid out with armchairs and loungers. That is all. CroisiEurope publishes no shop, no gym, no pool and no spa for this ship.
The word "balcony" first, which does not match what a North American pictures. Then the absence of a lift, made worse by both living spaces being on the upper deck. Cabin floor area is not published. The hull is 29 years old. And the ship is regularly replaced by another on her own itineraries, which creates a real risk of disappointment at embarkation.
Included: full board, drinks with meals and at the bar — water, wine, beer, juice, coffee, tea — Wi-Fi, port taxes, entertainment, the welcome cocktail and the gala dinner. Not included: shore excursions, gratuities, the premium wine list, transfers and the flight from Montréal.
No, not on the port-to-port formats. CroisiEurope's FAQ is explicit: excursions are not part of the base fare. They are booked ahead at a reduced rate, or on board, in two ranges, one classic and one more offbeat. On a Danube run touching Austria, Slovakia, Hungary and Germany, taking every excursion changes the budget noticeably.
They are not included. CroisiEurope presents them as a custom left to your judgement, collected at the end of the cruise and shared among the crew, with a published daily per-person guideline. We give you the current amount at booking so it can be planned for.
This is the main variable for this ship, which sails the Danube exclusively. In late summer and autumn, when the draught no longer clears, the line reshapes the itinerary, replaces a leg with a coach transfer, or moves passengers to another vessel. It has happened several times in recent years. The contract provides for it, travel insurance does too, and we raise it before booking rather than after.
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