The oldest hull, rebuilt from end to end
The MS Lord Byron left the yard in 2013. She is the oldest hull in the river
catalogue, and she was rebuilt completely in 2024: cabins, lounge, dining room,
systems. One hundred and ten metres, 74 cabins, 140 travellers, on the Rhone
and the Saone.
A full refit changes what you see and what you touch. It changes neither the
hull form, nor the age of the structures, nor the layout of the decks. In
practice you board a ship that looks new and sails like a 2013 ship. On the
Rhone, where the current is strong and the locks deep, that poses no problem:
these hulls are built to last forty years.
What to know before booking
The lift links the upper deck to the middle deck and nothing else. The deck
with the least expensive cabins and the sun deck are reached by stairs. The
owner advertises wider coverage; we report the operator's version, which is the
contract's.
Ninety-five dates with us, on a route running down from Lyon towards Avignon
and Arles, with a leg up the Saone to Chalon depending on the itinerary. A real
balcony exists on four named cabins; the rest have a sliding wall with a
railing.
Neighbouring ships
The MS Thomas Hardy covers the same river with a longer hull. The MS Jane Austen is her twin on the
Seine. The MS Riviera Radiance and the MS Geoffrey Chaucer are far more recent.
Charter
This ship is chartered. The operator owns none of the twenty ships it
markets: the river hulls are run by a Swiss family firm or by a Portuguese
shipowner, the coastal hulls by Croatian families.
That takes nothing away from the product, which can be very good. It
changes two concrete things. First, the chain of responsibility: the trip
answers to the operator, the ship answers to her owner. Second, the
reliability of the figures: we found gaps of up to thirty-six travellers
between the owner's sheet and the operator's on one and the same hull.
We take the time to say it because nothing on the commercial pages lets you
guess it.
What is included, and what is not
The fare covers life aboard: the cabin, all meals, tea and coffee, wine and
beer at dinner on the river ships, the programme's excursions, port taxes and
the cruise director's work.
On the North American market it does not cover air travel, transfers, hotel
nights before or after, insurance or gratuities. That list is longer than the
one on the same operator's British market, where flight and transfers are
traditionally included. Since the British site redirects to the North American
one from Quebec, the confusion really does happen and we see it with
clients.
On gratuities there is no ambiguity: they are included on no ship and the
operator leaves the amount to your judgement. Budget for them rather than
discovering them the night before disembarkation.
Life aboard, without the decor
The rhythm is the river's: sailing overnight or early morning, port call and
excursion during the day, back aboard for dinner. The panorama lounge and the
sun deck are where the idle hours go, and those idle hours are a real part of
the trip.
The word balcony needs a clarification. Four named cabins have a real
balcony you can step onto. Every other upper cabin has a French balcony: the
glass slides, the railing stops you, and there is no outdoor floor. On the
lower deck the window does not open.
Accessibility: no wheelchair-accessible cabin is documented on any ship in
this fleet. River gangways are narrow and often steep depending on the water
level. A booking for a traveller with reduced mobility is confirmed in
writing, describing precisely what the person can manage alone.
Arranging this trip from Montreal
What is sold here is a cruise fare: flight, transfers and hotel nights are
booked separately. Plan at least one night on site before embarkation. Keep
the return day free as well, because an early disembarkation and a late flight
sit badly with a tight connection.
Nothing establishes that this operator holds a Quebec travel agent's
licence. Its North American entity is registered in Florida, with Florida law
in the contract. Quebec protection therefore does not come from it.
It comes from us. Voyages AquaTerra holds a licence from Quebec's Office de
la protection du consommateur: your payments pass through a trust account and
the Compensation Fund for Customers of Travel Agents covers your file as the
law provides. We verify the real dates before anything is booked.
