The cruises compared here
A dinner cruise sells two things at once: a restaurant meal and a boat ride past the lit-up monuments. The boat ride alone costs from €18. So the real question is this: would you pay roughly €70 to €100 a head for that meal, at that table, if it were served in a restaurant with a river view?
Civitatis lists two regular dinner cruises on the Seine. They differ more than their titles suggest, so it helps to look at each before deciding whether either is worth the money.
1What the two dinner cruises include
The cheaper one is run by Paris Seine and leaves from Port de Solférino, below the Musée d'Orsay. It starts from €87 and comes in three versions: an early 6:45 pm sitting that lasts 1 hour 15 minutes, a two-hour gourmet menu sold without drinks, and a two-hour Romantic menu with two glasses of champagne and a table by the window. On the first two, the listing says your table is in the central part of the dining room.
The other is run by Bateaux Parisiens and leaves from the foot of the Eiffel Tower. It starts from €115, lasts 2.5 hours and includes wine, water and coffee or tea at every service level. Etoile service is three courses with a seat at the stern. Privilege service adds a cheese course, a glass of champagne and a seat beside the side windows. Live music is included on the 8:30 pm sailing only.
2Where the extra money goes
Compared with the one-hour cruise, you are paying for a seated meal, table service and a longer time on the water. You are not paying for a better view. Both dinner boats are enclosed under glass, and unless you book the dearer option you may be seated away from the windows. The €18 cruise has an outside walkway and an audio guide in 14 languages, which neither dinner listing offers.
Between the two dinners, the €28 gap in starting price buys quite a lot: drinks, an extra half hour and, on the evidence of the reviews, a more consistent evening. The Bateaux Parisiens dinner scores 9.4 from 398 reviews. The Paris Seine dinner scores 8.3 from 2,173.
3The small print that changes the answer
Cancellation is the first thing to check. The Paris Seine dinner can be cancelled free up to 24 hours before. The Bateaux Parisiens dinner needs three days' notice, which matters if your trip is short or the weather forecast is doubtful.
Bateaux Parisiens requires smart dress on its 8:30 pm dinner cruise and lists jeans, trainers, shorts and caps as not allowed. Paris Seine asks for photo ID at boarding. The Paris Seine boat is listed as not wheelchair accessible, and the Bateaux Parisiens listing says only some areas are; the operator adds that onboard toilets are reached by stairs.
Menus on both change with the season and without notice, so do not book for one particular dish.
4Who should book it, and who should not
Book a dinner cruise if you are marking something, if you like the idea of not having to choose a restaurant, or if a slow 2.5 hours at a table is your idea of a good night. Choose the Bateaux Parisiens one and, if the budget allows, the Privilege service for the window seat.
Do not book one to see the sights. Do not book the cheapest Paris Seine option expecting a window and a glass of wine, because neither is included. And if food is the priority, Paris is not short of restaurants where the same money goes further.
5The cheaper ways to get most of it
Take the one-hour cruise on an evening departure, then eat nearby. You see the river lit up for €18 and keep full control of dinner.
If it is the meal on the water you want, look at lunch. The Bateaux Parisiens lunch cruise from the Eiffel Tower starts from €79 with drinks included, runs two hours and has the highest score of any cruise we compared, 9.5 from 221 reviews. You lose the lights and gain daylight views.