AussieBoyTX

Australian Reservations confirmed through a T/A that tips are included on all Australian-booked Ponant cruises.

I spoke with US Reservations and they confirmed that tips are included on all US-booked Ponant cruises.

On Board Le Lapérouse — Tasmania Circumnavigation — Monday, December 18 Ponant has a policy of not broadcasting announcements into the cabins. Fortunately, this does not apply to the captains and we’re always anxious to hear what they have to say. This morning was to announce our arrival at the mouth of the Tamar River for our hour-long sailing to the commercial port of Bell Bay just south of George Town. Docking & biosecurity inspections took some time, but our busses arrived at 9am and we all set out on one of three included excursions — effectively maritime history, mining history or wine & gin tasting. We chose mining history and had a forty-five minute ride to the Beaconsfield Mine & Heritage Centre, filled with commentary (and some tour information) from our driver. The Beaconsfield Mine & Heritage Centre was very interesting. We had a walk through most of the mine’s surface buildings, covering the mine’s history from the 1800s to its final closing in 2012. This was also the site of the 2006 mine rescue that captivated Australians and there was a large exhibit dedicated to that event almost one kilometer beneath the surface. We had ninety minutes and it wasn’t enough time — we’ll come back and see the rest on another trip. After the mine, we had a wine tasting at a “mostly organic” winery — their caveat is that they’re not willing to lose a crop to keep the organic certification and will use non-organic means to rescue the crop when necessary. The wines were fine — we would have preferred a hike or some other activity. We got back to the ship at 1:30pm, just in time for late lunch outside — whole roast pig was offered, though I had a tuna steak. Shortly after we finished lunch, Le Lapérouse pulled away and we made our way out the Tamar River for our long sail to Promise Bay. It was already fairly late in the afternoon, but there were still a presentation on marsupials, salmon tasting and the daily recap to attend. The recap covered some of the sailing technicalities of the Tamar River and then could have segued into an hour-plus presentation on Tamar Valley wines & spirits — perhaps that presentation will be offered later this week, as the naturalist appeared to have enthusiasm for the subject. Tonight was White Night and also a chance to dine with the ship’s officers. The dining room was quite full as many tables had one or two officers. My Egg 65 degrees was offered again (with a different preparation style of course) and I had a nice port dish as well, followed by an After-Eight mint-inspired desert. We dined with a couple from northern New South Wales and were among the last to leave as we covered all sorts of topics. Dancing with the officers was on offer and then we called it a night. After our long overnight sail, we arrive at Promise Bay, Freycinet tomorrow for Zodiac tours and what it promised to be a long, muddy hike. We can only hope.

On Board Le Lapérouse — Tasmania Circumnavigation — Sunday, December 17 We had an early 7:30 start scheduled, so we woke at 6:45 to continental breakfast brought to us by our butler. She anticipated we’d need some extra time to enjoy breakfast and get ready, so she arrived before the posted earliest delivery time. While we enjoyed our pastries and coffee, we could see the weather didn’t look all that much better than yesterday. But we also knew we were on the leeward side of King Island, so we didn’t have the same open water issues to deal with. We could also see the Zodiacs out on the water and assumed it was a “go.” Arriving at the main lounge with our life jackets in hand, we found plenty of other guests ready to go, all being helped to get ready by our cruise director and front desk team. Also noted there were a fair number of men wearing shorts, which made me feel better, since I’m usually the one woefully underdressed. The swell was significant — not the worse we’ve seen, but definitely needed good timing, as the Zodiac was moving a bit more than a meter compared Le Lapérouse. Fortunately, the three sea men ensured that we all got situated safely. The ride to the small port at Grassy was not especially bumpy, but a little slow as we navigated between the swells. Even so, we made it to a dry landing at the pier in less than ten minutes. From there, busses were waiting for us for our morning tour of bucolic King Island. Our first leg was a drive to the northern part of the island to the former primary school at Reekara to see local kelp craft and a memorial to some women and girls who died in the shipwreck of the female convict ship Neva in 1835. Needlepoint clothing, mostly head coverings were made with a woman’s name, age and the crime she was convicted of stitched into them. Australians would know that most of the crimes were petty — a loaf of bread… But I’ve jumped ahead. The drive was about 30 minutes through pastures with grazing cattle — and wallabies almost everywhere. There are well over 500,000 wallabies on King Island and they can be seen along the road, in the pastures, in the towns, on the roads… everywhere! And we saw feral peacocks, American turkeys, llamas and a few sheep. It was quite the menagerie. We also passed by the island’s wind and solar farm (and Diesel generation station). Our guide said that the system ran mostly on renewables, with battery storage and a giant flywheel that can keep power going for the two minutes it takes to switch to Diesel. After that, we drove to the King Island Dairy for a cheese tasting. I particularly enjoyed the brie and bleu cheeses they offered. Then, off to Currie, where we only passed through, as we were running late. Then the kelp drying racks and finally a few minutes walking around Currie harbor before we returned to Grassy to get Zodiacs back to the ship. Lunch was waiting for us. We tried to eat downstairs, but we were savaged by flies, so everyone went upstairs to the main dining room. I had the classic Ponant Egg 65 degrees, which is always served a little differently. This time on a bed of eggplant. In the afternoon, we went ashore again to hike to Penguin Island — only 1500 meters from our landing point in hopes of seeing Little Penguins, probably commonly known as Fairy Penguins or Blue Penguins. We found three hiding in holes in dense brush waiting for their mates to return at dusk. On the way home, we visited with locals fishing in the sheltered bay before returning to our Zodiacs to find that the sea had gotten a bit more treacherous, making the return to Le Lapérouse a bit more difficult. With help from Ponant’s sea men, we all boarded safely, of course. We then went directly to the lounge to try the cocktail of the day — the gorgeous SoHo Sling. An excellent drink! Also, it was tea time, and our pastry chef presented a fantastic Pavlova (we had seconds). Soon enough, it was time for the evening briefing, where we learned bout the kelp ecosystem and how ocean temperature change was allowing spiny sea urchins to venture further south and decimate the Tasmanian kelp forests. Then dinner. where the highlights were the rack of lamb and a delicious ice-cream-like desert served on a macaron with exotic fruits. In the lounge, our entertainers were taking requests from the 50’s, 60’s & 70’s. There was little overlap with our preference for 80’s, 90’s & 2000’s, so we went back to plan for tomorrow. Tomorrow, we explore the Tamar Valley. No Zodiac required!

Three months to go... Many passengers on this Tasmania Circumnavigation we're on now were on the Chairman's Cruise in October and said this itinerary is fantastic.

If tips are included in your fare, you should see it on your invoice like this: I don't know the final answer, but note that "tips included" isn't prominently mentioned on the US site.

On Board Le Lapérouse — Tasmania Circumnavigation — Saturday, December 16 We were in the first expedition group, so we woke early to prepare for the day, only to find that we arrived outside Stanley with 45 knot winds — well beyond the 25 knot maximum set by Stanley’s port pilot. This relieved us for another relaxing day at sea, with the chance for a landing in the afternoon. After breakfast, we spent the rest of the morning in the Observation Lounge, enjoying the Tasmanian coastal views as we motored slowly towards Burney to pick up the pilot for our landing at King Island tomorrow. On the lower levels, the Naturalists had a string of lectures and events on various topics scheduled all day — with topics like the migratory pattens of whales & birds, reading nautical charts and even how to get the best pictures from your mobile phone. Some of the events were held in the Blue Eye, which was nice to see — on some ships, the unique underwater space feels neglected, but on Le Lapérouse, there are a couple opportunities every day to spend time there. This reminds me that I neglected to mention yesterday’s Expedition Team introductions and Zodiac training… There are fifteen expedition team members for the ninety-two guests. Two French, two South African, including the Expedition Leader, and the remaining are Australians, with a broad array of education & interests. The other thing that was interesting was that many of the guests knew each other at least somewhat — from prior cruises, either on Ponant or other lines and many made a point of sailing on the periodic Chairman’s Cruises hosted by Ponant. Actually we also knew some other guests, at least by name, from Ponant’s official forums. I also neglected to mention that I visited the bridge. Ponant has an “open bridge” policy so in normal times, guests are usually able to visit the bridge when they wish. This tends to be implemented differently by each Captain based on local operational requirements. Here, the bridge was open for several hours in the morning and again in the afternoon, so it was easy enough to visit when it suited me. We enjoyed lunch in the main dining room and had a great conversation with the occupants of the Owner’s Suite, seated next to us. They effused about their last Chairman’s Cruise to Papua New Guinea — a cruse we have scheduled for later this year. I also noted the Southern Fried Chicken Burger was a popular choice, though we enjoyed a very fresh salad, with all of the greens in perfect shape. Aside from the lectures, we spent much of our afternoon planning future cruises — the task was much easier since we had 4G and sometimes 5G mobile service from the nearby coast and didn’t have to depend on the ship’s internet. In the past year, Ponant has added a Travel Ambassador to their crew and I think this is a good addition. In our experience, they are quite familiar with the itineraries and ships and can help weed out itineraries that are not optimal for us. All this led to a lovely Tasmanian wine and cheese tasting, followed by dinner in the main restaurant at the sun set. We were running late and arrived 30 minutes after the service opened. The staff had no problem pacing our meal correctly even though we were a couple of courses behind most other guests and had the dining room mostly to ourselves at the end. I had the chef’s recommended menu, which was great: white cabbage soup, zucchini fritters, and paprika chicken with prawns, ending with cheese and a raspberry meringue. At the table, we also had a beetroot salad and wahoo fillet — all were attractive and well prepared. Our day ended with a little “Name that Tune” in the main lounge. Tomorrow, King Island?

FWIW, the Premium Pass was barely mentioned on this cruise. Pricing is 25 EUR per person per day as others have stated. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2979297-on-board-le-lapérouse-—-tasmania-circumnavigation-—-december-14-december-23-2023/

On Board Le Lapérouse — Tasmania Circumnavigation — Friday, December 15 Today, we had a day at sea as we worked our way North along Tasmania’s west coast towards Stanley. My preference is not to have the day at sea so early, but we had plenty to do, starting with English breakfast and fresh baguette in the main dining room. As is normal in Australia due to biosecurity, we had none of the sublime Beurre Bordier to enjoy on the bread. The Australian substitute was okay. Next, shopping at the well-merchandised and Christmas-themed Boutique, where we added to our Ponant logo-wear. I stepped away from that after a few minutes to have a fascinating discussion with a Tasmanian naturalist about the mining industry in Tasmania, its ecological impact and, in some places, substantial damage. The oldest mines are being reopened because the tailings have sufficient minerals remaining to be extracted profitably with modern technology. The same naturalist offered a lecture in the theater about the geology of Tasmania. I’m kind of into the topic and it was way more interesting than I expected. The tl;dr on that was that Tasmania was kind of ground between continents over billions of years and had a very complex set of minerals that showed it was connected to Africa and the Americas at various points. The punchline was that a unique plant fossil found only in Tasmania and Montana linked the two some 1.2 billion years ago! Of course, Lunch was not far behind and we had a leisurely time working our way through our salad as we visited with guests on either side of us. One was a Commodore who had sailed with Ponant eleven times in the past year! She had strong opinions on a lot of things, including Ponant’s Australian service. This is one of the few ships to have Ponant’s famous Southern Fried Chicken Burger, so I decided to have that. It was good and served on a brioche bun with a red cabbage slaw. The benchmark is still from Le Dumont d’Urville, where we were all astounded by the quality of that sandwich. Due to prior cruise cancellations, we have substantial shipboard credit to burn and we put a dent in that with a visit to the Spa for massages. Great! That really left only a short time before crepes were offered in the lounge, followed by a well done lecture by our assistant expedition leader on 50,000 years of human habitation in Australia. We had a welcome cocktail and introduction to the senior staff and then we joined the Captain at his table for dinner, which was a great experience. He chooses a small table and only five guests joined him and our Travel Ambassador for a lovely dinner. It was great to actually be able to hear everyone — which is just not possible for me when at the larger table. We were among the last to leave dinner at 9:30 and we retired to our cabin to think about future cruises. Our ship is sailing into a weather system that is putting our landing at Stanley at risk. We’ll see tomorrow…

We have itinerary changes because permission wasn’t given to go to some original destinations. I assume this also affects the following cruise. The cool thing about the following cruise is that it’s in Hobart to watch the end of the Sydney/Hobart yacht race and has the perfect view of the finish! Right now, 45 kt winds @ Stanley and the port pilot does not operate when winds are above 25 kts. YOUR REVISED ITINERARY: DATE REVISED ITINERARY Thursday, 14 December 2023 HOBART. TAS, AUSTRALIA Friday, 15 December 2023 At Sea Saturday, 16 December 2023 Stanley Sunday, 17 December 2023 Grassy, King Island Monday, 18 December 2023 Bell Bay (Tamar Valley) Tuesday, 19 December 2023 Freycinet Peninsula Wednesday, 20 December 2023 Maria Island Thursday, 21 December 2023 Port Arthur Friday, 22 December 2023 Tasman Peninsula Saturday, 23 December 2023 HOBART. AUSTRALIA The changes for this voyage concern Port Davey and Iles des Phoques. Tasmania’s National Parks have denied us access to these ports, and we now offer you the following: • Port Davey will be replaced by a day in Stanley where you will have the opportunity to undertake a tour to various locations including Trowutta Arch State Reserve in the Tarkine Region, La Cantara Artisan Cheese and Robotic Dairy, Highfield House and The Nut Reserve. • The half day at Iles des Phoques will be replaced by a half day at Freycinet Peninsula (Promise Bay). This will allow us to conduct Zodiac landings and walks into the beautiful Wineglass Bay. We thank you for your understanding for these changes, and we are confident that you will enjoy the replacement ports.

Greetings from Hobart, Tasmania, where we’re boarding Ponant’s Le Lapérouse for a ten day trip around Tasmania. This was meant to be the third in a set of back-to-backs, but work got in the way, allowing for only this one. We arrived in Hobart late last night and spend the day exploring Hobart’s inner harbor area. Le Lapérouse had arrived at 6am from New Zealand and settled in behind the mammoth Virgin Resolute Lady, doing a quick Melbourne - Hobart “MerMaiden Voyage”. We arrived on-time at four PM and found ourselves at the end of the check-in line (as usual). Nonetheless, we were onboard in in our cabin within fifteen minutes. We had some time before we needed to convene at the theater for eat “Life on Board” presentation and the safety drill, we went to the lounge for a drink. We found we had sailed with the bartender on Le Lyrial last year in Antarctica as well as the sommelier in Norway August last year. We maintain our unbroken streak of sailing on Ponant having met some of the crew before. Also interesting, the performers, who are based on the Queensland Sunshine Coast, came to introduce themselves, as did some of the Expedition Team. We also noted that some of the guests were repeat visitors, knowing the performers as well as each other. At the “Life on Board” presentation, it was confirmed we were in for the Anglo-Ponant experience — 90 of the 92 guests were non-French — and, actually were all English speakers. Australians, British, Irish, New Zealanders & a few Americans. Our cruise director was French, but grew up in Houston, so his English was impeccably American and his presentation was expedited as it was only in English. It’s been more than a year since we’ve been on an Explorer-Class ship, but nothing has really changed, including the safety drill. Fortunately, we got that behind us and enjoyed dinner outside on Deck 3 as we sailed away from Hobart under sunny skies and mild temperatures. After dinner, we were kind of tired, so we perused the Ponant catalogs looking for ideas on future cruises — and maybe take advantage of the 10% Christmas Discount. Tomorrow: A Day at See

I would say not -- as far as the guides were concerned we were constantly at risk of meeting crocodiles, so every entry into water was brief. We were allowed one knee-deep swim in one corner of Silica Beach. The water wasn't completely clear and the guides were scanning for crocodile activity, so it wasn't exactly relaxing.

Yes, it is offered at the discretion of the Expedition Leader & Captain -- basically if conditions allow. When we went, it was not offered -- but the cruises on either side of us did offer it.

Unless you're thinking of something alcoholic, like Irish coffee, then no, all of the coffees are included.

The actual brands are subject to change, but some pictures and menus of the included and extra-cost alcohols are listed in this thread:

I would not be very concerned about getting in and out of the Zodiacs. There are always three crew members to help you get on and off and they ensure you're not left to work it out on your own. After a couple of goes, you'll be a pro.

Just the Zodiac rides? There was one woman who felt she couldn't do the hikes and she took all the Zodiac rides without getting off. Maybe she got off for the landing at Grytviken, South Georgia. All of the landings are wet, but all were in calm, protected water. But no, for me, I wouldn't go that far without getting off the Zodiac.

Cool! Which sailing are you taking? In case you didn't see my post from last year, it's linked below. Le Lyrial and L'Austral are almost identical, so much applies. To you specific questions... Ponant does not provide walking sticks, but they do sell them in the gift shop. Otherwise, they give you a parka and loan you boots and overalls. During the day, you can pretty much wear what you want. I found the ship hot and wore t-shirt and shorts some days. Most days, there will be two Zodiac outings -- one before and one after lunch. Half the boat goes out first and the other half after the first group returns. Snow shoeing is probably not offered. They did offer kayaking for an additional fee. I would bring plenty of wicking undergarments and sweaters to wear under the polar gear. It was warm when we went, so I didn't use most of it -- but I also don't like to be cold, so I wouldn't have been happy without it. You probably know that cotton is a bad choice -- there are some hikes and it can get sweaty. There are two dining rooms. The Main dining room on Deck 2 and the Buffet on Deck 6. Assuming the weather cooperates, you can choose either dining room for either meal. For breakfast, both are buffets, but you can get eggs / French toast to order. Lunch is served downstairs and buffet upstairs. There is also a special action station upstairs that had a special themed dish or dishes that were not available downstairs. Very roughly and not exactly, Breakfast is 7-9, Lunch 11:30-1:30 & Dinner 7:30-9:30. This is highly subject to change based on excursions and other things on the ship's schedule. If you're in the main dining room on the Gala night, you'll want to be on time at the beginning of the service. Most hikes were fairly easy, or if it wasn't they were very clear about that. Let us know if you have any other questions!

If @Los_Pepes doesn't see your request, you could contact anyone in this thread who has left their email in their signature.

We book directly with Ponant mainly because we haven't found a TA that knows enough about the product and (like you) found they were the middleman that weren't adding much value. I do suspect that a TA that works with Ponant regularly could squeeze some sort of additional discount or perk out of Ponant. Make sure they at least get you either the first cruise or referral bonus. I think it's $600 USD either way. Otherwise, I don't know anything about the Ponant agents' compensation plan.

Absolutely, unless the buffet is closed for safety reasons (very rough seas). I've only seen that once.

Ponant only has a "required" list, so I don't think that's worth your while to pursue. Personally, I'm always fully vaccinated for other reasons -- but I always review the CDC list to see if there's anything special that I'm missing. See here: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/belize?s_cid=ncezid-dgmq-travel-single-001 I think their list is overkill (rabies & typhoid are IMO edge cases) but I have the routine vaccinations plus hepatitis A & B. In reality, though, it's unlikely you'll be put in a situation where you're exposed to any of these potential diseases.