PONANT CRUISES

Dear @ann1965, @Belgian cruiser1

We can confirm that the next Dumont d'Urville cruise from Oslo will leave on 24th July as planned.

We had taken the decision to cancel the previous cruise, Bergen-Oslo from 17th to 24th July, following an incident on one of the ship's safety boats during an empty manoeuvre. The technical intervention programmed during this period enabled all the ship's safety equipment to be made available again. The Dumont d'Urville will leave Bergen on Sunday 23rd July to position itself in Oslo and welcome its guests on 24th July.

To ensure that we get back to you as soon as possible, we would like to ask you to send us your contact details by private message on our Facebook page PONANT to discuss this matter. If you wish, our travel consultants are also at your disposal by e-mail at apresvoyage@ponant.com or by telephone on 04 91 170 190.

Yours sincerely,

The PONANT team

Hello everyone,

Thank you very much for all your messages.

All PONANT teams in the world are currently fully committed to manage the events related to Covid-19. Priority is given to  addressing  each guest situation , on a case-by-case basis. All passengers are being personally contacted   Please be assured of the full involvement of PONANT in order to resolve as quickly  possible the situation we are currently experiencing.

Best regards,

The PONANT team.

Day 2 March 7

 

So far I have tried to connect to the internet twice in thelast two days , but although I get a connection, and am being charged , nopages have been able to load. Maybe tomorrow when we are closer to FraserIsland or Hervey Bay, I may pick up a connection. I know so many people complain about theslowness of Seabourns internet, but I am sure they are all the same. We arentall that far off the Australian Coast, and some people are getting phone signals.

 

Last night, as I fell into bed, I tried to do the same as Ialways do on cruises, and that is to read the daily Journal for the nextday. Wanted to make sure there wasntsomething early that we needed to go to or take care of. I stared at it for awhile, then woke up that we had been given the French language one......as weare not quite fluent in French just yet, I will leave a note for the steward toreplace it for an English version.

 

After breakfast this morning we had a compulsory briefingregarding the excursions and the safety procedures for the zodiacs. Of coursewe are “know alls” about this stuff, after doing 2 trips to Antarctica lastyear. We were introduced to ourExpedition Team, a group of 13, who come from France, Austria, Switzerland, Canadaand Australia. We probably wont be doing too many of these excursions, but willjust watch others from the comfort of the decks!

 

Our next mission was to discover Deck 3, sign up for someinternet, and organise our Colour Group for those excursions we may wish totake part in. We then found the MainLounge, also on Deck 3, and joined in a French Lesson with our CD, Kamel.

 

Shortly after our French lesson it was time for lunch. Wedecided to try the Main Restaurant this time, as we hadnt seen it at all. Lunchwas seafood, and most of the food was very nice, but the prawns were the worstwe have ever had! I also heard at least 4 other people near us complain aboutthem........I doubt very much that they were local ones. They were mushy, softand flourery, dreadful. Luckily I only took one, but most would have taken moreand left them on their plates.

 

We then spent half the afternoon snoozing and reading,something we have perfected over many years of cruising. We are becoming lazierevery year.......and loving it! Later we went to the Observatory Lounge forafternoon drinks. This Lounge is only a few steps from our room, so willprobably be the one we will frequent the most. Would love to be using theoutdoor Bar, but so far the weather has not been co operating for any outsideactivities. It has been wet and grey and the seas very rough.

 

One thing we discovered today, was that the “included”drinks doesnt really cover much! There are a lot of cocktails, apparently madewith the cheapest of the spirits, but if you want anything made with a betterquality spirit, that will cost you, and Im not just talking about Premiumbrands. I will get a list as soon as I can of what is included and what is not.To us it doesnt matter too much, because if we drink spirits, its always as amixed drink with coke or ginger etc, but for those who prefer a straight scotchetc.... it will cost extra. John asked what sort of beer theyhad.......Heineken.....thats it.....all the others I saw were 4 Euros. Only ONE brand of beer , with something like 130 Aussies on board?? THATS notgood!

 

Just before dinner was a Captains Reception out on the PoolDeck. Those who wanted could have their photo taken with the Captain. For us as Queenslanders, itwas still a bit chilly out there for us, but the Captain thought it was a lovelynight! The flag on the back of the ship was flying beautifully, as it was quitewindy, and it is a huge flag! Unfortunately, I hadnt taken my camera with me. Most of the time I have seen the flag,it is tightly wrapped aroud the flag pole!

 

It was a Formal night, but no one was dressed as formally asI am used to. This is an Expedition cruise, so thats probably the reason. TheMenu was a Tasting Menu, and the food was wonderful! We started with a scallop,in a carrot and orange gell....then a foire gras......a sea bass.....vealtenderloin.......chocolate praline....and strawberry tarts! We are reallyenjoying the food. The main Dining room was packed. TheCaptains Table was justacross from us, but I would think there were at least 12 people on the table......notsomething we enjoy at all. One thing that did impress us, was a Parade ofSilver Cloches to the Captains Table. We couldnt hear anything being said fromwhere we were sitting, but I could just imagine the “Un, Deux, Trois....Voila” that we used to get at EVERY table on Formalnight, on Seabourn. That is a tradition we do miss.

Dear BrisbaneGran,

We would like to thank you for thecomplete feedback you always take the time to write for all. As the commentscards used to be, all your comments are analyzed by PONANT and observations ofour guest allow us to improve our product in order to satisfy you.

With our best regards,

PONANT

This morning I had a phone call from Ponant, to address some of my concerns. No idea how they found "the real me", so that shows good Customer Service! The lady assured me we would be sailing at 8pm. so I told her where to find the Port Authority site that said we sail at 6pm.......now she is confused as well!! LOL...... We wont miss the boat whatever time it sails......will be at White Bay quite early..... packing is almost done!

Dear guest,

After reading your comments, ourrelationship department have contacted you in order to solved the issues youmet before your cruise.

We hope you have well received yourtravel documents in the leather wallet and we wish you a pleasant voyageonboard L’Austral.

With our best regards,

PONANT

I feel as though I should justify my comments re our Ponant Kimberly cruise. I have traveled extensively through France (cities and country) so I do know what the French cuisine is like. I also realise that food is subjective but as I said Ponant Australia did answer my comments about food, service and other parts of this cruise. Their response was, several crew members were sick and they were very short staffed. They also said, because of the remote area, fresh supplies were difficult (not sure I accept that as this line goes to Antarctica) but I was impressed that they replied. I was by no way the only person onboard who was disappointed with this particular cruise. Was it a one off? I don’t know, I suspect it could have been, but it was well below what we were expecting (and I think the people from Ponant who were onboard thought so too). I hope everyone who is travelling on Ponant in the future enjoy their cruise but we will not be going again - sad because we do enjoy the smaller ships.

Dear Joc123,

Thank you for your comments about yourlast cruise onboard one of our ship. If you are agree with that, the guestrelationship manager of PONANT Australia will contact you soon in order todiscuss about your deception and the reason of the dysfunctions you mayencountered. If you may, please send us your contact in private.

With our best regards,

PONANT

We used Ponant "Australis" last July in the Kimberly region of Australia, and whilst I quite liked the ship and some (the French) staff we found the cooking and cheap wine so bad I will never use the line again.

Strange thing was after I wrote up my daming review the next 5 or so reviews of the same trip were glowing 5 star write ups.

Trust me I know poor food and wine when I taste it!

Dear Sir, dear Madam,

We have learned of your disappointment with your recent Ponant cruise, and we are sincerely sorry. Our Customer Relations department is at your entire disposal to discuss the matter with you at 1300 737 178, if you so wish.

Yours faithfully,

The PONANT team.

Is there such a thing as a cruise with a negative 1 deck that can let you see under the ocean? If not that's a really cool idea.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Dears TheFluffyCruisingOtter,

PONANT recently launched the first underwater lounge aboard a cruise ship. This underwater lounge, named Blue eye, will be available on all new cruise ships PONANT Explorers.

You can discover this underwater lounge via the following video:

Kind regards.

The PONANT team.

Dear All,

We would like to thank you for your interest in the company PONANT.

We understand that you need information about Wi-Fi on board.

Wi-Fi internet access is available on all of our ships, in both the cabins and the communal areas. One or several computers are at your disposal in the recreation centres.

Three Wi-Fi plans are available for purchase at Reception:

• Plan 1: 100 minutes for €30
  
• Plan 2: 240 minutes for €60
  
• Plan 3: 1,000 minutes for €180
  

Please note that the Wi-Fi connection may be slower or interrupted in certain geographic regions or due to circumstances outside of our control.

We hope to have answered your questions. If this is not the case, we are at your disposal to answer them.

Kind regards,

The PONANT team.

Something of a silly question, but does anyone know what the house champagne (the one included in their open bar) is on Ponant?

Dear PBfromDC,

Thank you for your interest in the company PONANT. We serve on board the champagne HENRI ABELE BRUT in open bar.

We are at your disposal if you need.

King regards,

The PONANT team.