Seanmhar1

Scott1sh - thank you for sharing your experience with Ponant. We are booked for the trip from Tahiti to Easter Island and are looking forward to the cruise. We went to Antarctica with Silversea a few years ago and were wait listed for their upcoming Tahiti Easter Island cruise, but decided we wanted an assured booking and that we shouldn't be intimidated by the language barrier, so we went ahead and booked the Ponant cruise. Your words are encouraging and we are looking forward to the adventure!

Fletcher and surfcitygirl - thank you for your responses. I'm new to Cruise Critic, so I hope I'm responding to you appropriately!! We had been booked on Cruise West for a similar cruise years ago, but Cruise West declared bankruptcy two weeks before our departure, so the journey was put back on the wishlist until now. We are waitlisted for the Tahiti - Easter Island cruise on Silversea, but when we found the Ponant cruise we thought it would be good to lock in a cruise to avoid disappointment should Silversea not have availability. As you mention, Fletcher, we'll miss some things, but our biggest goal is following the wake of the Bounty and seeing Easter Island. I'm happy to hear that you've done a similar cruise and loved it. My understanding is, as surfcitygirl mentions, L'Austral does have zodiacs, so hopefully we'll have no problems getting to Pitcairn. We are concerned that because Ponant is a French ship that, as English speakers, we'll feel out of place and would like to hear from anyone who has sailed with Ponant - as well as from those of you who have sailed a similar route! Thanks!

My husband and I are considering an October 2018 cruise with Ponant from Papeete to Easter Island that includes the Pitcairn Islands (home of the Bounty's mutineers). I'm interested in hearing about others' experiences aboard L'Austral, particularly with this itinerary. We also have concerns as to how comfortable/included we'll feel as English only speakers! Thanks in advance for any information and/or advice you can offer!