luxury-lizard

we are embracing next week in Gran Canary and would like to know if Ponant offer a bag drop before check-in time (4pm). Our previous and only Ponant cruise departed from Hobart, Tasmania and there was no possibility to drop bags before check-in which did not open even 5 minutes early. 

As our hotel is an hour's drive from the cruise port and we need to drop our hire car at the airport on the way - the logistics are a bit complicated. 

That great information - thanks

Can anyone who has travelled on Ponant recall what the Gift Shop carries, generally speaking. I recall they have resort wear but do they sell any high end items; e.g. jewellery. The reason I ask is that we are going on a round the Canaries cruise in April - and we have about 3000€ credit with Ponant which they can transfer to an onboard credit (all or partial) - we can use this for excursions as well as any onboard extras (spa, wines,..) we would prefer to use up this credit as it expires at the end of this year and we're not sure we'll be able to use it otherwise. thanks in advance.

I'm looking at a cruise which advertises no single supplement - can a couple then book 2 cabins (for the price of 1) - hopefully adjacent to each other. Has anyone ever done this - how did it work out?

1 minute ago, DSmith91 said:

That's outrageous!  Letting you know within a day of due travel is well out of order.

What other social media sites are people using to highlight these issues?

I'm sure our situation was far from unique - when Ponant cancelled all cruises worldwide - it was effective immediately .... so many customers would have already travelled to the starting point of their cruise - maybe even been en-route.

OTOH - if ours would have proceeded we could have ended up floating around the Indian Ocean with no ports allowing the ship to dock .... a very real possibility.

Hum - very interesting regarding successful credit card refund - perhaps Ponant will take action before this becomes a 'landslide' - particularly when it reaches more widely read social media sites.

In my case - I can 'live' with a credit BUT felt the 20% extra did not sufficiently compensate me for the loss encountered - e.g. flights 'in vain' from Sydney-Cape Town - arrived in Cape Town to find the cruise was cancelled one day prior to sailing - cost $12,000. I've made a travel insurance claim for the return portion of the flights (still waiting for a response) as our original return flights (many weeks later) could not be used.

No not me but I pretty much accepted that their credit-only policy was inflexible. As long as I get to use this I am satisfied (as opposed to totally happy). My concerns are:-

• Ponant stays solvant
• Cruising in general become safe and practical in a post Covid world (ie borders are open, airlines are flying) within the time limit of the credit (end 2021)
• Ponant doesn't do anything "unfair" - e.g.. limit cruises and/or number of passengers per cruise using their credit (as opposed to new bookings)

Like most on this thread - I have an offer of a FCC - but am concerned about Ponant going under - however I believe that your credit card company will protect you in this case - ie refund you via the chargeback process. Has anyone inquired about this - we were waiting for the 'dust to settle' before taking any action. Further - what about travel insurance - won't it cover a lost FCC if company goes under.

Perhaps this is because my cancelled cruise should have sailed tomorrow local time  - South Africa is in the same time-zone as Europe +/- an hour.  6:45am Monday here

I just received my 'offical' letter from Ponant re my cancelled cruises (was 2 back-to-backs) - in addition to a credit they offered 20% discount on a future cruise - even though next year's prices may look higher than last years - stay tuned. Clearly this additional 20% is "new" since the cancellation notice 24 hours ago - so conditions of credit may change again.

I don't really want to weigh in too heavily on this credit vs refund issue (even though I'm in the same 'boat' as others)  - but my take at the moment is to wait - Ponant have changed their position on all aspects of handling this global crisis under pressure from many sources. So don't panic - wait and see - eveyone needs time to work through the issues. I would expect (as an optimist) that Ponant will change their current policy.

Got an e-mail from Ponant Australia confirming cancelling and stating that a future cruise credit valid for 18 months will be offered. Will wait and see on this - Ponant could change their mind. Booked flights back to Sydney with transit in Perth departing tomorrow.

OK all - I have received a text message stating that my cruise (details of cruise not specified)  is cancelled (presumably all cruises) and we'll be advised in the coming week "about options for postponing my trip" - no mention of a refund. The message asked to only try and contact Ponant for "urgent" requests - makes sense - the logistics of winding up current cruises etc must be extremely difficult. We would be satisfied with a future cruise credit - unless of course Ponant goes bankrupt (but that's what credit card chargebacks are for). I will call the Australian office when they open tomorrow morning (Ie Monday).

Thanks all for the update - just got up here in Cape Town and saw these posts - our cruise is "scheduled" to depart in 2 days - no word from Ponant as yet. Trying to find out more - we travelled to Cape Town  from Sydney 4 days ago for this cruise - now need to work out our options. As I stated in my earlier post we have pre-paid hotel bookings in the Seychelles and Mauritius post-cruise so it's not as easy as jumping on a plane home. Now Australia has announced all people entering Australia will need to self-isolate for 14 days (which I assumes means citizens as well). Difficult times - but no where near what people like cruise ship crew are enduing. Will post back when I have more specific information on Ponant.

Hello Ness71 - so sorry to hear of your situation - as a fellow Aussie also booked on a Ponant cruise from Cape Town to Durban then Durban to the Seychelles departing on March 17, I can certainly sympathise. This will be our first (and now probably last) Ponant cruise - they just don't "get it". We are already in Cape Town so even if allowed to cancel - not sure what we would do as we have an additional 8 days booked (hotels) in the Seychelles and 9 in Mauritius before flying home to Sydney (via Singapore).

Given the current situation I would not be surprised to see the Seychelles ban all cruise ships (like many other island nations - now even New Zealand) - who knows what would happen to your cruise then. I will post from time to time from our cruise.

I am also concerned about Ponant's seemingly lack of action on all these matters. we are booked on a Ponant cruise ex-Cape Town on March 17 (a back-to-back cruise which goes to the Seychelles) but are flying to Cape Town on March 10 to spend a week there before the cruise. 

i have received an e-mail from Ponant stating they are banning any passengers and crew who have visited China, Macao, Hong Kong, South Korea, Iran or some regions in Italy - Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna - (even a transit airport) within 30 days prior to embarkation. However the Seychelles ban is more extensive. The e-mail suggests but does not clearly state that such passengers will receive a refund.

At this late stage we are not planning to cancel or alter our plans unless "forced" to do so as we have pre-paid accommodation in Cape Town, and post-cruise in the Seychelles (8 days) and Mauritius (9 days).

Thanks for the sympathetic responses - I have not even looked at the website. I guess my point was more why would a book and pay for another cruise if it too could be cancelled. I agree that compensation is not appropriate given the date being so far in the future. The e-mail I was sent did not even mention a refund option - but of course I know that I can and will receive one (without the $250 penalty). I just felt the e-mail itself was very unapologetic.

Hum - I booked and paid in full 2 months ago (to get a 10% discount) this cruise - got an e-mail today stating that it was cancelled due to "2020 schedule adjustments". I was offered a 10% on any other cruise of my choice if I book within the next 4 weeks.

What a crummy offer - no apology - no compensation - big deal - a 10% discount (which I already had) on some future cruise - you can be sure I'll be seeking a full refund and will be most unlikely to book a future cruise on SS. I booked for 2020 as my travel schedule is full for 2019 - so why would I book (and pay) for a 2020 cruise when clearly it too may be cancelled.

Not happy - anyone else impacted?

WE are considering booking the Silver Muse from Hong Kong to Singapore in Nov 2018. We sailed on SS expeditions ship (twice) but never on one of their other ships.

Now after studying the cruise information on the SS web site and many reviews of the Muse on CC - I have the following questions / concerns:-

1. Dining in most restaurants requires advance reservations which can be difficult to obtain - which means if you don't like to plan too far in advance (say a couple of days) you may be 'stuck' with non-reservation venues.

2. Two of the restaurants apply a hefty surcharge ($USD 60 pp) and require formal wear. Now Mr LL will not pack or wear formal-wear no matter what - in fact he would not even be keen to pack a sports jacket. The surcharge seems very high but not a show stopper for a couple of evenings. So again this would restrict our dining options (we are foodies and the quality and variety of food is an important consideration to us). I did read a post on this thread that implies this formal wear requirement has been relaxed.

3. Many reviews of the Muse were certainly less than stellar - with complaints about dining, decor and service. I figured this may have been new ship teething issues - comments?

4. There have been many negative comments re room service but since we never use room service this is not an issue for us.

Thanks of any input.

OK I can assist here !!! we were scheduled to depart Nassau on Oct 12 for a 12 day cruise to Cuba ending in Colon on Oct 24. This is a charter to Cruiseco (Australia) for a combined cruise/tour. Due to the hurricane the start has been postponed until Oct 14 - the Explorer seems to be en-route now so I guess the new departure date is locked in. However SS have cut the cruise short by 2 days at the beginning (obviously) and 1 at the end as it now spends 24 hours in Colon (previously not scheduled) - many ports of call have been eliminated (these were in Cuba so I presume this is due to the hurricane impact). We're currently "stuck" in Nassau waiting ..... so far word from our TA is NO refund (even partial) will be forthcoming.

Hi all, We booked a GTY cabin and received our luggage tags before the cabin was assigned. Now that I know the cabin number should I try and overwrite the tags or will they do this upon check-in ensuring the luggage does not go astray.

BTW - we booked a V2 GTY (as that was all that was available at the time) - now have cabin 817 - seems fine to me.

OK thanks for the responses; however, I have already received my final cruise documentation - this was before the referral coupon was submitted. I'll call or e-mail Seabourn next week to make sure they've had time to process it.

Just wondering if it is possible to view (and verify) your onboard credit online before departure? I should have one (from a referral coupon) and would like to ensure it was applied before departure to save any hassle if it is not posted.

Hi, I am new to seabourn and will be cruising August 22nd, 2015 on the Odessey from Athens Greence to Venice Italy, and looking for a referral coupon. Information on how the referral system works would be greatly appreciated. We need to pay in full in a few weeks and I'm not sure if this coupon needs to happen first?

 

Thanks!

I sent you an e-mail (in response to yours) please let me know if you received it as I seem to have gotten some sort of error response.

The main thing with using these coupons (which seems to confuse people) is that both parties must have made their final payment for their respective cruises before the coupon can be sent to Seabourn.

Hello I have a referral coupon for a first time Seabourn cruiser - my cruise departs June 6.

 

Please e-mail me at luxury 'dot' lizard 'at' icloud.com

 

thanks.

oops - thought I had a taker but it did not work out due to dates. So coupon still available.