On Board Le Dumont-d'Urville — Cruising the Norwegian Fjords – with Smithsonian Journeys — July 30-August 6, 2022

[AussieBoyTX]

Cruising the Norwegian Fjords – with Smithsonian Journeys (a/k/a Ponant, American Style)

 

We’re back with our final COVID-delayed cruise — though this one we had booked earliest — we had planned to travel on Le Jacques Cartier’s inaugural season cruise from London to Bergen in 2020. We didn’t book this cruise without some level of concern. Our travel advisor said we’d love the Smithsonian experience, but aside from the notable speakers, inclusive excursions and a price premium, nobody has been able to describe what else is different between a Smithsonian cruise and a regular Ponant cruise. So, I guess we’ll find out together.

 

And to add to the stress, we’ve brought out best friends along for their first Ponant cruise.

 

Since we last wrote you in Greece, we’ve been experiencing the travel meltdown in Europe and have had several flights cancelled and seen thousands-upon-thousands of pieces of lost luggage in airports (fortunately not ours). We’ve changed our plans several times, enjoying Greece, Switzerland & Denmark cheating on Ponant and taking an eighteen hour cruise ferry (!) between Denmark & Bergen, getting us to Bergen two days before the cruise, which seems to be the minimum allowance to ensure travel disruption doesn’t cause one to miss the cruise.

 

This morning, we watched Le Dumont-d’Urville sail in and our friends were very excited to see the ship for the first time. They had seen all the videos and may have known more about the ship than I do and they easily pointed out their cabin and ours, along with the restaurants and other main features of the ship. 

 

So, now we wait until embarkation time — but we’re not sure when that is. Maybe it’s at 4:00pm like some documents say, maybe 5:45pm, like others say. So far, we haven’t gotten any clarity (and definitely not the expected SMS), so we’ll probably show up sometime after four and see what’s up.

 

    

Edited July 30, 2022 by AussieBoyTX

[jonikal]

So glad to see you back and being able to enjoy your excellent reports!

[gogo65]

Wow another one! Lucky you.

look forward to following along 🙂

[jpalbny]

Have a (another) great trip! That ferry looks a bit packed.

[highplanesdrifters]

Thanks for taking us along! 

[AussieBoyTX]

1 hour ago, jpalbny said:

Have a (another) great trip! That ferry looks a bit packed.

Everything has been full or oversold on every transportation mode. It is a mess. 

[jpalbny]

3 hours ago, AussieBoyTX said:

Everything has been full or oversold on every transportation mode. It is a mess. 

 

We were in Milan and Como in early June. It was already a bit hectic. I can only imagine that it's worse now. It must feel like a sanctuary on board! 

[AussieBoyTX]

Saturday proceeded almost predictably. Shortly after letting off its passengers, Le Dumont-d'Urville pulled away from the dock to make room for World Voyager, a 200 passenger ship. Ponant passengers apparently started arriving well before four to find Dumont-d'Urville in the harbor, nowhere near boarding. Fortunately, Ponant provided a truck to store guest baggage, but the guys securing the baggage didn't know specifics on boarding. More curious than anything, I went to the World Voyager and asked one of the officers their itinerary and found they were not going to leave until five. Knowing that boarding couldn't start before 5:45, we walked back to town to enjoy Bergen for another hour or so. 

 

MarineTraffic.com let me know when World Voyager cast off and we decided to head back to the pier to see Le Dumont-d'Urville pull in. Maybe 100 guests were waiting at that time and some were comparing notes on embarkation times as we watched the crew prepare for embarkation. 

 

Right about 5:45 embarkation began with health checks on the pier. We took advantage of "priority boarding" and were in our friends' Suite Grand Deluxe Deck 6 enjoying Champagne on the expansive balcony well before six o'clock.

 

As usual, once you get on board, everything just works and any difficulties getting to/on the ship are soon forgotten. The crew are fabulous and enthusiastic and the only difference from other cruises is that aside from a "bonjour," there's no pretense of speaking French -- all guests speak English (not "non-French") and almost all are Americans.

 

The "Life on Board" presentation went quickly without presenting in French & English as did the abandon ship drill. We were seated for dinner at 7:30. The menu was typical and didn't have any adjustments for American palates (whew). The only real difference was the menu itself was English-only and had "Smithsonian Journeys" at the top. 

 

At the “Life on Board” presentation, our Captain apologized for the boarding confusion and made a strong request for all passengers to wear masks on board. Indeed, a large number of passengers are now wearing masks. 
 

The crew does have one addition -- a "Tour Director" who self-described herself as a "fixer" to act as a liaison between guests and crew in the event of any difficulties.

 

After dinner, we were the only ones in the lounge and finally made it to bed before midnight.
 

Edited July 31, 2022 by AussieBoyTX

[highplanesdrifters]

Thanks for the report. Look forward to hearing and seeing more.😃

[tnm6217]

I can't wait to hear all about it @AussieBoyTX! I've studied your other Ponant cruise summaries because we booked our first Ponant cruise on Le Dumont d'Urville for November. I feel so much more familiar with Ponant because of your summaries and photos. I am very grateful and look forward to hearing your impressions of this ship!

[AussieBoyTX]

Overnight, we made our way to Alesund, met by gale-force winds -- which were dealt with handily with Le Dumont-d'Urville's stabilization system (and our Captain's judicious course change). I found the light rolling very comforting and wound up sleeping soundly until 6:30, when the lounge opened for coffee.

 

We had few obligations in the morning -- presentation of the excursions, which gave us enough insight to change one planned excursion for another. 

 

Then our first Smithsonian enrichment lecture, which was excellent, though unfortunately named: "Before Climate Change: Norway, Nature and the Exploration of the Polar Regions." I really enjoyed it and about eighty others attended.

 

Lunch was shortly before we arrived at Alesund and I'll note that the Southern Fried Chicken Burger that's available on the "Anytime Menu" is the best we've seen served on Ponant!

 

At Alesund, we split up and took all three offered excursions. All were excellent with fluent English-speaking guides. The one disappointment was that all the stores were closed for the walking tour through Alesund. I went to the aquarium, which was solely marine life from Norwegian waters and enjoyed it. That was followed by a short trip to the mountain outside of town so we could capture our ship at dock.

 

At 7, the Captain's Cocktail Reception was offered in the main dining room on Deck 4 -- a first for us and really quite efficient, given we were already seated for dinner after the toast and introduction to toast and introduction to the senior staff.

 

We were invited to join the captain for dinner and found him delightful -- and quite a good salesman, with several suggestions for "must do" and "life changing" cruises for our list. We also found we're likely to be sailing with him again on a future cruise. He seemed almost gleeful at the prospect of having repeat guests on his ship.

 

The gala dinner itself was very good and had several variations of my favorite Ponant classics -- including the crispy egg, which I found was prepared perfectly.

 

After dinner, our captain excused himself to pilot our ship out of Alesund and we went to the theater to see the show, "Mademoiselle de Paris." The performance had three dancers and a singer and most of the elements were new to us. The forty of so people who stayed up for the show enjoyed it.

 

After the show, it was already late and we went to bed. 

 

Tomorrow: Geiranger.

[AussieBoyTX]

[PBfromDC]

Great reports! We're joining the ship in 13 days for the Bergen to Toronto crossing - who is the Captain? 

[AussieBoyTX]

Geiranger is the famous town at the end of the fjord that seems to be the subject of most cruise advertising. I was up at six and had the entry mostly to myself, enjoying my cappuccino as we passed the Seven Sisters and reached the small town. We were at anchor, but it was easy to see that the town was ready for huge cruise ships -- there was an articulated gangway that extended well into the fjord that made it simple for large ships to disgorge their thousands of passengers without tenders.

 

Two tours were on offer -- one very highly recommended seven hour tour with incredible scenery and a four hour tour, which we took. Our tour began with a visit to the Norwegian Fjord Center, just a couple of minutes up the rushing river from the pier. I thought it was very interesting and could have easily spent twice the time we were allotted.

 

Then the bus took us over the mountains to a traditional summer goat farm. It was a long, but scenic drive with a couple of photo stops. The farm itself was also interesting -- the farmer was a Ph'D in some humanities when his wife inherited the farm more than forty years ago, where they have been since. The sun broke through the clouds for a bit, and really highlighted how beautiful the place is. We were offered a cheese tasting, including the wonderful brown cheese, which is comprised in large part of caramelized lactose.

 

The way back was "more of the same" spectacular scenery. Guide and farmers spoke English very well and our guide had a constant, interesting commentary for the couple hours of bus-time. I'm not really one for being on busses, so although I would have missed out on the farm, I would spend my time at the Fjord Center and hiking above Geiranger. 

 

Traffic was heavy and we arrived back in town a bit late for the very short tender ride back to the ship. In the meantime, Costa Diadema had arrived, and the articulated gangway was already stretched out. Pretty impressive engineering!

 

Back on the Le Dumont-d'Urville, we were late for lunch and there was a scramble for seats to take in the view of the fjord on our short sail to Heilesylt. We were alongside the pier for a couple of hours as we waited for the seven hour tour to join us. We were some of the few passengers who disembarked from the  ship to enjoy the very small town, which seems like a gateway to summer mountain adventures.There was a small ferry terminal, a couple of outdoors shoots and a small dairy processing plant, along with several good sized hotels & hostels.

 

The other tour arrived at the ship at 5:30 and we set sail for Loen. Those on the longer tour said it was awesome and spectacular. Not convinced it would have been for me.

 

No other activities were planned for the late afternoon, so we visited the lounge and enjoyed the singers.

 

Dinner at eight was good -- and we made a quick visit to The Blue Eye before leaving our friends to enjoy the classical piano recital. It was our turn to be in bed early at 10.
 

Edited August 2, 2022 by AussieBoyTX

[highplanesdrifters]

23 hours ago, AussieBoyTX said:

 

 

We were invited to join the captain for dinner and found him delightful -- and quite a good salesman, with several suggestions for "must do" and "life changing" cruises for our list.

As always thanks for taking us along.

Care to share the Captains suggestions?

[jpalbny]

4 hours ago, highplanesdrifters said:

Care to share the Captains suggestions?

 

Maybe after he's booked on them?

[AussieBoyTX]

8 hours ago, highplanesdrifters said:

Care to share the Captains suggestions?

Here are some:

 

- Antarctic both from Argentina and New Zealand (you must do both)

- US Great Lakes

- Seychelles (must include Aldabra Atoll)

- NE Passage (yes, we all know that opportunity won’t present itself again soon). 
- Ocean Voyage, as long as possible. 
 

There are a few others that I will have to recall. 

[tnm6217]

3 hours ago, AussieBoyTX said:

Ocean Voyage, as long as possible. 

 

I love hearing this! We are booked on the 9 day ocean voyage from Massachusetts to Martinique in November, and I'm already eyeing some of the longer ocean voyages next spring. I am curious to see firsthand why Captain Moatti recommended it so highly!

 

Two questions for you if you have time:

- What is the internet connectivity like? (@PBfromDC I'll especially want your input on this when you're on your crossing later this month!)

- What kinds of English games and books do they have down in the little lounge area?

[AussieBoyTX]

3 hours ago, tnm6217 said:

Two questions for you if you have time:

- What is the internet connectivity like? (@PBfromDC I'll especially want your input on this when you're on your crossing later this month!)

- What kinds of English games and books do they have down in the little lounge area?

Internet at the best of times is slow on all Ponant ships I’ve been on. A crossing shouldn’t be worse. I’ve been posting using cellular service for the most part. 
 

The library is small with with perhaps twenty novels and perhaps another twenty coffee table books in English. Here’s a picture. 
 

The four games are on the bottom shelf. On this ship, Trivial Pursuit is in English. There’s an additional game with a pyramid of wooden balls called Pylos that looked fun. 

 

Edited August 3, 2022 by AussieBoyTX

[AussieBoyTX]

Today was a great day.

 

We arrived in Loen at 7 and I was the only one in the Observatory Lounge to watch our entry into the quiet fjord. And shortly after that, we were on board the tender for the very short ride to the pier. I was still full and decided to skip breakfast aside from a small pastry (and of course plenty of coffee, as is my custom).

 

Today our expedition used the Ponant Small Ship Advantage to go to the Briksdal Glacier. We had three busses, each a bit less than half-full and maybe seventy of us in total. The ride to the glacier was thirty minutes, but at the beginning, we could see why we left so early -- The P&O Iona, with 5400-6400 passengers was chugging into Olden, the gateway town slightly closer to the Glacier. 

 

We made it to the glacier first, of course, and the famous Troll Cars were ready to take us to the base with no waiting. 

 

The glacier itself was spectacular. Yes, it was cold, extremely windy and with a bit of rain, but the clouds were high and everything was perfectly visible. We had ample time to walk to the foot of the glacier, get our pictures and return to the base camp for an included coffee and cake stop (and fast internet that let us sync our pictures with each other) before the first bus arrived from Iona. 

 

On our way back to Le Dumont-d'Urville, I counted more than forty-five busses going the other way to the glacier! Forty-five! Indeed, Olden was busy and there was further delay passing through the town because it was jam-packed with pedestrians in the middle of the road!

 

The local guide spoke English well and was knowledgeable. I would definitely take this tour again.

 

Anyway, once we were safely back on our ship, it was time for lunch, the highlight of which was a galette that was so fine that it assuredly was made by a Breton (though the Restaurant Manager assured me the chef was not a Breton) and a rest before our own jam-packed afternoon. This began with a lecture by our captain Régis Daumesnil that was billed as a Virtual Bridge Tour, but was really an extremely well organized and presented history of navigation and how it applies to each of Le Dumont-d'Urville's systems. In my experience, this is rivaled only by Captain Garcia's presentation on Le Commandant Charcot. Sadly, our captain was allotted only ninety minutes 😉 and he ended his presentation with material to spare so that Robin Wright, the second of our Smithsonian enrichment speakers, could begin hers.

 

Robin Wright's presentation was called, "Rogues, Heroes, Mercenaries & the Pope" -- basically a fast-paced overview of some of the fascinating people she met (and lost) over decades as a war and political correspondent (soon to be a book). The theater was packed for her presentation and it seemed that only a small few missed it.

 

Afterwards, we adjourned to the lounge to enjoy the singers -- it was very busy with a high energy buzz that I have not seen before on a Ponant ship. Seems like most passengers were there enjoying animated conversation.

 

Dinner was available at seven, but we didn't go up until 7:30, which was probably a mistake. Because of the weather, everyone was eating upstairs and were at least a course ahead of us, making it difficult for the staff to keep up with us. I have to say that the rack of lamb was spectacular! We also had the escargot, and I am reminded why I don't generally order escargot. They were properly prepared, but just not my thing.

 

After dinner, the fun continued with a well attended Casino Night hosted by the officers, dancers & singers.We had collected a huge wad of Ponant cash, but that was not enough to win the prizes of "unspeakable value" so we retired at 11 for our upcoming day in Sandnes (Stavanger).
 

Edited August 3, 2022 by AussieBoyTX

[AussieBoyTX]

On 8/1/2022 at 1:46 PM, PBfromDC said:

Great reports! We're joining the ship in 13 days for the Bergen to Toronto crossing - who is the Captain? 

 

I assume your captain is Régis Daumesnil -- but you can see who the captain is from the Ponant app -- the captain is usually visible inside the app about sixty days before the cruise.

[jpalbny]

Beautiful scenery, and good on Ponant for getting you there before the invasion. And I agree; that galette looks delicious!

[PBfromDC]

Thanks AussieBoyTX. I was hoping it was Regis. We had him on our first Ponant cruise a crossing from Fort de France to Lisbon and found him quite engaging. I keep checking the Ponant app and it says the crew is not yet known. Your post are great and we are looking forward to joining the ship on the 14th. 

[PBfromDC]

14 hours ago, tnm6217 said:

 

I love hearing this! We are booked on the 9 day ocean voyage from Massachusetts to Martinique in November, and I'm already eyeing some of the longer ocean voyages next spring. I am curious to see firsthand why Captain Moatti recommended it so highly!

 

Two questions for you if you have time:

- What is the internet connectivity like? (@PBfromDC I'll especially want your input on this when you're on your crossing later this month!)

- What kinds of English games and books do they have down in the little lounge area?

Will let you know. We've done three ocean voyages on Ponant - two trans-Atlantics and one Boston to Cozumel and found the internet connection to be ok - to be honest, I really only went on once a day to check emails and get the doggie reports from our dog sitter. Did not try to stream anything or visit websites. Will try on our upcoming crossing and report back. 

 

[AussieBoyTX]

Today we visited Sandnes (Stavanger). Sandnes is a small residential & industrial suburb, only fifteen minutes away from downtown Stavanger. Seabourn Ovation was berthed nearby, while Costa Diadema and Viking Mars were berthed at Stavanger old town. 

 

We had a leisurely arrival at 9am and set off for our excursions at 9:30. Our tour first visited what was called an Iron Age farm, older than 550CE. It was interesting and the one factoid that I remembered was that the farmer must have been fairly wealthy, as they had some glassware that probably came from one of the empires along the Mediterranean -- the glass had been repaired with gold, indicating the local technology was sufficient to melt gold, but not glass.

 

Next we briefly visited the Swords in the Stone and walked through the old town -- which was surreal with Diadema looming over the houses in all my pictures. Finally we visited the Petroleum Museum for an hour.  I could have easily spent twice the time at the Petroleum Museum (and was amused that Viking had a large hospitality tent there), but there was nothing to fault about the tour -- the guide spoke English natively and was knowledgeable and entertaining.

 

Given the limited time we had, next time, I'd get a taxi and see the Old Town and Petroleum Museum only.

 

We were back at the pier at two and had a late lunch -- unfortunately we dawdled and missed out on the special fish of the day -- it was scarfed up by guests who arrived after us, while we had salad from the buffet. Way poor planning on our part. 🤦‍♂️

 

Our afternoon was spent sailing in Lysefjorden, which is a spectacular fjord. The highlight was the famous Pulpit Rock (Preikestolen), which we saw from the left, then the right side of the ship, so everyone could enjoy from their cabins if they chose. I was impressed by how tight the ship's 180 degree turn was -- it was only slightly larger than the length of the ship, added by the bow thruster.

 

Soon after that, we had a Pata Negra tasting, at which I met some couples who have been following this trip report, so I'm now armed with suggestions for future entries... Maybe they'll pitch in with their own comments.

 

We joined another couple who might be reading this for dinner with Terje Leiren, one of our Smithsonian enrichment speakers. He's Professor Emeritus of Scandinavian Studies at University of Washington and could not be stumped by any question about Norway. We had lots of interesting discussion with him and with our new friends and finished after nine. 

 

Because of weather, the show in the theater was postponed and we played "Name That Tune" hosted by our cruise director, singers & dancers for prizes of unspeakable value until 10:30.

 

Tomorrow Arendal.
 

Edited August 4, 2022 by AussieBoyTX