Jim_Iain - First Non-Celebrity Cruise in 22 year - Ponant vs Celebrity Comparison

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, Beachlover1989 said:

Thank you for another live review Jim! I hadn’t noticed it until page 8! I have been reading on the Viking forum lately as we, like you and many others, are going to be trying out other lines now. You put it very succinctly when you said “loyalty is a two way street”. We were on Apex in a CS in August and although the itinerary and staff were wonderful, we were very disillusioned by all the recent changes. 

 

It is funny.   I usually put my Live Post in my Favorites and don't enter via the main thread so very rarely notice how many pages and views the thread has had.

 

It did amaze me to see we are already on page 8 and just posting the preliminaries.

 

Thanks for following and I definitely want to learn more about Viking. 

[81Zoomie]

Jim, we look forward to another of your wonderful cruise reports!  We sailed with Ponant to Antarctica in 2019 and thoroughly enjoyed it.  The ship felt more like a luxury yacht than a cruise ship.  We loved the clean modern decor.  Unlike others experience with the Wifi, we had no issues and could even FaceTime with video from Antartica.  We found the lounges to be more like cozy living rooms.  The passengers were quite an interesting mix of people and we would talk the night away.  The one odd dynamic is that the passengers self divided by French and English speakers.  We wish there was more of an effort to mix.  We found the food very good.  Surprisingly, the only real ding we had on the cruise was the included wine.  It was low end, and we had high expectations for a French ship. I hope they have some zero alcohol wine for you. There was also an open bridge policy.  That was a phenomenal experience as we pounded through the Drake passage.  We hope you and Iain have a great cruise!  Looking forward to hearing your thoughts 😀

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, Bejay219 said:

Check to see with the Excursions Dept if they have a tour of the Grand Hotel on Mackinaw Island. Last summer (we were on Viking Expedition ship, Great Lakes, 2 weeks) they had an excursion to the Grand Hotel with lunch, otherwise I am pretty sure they no longer let people just walk the grounds or go to the Hotel unless you are with a tour or guests at the Hotel.  We had a wonderful lunch there, walked around, sat on front porch and shopped in Hotel shops. If that's important to you to go to the Hotel, you might want to check on that.  Have a great trip! 

 

It appears the only tour they have is a carriage ride tour of the island.   Will have to see if we will be able to get into the hotel... I wasn't aware they are restricting it now.

 

 

 

 

 

[Covepointcruiser]

7 hours ago, the penguins said:

At least Cunard makes you very aware of "your place" on their ships and that the attitude stems from the Captain down.

We have been on Cunard for many voyages and never had a bad voyage.    Started in an inside stateroom but now we only sail in the Grills.    We had an excursion in Southampton on a B2B2B and we were given a time to disembark for our tour.   We went straight off the ship and to our excursion.    Guess problems can happen on any trip.   Look at the Cunard thread and you will see very few complaints.

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, Catlover54 said:

I don't think he will need help with the French language, since he reported that Lain speaks fluent French  🙂

 

 

 

I was amazed as his fluency last year when on a B3B.   The Maitre'd, Laurent who is french and previously worked on Cunard was a real treat.    They would banter back and forth in French every evening for a about 4 weeks. 

 

She was so sweet.   When she found I had tested positive for Covid, she called the room to let us know her concerned and asked us to call her if we needed anything.

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, Mark_T said:

Iain speaking French is a definite bonus, but everything I've read suggests they handle the two languages well onboard, but it will certainly help with any non-English speaking guest conversations.

 

Having sailed on MSC recently with 5 languages in use for announcements was interesting, but actually not as much of a distraction as I thought it might be.

 

That's what I've also heard.    I was reading a Live Post from the sailing Ship Le Ponant.    He said that on that particular cruise everything is being presented in English and the Restaurant Manager volunteered to translate to French for the few french speaking passengers.     Totally different ship as it only holds about 32 passengers.

[Mark_T]

58 minutes ago, Catlover54 said:

I actually reported on the Ponant board on CC a couple months ago that my experience was the two languages were *not* handled well onboard (but it was a very long-winded  review on a forum hardly anyone reads).  I was not the first to report a discrepancy. 

Thanks for the link, I'll go and read it.

 

59 minutes ago, Catlover54 said:

I am confident Jim and Lain will do great, however for various reasons. 

A positive attitude does carry people a long way when exploring something new for sure. (It is Iain btw, Scottish Gaelic version of Ian)

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, Catlover54 said:

 

 

I actually reported on the Ponant board on CC a couple months ago that my experience was the two languages were *not* handled well onboard (but it was a very long-winded  review on a forum hardly anyone reads).  I was not the first to report a discrepancy. 

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=699343

 

Experiences  and expectations differ, of course, but though I am looking at Ponant for another cruise, if I go with DH (who speaks and understands zero French) it will almost certainly  not be one that doesn't have either an English dominant  group on board, or another reason to think more than the usual small minority of Anglophones will be on board (such as sailing out of an English--speaking country).   An expedition is also in the running (since there can be  no ports where excursions can be made "bilingual " (i.e., favoring French) if there is a guide shortage, and there will be no need to know what the times in "port" are (important for booking private excursions).

 

I am confident Jim and Lain will do great, however for various reasons. 

 

As for MSC it is a very different animal, and its 5 language announcements put all languages on the same level.

Thanks -  I did read your review and I was initially concerned about the potential demographics.    We always seem to get by pretty well.   I both worked and traveled heavily in Europe for 40 years and lived in Ireland for 3.  

 

What came to mind when reading your review was the last time we were in Barcelona.   We wanted to take a tour of a famous mansion on our last day.   They advised us they only had one tour and it was in Spanish.  It ended up being an incredible experience.   The tour was only 8 of us an one of the guest taught English in Mexico City and would help our.   The guide was so expressive and my high school Spanish allowed us to fully understand the tour.

 

We were rewarded with a really special moment.    One of the guest in our group was an Opera Singer and when in the Ball Room asked if she could check out the Acoustics.      She gave us a private Aria -  

[Jim_Iain]

37 minutes ago, miched said:

One think to remember is if you fall overboard you won’t float like you do in salt water, but you  won’t have to worry about any sharks, or gators and the water will be cold until you get to Lake St Clair.  The Muskies and maybe Pike might take a bite.   Snapping turtles have been rumored  to remove digits from people. 
 

A little more trivia 

 

Are the St Marys , St Clair, and Detroit Rivers straits or rivers ?  Detroit is French for strait

 

https://wdet.org/2017/07/25/curiosid-that-waterway-in-detroit-is-it-a-strait-or-a-river/

 

The J W Westcott is the only ship in the country to have its only ZIP code.  Ships passing thru Detroit have mail, supplies delivered and sent thru the ship as it meets them passing thru 

 

https://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-of-detroit/jw-westcott-company

The ship is docked south of the Ambassador Bridge.   It looks and serves as a pilot boat. 
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Thanks --- I wasn't quite sure what to expect.   The itinerary only says - Sail past Detroit.  

 

I have a feeling we won't be doing any swimming.

 

I worked at a resort on Lake Michigan one summer and was amazed at the size of the Lakes.    I had never realized they had waves and sand dunes.    It was also always surprising how fast storms would form.  

[JazzyV]

Delighted to find this post, Jim. I look forward to following along on both boards!

[abbydancer2003]

28 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I was amazed as his fluency last year when on a B3B.   The Maitre'd, Laurent who is french and previously worked on Cunard was a real treat.    They would banter back and forth in French every evening for a about 4 weeks. 

 

She was so sweet.   When she found I had tested positive for Covid, she called the room to let us know her concerned and asked us to call her if we needed anything.

She told me she felt so bad for you - after being so careful, you still got it.

[Jim_Iain]

Now Booking a cruise -

Booking took me a little longer than normal.   Since my agent doesn’t book with them regularly it took a couple days for him to get the detail and be able to offer an incentive.   He was able to offer me either an OBC or a Rebate Check.   He also indicated he wouldn't be able to "rebate" at the level he does on the major cruise lines.

 

Refer a Friend - $600 reduction in fare for the first cruise.

Part of what was taking time was Ponant as a Refer a Friend program.   Both the sponsor and the sponsee receive a $600 bonus.   The requirement are that it can only be done on the first sailing of the member.   Prior to booking I created an account for myself on Ponant and had given it to my agent.

 

After I booked I found that it was only applied at the end of your first cruise for the next cruise.    

 

Differences –

1.        Refer a Friend  -  Celebrity doesn’t have anything similar

• 2.        Ponant has a pop up to fill in Passenger Passport Details and Contact information when first accessing reservation

• 3.       Direct from reservation the is a button to contact Ponant and has a selection of departments to make it easy.

 

• 4.       On the web portal Ponant has a link to your room including picture and details without having to search elsewhere

• dE -  Deposit  -  Now this is a big difference Ponant requires a 25% NON-REFUNDABLE deposit up until final payment.   Celebrity have deposits as low as $200 (on board booking and promotions) normally $900-1,000  which is either refundable or partially refundable ($100 pp administrative fee and FCC for non-refundable fares) until final payment.    This has recently change to 10% for Suites on Celebrity.
•       Recently Introduced Ponant has a Status Matching Program with most Cruise Lines.

[the penguins]

6 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Wow... so sorry to hear of the bad experience.    It is really a shame that even if a "one off" that things that the Staff didn't recognize the failure earlier in the cruise and put corrective actions in place.

 

One poor cruise can really taint our feelings.    We had a really bad experience on Reflections when she first launched and have refused to sail her since.   I'll just say Luminae was running the Maitre'd instead of the opposite.    I read so many good reviews of her now, but that one experienced her has soured us.

The most astounding things for us was:

1) The Captain's attitude at the Q and A. To just put down the Mic and walk out leaving the Cruise Director to face the flack was unforgivable. The CD then told the passengers who had the issues that they had been very rude to "his" Captain. To which they responded with - no we told him the truth about his ship and he didn't want to hear  it.

2) the way the disabled guest and his family were treated even after they had explained the situation and shown proof that they had done exactly what Cunard had asked.

We have never seen this attitude or even close to it on any other cruise line we have traveled with i.e Celebrity, Royal, HAl, Princess and Hurtgruten.

Sorry this issue has semi taken over your Thread. Enjoy Ponant and we look forward to reading of your adventure.

[Jim_Iain]

Status Match -   Here's the Status Match PDF  A big thanks to @jpalbny for helping me getting it applied to our account. 

 

I'm not holding out hope as a brand new Grand Admiral but one of the perks listed at 

https://us.ponant.com/benefit-from-the-status-match list on-board upgrades

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

28 minutes ago, JazzyV said:

Delighted to find this post, Jim. I look forward to following along on both boards!

 

Thanks much...  looking forward to your participation.   Lots of nice people here and they don't bite.   Maybe a nibble or two.

[the penguins]

48 minutes ago, Covepointcruiser said:

We have been on Cunard for many voyages and never had a bad voyage.    Started in an inside stateroom but now we only sail in the Grills.    We had an excursion in Southampton on a B2B2B and we were given a time to disembark for our tour.   We went straight off the ship and to our excursion.    Guess problems can happen on any trip.   Look at the Cunard thread and you will see very few complaints.

That was the point the passengers were making. Due to delays caused by high seas they weren't allowed off the ship (only Suite passengers got off in time) and then Cunard refused to refund blaming the passengers for being late. It was the overall attitude that was appalling.

As I said we have friends who cruise Cunard but for us once was more than enough.

[Jim_Iain]

56 minutes ago, 81Zoomie said:

Jim, we look forward to another of your wonderful cruise reports!  We sailed with Ponant to Antarctica in 2019 and thoroughly enjoyed it.  The ship felt more like a luxury yacht than a cruise ship.  We loved the clean modern decor.  Unlike others experience with the Wifi, we had no issues and could even FaceTime with video from Antartica.  We found the lounges to be more like cozy living rooms.  The passengers were quite an interesting mix of people and we would talk the night away.  The one odd dynamic is that the passengers self divided by French and English speakers.  We wish there was more of an effort to mix.  We found the food very good.  Surprisingly, the only real ding we had on the cruise was the included wine.  It was low end, and we had high expectations for a French ship. I hope they have some zero alcohol wine for you. There was also an open bridge policy.  That was a phenomenal experience as we pounded through the Drake passage.  We hope you and Iain have a great cruise!  Looking forward to hearing your thoughts 😀

 

It will be interesting to see how the free open bar works.    Iain mostly enjoys Chardonnay's and I didn't see any listed on the menus.   The good news is his favorite hard booze is Grey Goose which they have and also stock the room bar with.  He may just buy premium wine by the bottle if he doesn't care for what is supplied for free.   I believe they require all in the cabin to upgrade to the Premium Upgrade. 

 

I'm really not that particular and usually only order Alcohol Free Wine to have something for toasting.     I pretty happy with just sparkling water.

 

We have heard so many good things about the Antarctic Explorer cruises.    Just the idea of actually being able to set foot on Antarctic or an Ice Berg is incredible.   Definitely not something offered on Celebrity.

[Jim_Iain]

28 minutes ago, abbydancer said:

She told me she felt so bad for you - after being so careful, you still got it.

 

She was so good to us.   Knowing we were on a B3B she found a nice corner table and didn't seat anyone withing 10 feet of us.    Unfortunately at the time Covid was rampant and we lost 3 butlers, 1 stateroom attendant and 1 Sommelier to Covid. 

 

I suspect it was the Butlers as over the 1st 2 cruises the guest in the Penthouse and all the RS on Starboard came down with Covid.   Luckily they let us stay in our Royal Suite and put us up for a full week in Southampton all expenses paid and refunded our cruise fare for the the leg we missed.

[hcat]

54 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Thanks -  I did read your review and I was initially concerned about the potential demographics.    We always seem to get by pretty well.   I both worked and traveled heavily in Europe for 40 years and lived in Ireland for 3.  

 

What came to mind when reading your review was the last time we were in Barcelona.   We wanted to take a tour of a famous mansion on our last day.   They advised us they only had one tour and it was in Spanish.  It ended up being an incredible experience.   The tour was only 8 of us an one of the guest taught English in Mexico City and would help our.   The guide was so expressive and my high school Spanish allowed us to fully understand the tour.

 

We were rewarded with a really special moment.    One of the guest in our group was an Opera Singer and when in the Ball Room asked if she could check out the Acoustics.      She gave us a private Aria -  

we did that with the tour of the Music Hall in Barcelona..dh knows no Spanish..I get by a bit with Span but get lost with Catalan..It was still well worth it.  Similar issues in Martinique..my French is really is terrible!  Generally, .Americans (US) are way behind in language diversity!

 

Can' t wait to hear how the bi lingual goes..at least  only 2 languages!

[REEtired]

Jim, my all time favorite movie is Somewhere in Time.  The music is amazing. 
Marie 

[hcat]

1 hour ago, the penguins said:

That was the point the passengers were making. Due to delays caused by high seas they weren't allowed off the ship (only Suite passengers got off in time) and then Cunard refused to refund blaming the passengers for being late. It was the overall attitude that was appalling.

As I said we have friends who cruise Cunard but for us once was more than enough.

point has been made!

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I was amazed as his fluency last year when on a B3B.   The Maitre'd, Laurent who is french and previously worked on Cunard was a real treat.    They would banter back and forth in French every evening for a about 4 weeks. 

 

She was so sweet.   When she found I had tested positive for Covid, she called the room to let us know her concerned and asked us to call her if we needed anything.

 

Laurent is one of my favorite maitre d's!

[floridatravelersforlife]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

She was so good to us.   Knowing we were on a B3B she found a nice corner table and didn't seat anyone withing 10 feet of us.    Unfortunately at the time Covid was rampant and we lost 3 butlers, 1 stateroom attendant and 1 Sommelier to Covid. 

 

I suspect it was the Butlers as over the 1st 2 cruises the guest in the Penthouse and all the RS on Starboard came down with Covid.   Luckily they let us stay in our Royal Suite and put us up for a full week in Southampton all expenses paid and refunded our cruise fare for the the leg we missed.

We were on the Summit cruise  that you were on, and both me and my wife had Covid, the day after we got off at Reyklavik.   Also, there were three really sick people on stretchers hauled off before first debarkation. Our  waiter in Luminae did not look good during the cruise,  and the last two days he was gone from Luminae.  It was definitely rampant in the crew population.  

s

[Catlover54]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

It is funny.   I usually put my Live Post in my Favorites and don't enter via the main thread so very rarely notice how many pages and views the thread has had.

 

It did amaze me to see we are already on page 8 and just posting the preliminaries.

 

Thanks for following and I definitely want to learn more about Viking. 

 

There is a thread on the Silversea forum which already has 54 pages, over 56,000 views, and 1400 replies -- and the OP does not even sail for another 3 months!  (Admittedly it is for a world cruise, and not for a one-week hit and run). 

 

I think earlier you said either here or on the Ponant forum that you were anticipating 50,000 or so views, so I suspect you will do more than break a record (and we will of course do our best to help you get there) 🙂

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

Laurent is one of my favorite maitre d's!

Do you know which ship she is on?