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

[karmamule]

On 9/19/2023 at 7:42 PM, Jim_Iain said:

 

Thanks for another vote for MSC YC.    It is on the short list.   So many choices and so little time.

 

You should really like Summit and the New England Cruise.    We did it last year after our Iceland/Greenland B2B and loved it.   We have said we would definitely do it again.

 

Hope your cruise has an overnight in Quebec -  The ship docks right in the heart of town and looks right at the Chateau Frontenac.   

 

Yes we have an overnight in Quebec and are excited for that. I'll go look up your post for that B2B and read up on your CA/NE experiences. Thanks again and happy cruising! 🙂

[Cruise till you drop]

On 9/1/2023 at 5:17 PM, Jim_Iain said:

Ponant’s Cruise Critic Forum https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/846-ponant/  is also very different to the very popular and free ranging Celebrity Forum.   Ponant's forum is only 15 pages long and their are no Roll Calls.      Most live post only run 1 or 2 pages and have very little banter.   For this reason I want to be respectful of their Forum and at the same time drive some of you to visit Ponant's Forum and understand their product offering.

I’m guessing this is because they have a  much smaller Ponant cruise population.  I tried to find their cruises on a Cruise search site and Ponant doesn’t even show up.  This is the search engine I usually use 

 

 

Edited September 21, 2023 by Cruise till you drop

[hmcrn]

On 9/19/2023 at 10:32 PM, abbydancer said:

We just got off the Caribbean Princess doing a similar itinerary (Quebec to NY) with similar port stops.  We were with the Summit in Sydney (discussing if it was possible to switch ships), and of course missing most of them due to the hurricane.  I do want to try again, and will probably look at 2025, but if X has a ship doing the same cruise, we'll definately do it on Celebrity not Princess.

 

Hi abbydancer!  Curious as to why you wouldn't do Princess again?  Thank you!

[abbydancer2003]

5 minutes ago, hmcrn said:

 

Hi abbydancer!  Curious as to why you wouldn't do Princess again?  Thank you!

We’ll still do Princess but not the Caribbean princess. It’s just too crowded.  The ships layout is not as nice as all the gem ships (Ruby, crown etc) and thus has people all over.  Its layout is similar to the Grand but has a lot more passengers.   
 

The Atrium has a mosaic floor, and we’re dancers so it can be risky for catching your foot.  
 We have the Sun booked in 2025. 

[hmcrn]

Ok, cool - thank you!  Always good to know.  We have not sailed on Princess previously, but may in the next year.  Like so many others, we are looking around to see if we can find another line that has everything we like.  We are not keen on the large crowded ones - we prefer the smaller more intimate or medium size at most.  Thanks again!

[MamaFej]

On 9/20/2023 at 8:51 AM, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Wow, those are different combinations with gravy🤪

 

I hadn't thought about this video in years, yet here we are again. 

[Jim_Iain]

On 9/18/2023 at 12:57 PM, hcat said:

can' t  wait for that review..Are you glad to  be returning to X?

To be honest I’m really not excited- Yet!  I haven’t even been doing any searching on Celebrity.   Most of my research has been on other lines.  

 

Im sure that excitement will build as we get closer.  

[Jim_Iain]

Sorry for going silent.   So much to do in Toronto. 
 

Visit with Sue and Rob was was the highlight of our visit.   I wish they were closer by. 
 

Just a couple pix of our evening. 
 

 

 

They gave us som Toronto Socks.  Can’t wait to wear them. 
 

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

The Dog Fountain.  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

Last night  our other friend took us for a car tour and then dinner.  We didn’t get home until after midnight

The Distillery 

 

 

We had to do a quick packing as we were departing for airport at 8:00am

 

 

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

On 9/19/2023 at 8:32 PM, abbydancer said:

We just got off the Caribbean Princess doing a similar itinerary (Quebec to NY) with similar port stops.  We were with the Summit in Sydney (discussing if it was possible to switch ships), and of course missing most of them due to the hurricane.  I do want to try again, and will probably look at 2025, but if X has a ship doing the same cruise, we'll definately do it on Celebrity not Princess.

 

And we were in Quebec from Thursday to Sunday (ship overnights there on Saturday) and loved it, although I don't quite understand the thing for Poutine.  

We visited Quebec City last year.  LOVED it

Edited September 22, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

On 9/20/2023 at 3:25 AM, hcat said:

Glad things are  going well in Toronto! Hope you will share some pics.

 

off topic: We had smooth flights on SW Air  to Sarasota Fl from Long Island,  NY. A long travel day starting at 4 am...have to  change planes in Baltimore with 1 hr  layover.

 

.Arrived in time for a great lunch.  Sal had meatloaf with bacon wrapped  in phyllo dough and topped with mushrooms.. that would a creative meal on X..He loved it!

 

Drought is over..our gardens are lush!

Hope to get to the Gulf of Mexico.. a few miles away... some beach roads  and our fav jetty for Manatee watching were damaged in the recent storm (can't pronounce the name!).

 

  We are in Venice Fl..If you ever want to visit  great small city, I rec the Sarasota Area.  Great culture, nature, beaches..Sarasota Bay!

 

Loved Toronto.   Incredible how much construction is taking place.   The city is alive and SO CLEAN. 
 

We are currently on Delta and enjoyed a nice dinner and a snooze.  Delta is offering. Free high speed Internet and using it to catch up. 

[Jim_Iain]

On 9/20/2023 at 4:36 AM, cluso said:

 

Many years ago, we went to the Quebec Yacht Club for lunch.  Being adventurous, I ordered the Poutine.  Not wild about the cheese curd.  It was OK, but I would have rather ordered the Lobster Roll that my DH ordered.  We noticed there were Poutine fast food places, and even McDonalds sold it.  

To be honest I enjoyed the Poutine.    I had to Google it to see what it was.   I found the cheese curds added to the dish. 

[Jim_Iain]

On 9/20/2023 at 4:11 PM, yoshi said:

Thank you for your live review of Ponant Great Lakes/Canada Cruise. It looked wonderful, different than ocean voyages, more similar to European river cruises. We have done a couple of river cruises on AMA and they were also wonderful, in a quieter way than Celebrity. If you like to mix up the cruises now between ocean and river, AMA had the options of a hiking or biking tour included in addition to regular town sightseeing tours. 

 

I think River Cruises might have many aspects of small ship cruises on the lakes.   Most of Ponant cruises are ocean and attic exploration cruises. 

[Jim_Iain]

23 hours ago, DUTRAVEL said:

Thank you for your great review Jim! Henrietta and I enjoyed following along and seeing new places. You are headed home to lovely fall weather in the Bay Area.

 

Dianne

Thanks Dianne and Henrietta.   I’ve been watching KPIX news and weather using my Firestick and YouTubeTV.    It really cooled off quickly.  
 

I was surprised to hear how bad the smoke is from the fires. 

[Jim_Iain]

11 hours ago, Cruise till you drop said:

I’m guessing this is because they have a  much smaller Ponant cruise population.  I tried to find their cruises on a Cruise search site and Ponant doesn’t even show up.  This is the search engine I usually use 

 

 

Many travel sites only cover the major lines.  I often use CruiseMapper and if you search on their ships they show their itineraries.  

[cluso]

4 hours ago, MamaFej said:

 

I hadn't thought about this video in years, yet here we are again. 

Ha, ha, ha, enjoyed that!  Thank you!

[cluso]

28 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I think River Cruises might have many aspects of small ship cruises on the lakes.   Most of Ponant cruises are ocean and attic exploration cruises. 

 

Well, I don't think the attic cruises will be a big hit with us! 😜  Thank you so much for all the time you spent on your reviews.  

Sante`

[DUTRAVEL]

43 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Thanks Dianne and Henrietta.   I’ve been watching KPIX news and weather using my Firestick and YouTubeTV.    It really cooled off quickly.  
 

I was surprised to hear how bad the smoke is from the fires. 

We have had a some Spare The Air Days, but the smoke is not nearly as bad as it was a couple of years ago. 

[ophkw]

Really enjoyed following along on your trip.  We lived close to Milwaukee and loved spending weekends there.  Glad you found the Fonzie statue.   We are now traveling and I know you mentioned watching your You Tube TV while away.  We have a Nord VPN and it still won’t let us connect. Says we are out of the country even though we are using a US server.  Any other tips or tricks to get us in?

[vickykay]

So very much enjoyed your review.  I had a lot of catching up to do as we just returned from the NE/Canada cruise on the Summit.  Your photos were amazing!

 

I also remember Gimble’s growing up.  And we loved Boston Store when we moved to upstate NY.  
 

Quick question, how did you get the dining credit with your priority pass?  We are often at airports or terminals with no lounges.

 

Thanls!

[Mike981]

Glad it worked out so well for you Gentlemen.

[Nashna]

On 9/15/2023 at 1:00 PM, MamaFej said:

I agree. That's neither appropriate nor fair. 

 

I'd agree anyway, but I may be switching to non-alcoholic wine (if any) and I would like to have the option. Do you have any non-alcoholic wines you recommend on Celebrity? I've never tried any.

 

In January, Celebrity only offered Fre which is a very poor-quality non-alcoholic wine...sold in local US grocery stores for $7.99.   There are so many excellent non-alcoholic wines available now that I don't understand why a better quality is not stocked.  While the NA wine was always available in the restaurants, we had trouble getting non-alcoholic wine in the various bars. We are sailing on O. in January. They offer a fairly good selection along with non-alcoholic spirits. 

[GeorgiaPeach51]

Jim, really enjoyed reading about this different kind of adventure!  As usual, your photos were a treat to see.  Change is good for us all, don’t you think?  Keeps us young, or at least, young at heart!  I’m glad you had a good time.

 

Joanie

[hcat]

23 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I think River Cruises might have many aspects of small ship cruises on the lakes.   Most of Ponant cruises are ocean and attic exploration cruises. 

met with a new trvl agent today..got brochures for Oceania, the QM 2  Cunard crossing (including a round trip itin)  and A Mississippi  River cruise...All possible???

 

Hope you are settling in back at home.