Scenic vs Ponant for Antarctica

[Lookingtocruise42]

Hi!

 

we are looking at booking a 2 week cruise to Antarctica for winter 2025 and trying to determine between these two lines.

 

we would be booking a Deluxe Suite for Ponant on the Le Commandant and the Penthouse suite for Scenic on their Eclipse.

 

Pro for Ponant:

- Lots of great reviews

- Furnishings are high quality looking

- Food is supposed to be good

- Longer trip

- Two story room!

 

Cons for Ponant:

- Slightly pricier (after Grand Admiral discount)

- Food may be too heavily French influenced?

- No fancy toys on boat

- Few dining Venues?

 

Pro for Scenic:

- Massive deck for viewing the Antarctic

- Larger hot tub (I think)

- Multiple dining locations

- Helicopter and Sub (might be just gimmicky though?)

- Slightly Cheaper

 

Con for scenic:

- Furnishings look lower quality in videos

- Many fewer reviews

- Agent says the food is good, but I’m not seeing a ton on that either

 

Have any of you been on both lines and have an opinion?

 

[AussieBoyTX]

I haven't been on Scenic, nor have I been to Antarctica on Le Commandant Charcot, but I have stayed in Charcot's Duplex Suite. It is spectacular and the hot tub is large enough for two. 

 

The food is a level above the other Ponant ships and the menu is designed by Conseil Alain Ducasse. But I think the food is more internationally inspired than French, but a plain steak or salmon are available at any meal if the choices offered at the three venues don't suit.

 

There is a helicopter on board, but Ponant decided not to use it for guests after they determined it was too disruptive to wildlife and (my translation) conflicted with their environmental responsibility goals.

 

I look forward to hearing how your research goes!

[Lookingtocruise42]

11 hours ago, AussieBoyTX said:

I haven't been on Scenic, nor have I been to Antarctica on Le Commandant Charcot, but I have stayed in Charcot's Duplex Suite. It is spectacular and the hot tub is large enough for two. 

 

The food is a level above the other Ponant ships and the menu is designed by Conseil Alain Ducasse. But I think the food is more internationally inspired than French, but a plain steak or salmon are available at any meal if the choices offered at the three venues don't suit.

 

There is a helicopter on board, but Ponant decided not to use it for guests after they determined it was too disruptive to wildlife and (my translation) conflicted with their environmental responsibility goals.

 

I look forward to hearing how your research goes!

Thanks!

 

the post I put on Reddit very clearly told me to stay away from Scenic due to stabilizer issues.

so we are booking Ponant today!

super excited

[Redking]

We're currently on Scenic II on our way to Easter Island. We had swells of about 3.5 metres after living Chile and are now down to about a metre and we're experiencing quite a bit of sway. I'd therefore say that the comments about the stabilisers are likely correct.

 

We're very keen to sail on the Charcot so please come back and share your experience.

[jpalbny]

Can't wait to cruise on Le Commandant Charcot this winter - twice! Ocean Voyage Reykjavik to Tromsø in October, then Helsinki RT for Christmas Markets. It won't be Antarctica but we're excited just the same.

Edited March 20 by jpalbny

[Lookingtocruise42]

On 3/19/2024 at 6:36 PM, AussieBoyTX said:

I haven't been on Scenic, nor have I been to Antarctica on Le Commandant Charcot, but I have stayed in Charcot's Duplex Suite. It is spectacular and the hot tub is large enough for two. 

 

The food is a level above the other Ponant ships and the menu is designed by Conseil Alain Ducasse. But I think the food is more internationally inspired than French, but a plain steak or salmon are available at any meal if the choices offered at the three venues don't suit.

 

There is a helicopter on board, but Ponant decided not to use it for guests after they determined it was too disruptive to wildlife and (my translation) conflicted with their environmental responsibility goals.

 

I look forward to hearing how your research goes!

We have decided on Ponant and dropped our deposit yesterday.

 

Oddly we leave from Santiago instead of Bruno’s Aires for the flight to Ushuaia.

The question of upgrading to biz class on the flight came up. So my question: how full is the transfer plane they use? Ie: will every row have an empty middle seat, or do we need to upgrade to business (which is the boring Euro style business with just a blocked seat and extra legroom) to ensure the full row without being squished?

Are seats pre assigned? Does room category play into this?

[AussieBoyTX]

18 hours ago, Lookingtocruise42 said:

We have decided on Ponant and dropped our deposit yesterday.

 

Oddly we leave from Santiago instead of Bruno’s Aires for the flight to Ushuaia.

The question of upgrading to biz class on the flight came up. So my question: how full is the transfer plane they use? Ie: will every row have an empty middle seat, or do we need to upgrade to business (which is the boring Euro style business with just a blocked seat and extra legroom) to ensure the full row without being squished?

Are seats pre assigned? Does room category play into this?

 

Leaving from Santiago might be a remnant from when Charcot sailed from Punta Arenas.

 

The chartered aircraft will likely be a 737 and will have up to 200 guests on it. If the ship is full, my guess it that there will be some people in full rows.

 

For us on Lyrial in November 2022, the business class seats appeared to be assigned by status. There were at least a couple of Commodores up front and there were only eight seats on Aerolineas Argentinas. Seats were allocated at check-in (I assume they were allocated earlier than that, so the Commodores could get their seats).

[2SailingNomads]

Having sailed on both, Ponant will take you further south due to the amazing technology of the ship.  Ponant had 2 aircraft, one all biz-class that we upgraded to, the other supposedly nice but coach seating.  Food on the plane was not so good but service was excellent and never wanted for a drink.   When we boarded, despite having assigned seats we were told it was open seating.  The suite on Charcot was nice but no nicer than Scenic. Both have open bridge policy.

Charcot take:

Certain level of cheapness despite the high price, e.g., limited included spirits with a menu of upcharge drinks, limited included wines, typically only 2 reds and 2 whites that rotate. no welcome bottle of champagne in suite, small bottles of spirits in in-room fridge - no automatic refills had to ask suite attendant.  

Limited options for food, the Sila buffet had small amount of offerings, service could be indifferent.  Ducasse restaurant was good but limited choices, but food was sometime warm at best.  The soups were some of the best I have had on any ship.

Heated boot racks in zodiac boarding area, but poor organization with multiple groups congregating in a small area to swap out shoes for boots before lining up to board the zodiac.  

Deck that goes around the entire ship for walking, viewing wildlife / scenery. 

Lack of information, despite the daily briefings when changes occurred info not conveyed in a timely manner, big upsell for photos / videos taken from ship's photographers.

Almost no interaction with senior officers. 

Scenic take:

Butler service for all levels of suites, except for certain very high end spirits all are included.  Multiple included wine options, seven restaurants for dinner, 2 for breakfast and lunch.  Super comfortable reclining chairs in the theater. Very friendly crew and with one or two exceptions excellent service (2 people who were in the wrong career), senior officers very accessible and present (had multiple dinners with different ones along with conversations at the bar).  Scenic likes to come up with different surprises for their guests. Post cruise link to videos taken while on the ship at no charge.

 

Have sailed on Scenic 3 times Charcot once.  For Antarctica unless doing my now bucket list trip from NZ to Ushuaia which can only do on Charcot, no other ship can do that, unfortunately they are not offering in 25, I think either will be a great experience.

 

 

Edited March 31 by 2SailingNomads
Added Scenic video comment

[Lookingtocruise42]

Thanks for everyone's feedback. We are doing LCC in December of 2025, will post a live blog then to help pay back the forum for helping with my answers 🙂

[Redking]

3 hours ago, Lookingtocruise42 said:

Thanks for everyone's feedback. We are doing LCC in December of 2025, will post a live blog then to help pay back the forum for helping with my answers 🙂

Really looking forward to your review. We're just off Eclipse II. Itinerary and crew were fabulous. I wouldn't however consider it the 6 star luxury it's marketed as. I'm still interested in Ponant including LCC but have some reservations so keen to learn more. Thank you.

[lprp]

We’re currently on Le Jacques Cartier on a Kimberley Coastal Expedition cruise from Broome to Darwin. It’s a charter by APT and is good. 
Interestingly I spoke with the APT staff onboard about doing Antarctica and they are going to be using Seabourn in the 2026 Season. They claim that the Seabourn Venture expedition ship is better than Scenic Eclipse. Does anyone have any experience with Seabourn Venture?

TIA

[highplanesdrifters]

6 hours ago, lprp said:

We’re currently on Le Jacques Cartier on a Kimberley Coastal Expedition cruise from Broome to Darwin. It’s a charter by APT and is good. 
Interestingly I spoke with the APT staff onboard about doing Antarctica and they are going to be using Seabourn in the 2026 Season. They claim that the Seabourn Venture expedition ship is better than Scenic Eclipse. Does anyone have any experience with Seabourn Venture?

TIA

 

Yes, have sailed on her a few times.   However I have not sailed on Eclipse or Ponant yet so cannot do a proper comparison. We do sail on Le Jacque Cartier in February.   I love the Venture. She is Seabourns purpose built expedition ship. She is sleek, quiet and rides like a dream. Intelligently designed for expedition activity.  Outdoor viewing areas on many levels, especially the bow. So nice when critters make an appearance not to fight for space at the rail.  Constellation Lounge (bar) on 9 at the bow an indoor/outdoor viewing highlight.  The Bow lounge on 6 has a pantry and leads to a massive viewing area.  The Restaurant is a beautiful space, The club with nightly sushi is a bonus, The Colonnade for dinner usually offers a more interesting menu.  My nitpick is The Colonnade for breakfast and lunch is a bit of a scrum. Yell if you have any more questions, or better yet pop on the Seabourn forums.

[Elizabethbea]

On 3/20/2024 at 8:18 AM, Lookingtocruise42 said:

Hi!

 

we are looking at booking a 2 week cruise to Antarctica for winter 2025 and trying to determine between these two lines.

 

we would be booking a Deluxe Suite for Ponant on the Le Commandant and the Penthouse suite for Scenic on their Eclipse.

 

Pro for Ponant:

- Lots of great reviews

- Furnishings are high quality looking

- Food is supposed to be good

- Longer trip

- Two story room!

 

Cons for Ponant:

- Slightly pricier (after Grand Admiral discount)

- Food may be too heavily French influenced?

- No fancy toys on boat

- Few dining Venues?

 

Pro for Scenic:

- Massive deck for viewing the Antarctic

- Larger hot tub (I think)

- Multiple dining locations

- Helicopter and Sub (might be just gimmicky though?)

- Slightly Cheaper

 

Con for scenic:

- Furnishings look lower quality in videos

- Many fewer reviews

- Agent says the food is good, but I’m not seeing a ton on that either

 

Have any of you been on both lines and have an opinion?

 

Im on ponant at the moment. Def not value for money. Food very average at best. Not lucury but luxury prices. Id try Silversea, but only their Silver Endeavour- very very special

[BasandSyb]

Have done both Antarctic and Arctic this year on Seabourn Pursuit and Venture and would recommend them. Haven’t done Scenic (except for a river cruise that was overpriced for the experience) or Ponant (but have seen the small rooms and they are not for longer trips which we tend to take). Concur with Highplanedrifters.

Hope you enjoy the trip, whatever you choose. Ours were outstanding.

[Cruisebird]

On 7/23/2024 at 7:26 AM, BasandSyb said:

Have done both Antarctic and Arctic this year on Seabourn Pursuit and Venture and would recommend them. Haven’t done Scenic (except for a river cruise that was overpriced for the experience) or Ponant (but have seen the small rooms and they are not for longer trips which we tend to take). Concur with Highplanedrifters.

Hope you enjoy the trip, whatever you choose. Ours were outstanding.

Looking at different options as well. I'm reading 264 suites on Seabourn so double occupancy I'm assuming more than 200 passengers?   

Can someone tell me if I'm reading that correctly.  We are looking for a small ship experience.  

[highplanesdrifters]

2 hours ago, Cruisebird said:

Looking at different options as well. I'm reading 264 suites on Seabourn so double occupancy I'm assuming more than 200 passengers?   

Can someone tell me if I'm reading that correctly.  We are looking for a small ship experience.  

 

You read it right for Pursuit and Venture, 264 suites. Sadly the info is incorrect. It looks like there are approx 127 suites.

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

According to cruise mapper.com Seabourn Venture has 132 suites, and can accommodate 264-317 passengers.

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ships/Seabourn-Venture-2121

[highplanesdrifters]

37 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

According to cruise mapper.com Seabourn Venture has 132 suites, and can accommodate 264-317 passengers.

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ships/Seabourn-Venture-2121

 

LOL, cruisemapper more accurate than Seabourn.   

[BasandSyb]

That could be off-putting for many people!

 

We had 228 on one trip and 220 on the other. Very comfortable - just like the now long gone baby Seabourns.

[AussieBoyTX]

I would be surprised if any of the mentioned lines would have more than 200 passengers on Antarctic cruises. Only 100 passengers can be onshore at a time and ships carrying more than 200 passengers are restricted from visiting certain sensitive areas. I know when we were on Le Lyrial, we were told there were fewer than 200 passengers because of this.

[kasr]

The principal difference between the two is the Charcot is a true ice-breaker rather than just ice-rated and can go places other ships can't in both the Arctic and Antarctic. When I win lotto I'll be on the Charcot cruise to the 2 North Poles (geographic and magnetic) in a heartbeat! I see they are now also offering a cruise that will try to get to the magnetic South Pole as well.