Rare Got2Cruise Posted July 5 #1 Share Posted July 5 Greetings! We have sailed a variety of cruise types but never Ponant. Very little feedback here on CC. Would love to hear your feedback. We are looking at both the Norway and Iceland cruises for 2025. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cboyle Posted July 5 #2 Share Posted July 5 Have you looked in the cruiser reviews section of Cruise Critic? You can search there by ship or destination. https://www.cruisecritic.com/cruise/compagnie-du-ponant/reviews I have not taken the iteneraries you mention, but I just posted a review of our latest trip with Ponant. It has a link to our first cruise with Ponant that shares our impressions. https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=717037 Do you have specific questions? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabethbea Posted July 7 #3 Share Posted July 7 I am on my first Ponant. Been on around 25 cruises all luxe ie less than 800 pax. This is NOT luxery. Just two eateries both buffets - the restaurante gives you menus but it is go help yourself. After 9 am no breakfast. True. Wines average. No caviar. Rooms like a shoe box. many of the “ expedition excursions” consist of sitting in a zodiac for up to 2 hours. Expedition team Uni students- nice people but it gives the cruise the flavour of a school trip. not allowed to order a bottle to your cabin NO guest laundry- not even an iron. apart from the zodiac trip nothi ng to do each day. No outside bars. The Observation lounge has an empty bar with no bar tender. the “swiming pool” is a plunge pool. NO promenade deck- infact nowhere at all to walk outside. clueless re Trivia. Zero for solo passengers. staff very nice. For so called luxury this simply does not cut it. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabethbea Posted July 7 #4 Share Posted July 7 Addendum: after 9 am you can get some cake and a pot of yogurt in the main lounge area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summerclouds Posted July 7 #5 Share Posted July 7 My husband and I were Ponant first timers on the 8 night May 22 – June 6 “From Malta to the Adriatic Coast“ (Valletta to Venice) cruise on L’Austral (one of the 4 "sister ships") I hope to write a more formal trip report soon but thought I’d write a bit on our experience as first timers in response to the query from Got2Cruise. This was not an "Expedition" cruise so others' experiences may be different. Our previous cruise experience had been 2 Holland America cruises on ships holding 1700 to 1900 passengers. We chose Ponant because of the itinerary and because the small ship size meant that in Venice we would sail into the Venetian Harbor and dock within Venice instead of being long bus rides away in Trieste or Ravenna. We had 3 concerns about Ponant prior to the cruise: 1. Would the small ship size cause us to feel the sea rolls more? (husband tends to sea sickness) 2. Would we feel strange in being most likely an English-speaking minority on a French cruise line? and 3. Would the seemingly more upscale dress suggestions make us feel uncomfortable? None of these turned out to be a problem. We would most definitely sail with Ponant again if we are looking at an itinerary they offer. They offer some very unique itineraries. We booked a Prestige Stateroom on Deck 4 midship. We seldom felt motion on the ship, either in our cabin or in the public areas. We found our stateroom smaller than the Signature Suites we take on Holland America, but it was well laid out and we felt we had enough space. The bed was extremely comfortable. The balcony was nice and pleasant to use. We felt well cared for on Ponant. All the crew we interacted with were very helpful, pleasant and able to switch from French to English easily. Our ship’s 228 passengers were approximately ¾ French and ¼ “English” We did not really interact with the French passengers (in the main restaurant they will sit you at a table with other English speakers) which is not surprising since we couldn’t really talk to each other. However, people would smile and be polite in elevators, tenders, etc. We found saying Bon Jour and Merci as appropriate seemed well received. All announcements were made in French, then repeated in English. Lectures were given in both languages. We booked only 1 ship excursion (Syracuse) and true to Ponant’s promise, there was a French guide for the French speakers on the excursion and an English guide for the sixteen of us English. Our guide was excellent, one of the best I’ve ever had. Our English guide took us on a different walking route than the French guide, so we really felt we were on our own with our guide, not a tag-along with the larger French group. From conversations with other English speakers later in the cruise, Ponant provided an English guide even when there were only 1 or 2 English on an excursion. There were 3 to 5 excursions offered in each port. As U.S. customers, we had a booking which included Internet, Gratuities, and Drinks. The minibar offerings in your room are also included in the U.S. booking. There is a drinks package one can purchase which provides access to what are considered better quality wines and liquors, but for my husband and me, the included wines, beers, and liquors were fine. There are only 2 restaurants on the ship: the Gastronomic Restaurant (the formal dining room) and the informal buffet. We found the buffet to be more than sufficient for our tastes with a wide variety of offerings as well as standard items that could be requested any day. There were several “themed” offerings in the buffet on various days. One day there was a Paella that was a work of art to behold and wonderful to eat. We enjoyed our meals. We only ate in the formal dining room one evening for one of the Gala dinners. We found the tables in the formal dining room too crowded together (definitely not for anyone with claustrophobia) and dinner taking too long (we don’t wolf down our food by any means, but we found a two and a half hour dinner just “not us” ) We thought the food very good and the wait staff handled my dietary restriction with no problem. Blue jeans were less common during the day than on Holland America. I’d guess about 20% of passengers wore them on L’Austral. For dinner in the formal restaurant on non-gala nights “smart casual” is the suggested and a jacket is recommended for men. Peering into the restaurant as we passed it by during dinner, it appears that while most men wore jackets, there were a sufficient quantity of men without so that one would not have felt out of place without a jacket. On the gala nights, a coat and tie is suggested. Most men had a coat and tie, some a coat without tie and a few, such as my husband, a nice shirt under a pull-over sweater. Another gentleman at the 8 person table we were seated at was dressed similarly to my husband. As several people on this Ponant Board assured me pre-cruise, everyone was accepted without any questions/hesitation as long as one didn’t show up in jeans, tee-shirts, or shorts. The one event where everyone did show up very elegantly dressed was the Captain’s Welcome Cocktail followed by the Captain’s gala dinner on the 2nd night. One of our few quibbles with Ponant is that there were 3 gala dinners on the 8 night cruise. During the 1st one (the Captain’s gala dinner) the buffet restaurant was open but it was closed on the evenings of the other 2 gala dinners as Ponant wanted to encourage everyone to eat together in the formal restaurant. Room service is available 24/7, so we opted for that on the other gala evening the buffet was closed. We are not big into entertainment on cruises so I can’t really comment on that, other than to say that it is much lower key than on a ship of several thousand. There was an Art Historian who gave lectures on several (but not all) our ports and a lecture on Venice and Music. Each evening there was a musical show of some sort done in the theater by the ship’s musicians and singers. There were 3 lounge/bar areas on our ship: the Main Lounge on Deck 3, the Observation Lounge on Deck 6 and the Pool bar on Deck 7. All were pleasant places to sit with a drink. The Pool bar is very much weather dependent. Being in the Mediterranean we had perfect weather for it. The pool itself if very small. Hope this helps with some of the questions a first-timer might have. Always happy to answer questions. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Host Jazzbeau Posted July 8 #6 Share Posted July 8 On our two Ponant cruises the buffet restaurant at dinner featured a 'joint' of a different animal each night and got great reviews from our shipmates – but we never ate there because we don't eat outdoors since God gave us houses 😏 The main restaurant had a fully served multi-course dinner every night, but there were not very many entrée choices and it was often difficult to find something we liked; the gala nights were very good, so if we had had 3 that would have been welcome. And with new friends to talk to, 2 1/2 hours for dinner is only the beginning for us – we are known for closing down the dining room on every ship. This illustrates how responses on Cruise Critic need to be cross-checked against the poster's preferences – obviously what we like and what @summerclouds likes are very different, and both of us had different experiences than @Elizabethbea More detail about our Ponant cruises are available on my blogs: Ponant Icelandic Loop 8-2019 jazzbeauxicelandcruise2019.travel.blog Ponant Essential Azores (and Madeira) 4-2023 https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2943371-review-of-ponant-le-bellot-essential-azores-april-11-18-2023/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabethbea Posted July 8 #7 Share Posted July 8 Of course any review is subjective. Mine wS factually correct but my view was mine. clearly it depends on ones experience of luxury cruising. For me no breakfast after 9 am is suboptimal- but thats my personal view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jpalbny Posted July 8 #8 Share Posted July 8 Hi @Got2Cruise! We have done two Ponant expeditions and have three more booked. We find it an acceptable alternative to Silversea which is our preferred line at present (cutbacks notwithstanding). I don't find the issues brought up earlier by Elizabethbea to be dealbreakers for me, but some of the issues that were mentioned were different to my experience. The expedition guides in Corsica and in Indonesia were universally excellent, and definitely NOT university students. They were experienced professionals who knew their stuff and did a fantastic job. The excursions on Ponant are more active and more strenuous than the excursions we've done on Silversea. When they go for a hike they mean business! The zodiac launching platform on the Ponant Explorers is much easier to negotiate than that on the Silversea ships. The main restaurant was not self-service. The casual grill was partly self-service. Agree that on the Explorers, there is no promenade deck at all, and we definitely missed this on sea days. Our next two are on Le Commandant Charcot and there will be a promenade deck on this ship which we're looking forward to using. Agree that the pool is more for show than for swimming, though it is pretty. The ships are aesthetically pleasing and we found the cabins to be big enough. Wines are similar in quality to what are included on Silversea. The food was quite good. It was certainly a nice ship for an expedition and we're happy to be going back to them in the near future. Links to both of my trip reports are in my signature. Any specific questions - just ask. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Got2Cruise Posted July 8 Author #9 Share Posted July 8 Thank you everyone for your comments. I’m considering the around Iceland cruise with Tauck on Ponant. From what I’ve researched this tour hits all the must see spots in Iceland. Has anyone used another cruise line for Iceland? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jpalbny Posted July 8 #10 Share Posted July 8 27 minutes ago, Got2Cruise said: Has anyone used another cruise line for Iceland? Silver Cloud, 2019. Review in my signature. I've heard that the Tauck charters on Ponant are different from the regular Ponant cruises, so much of the advice we gave above may be irrelevant. We have never done a charter on the Ponant ships. Iceland is amazing but be prepared for unexpectedly cold weather, and disruptions in the itinerary as a result. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare swyftal Posted July 8 #11 Share Posted July 8 11 hours ago, Elizabethbea said: Of course any review is subjective. Mine wS factually correct but my view was mine. clearly it depends on ones experience of luxury cruising. For me no breakfast after 9 am is suboptimal- but thats my personal view. Which Ponant ship and itinerary are you on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabethbea Posted July 8 #12 Share Posted July 8 Kimberely :Darwin to Broome. A solo lady I had dinner with tonight paid aud$3000 a night - her steak was inedible- the maitre de explained it was because it was an Australian cruise Ponant had to buy Australian produce. ???? He also explained that this was also why there was no caviar on board. Simply does not make sense. The Kimberely is well worth seeing. Ponant in my opinion does not offer value for money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Got2Cruise Posted July 8 Author #13 Share Posted July 8 5 hours ago, jpalbny said: Silver Cloud, 2019. Review in my signature. I've heard that the Tauck charters on Ponant are different from the regular Ponant cruises, so much of the advice we gave above may be irrelevant. We have never done a charter on the Ponant ships. Iceland is amazing but be prepared for unexpectedly cold weather, and disruptions in the itinerary as a result. Thanks for all the wonderful advice as always JB. I’ll read your blogs thoroughly. I’m not 100% sure but I thought I read Tauck doesn’t charter the entire ship. Only has certain special excursions and group meals. The rest you mingle with other pax. Also there’s a Tauck Tour Director. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn-in-nc Posted July 8 #14 Share Posted July 8 We're leaving Wednesday for a Norway cruise with Ponant, this will be our fourth and our third on Le Champlain. I absolutely love Ponant because of the small ship experience. We have always had a large suite but the Norway cruise is so expensive (why???) so we booked a smaller one, I will report back on that experience when we get back. That said, it is very different from most cruise ships. It's a French line and the French famously don't snack so it IS difficult to get food except at meal times and the "gouter" at 4. I like the breakfast and lunch buffets but I don't love fussy food and often can't find something at dinner that I like. My husband is an omnivore and easier to please and he enjoys it just fine. I'm pretty sure you can get room service 24/7. I believe breakfast is usually served until 10? Not sure why they cut off at 9 am. We had a Tauck group on our Scotland cruise. They took up about half the ship and had their own excursions but they mingled with the rest of us at meals. They seemed to love Tauck, some people had been on 20 and more Tauck groups. One other thing I like about Ponant is the sometimes unusual itineraries. There is always something new and different unlike some other lines which run the same itinerary over and over. We have been organizing our own private tours and that can be tricky because you don't know in advance when you will go in and out of port, the smaller ship is more subject to weather and sea conditions. Forget about swimming, the pool is small and not really part of the experience. Also, the fitness room is tiny and there's only room for about five people. That said, I've never not been able to use it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Got2Cruise Posted July 8 Author #15 Share Posted July 8 @lynn-in-nc yes please do report back. I have that Norway itinerary on my list also. Have an amazing time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare HappyInVan Posted July 17 #16 Share Posted July 17 On 7/5/2024 at 8:09 AM, Got2Cruise said: Would love to hear your feedback. We are looking at both the Norway and Iceland cruises for 2025. Have sailed Ponant 3x; once to Iceland. The ships are tiny compared to other $$$ lines like Viking Explora etc. So, expect the public areas and rooms to be compact. Sacrifices had to be made. Tiny pool, limited outdoor areas, small spa etc. On the other hand, Ponant crews try to be upbeat and helpful. On cruises with a dominant majority of European pax, it helps to offer greetings in French. The majority of the senior and reception hotel staff are French. Food can be hit or miss. On some cruises, the selection of main courses can be limited. Whilst burgers etc are always available. I would not cruise with Ponant for the gastronomic experience. Entertainers tend to be of high quality, though there is a lack of variety. On my last cruise, there were two dancers, two singers and two musicians. The small number of the pax allows the ships to visit isolated places where the population is in the scores or low hundreds. For example, you might visit Kake and Elfin Cove in Alaska. And, the ship is able to enter Misty Fjord. In Iceland, we visited Grundarfjordur (pop 680). But, compared to Alaska, Iceland did not offer as many small ship opportunities as Alaska's rainforest. Iceland's coast is so scenic that popular ports offer many interesting excursions. The problem for the Iceland itineraries is that Iceland is subject to high winds. Tender ports may be cancelled. Whilst Alaska's Inside Passage is sheltered albeit rainy. Do note that the embarkation port in Iceland can be variable. It be be Reykjavik Old Port, or it can be Hafnarfjorour (taxi 8500 ISK 15miles away). Fornubudir Street not Óseyrarbraut as stated on my boarding instructions. Apparently, a large Tauck tour group was boarding, and Ponant chose a town closer to the airport. Enjoy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Got2Cruise Posted July 18 Author #17 Share Posted July 18 Thanks for all the feedback. Still haven’t booked. But I’m leaning more to the Norway cruise now. I think more diverse things to see and do. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Got2Cruise Posted August 1 Author #18 Share Posted August 1 (edited) Finally Booked!!! Went with the Iceland. I waited too long on the Norway for 2025. Already booked solid. My TA assures me that Ponant is wonderful. Can’t wait. Edited August 1 by Got2Cruise 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Host Jazzbeau Posted August 1 #19 Share Posted August 1 There are so many 'Wow!' things to see in Iceland. But if you are interested in Geology, standing in the chasm in Þingvellir [Thingvellir] National Park and touching Europe with one hand and North America with the other is pretty cool. Our cruise was on Ponant, but as part of a Backroads group that included unique shore excursions – but my blog may give you some ideas: jazzbeauxicelandcruise2019.travel.blog 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Got2Cruise Posted August 2 Author #20 Share Posted August 2 17 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said: There are so many 'Wow!' things to see in Iceland. But if you are interested in Geology, standing in the chasm in Þingvellir [Thingvellir] National Park and touching Europe with one hand and North America with the other is pretty cool. Our cruise was on Ponant, but as part of a Backroads group that included unique shore excursions – but my blog may give you some ideas: jazzbeauxicelandcruise2019.travel.blog Thank you @Host Jazzbeau Your blog is awesome and gives such good info. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn-in-nc Posted August 6 #21 Share Posted August 6 I never did report back after our Norway cruise a couple of weeks ago. Yes, breakfast did end at 9 am which is early on at-sea days, but the continental breakfast served in the lounge was quite adequate for us - fruit, yogurt, pastries. The food on this sailing was the best I've had on Ponant. Kudos to the chef! The itinerary was fantastic, we loved sailing through the fjords and enjoying the views from the observation lounge. There was a Tauck group onboard with 75 people (out of 185 so that was a big percentage). To me having a large group of Americans changes the vibe of a cruise on Ponant as it is much less French. Big groups can be loud and kind of take over the atmosphere. We're going to try Explora in January and I think I will do more on Seabourn as these ships are still relatively small but have more to do - bigger fitness area for one thing which is important to me, especially on at-sea days. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Got2Cruise Posted August 7 Author #22 Share Posted August 7 @lynn-in-nc thanks for reporting back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kasr Posted August 26 #23 Share Posted August 26 A couple of points on all the above: Once you've booked your 2nd cruise on Ponant all your laundry is included (something you have to wait for until you've done 100 nights on Silversea) - and note that is "booked", not "completed". We had booked a second cruise before we did our first and have never had to pay for laundry. Not having a self-service laundry is becoming common - Celebrity don't have them either for example. Room service is available 24/7 if you're dying of starvation. They also have nibbles available in the bars. One thing I do like on the Ponant ships is the availability of the crew. They normally have an "open bridge" policy so you can spend some time with the officers-of-the-watch, and the officers all eat at the guest restaurants. They always have an opportunity to sign up to 'dine with an officer' (as well as 'dine with naturalist' on expedition cruises). The captain always greets and farewells every guest individually. I'm doing my first non-expedition cruise on Ponant next year around the UK, so it may be different but as it's a Smithsonian Journeys branded cruise it may not be the usual 'yacht' cruise. But the fact the cruise leaves from the heart of London and sails under Tower Bridge on the way out got me hooked! The ability to get into places others can't to me is a significant mitigating factor for some level of 'luxury deprivation'. I wouldn't trade being able to sail up the Sepik River in PNG, or to swim with whale sharks off Indonesia for the ability to have breakfast at 10am... 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Got2Cruise Posted August 27 Author #24 Share Posted August 27 @kasr thank you for your helpful info. I’m sure we’ll enjoy our Ponant experience very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare highplanesdrifters Posted August 30 #25 Share Posted August 30 On 8/25/2024 at 8:55 PM, kasr said: to swim with whale sharks off Indonesia Care to expand on this wonderful experience. Specifically where, and how did they work they excursion. Trying to decide where to go and with whom. Thanks much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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