AussieBoyTX

And here we are at the Sofitel on Buenos Aires’ beautiful Posada street, the staging area for our first Antarctic cruise. It seems there are around 140 of us divided into six groups, three French and three English (non-French). So far, we’ve met four French couples, three Australian couples and an American traveling solo. First time on Ponant for all of them. Unlike us, who arrived Tuesday morning after a particularly painful American Airlines flight (replete with unhappy screaming infants), and were somewhat jet lagged, the others had been in town for a couple of days and had seen the sights — and had recommendations for things to do on our next visit. A nice buffet dinner was offered at 7:30 and we were in bed by 9:30 in preparation for our 3:15am wake-up call for our flight to Ushuaia. 😱 The morning was time consuming with a fair number of lines, but went smoothly. Full breakfast was offered at 3:30, the busses to the airport started leaving at 4:00 and ultimately, we were at the gate at 6:30. Ponant’s handlers were excellent and we had no doubt which line we needed to be in to make it through the formalities. This is the last of our cruises to take advantage of Ponant’s generous child-sharing-parents’-cabin discount. Our seventeen-year-old was only $1,500 before discounts and promotions! A couple of years ago, we had planned to take Ponant’s signature 11-night Emblematic Antarctica over Christmas break on Le Boreal, but on our Seychelles cruise last year, the crew strongly advised us to not miss out on the opportunity to visit South Georgia, so after some negotiations we were able to switch to the 15-night The Great Austral Loop on Le Lyrial over American Thanksgiving. This will be our fourth sailing on Le Lyrial. Antarctica is one of the few destinations that still requires COVID testing, but the 96-hour PCR requirement meant we could get tests done at home and have results before we left home, which was a huge stress relief compared to the cruises earlier this year where test results arrived sometimes within hours of embarkation.

The ships have elevators that serve all floors. There are accessible cabins with railings in the shower and at the toilet. There are gangways used when the ship is docked. They have stairs, but also railing on both sides, so seem quite stable to me. Probably the biggest issue would be when the ships tender ashore. There are several crew helping passengers aboard and off the tenders and it seems like they are adept at helping passengers of all abilities safely off and on the tenders. Your question about excursions? They are reasonably transparent about what the passengers should expect on all of the excursions (uneven ground, walk 500 meters, etc.) You can see the proposed excursions on the webpage for each of the cruises (or ask Reservations to send to you).

The current COVID-19 requirements for Antarctica cruises leaving Argentina are either a PCR less than 96 hours before departure, or a rapid antigen test less than 24 hours before departure.

😱 Well, it's not like you can lose -- both of Charcot's captains are favorites among the frequent cruisers.

I'm curious -- do have have the Ponant app? It lists the Captain & Expedition Leader. Which document does that match? 😉

I'm excited to hear how it goes and thanks for the live updates!

We have stayed in a Superior Stateroom further down the hall and haven't heard anything from below. Our preference is to be further away from the reception, since that can get busy, but that leaves plenty of options -- maybe something like 324 right in the center of the ship.

I don't know what Ponant does with the bags between when we drop them off and when they're delivered to the suite, but we have not had anything confiscated (or even any mention of the contents).

Ponant says this in their FAQ: Are onboard power sockets European standard? Yes, the 220 volt 50 hertz alternating current is distributed by sockets meeting European standards. Onboard power is 200 volt AC (European standard) and 110 volt AC (North American standard). For safety reasons, hair irons and clothes irons cannot be used in staterooms. Please note that on Le Ponant, 110 volt AC is only available in stateroom bathrooms. I don't know that we knew this might even be an issue before you asked the question, so we may not have always complied. 😶 As an aside, the 110 volt outlet is at the desk and does not have a mirror nearby. There is a 220 volt outlet by the full-length mirror.

Some clarification: Tauck cruises are either whole-ship charters or block bookings and are NOT listed at all on Ponant's site. If you want to know if there might be Tauck guests on your cruise, you'd need to visit Tauck's website and try to cross-reference their offers against Ponant cruises. Smithsonian cruises are not charters and do appear on Ponant's English-language sites. They do not appear on the French-language sites. There are other cruises tailored for an English-speaking audience and they are clearly marked as such. (e.g. some Kimberley cruises). They also don't appear on the French sites.

Oh no! I hope you're doing okay. Thanks for the report!

Greece is also apparently off the list as of this week.

I have to say, if that Hudson Bay Company building is authentic, I'd more-or-less go just for that! I'd hope for no single supplement, as @AussieGirlTXwould absolutely not be up for this.

This would infuriate me, but we also saw in Seychelles -- our naturalists arranged a Zodiac for experienced swimmers / snorkelers and IMO, they were very clear about this -- unfortunately, a non-swimmer selected themselves for this Zodiac and we had to cut this trip short. 🤦‍♂️

@PBfromDC which cruise terminal did you leave from at FdF?

Thanks for the very detailed thoughts and account. It looks like the 2023 version on Boreal is down to 24 nights from 29, but on its own doesn't sound like that would enhance your experience. Charcot is also sailing next year on a more northerly itinerary that promises an ice crossing and doesn't promote stops at villages along the way. We have a more tropical focus, so I hadn't really thought about NW, NE or even North Pole expeditions. If I had gone, I'd want to see a focus on Amundsen and other explorers and I'd be disappointed if I missed the highlights of those expeditions. Once upon a time, I worked for an exploration company and the impact of development on remote, basically subsistence farming / hunting communities is interesting to me. Sounds like your experience has some similarity to what you can see in parts of the Amazon, PNG and elsewhere. I'm not entirely adverse to sea days, but I'd like all of the ship's services to be available (e.g. spa). Too bad about Alaska -- Deadhorse is not interesting unless you can get a tour of Prudhoe Bay oil fields. Barrow (Utqiagvik) has a population of about 5,000 and would probably be the largest community you'd have seen since Reykjavik. It has museums and heritage centers focused on the US expansion into the Arctic, so that would have given a different perspective. There are some places you might be able to land, like King Island, that were formerly inhabited, but the Inuit were forcibly relocated by the US Bureau of Indian Affairs in the mid 1900's, so they are now deserted.

That page has also been updated today with Canada's latest requirements effective October 1:

Canada has updated their rules effective October 1 -- take this for what you will: OTTAWA - The federal government has announced it is dropping all COVID-19 border restrictions for anyone entering Canada, including: proof of COVID-19 vaccination, quarantine and isolation requirements as well as all pre- or on-arrival COVID-19 testing. Canada is also making the ArriveCan application optional, and is lifting the mask mandate and health check requirements for travellers on planes and trains. Declaring the imminent end of these restrictions—effective Oct. 1— marks a major milestone in Canada's pandemic response. ... Cruise ship measures are also being lifted, though passenger and crew protection guidelines will remain to "align with the approach used in the United States." https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/canada-dropping-travel-mask-mandate-and-ending-covid-19-border-and-quarantine-restrictions-1.6084119

I wonder if you can get what we think of as the Ponant experience if the ship has Tauck among other guests, instead of being completely chartered by Tauck? The Smithsonian cruise we did on Le Dumont d'Urville in August did not have any menu changes to suit the basically all-American guests. It did have added crew and other resources to make the experience more like one would get on a charter like Tauck, as it was explained to me.

Ponant's details by destination updated September 22, 2022 is consistent with this. 🤦‍♂️ https://fr.calameo.com/read/000132423668d4bed7572

@boblerm, your Captain's gala menu looks like a typical Ponant menu (as you noted it's very similar to the one @gogo65 posted), but the Wednesday menu is unfamiliar to me and looks quite simplified compared to what we were served on this ship in August. Since we're talking gin, Hendrick's, Bombay & Tanqueray would be an extra charge on a regular Ponant cruise (including Smithsonian). Given the cruise was in the US and Canada, I'd be inclined to discount supply chain as being a primary cause for an alcohol shortage..

You'll need to consult with Tauck. Ponant has definitely removed the testing requirement for cruises in US & Canada: https://fr.calameo.com/read/000132423668d4bed7572

The only real rule is no shorts at dinner. In practice, many men wear a blazer, some wear a polo shirt without a blazer. Someone inevitably overdresses and wears a tuxedo (especially on the gala nights). Personally, I wear a blazer in the main / gastronomic dining room and I don't if I'm the the buffet or outdoor dining room. As usual, women are all over the place, ranging from "dress cargo pants and flannel shirt" to elegant maxi dress. Don't forget the "always available" menu has non-seafood choices that can be substituted at any meal -- and really I can't think of any course that didn't have a non-seafood option. Even on the gala nights, it was possible to either substitute from the vegetarian menu, or the always available menu.

In my experience, dinner is usually offered either at 7:00 or 7:30 in the main dining room and the buffet is either at the same time, or sometimes as much as 30 minutes earlier. Gala dinners and operational reasons (excursions returning late, for example) could cause both venues to begin service later.

There's also a supporting webpage: https://us.ponant.com/sustainable-development