AussieBoyTX

(I thought about posting this on the Paul Gauguin forum, but ultimately decided my comments would be more interesting to Ponant Cruisers here.) Here we are again for one last cruise enjoying Ponant’s advantageous child pricing (for our seventeen-year-old). This time, we’re on Le Paul Gauguin, with basically the only itinerary Ponant offered this year that worked with our Christmas Break schedule. Ten days to the Cook Islands and the Society Islands (Bora Bora, Huahine & Moorea), with two days at sea. Gauguin is apparently polarizing — we’ve heard from many people who love it and some who — I wouldn’t say hate — but won’t go again. I guess we’ll find out where we stand. So, first off, this trip is way too soon after our Antarctica trip on Lyrial, but we can blame this simply on American Thanksgiving and Winter break holidays being too close together. In any event, we were still a little tired from the last adventure and not feeling ready for our flight to Los Angeles that left only a couple of hours after final exams were done at school. In any event, flight to LAX was on time and uneventful. We had a five hour layover in Los Angeles (ugh), helped by time spent at some airline lounges we had access to, followed by the short, seven hour flight on Air Tahiti Nui’s new 787 to Papeete. I have to say that if I lived on the West Coast, I’d be in French Polynesia often! We arrived at 5am and went to a dayroom we had reserved so we could chill until embarkation at 3pm. If you can afford it, this seems like a must-do. It’s offered as a package by PG for $1200 at the Intercontinental, which was a lot more than we wanted to pay, but found a simple place in town with air con & pool that was good enough for us. — but (ahem) you might disagree. We went down to the cruise dock at lunch and in addition to Le Paul Gauguin found Aranui 5 (the “cruise freighter”) heading to the Marquesas and the German AIDAMar, on a 117-day world tour. As I’ve mentioned before, I would like to check out their bierhalle. We had lunch at a microbrewery across the street from the ships, went back for a swim and returned shortly after 3pm for embarkation. Apparently some guests decide to wait at the pier from when their flight arrives until its time board, so there were well over a hundred guests who boarded ahead of us after waiting what, eight or nine hours? After our passports were verified against the list, we saw a lot of familiar people! - First off, our cruise director is the same from when we were on Le Lyrial over the Summer. She came over with smiles and hugs for all and said she was excited to see us again. - Next at the foot of the gangway, and I don’t normally name names in my trip reports, we met our Captain, accompanied by Les Gauguines — Patrick Marchesseau! Marchesseau describes himself as “bipolar” (meaning he sails around the Arctic Ocean and Antarctica) and is usually on Le Commandant Charcot. But here he is working on his tan for a couple of months on Le Paul Gauguin — and he has his family along for Christmas. In any event, I’d say he’s among the most famous of Ponant’s Captains. - Then, while we’re on-board and waiting in the already too-long line for COVID verification we saw a French couple we had sailed with last Christmas in Seychelles! If we had waited to board at four, maybe there wouldn’t have been a line to check-in, but I just can’t help but think there’s a way to improve this part of the experience. In any event, we completed the processes and were in our cabin just a little before four to find Champagne on ice, a fruit plate and a nice welcome letter. We have a Window Stateroom on Deck 4, which is admittedly modest and priced appropriately, so I’d ask you not to take these comments as complaints, but more of what to expect… So first off, the cabin is smaller than we’re used to on Ponant — 204 square feet compared to 226 square feet in Le Lyrial’s Superior Stateroom. Twenty-two square feet (just about two square meters) makes a big difference here — a small glass table blocked access to one side of the bed, the convertible sofa bed and the refrigerator, so we had that removed. It’s actually not possible to open the refrigerator when the sofa bed is made and there are no outlets near the bed, USB or otherwise. Available storage is also awkward compared to what we’re used to, but we’ve adapted. On the positive side, the shower is spacious (though it’s a little hard to contain the spray), the bedding is high-quality and comfortable, lighting is useful, the artwork is attractive and appropriately thematic, temperature controls work and the beers in the refrigerator are local and good. We decided to go check out the tea service offered today at La Veranda on Deck 6. Well, it was quite a bit more than tea and offered pizza, pasta made to order, sandwiches and a wide selection of deserts (and tea or course). I’ve often said that it would be good if Ponant had something more than the current boarding afternoon offer (generally small canapés at the main lounge) and this expansive buffet certainly addresses that. It was way more than I would expect, but I’m sure it was appreciated by the guests who just waited outside the ship before boarding. The pizza was really good. We were able to register for Scuba diving at the Scuba Desk — Given the way scuba works in French Polynesia, having the proper paperwork is challenging. Of twelve guests before us, only two had all the paperwork they needed. I suspect they were missing the required “doctor’s clearance to dive” form, which can probably be fixed with a visit to the ship’s doctor. The required forms are listed on PG’s site, but I’m sure they’re easy to be missed. Anyway, we’ve been diving in French Polynesia before and know the drill. We had all the proper forms. One disappointment is that, at this point, there won’t be diving in the Cook Islands, as the required local contractors won’t return the ship’s calls / e-mails. Even though more than sixty guests were arriving on later flights, we had the muster drill at 5:30. It was a reasonably efficient process that just had us go directly to our muster station without lifejackets for instructions. It was here, though, that we realized the preponderance of guests are English-speaking. I will ask at some point, but I guess that less than 20% of the 311 guests from 29 countries are French-speaking. In any event, the ones near us seemed like American and Canadian families for the most part. Perhaps good news for us, as we promised our teen that other teens would be on the ship. The only accent we expected, but didn’t hear was Australian. There are apparently few on board. After the drill, we went to the “life on board” talk in the main lounge. I like the layout of this space with alternating swiveling chairs and lines of banquettes / sofas and the large windows windows. One surprise to me was that of the people attending, maybe ten said they had been to French Polynesia before. I was expecting many repeat cruisers, so maybe they simply don’t attend the “life on board” talk. That would be surprising, as it’s the first introduction to Les Gauguins / Gaguines, who we’re promised are the heart of “m/v Paul Gauguin.” And this is where I realized there is some pride among the long-time Gauguin guests & crew — they refer to our ship as “m/v Paul Gauguin” while the new crew, Ponant crew and Ponant guests refer to our ship as “Le Paul Gauguin.” After that, there was a talk on the offered excursions that was very well done by the Excursion Manager, something that I don’t think is always done well on Ponant ships — but nobody attended like maybe twenty people, which I thought strange. Well, that question was answered quickly for us: - Every single excursion (of interest) had already been booked — some well in advance and the remainder as guests boarded! Noobs that we are, we had no clue and now need to sort out private excursions for each destination. Oh, well — it was dinner time, at which point, we found that Le Grille on Deck 8 required reservations and those had filled up immediately. Same for La Veranda on Deck 6. That left l’Etoile on Deck 5. We were not dressed for l’Etoile and did not intend to dress for l’Etoile, so we got room service delivered (they were happen to deliver what we wanted from Le Grille and it was good), figured out where to stow our stuff and went to bed.

That’s a great itinerary! We’ll do it again If you haven’t read my Seychelles comments, please check them out: Some questions I know I didn’t answer there: - I would book spa sooner rather than later just to be safe. Availability appears to depend on how much ship board credit guests have. - Blue Eye will be open enough times for you to check it out. I wouldn’t worry. - Bummer about scuba, as it was fantastic. There was one DM and one equipped Zodiac — but only five divers, so we all got to dive as much as we wanted. - Aside from La Digue, there aren’t any excursions per se (unless you go to an island we didn’t). Instead, there are expeditions — which were either snorkeling or beach time or Zodiac cruises. None of them needed hiking gear. In any event, you won’t miss out — the excursions can hold all guests. BTW, I would do the La Digue excursion instead of SCUBA. Subjectively. We noticed no difference in Internet at any point of the cruise.

This is the Ponant video that we saw on our trip on the Great Austral Loop. It's entertaining and covers a lot of the things that we did on our trip. It's not even a year old and has over ten thousand views and I'm really surprised that Ponant US didn't send us a link to this in their marketing.

I was catching up on YouTube videos and found a brand new Sam Chui trip report on La Compagnie, the all business class airline, between Orly and Longyearbyen. I was surprised to see that it was a charter for Ponant! We flew on La Compagnie in 2019 on a 757 from Newark to Paris. We thought the service was good and the seat was okay. They've since upgraded to newer aircraft that make the seat better. Anyway, for those of you on Charcot flying to Longyearbyen, maybe this is what's in your future.

That looks like a nice cruse. I hope you'll report back on how it goes! This is a "Polar Expedition" and If you look under the "Baggage" tab on the cruise, you'll find this text, that I think confirms a parka: https://us.ponant.com/south-america-exploring-the-chilean-fjords-ly030323-12 A PONANT polar water-resistant parka is offered on board for all departures with an expedition programme (no children sizes, in case of consecutive cruises, only one complimentary parka).

The weather wasn't really stormy with rain per se. For us, what I estimated to be six hours / 90 nautical miles behind Polaris, we alternated between partly cloudy and high overcast with 7-8 meter seas and 50+ knot winds for most of the crossing. I took this first picture at 9PM on Tuesday the 29th and the cabin mess was overnight.

I always hire a car in advance for Buenos Aires if I can. I use https://tiendaleon.com If you use Manuel Tienda Leon or equivalent, their booth is after you get your bags and pass through customs, but before you enter the main terminal. Don't miss it. In a pinch, I have used the Ezeiza Taxi. It's a fixed price and you book and pay from the stand before you exit the terminal. IMO, unless you're fluent in Spanish, I wouldn't try an independent, or other way into town.

Forgot about this. It depends on the itinerary, but most excursions offered to us have been in the morning leaving at 8 or 9 and returning in time for late lunch. Sometimes, afternoon excursions were offered, or for very popular excursions, there were several sections, leaving every 15 minutes or so. I don't think this applies to this itinerary you're thinking of, but one of the advantages Ponant has at popular destinations is that they can get you there well before the large cruise lines -- At Krka falls in Croatia, Delos in Greece and Briksdal Glacier in Norway, we had theme all to ourselves for more than an hour or two before the larger ships got their passengers there -- but, to do that, in addition to docking at a much closer port, we had an early start -- but it was worth it.

Ponant self-describes their menus as "International," which I guess gives quite a bit of latitude in what's actually delivered. @jpalbny and @swyftal have both posted comprehensive trip reports with menus, so it's possible to have a good idea what to expect: And I post pictures of the plates I've particularly enjoyed as well.

All of the coffee drinks come from a commercial Nespresso machine and are included in the base price. Not all that useful for planning, but... @AussieGirlTX doesn't drink and I occasionally decid to spring for the Premium Pass. A brief chat with the bar manager about our situation has always worked out for us.

Seems like you've got a good handle on what to expect & welcome! Internet is included. Drinks are included, but there is a premium drinks package for spirits. Premium wines can be purchased by the bottle. There is some discussion of all of this here: We have not been in the situation where we've been stuck near someone we really couldn't stand, but yes, there have been people we don't mesh with and you do see them again and again -- but aren't really in such small places that you have to interact with them for long periods, unless you are on the same excursion. I confess we've asked to be placed on the other side of the dining room on occasion for such a reason. I imagine everyone has their own personal threshold on this. The only Ponant ship with anything approaching a viable walking space like you're talking about is Le Commandant Charcot, which has a true Promenade. In desperation on the other ships, I have walked each deck end to end, which is maybe 400 yards and I've done a lot of stair climbing as well. Given your itinerary, I'd plan to be ashore before / after excursions and get some extra walking in. Sometimes I've let the guide know that I was abandoning the tour early and walked back to the ship. There are treadmills with a nice sea view as you might expect, but I really don't call that walking either.

Ponant sent an email this week offering a 10% discount on most cruises sailing in 2023. The offer is combinable with other Ponant discounts such as onboard booking, back-to-back, and the PYC bonus. It's also valid for first time guests and those using referral / first time guest bonuses and those booking through Travel Agents. It reads to me that the excluded cruises are ones that aren't offering the "Ponant Bonus" discount -- the one you see when you're looking at the cruise online. (1) 10% savings valid on new bookings only, using code XMAS10, booked and deposited between 12/08/22 and 01/07/23. Cruise must have a Ponant Bonus of 5% or higher. The discount on your future bookings applies to port-to-port prices, and excludes taxes, discretionary expenses and transfers. It can be applied only by calling our cruises advisors. May be combined with other PONANT offers and advantages including Ponant Yacht Club, Join the Club, Welcome Offer, and contracted partner amenities. Cannot be combined with other offers, amenities, or promotions. Offer is subject to availability and may be modified and/or withdrawn without notice. (2) 10% savings on their future bookings applies to port-to-port prices, and excludes taxes, discretionary expenses and transfers. This discount can only be combined with the PONANT Bonus discount, the discount applied to onboard cruise sales, the Referral Program offer, the Privilege Single offer and with the consecutive cruises discount. This offer is also valid for use with your usual travel agency.

Lovely! We'll be in Moorea over New Year's and PG before that.

Of course. 😅 Will we see you there over Christmas? 😉

You are correct. FP does not require proof of vaccination or testing. Source: http://www.polynesie-francaise.pref.gouv.fr/Dossiers/Information-COVID-19/Conditions-de-voyage

The passenger's comment, "and there were no other ships close to us," is likely an interpretation of the actual situation. It's hard to be far away from other ships in this part of the Peninsula and there were several ships "nearby" crossing back to Argentina on Monday the 28th on schedule (at least Sea Spirit, Silver Endeavour & Ponant L'Austral & Le Lyrial). It's more likely that a transfer was deemed too risky given the passenger's condition. If the operation could be completed safely, I'd think that other vessels would be willing to provide Samaritan / mutual aid and bring this passenger back to Ushuaia.. I took this screenshot around 3pm on Sunday:

I saw that you were on the Weddell Sea side and thought that was cool! I thought that might be reserved for Commandant Charcot, which was only a bit further South than you were. 😎

Well... As you know, tips are included for tickets booked in the US and are shared among all hotel department staff. We were strongly advised that if we wanted to give something extra to put it in the Crew Welfare Fund to be shared among the crew. If there's something extra you'd like to give to a special crew member, give it to them directly -- how much? Don't know -- I would think even $5 or $10 a day would be meaningful to a housekeeper. For guests that do not have gratuities included, Ponant says the average is 13 euros per day.

Every Zodiac I've been on either has a rigid fuel tank or a fuel bladder in the five gallon +/- range in the back of the RHIB by the pilot and outboard motor -- pretty much like any outboard motorboat. There's not much flooring and no bilge per se. Aside from the unlikely location, the incident description reads like the Zodiac's hull and floor integrity was maintained, so I wonder if the "explosion" came from something underneath or outside the boat.

Additional information from passengers who were on the initial Zodiac, describing the "explosion" and subsequent return to Ushuaia: As she was holding onto a rope attached to the boat with one hand and taking cell phone video of penguins with the other, she said, a "pretty significant explosion" took place beneath the floor between the front two passengers. The woman sitting directly across from Trusdale took the brunt of the impact, suffering a badly broken leg. Another passenger on that side was thrown from the boat. Pam Trusdale managed to hold onto her phone. She and her husband crossed over to the other side and helped to stop the boat. Tom Trusdale, another male passenger and the Zodiac pilot pulled the man back into the Zodiac on his back, Pam Trusdale said. Full Article: https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/local/2022/12/04/viking-polaris-cruise-accident-wave-antarctic-trip-topeka-passengers/69695346007/

Viking Polaris was about six hours ahead of us and four hours ahead of L’Austral when it was hit by a rogue wave resulting in a fatality. https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/us-citizen-killed-when-rogue-wave-hit-viking-cruise-ship-in-antarctic/3981840/

We were about six hours behind Polaris on Ponant's Le Lyrial and experienced eight meter swells and 50+ kt winds. Some crew members reported it was among the most "vigorous" they had experienced.

Le Lyrial is returning to Ushuaia about eighteen hours into her subsequent cruise, Emblematic Antarctica:

Ponant has operated in Antarctica for years and now has five ships operating various itineraries throughout the season. With this much experience, one kind of needs to feel that anything less than perfection would be a disappointment. Fortunately, I don’t need to report that. From my perspective, everything important was executed very well. Our housekeeper was fantastic. The restaurant staff at both restaurants were way more experienced, and much better at anticipating our needs and remembering our preferences than in June. Same for the bar staff. @AussieGirlTX has the highest marks for the spa team. The hairstylist gave our teen a ton of tips that he’s still talking about. I usually get on well with the Restaurant Managers, but this one was exceptional — it felt like he was everywhere and did all the things you’d want a manager to do to support the team. He was also always available and it seemed like it wasn’t possible to even pass him in the hall without some sort of conversation. I usually only interact with the Hotel Manager when things aren’t going to plan. I’d just note that this one was the most visible I’ve seen on Ponant. He assisted the restaurant team at their busiest times (which included the gala dinner, which is often a trouble point) and was helping guests get geared up for their expeditions, among other things. This was our second time with this Cruise Director and she is lovely. She is what you’d want in a Cruise Director. Her dance performances were quite a surprise that we enjoyed. The Naturalists and Expedition Leader managed the trip competently and safely and they were always available during the expeditions and even at the Observatory Lounge on sea days to point out whales and identify birds and simply answer questions. We enjoyed this itinerary and really appreciate the Ponant crew on Le Bellot that talked us into switching to this itinerary from Emblematic Antarctica. South Georgia was extraordinary and we’re glad we got to experience it. Setting the reality of life aside (and the ship’s ability to provision fresh food), we could have enjoyed another four days (nineteen total) along the loop.