lynn-in-nc

I saw lots of answers to this question online, but none specifically about Seabourn.  We're booked into an aft Penthouse spa suite on Seabourn Sojourn (inside passage) in August 2020 and just watched a video suggesting that it's best to have a cabin on the side of the ship facing the land.  We're going Juneau to Vancouver, so that means the port side.  We do tend to spend quite a bit of time on the balcony so I'm wondering about switching to regular penthouse suite which is on the port or starboard side. 

Any thoughts on whether there is a good side or bad side?  My TA says the ship will be turning around anyway but if I'm going to be sitting on the balcony I'd like to have the best chance of seeing wildlife if possible. 

We were on the Aegean sea and didn't feel anything, but the water was smooth as glass.  I considered switching from Seabourn to Ponant to go to Alaska but decided against it - I'd like to try slightly rougher waters before going full Arctic with Ponant.  That said, we met lots of people who have been on multiple Ponant cruises, including Antarctica, and there were no complaints.

There are a few tables for two.  We typically just eat by ourselves and are not that social, but I think I mentioned that we met some wonderful people that we ended up dining with much of the time.  You can make reservations for a table for two every night if you want to.  

Ah, that must be how my TA didn't realize the error.  You will enjoy it for sure!

We were given 621 incorrectly, 535 was our correct cabin - the owner's suite.  621 I believe IS the Grande Deluxe.  The only other difference from the owner's suite other than the hot tub is that the deck is bigger.  But the deck is already so large, I don't really think that matters.  

The minibar had some small liquor bottles, not top shelf, and some sodas.  No snacks.  I don't know anything about a drinks package - sorry!  

We toured Greece for a week before the cruise and I didn't want to pack two suitcases!  There were a few people who on the gala nights were in high heels (women) and a few tuxes (men).  The French women wore lots of jewelry but since we were traveling I left mine at home (I did bring a few scarves!).  My husband only wore a jacket one of the two "formal" nights - the next one he skipped the jacket but wore a tie and was easily dressed equally to the other men. 

I don't know anything about Tauck - some of the people we met on the cruise had done Ponant cruises through them, I believe mostly the Australians.  The Australians we spent time with were determinedly (is that a word?) casual, and lots of fun.  

Seabourn seemed more like country club types.  My husband and I are pretty liberal and we didn't really meet anyone we clicked with on the Seabourn cruise we did (although we LOVED the ship and all of the amenities), whereas on this Ponant cruise we had about 10 people that we palled around with. 

I just returned from our first cruise on Ponant and wanted to jot down my thoughts before they are gone forever. 😎

Our travel agent suggested Ponant last year and I wasn't able to find much information about it - the reviews were mostly negative but they were old and our TA said they had hired new management to help them better interface with the US market.  I want to say first off that we found the crew and all personnel to be exceptionally kind and friendly and very helpful and didn't see any of the problems mentioned in previous reviews.  Most of the restaurant and other service staff are Filipinos and their English is better than their French - we found the French speaking staff to be just as helpful to us as the French passengers.

At the beginning of the cruise the French passengers seemed a bit standoffish - I know that Europeans tend to find Americans overly friendly but by the end of the week I had made quite a few French friends simply by attempting to converse with them en francaise.  

We splurged for the Suite d'Armateur (Owner's Suite)  to mark my retirement and our 20th anniversary.  We love aft cabins and choose them whenever possible for the privacy These suites (there are two) have a larger deck than the Grand Deluxe Suites and a hot tub but are otherwise identical.  They erroneously put us first in the Grand Deluxe Suite so I had a chance first hand to see the difference which in my opinion isn't worth the extra $$.  The decks are already huge in the Grand Deluxe suites and the hot tub is small and not very deep.  By the time DH and I got in the tub most of the water had splashed out.  I had some other minor complaints - fruit was delivered the first day but not replenished, the bathroom was minimally supplied with toiletries but no Qtips and other amenities that we normally see in higher end suites.  

All cabins have nice amenities like Bose bluetooth speakers and US/Europe electric plugs. I don't know about the other cabins but we had a Nespresso coffee maker and a mini bar which wasn't that well stocked, unlike Seabourn which gives you a choice of full bottles of liquor and all kinds of snacks.  The Owner's and Grand Deluxe suites both have jetted tubs with TV mirrors in the wall (we never used it) and a huge window which is also visible from the shower making a shower a premium experience.  Unfortunately there was something discoloring the water so I didn't use the tub even though I was told the water was perfectly safe -it looked yucky.  The bed was super comfortable with deluxe linens. WiFi is free but spotty except in the main parts of the ship. 

Breakfast is served either in the restaurant (main dining) or the lounge area - buffet service in both places with the restaurant having a complete selection of anything you could possibly want including French specialties like croissants and crepes.  Lunch offers a buffet/salad bar.  For both breakfast and lunch you can also order from a menu for hot specialties.  Dinners were five course extravaganzas with wines and champagne that were fine but not fantastic (you can order better wines at a pretty high price). There were two gala evenings but otherwise everyone dressed pretty casually.  Even on the gala evenings it was quite a bit more casual than Seabourn which surprised me because the French are usually more dressy than Americans.  We were quite comfortable.  

Where Ponant really shines is the itineraries and excursions with a focus on culture and history.  I had planned to set up some private guides for the some of the sites but was concerned that we might end up docking at a site other than what was advertised (we didn't).  It turned out not to be needed because the guides provided by Ponant were really excellent. 

DH and I are not that social, but we made quite a few friends on this trip.  Passengers were about 60% French as described elsewhere, with about equal numbers of Australians and Americans, a few Brits and Italians.  Reviews of the ship's entertainment were mixed - if you're very discriminating you might not enjoy it.  There is a not so great selection of movies, but we found a great movie on French Tv the one night we watched. 

I would recommend avoiding a cabin on Deck 3 - that's where the theater is and people line up for excursions, shows and other events and it gets pretty busy.   

I hope that helps anyone wondering about Ponant.  I can't wait to get on another one. 

Sorry I didn't see this before we met, but it was great to meet you.  We didn't get to chat much but hopefully we'll run into each other sometime soon. 

It's supposed to be in the Med right now, we leave from Athens on the 23rd along with cburger.

We waited til the last minute to book our pre-cruise hotel in Barbados and the pickings were very limited.  We wanted to be able to walk to restaurants and chose the St. Lawrence Gap area.  We ended up at the Yellow Bird hotel which was clean and perfectly fine but not very luxurious, but the location was perfect.  Driving around the island we noticed that most of the hotels were pretty isolated even though they were on the main road, with nothing around them, so it was nice to have this location where you could walk to dinner and afterwards. 

cburger, we too are on Le Bougainvillea departing April 22, it's only the second week so I hope they get the bugs out!  The package with the documents is very nice, but bulky.  I'm thinking I'll leave the package at home and just bring the documents. 

We had to fire our TA that booked us on this trip as she completely dropped the ball.  Our new travel agent is fantastic. I'd be glad to recommend her if anyone is looking for a great TA.

These small ships don't always dock where they are supposed to.  The itinerary says Rythmno but there is also Chania. The only other small ship cruise we did was on Seabourn and it was a larger ship than the Ponant, and we had to skip one island entirely because of being unable to dock.  We decided to take a taxi on the day we arrive in Crete. 

We'll be on a small ship tour with Ponant that stops in Crete.  I'd like to do a private tour rather than a ship excursion but I'm concerned that we may not know where we will dock until the day we arrive.  Has anyone had an experience like this? 

Boy do I feel silly! I didn’t scroll down far enough, thank you. 😀

We are booked on the Bouganvillea from Athens on April 22 and I was hoping to take a look at the excursions but can't find a link anywhere.  Any ideas?

What a horrible story and very bad business.  😡 I'm so sorry. 

We're going on the new Bouganvillea in April - I imagine that cruise will be dressier than the Antarctic ones?  

I'll be making detailed notes and posting a thorough review.  We sail on April 21st I think!

I spoke to my TA about the negative reviews and she said they have a new management person who is working hard to improve service for the American market. She said that her clients who had recent experiences have raved about it so I’m hopeful. I’ll report back after we go next May.

Ah, thank you. So we will be on the 2nd week!!

Actually Le Bouganville is already in operation. My TA says that about nine months ago there was a change in leadership and they are working hard to improve relations with Americans so we're going to try it! I'll report back after the trip (next year - the ship is nearly completely booked already!!).

I know, first world problem, but I am having a really hard time making this decision. Our great travel agent is pushing Ponant and says her clients love it but the reviews I've found (none recent) are not that great. We were on Seabourn earlier this year and loved it.

The Ponant itinerary is either Istanbul to Athens or Athens to Athens, and the one leaving in Athens is $1500 more pp for some reason. Seabourn itinerary is Athens to Malta with a day at sea.

Any and all opinions welcomed!

My husband and I are casual people and this was a big concern to us. He has a long pony tail so we tend to dress up to compensate. :) We dressed up every night but saw all kinds of fashion options including a few t-shirts.

You will get responses that say absolutely no to polo shirts, but we saw them. If you wear one you will likely get looks though, so if that's a concern to you think about it.

Thanks for the feedback, I was pretty sure that was the case but thought it would be worth asking. On Norwegian the dining areas are so crowded we ate all of our mails in the suite dining but the Veendam is quite a bit smaller so it should be ok.

Hello - my husband and I will be taking a friend who is a recent widow on a cruise next year. We are in a different economic bracket and will be in a suite, and she will be in some sort of ocean view cabin. I understand there is a special dining room for suite passengers - would we be able to bring our friend there even though she is not in a suite?

thanks in advance.

Ah, that makes sense! thank you.