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parischris

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Posts posted by parischris

  1. 12 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

    On Le Bellot in April in the Azores there was no 'white night' or 'officers night' or request to wear white.

    There's always been one on all 9 of mine, including Le Laperouse in April, but here's the official answer: 

     

    "Officer’s evening:

    For all cruises longer than 8 nights, an Officer’s Evening with a white dress code may be organized. Therefore, we encourage you to bring a stylish white outfit for the occasion (otherwise black and white)."

     

    Clearly I've never done less than 8 nights 🙂

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  2. 4 hours ago, jpalbny said:

     

    They have on one of our two cruises. 

     

    4 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

    Thanks - I'm an early morning person and was envisioning myself having to bring back morning fare. 

     

    One other question.   Our cruise documents say to bring Whites for a theme night.  Do they really do that?   We probably won't bother.

    Yes, there is always a 'white night' or 'officers night'. Up to you whether you go or not. They ask for all white or black and white. 

  3. 4 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

     

    Do you know how late they serve room service.   I hate to ask all these questions but Ponant's website leaves a lot of questions.

    From memory you selected a time for breakfast, otherwise room service is 24/7. I'm sure that they'll be able to accommodate a room service breakfast if you're a late riser. 

  4. 8 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

     

    Curious about breakfast hours.     Do they still offer some type of Continental Breakfast after 9:00?   My DH usually never rolls out of bed until after 9:00.    We are not big breakfast eaters and usually just have Coffee/Tea and a Croissant etc?

    Room service breakfast is also an option

  5. Of course it's cheaper for a reason...no ports of call, no excursions, every day is a 'sea day'. The objective is to relocate the ship as quickly as possible and to undertake any maintenance (think of varnish on railings etc). Highly likely that only one of the two food venues will be open, no musicians or 'theatre'. If you've done a 14 day cruise with port calls/expedition format, then imagine 14 days where you need to entertain yourself. If you haven't done a 14 day cruise, then this isn't the one to start with. 

     

    That being said, I can happily spend 14 days out on the decks wildlife spotting. Others can't manage more than two sea days in a row without a meltdown. It's up to you in terms of how you think the relocation cruise will match your expectations. 

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  6. @jpalbny I’ve moved over from the Belize thread back to this one so that the thread is on topic. Three pics from yesterday’s Tanjung Puting expedition. I was lucky to get the 6:30 am start as whilst it was a bit choppy on the way out from Le Laperouse to the river mouth, it wasn’t too bad. Lucky to see a stork-billed kingfisher on the way in, storks in flight and a brahmani kite on the way out. The grey monkey in the photos is a macaque that was happy to pose for a portrait. 

     

    The way back was dead calm, but the afternoon groups got the full benefit of the increase in wind. I overhead one of the zodiac drivers radio in for towels to be ready, and they certainly looked bedraggled. Overall the sea conditions for the past three days have been so calm Le Laperouse doesn’t seem to be moving at all. 

    47CF319E-02A3-4B38-B991-5BCC8EF06CF1.jpeg

    575246DA-34D4-47E2-B0C3-5A7F896BA2B0.jpeg

    37BF8C19-AD70-41F8-B554-CB8D7CD9E043.jpeg

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  7. Just now, jpalbny said:

     

    I've been looking forward to hearing about your trip! Hope you're having a great time, and that the wildlife sightings are memorable.

    We’re off to a slow start….a day at sea yesterday and a slow day today at Belitung for Indonesian bio clearances. There is no off ship time scheduled today (and the marina deck is still not working after 2 weeks in dry dock). Tomorrow seems like the real start of the expedition with the orangutan sanctuary visit.

     

    Another symptom of global supply chain woes - no supply of reusable stainless steel bottles due until May on Le Laperouse. Glad I remembered to pack one!

  8. Yesterday’s cocktail on board Le Laperouse was a ‘Dark and Stormy’, with the key ingredient being dark rum, so definitely available, but might be premium rather than standard. 

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  9. I had cabin 431 on my last trip - it was assigned to me rather than requested for some reason. Definitely much more space, with room between the end of the bed and the cabinetry to fit the table and a chair. Personally I loved the extra space and didn’t notice any additional noise. I’m certainly noticing the difference in a standard size stateroom on Le Laperouse at the moment.

     

    The only issue I had with the bathroom was that the drains were a bit stinky from lack of use, particularly the one in front of the door. Easily rectified. 

     

    I’ve also travelled with Commandant Daumesnil, who is an excellent captain, and one of the original captains of Le Ponant (the masted sailing ships). Did an amazing job avoiding five massive storms in the Southern Ocean in 2015 on Le Soleal. 

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  10. 9 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

     

    That's great! We almost booked that later trip, but early March worked better, since we have another big cruise trip planned for June. Hopefully I will be able to keep up with the postings and give you something to look forward to!

     

    This looks like a great itinerary - though there are not as many stops planned, when compared to the November 2020 itinerary. On the plus side, this one should actually happen! We are getting very excited to finally visit these locations - I've read about the Komodo Dragons since I was little. Thrilled to have the chance to see them on their eponymous island!

     

    Not sure what to expect with the Orangutan sightings. Supposedly we're taking the ship's zodiacs into the park. Will probably bring my SLR with a decent lens in case we're far from them.

     

    I wonder what Le Laperouse is doing in between our two voyages? Our cruise ends March 16th and yours starts March 31. Nothing listed on the Ponant site so it must either be a charter or a Tauck/A&K/Smithsonian journey - but I couldn't find any mention on those websites either.

     

    ***

     

    Tonight, we went through the clothes that we laid out, and managed to fit everything in one rollaboard each. So we'll be going carry-on for this trip.

    Yes, I'm assuming charter(s) in between out of Singapore as my itinerary leaves from Singapore. 

    Also planning for carry-on only 🙂

    • Like 1
  11. 3 hours ago, irvington said:

    I don't think I can swing it right now in terms of vacation time or $$, and sounds like it is a one time thing - but that Napoleon cruise sounds really cool.

    Not a one time cruise...expeditions just got started to both islands pre-COVID. It is incredibly popular with French travellers, so as long as Ponant can make the numbers work, they will be continuing to try to visit Ascension and St Helena post COVID. 

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  12. 10 hours ago, jimdee3636 said:

    @parischris

    Thanks for your comments, but there are actually two port stops that I find quite interesting due to their remoteness and historical significance: Ascension island and St. Helena island (the latter being famous as Napoleon's exile "home"). Although you're probably correct that the primary purpose of stopping at these places is refueling and/or restocking, it appears that the Ascension stop is for about twelve hours and the St. Helena stop about six or seven hours, so it should be possible to get off the ship, walk around, and have time to see things. 

    Jim

    So not an Ocean Voyage then - I didn't bother checking the itinerary. Ocean Voyage is another term for repositioning cruises - no excursions etc. 

  13. 9 hours ago, jimdee3636 said:

    We're long-time cruisers but never on Ponant. We're looking seriously at Le Lyrial on a cruise in September, 2023 originating in Malaga. Three questions:

     

    1. Do the crew members (waiters and bartenders especially) speak English?  

    2. Can you get a table for two at dinner?

    3. Is the "free cruise" offer for real? (On the Ponant site, they're listing under "Free Cruise" a 6-night, no port, Malaga-to-Dakar cruise. That cruise itself is actually not free, but it says that if you book that one, the "ocean voyage" immediately before or after it is free, except for taxes and port charges. The one immediately after it is a 20-night Dakar-to-Santos, Brazil transatlantic. The 6-night Malaga cruise is about $2000 pp, so the whole 26 nights would also be $2000 pp---only $77/day pp. As I say, is that for real?). 

     

    Thanks for all insights and observations.

    Jim

     

    The 20 night Dakar to Santos is 20 days and nights with no port stops (other than refuelling or restocking if necessary). So you'd need to be able to entertain yourself on the ship for 20 days, and if you're bored, you can't get off the ship until the next port, which might be 15 days away if you've had enough after 5 days. I'd happily do it but I also always have a backlog of photography to catch up on. 

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  14. The departure times for the charters are *almost* always going to be early morning. The charter will be picking up disembarking passengers at the other end (who will be leaving around the 08:30am mark). Same routine as for the charters to Ushuaia. Drop the new passengers off then fly back with the disembarking passengers. 

     

    And before anyone chimes in with their edge case, I said 'almost always' for charters.

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  15. 7 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

    Did you do it with Australis?  We are taking a package with Odysseys-Unlimited that includes the 4-night cruise from Ushuaia to Punta Arenas in January.

    I've done it twice actually - 1st time with Hurtigruten when they were bringing their ferries down from the northern hemisphere - the old Nordkapp, and the second with Cruceros Australis on the old Mare Australis.  Thinking about doing it again with Ponant in 2027 🙂

    • Like 1
  16. 10 hours ago, Sitti said:

    After we got back from ice, it was already around 10pm or so. I was about to take shower. There was an announcement about sighting of a seal. I was like naaa have seen plenty and then went into a shower room. Captain started mentioning it is a very very rare seal and most naturists on the ship have never seen one until now. Immidiately, I wore only the outer layer and rushed to heli deck. 

     

    I didn't quite get what it was called. I'll have to ask someone later. Here it is. Very rare seal. He wasn't very happy seeing large ship coming toward him.

     

     

    Probably a Weddell seal by the look of it. They live under solid ice and breathe through holes in the ice. Rare because of that and it's unusual to see one out in the open on the ice. 

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