gogo65

We did one with Ponant and one with Silversea.

Thank you so much for clarifying, we have done 3 expedition cruises to the Arctic and Antarctica and they would normally have two zodiacs rides or landings per day (morning and afternoon), so was just trying to clarify how much opportunity there was to go on the zodiacs (and the kayaking opportunities) each day and if they were in different areas each time. The fact they are out all day while in the glaciers is a good thing and it appears everyone has an opportunity to enjoy. Thanks again for your response and I really appreciate the photos!

Thank you for your report, we are currently investigating a Chilean fjord/Patagonia expedition cruise. It seems that the ‘toys’ are not used as much as a normal expedition cruise? Generally I would have thought they would be used daily/twice daily (except for actual port days), were you disappointed on the number of opportunities? Thank you!

Your’e welcome, here’s the link

Ive done Ponant and Silversea, Ponant to Antartica, SS to Svalbard and Ponant North west passage. We loved Ponant to Antartica and had booked another trip with Ponant that was subsequently cancelled, so we did the SS cruise as a last minute replacement. On comparison we felt Ponant was far superior for the lectures, naturalists etc, we also found silver cloud to be quite old and dark, we didnt really see much benefit from having a butler, and to a degree SS had more ‘snobbish’ people onboard, so we thought we would be Ponant people (more Australians onboard so generally a more relaxed feel), we don’t do jackets and gowns and Ponant is definitely more casual. Fast Forward to 2022 when we did the NW passage with Ponant from Tromso to Nome, 30 days, we had a great group of people, some excellent naturalists (they all freelance and choose what expedition they go on) but it was an absolute mess of a cruise, it was meant to be a NE passage over Russia but was cancelled, it felt like they were making it up as they went (I’ve done a trip report if your interested). So here i am looking at another expedition and will keep an open mind, it will be down to itinerary and dates, our son is getting married in Mexico in March 2025 so will be based on dates, at this point it will likely be SS (back on cloud), because the itinerary covers more of what we want(Patagonia and the Chilean fjords + Antarctica).

Oh buggar, I’m already Major having completed two Ponant cruises, am diamond on RCCL and elite on celebrity, looks like I remain the same..

Thanks Hammer, that’s interesting as we originally booked through Azamara but transferred to the TA who is an acquaintance of one of our travelling companions. The agent at the time advised about the best price guarantee. I normally book everything myself (except expedition cruising as I have found they can offer significant savings (5-7%). I also weighed up the cost of credit card fees (again I normally negotiate with an agent if necessary or book myself) but against my better judgement went with an agent that i dont have any relationship with…) Interestingly she has just called and Azamara have waived the fee, we have moved into a club continent suite for a $478 saving (from a P1), we loose the excursion OBC ($300) and the upgraded drinks package, being a port intensive cruise not sure how much benefit we would get from the the upgraded drinks package and happy to book excursions on our own, so happy for the upgrade.

Although it’s not on the list, I did celebrity edge a few years ago. I loved the ship, we were in aqua class and Blu was pretty good.

We saw explora 1 in Greenland last year, the ship was stunning. We spoke with a few passengers and they loved it. We would definitely consider them. We have done two Ponant and one silversea (all expeditions), we preferred Ponant from an expedition perspective, however I think SS would be good on a normal cruise on one of the slightly newer bigger ships. We have booked Azamara Greece intensive for August next year, we have no sea days, the basic alcohol package will probably suffice although we would happily upgrade, the azamazing evenings get great reviews. You can pick up an Azamara for about $300/night all inclusive, so pretty good value. We are looking forward to trying them due to their interesting itineraries. We still have a significant credit to spend on SS so will likely book something in the near future.

We have recently booked an Azamara cruise for next year, I had read about their best price guarantee, so figured we would be ok if the price dropped. Unfortunately we booked through an agent who is now saying that we need to cancel and rebook for the best price guarantee to kick in. While paying the $100 cancellation fee (and $50 change fee from the TA), we are still better off, it just seems ridiculous that the only way to honour this is to cancel. To be honest the T&C’s are fairly non descript. Has anyone had any experience with Azamara and their best price guarantee? Thanks

Thanks gbenjo, may need to consider end of 2024, have a few trips booked at the moment, but might squeeze another in.

I cruised on the edge from Rome back in 2019, I really enjoyed it, was very tempted to book one of the Aussie cruises when they were first released, the prices seemed to skyrocket but now they are settling again. I would consider Virgin cruises but not really interested 3/4 day booze cruises. Will be interested to see if both come back next year!

We've also booked intensive Greece for August 2024, again slightly different itinerary to both you and Bimmer. We have no sea days! Doing Istanbul, Canakkale, Kavala, Thessaloniki, Volos, Cesme, Amorgos, Rhodes, Santorini, Aegina, Athens. New ports for us are Kavala, Thessaloniki, Volos, Cesme, Amorgos, Aegina. This is our first Azamara, looking forward to visiting a few new places.

I’m happy following along here, as I’ve just booked the same cruise for 2025. It’s been about 20 years since I was last on P&O (pacific sky!) so not sure how we will like it. However it’s a great price for a PNG cruise, and princess don’t seem to be offering it in 2025. We booked two adjoining aft suites, so should be nice.

Currently on quantum of the seas and approx 1hour ago an Oscar Oscar Oscar call was placed. They currently have 4 boats on the water searching, and have requested all guests return to their rooms. It is currently midnight ship time so very dark.we are due into Hawaii in 2 days on route from Tahiti. Praying it is a false alarm.

It’s been a while since Ive frequented CC, so was pleasantly surprised to see your review, it also bought up some feelings of disappointment from our North West Passage cruise, where we had 74 passengers and as a result they reduced services similar to yours. Only one dining room open, no beauty or spa services, and minimal staff at times. Not what we had previously experienced and certainly not what was expected on a $35k/pp cruise. While we had some amazing staff that really made our trip enjoyable, the negatives did spoil our overall opinion. It seems that services are cut back when they are not sailing full to the detriment of passengers and something that really needs to be looked at to ensure consistency across the fleet on every cruise. We will still consider Ponant purely because our Antartica cruise was so good, but with a little more hesitation.. Im glad you enjoyed it, and appreciate the honest review.

Great review, really enjoying it! Thanks

I believe Ponant do Antartica very well, as PACruiser mentions they have had multiple ships down there for many years. The price point in comparison to SS or Seabourn is very good, 20-30% lower. Yes the rooms are smaller and the food was average to good (probably more good than average but we aren’t foodies) We loved our Ponant Antartica trip, we were exhausted every night after two landings every day, so dinner drink and bed was the routine. There was no need for entertainment as it is an expedition. In saying that we thought Ponant was lacking on our NW passage trip this year, as there were many more sea days and really they needed to keep us occupied a little more (particularly when they cancelled some landings), the food was lacking as there was only one restaurant open, so the choices were way to limited for 30 day cruise. We’ve done SS to Svalbard and Iceland in 2019, and I much preferred Le Boreal to the much older Silver Cloud. Food was equal between the two. Silversea was generally much more pretentious than Ponant where many more Aussies were on board so a much more relaxed vibe. We felt the expedition leader was much better on Ponant (in Antartica) than SS, and felt that the expedition was the priority on Ponant more than SS (things such as not stopping when a polar bear was sighted, not many hikes available, not waking you for sightings etc) While we were disappointed with our NW passage cruise we would still consider Ponant based on itinerary and price. Looking at the South Pacific Paul Gauguin really comes across as the best, and we are still contemplating a PNG cruise and when itinerary and price are side by side, Ponant comes out on top. Ponant do certain itineraries very well (the ones that a repeated year in year out-Kimberleys, Antartica, Svalbard, South Pacific), but I would hesitate to book them on a standard non expedition cruise, as I believe for that type of cruise food, service, amenities etc are much more important and potentially would look at SS, Seabourn or even Oceania. We would definitely consider SS for an expedition on their new ship but wouldn’t pay the price for the wind or cloud. I guess I’m saying don't discount Ponant based on a few average to bad reviews, we aren’t loyal to any brand and base our choices on itinerary, price and dates, I research and research before booking and know that going in I made an informed decision (good or bad!)

Same here, we are doing the TP on Quantum and have booked this tour, every review has been great, and Ive been unable to find other companies that do something similar. Also looking at the ATV/JetSki tour. Renee love reading your report, we are in the junior suite with large balcony on Quantum TP in April, I loved the idea of having the large balcony on all the sea days. Ive just done a 30 day cruise in the Arctic with similar storage (not RCI), and we managed with one cupboard and 4 drawers (with all our thermals and bulky clothes), so should be ok for a warm cruise!

In Oz, they have to sell it as a all inclusive fare, they cant advertise a price then add tax+gratuities. It also makes it more difficult to remove them..

Gratuities are included in your fare if booked in Australia.

You could be lucky like us, and have to take your own bags to your room! No screening, no X-rays, just carried them up the stairs, checked in, and took to our room. No help from Ponant staff at all 😳

Similar for Australia. $95aud (approx $60USD) inclusive of gratuities, with cocktails currently at $15USD (inclusive of gratuity), 4 drinks and you’re in front.

Herschel Island: Well another stuff up by Ponant and surprise surprise another sea day was substituted. Why? Because Herschel Island closed two weeks previously (it is only open in summer months) and as it is a national park, we were unable to land, as there was no ranger on site. Not sure why Ponant would put this on the itinerary when it was never possible. I was really disappointed to miss Herschel as there were possibilities that we could of seen the Bowhead and Beluga whales as they migrate at that time of the year. Polar bears are in abundance and live on pack ice surrounding the island. Herschel is also one of only a few places on earth we here polar, black and grizzly bears and known to share the same habitat. The additional sea day was added onto the following 3 expected sea days in the Beaufort sea, we only had one more opportunity to get off the ship and that was a zodiac cruise around King Island Alaska. Now a week or so previously apparently the French were advised that the expected zodiac ride was not happening, but we had to wait a week to be told by the captain it wasn’t going ahead. The French were fuming…The reason?? Apparently the Jones act, we were told they couldn’t do it because the zodiacs had to be made in America and they had them on Le Austral but not Le Boreal. Now I don’t know much about the Jones act except what I’ve read here on cruise critic, but it didn’t make sense, so our 3 sea days ended up being 5. Again I think what Ponant lacked the most here was organising activities for the passengers on these unexpected sea days. One day there was 4 dance classes (which was fine for the 10 or so that enjoyed them), one day they made book marks and another a knotted friendship bracelet. They tried to throw some additional lectures together but they really needed to go above and beyond, maybe some trivia or a games afternoon, i don’t know anything, but when you’ve got grumpy passengers sitting around bored then it is just going to cause more unhappiness. We had dinner with the entertainment director on the second last night, he advised this was his first time with Ponant and he had previously had positions on a Spanish cruise line, so I doubt he had any idea of what activities would normally be provided. We were able to see the northern lights again and we also enjoyed a few nice sunrises and sunsets.