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Ponant Cruises .


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Looking for opinions on this French line. I am considering a Caribbean sailing and would like to hear thoughts on the service and atmosphere on board. Are crews multi lingual? as I do not speak French.

Thanks in advance.

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My husband and I sailed Ponant a few years ago on an Iceland itinerary.

On our sailing, the passengers were mostly French, but there were plenty of Americans, Canadians, and other native English speakers on board.

Most staff with whom we interacted spoke English very well. Announcements will be first in French and then in English.

We liked the small, intimate atmosphere, but there were problems.

The food was surprisingly disappointing. We also found many of the young males who work in the restaurants and bars to be remarkably unfriendly and even rude. This was noted by a large number of both French and English-speaking passengers and it didn't seem to have anything to do with whether one was gay or not.

For us, once was enough.

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Thank you for the response. I have been exsposed to attitude while in Cannes......in the. Hotel, in taxis and while out dinning. I did not like it. Never felt in on Greek ships, Italian ships nor German. Your experience might be a one off, but it gives me something to consider....maybe look at Hapag Lloyd instead.

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Thank you for the response. I have been exsposed to attitude while in Cannes......in the. Hotel, in taxis and while out dinning. I did not like it. Never felt in on Greek ships, Italian ships nor German. Your experience might be a one off, but it gives me something to consider....maybe look at Hapag Lloyd instead.

Hi again.

Those unfriendly restaurant and bar workers weren't typically French but rather often from French-speaking islands in the Pacific.

The staff from France (e.g. maitre-d', desk staff, etc) were generally quite friendly.

Just wanted to clarify that.

I seem to be unusual among people I speak with in that, when I visit France, I don't find the locals to be any less friendly than most places.

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  • 4 months later...

I sailed with them this past summer on a Tauck-charted trip. Crew was fully bilingual, with all communication in English. 

Buffet offerings were good, dining room experience ranged from okay to poor.

Windstar was a far better experience in terms of friendly staff. 

 

 

 

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  • 2 months later...
On 7/16/2018 at 10:37 AM, MarkieMarkNYC said:

My husband and I sailed Ponant a few years ago on an Iceland itinerary.

On our sailing, the passengers were mostly French, but there were plenty of Americans, Canadians, and other native English speakers on board.

Most staff with whom we interacted spoke English very well. Announcements will be first in French and then in English.

We liked the small, intimate atmosphere, but there were problems.

The food was surprisingly disappointing. We also found many of the young males who work in the restaurants and bars to be remarkably unfriendly and even rude. This was noted by a large number of both French and English-speaking passengers and it didn't seem to have anything to do with whether one was gay or not.

For us, once was enough.

 

Wow! Since  this is an older post,  does anyone have more favorable comments about Ponant’s crew members and food? Hoping both have improved since we are booked on Le Champlain in December 2019. 

Edited by Fighterone
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I breakfasted at the buffet daily, but my mother went to the dining room; she found the service lacking to the point of feeling ignored, needing to actively flag down service. 

One woman sent her steak back clearly indicating that it wasn't overcooked, but "tough" as the issue. Overall, I'd say that they try to be creative and chic with their style and presentation, but it's all ends up short as an overall miss (failure). 

 

 

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Interesting topic. I remember seeing a travel show featuring one of their ships doing an antarctic run. It looked VERY nice.  Kind of a let down to hear the food and service isn't up to snuff.

 

I took a look at their website very pricey.  I did notice some of their re-positioning cruises have great rates. 

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18 hours ago, SeaTheW0rld said:

Interesting topic. I remember seeing a travel show featuring one of their ships doing an antarctic run. It looked VERY nice.  Kind of a let down to hear the food and service isn't up to snuff.

 

I took a look at their website very pricey.  I did notice some of their re-positioning cruises have great rates. 

Most lines have better rates on repositioning cruises. On those it's even more important to have good software since you'll be spending much more time on the ship than on a port intensive itinerary.

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