Ponant bilingual cruises

[messej01]

Hi,

My husband and I are looking to do a Ponant Antarctica cruise in 2020. Ponant seems to have nice ships and good prices. Our main concern is that the cruise is bilinigual. We don't want to hear every annoucement spoken twice - boring and annoying. Also for zodiac trips are you split into English and France speaking - again so we hear everything only once.

 

We did a bilingual tour and as English was the 2nd language we felt ripped off, as I lot more was said in French.

 

Just want to sure the same thing won't happen.

[sanne]

Yes every announcement is made in French and English. Lectures are in French, then in English. You go to whichever one you prefer. Groups for zodiacs were either French speaking or English speaking. We had some Europeans on board who could speak both French and English and they chose which group they preferred to join. 

 

It all all seemed to work ok. 

 

Happy to to answer any other questions. We did an expeditionary cruise from Darwin to Bali. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

We are on the second day of a Ponant cruise in Iceland.  The welcome presentation was in French and English (switching every sentence so you had to keep listening throughout).  The Captain's announcements have also been in French and English (switching only after he's done).  Shore excursions are booked as either French or English.  All crew speak flawless English.  Restaurant menus are in French and English.  Announcements are very few, and it's only two languages [we are sailing on MSC later this year and understand that announcements there are in six languages.  Oy!]

 

Many Ponant cruises can also be booked through Tauck or Backroads – in which case you have special meetings and all excursions in English only organized by that group.

[81Zoomie]

We sailed Ponant to Antarctica in January 2019.  Ponant is a sleek and elegant French cruise line. We would sail Ponant again in a heartbeat!  You will not feel “ripped off.”  The passengers were all very accomplished and interesting.  The crew spoke many languages fluently and was quite engaging. The naturalists were awesome. The zodiac excursions had English and French speaking groups to insure safety; one language required in an emergency.  This actually happened on our cruise when there was a BIG glacier calving in a bay that caused a mini tsunami with kayaks and zodiacs out.  All announcements were spoken in both languages.  This is common practice on aircraft and ships with international clientele.  We really enjoyed the different “flavor” of this cruise.  Antarctica is stunning and the scenery and wildlife  “speaks” for itself.  

[parischris]

Frankly, the way your post is written means that you will most likely hate travelling with Ponant. They are proudly French - announcements are in French first and English second and they won’t change that because their English passengers consider it ‘boring and annoying’. There are many reviews from people with similar concerns that felt ‘slighted’ as English speakers. The perception that the French are treated better or ‘told more’ is a common complaint. It is purely perception - as an Aussie who has done more than 7 expeditions with Ponant and who can understand the French announcements, it has no basis. My last trip with them had announcements from the naturalists in three languages to accommodate a small group of German speakers. 

 

An APT or A&K charter on one of the Ponant ships might suit you better as they are exclusively English speaking, although the Captain, officers and reception staff will still be French. 

[SGilly]

On 8/23/2019 at 9:00 AM, parischris said:

Frankly, the way your post is written means that you will most likely hate travelling with Ponant. They are proudly French - announcements are in French first and English second and they won’t change that because their English passengers consider it ‘boring and annoying’. There are many reviews from people with similar concerns that felt ‘slighted’ as English speakers. The perception that the French are treated better or ‘told more’ is a common complaint. It is purely perception - as an Aussie who has done more than 7 expeditions with Ponant and who can understand the French announcements, it has no basis. My last trip with them had announcements from the naturalists in three languages to accommodate a small group of German speakers. 

 

An APT or A&K charter on one of the Ponant ships might suit you better as they are exclusively English speaking, although the Captain, officers and reception staff will still be French. 

We're booked on our first Ponant cruise-Costa Rica through the Panama Canal this coming January. We're looking forward to getting away from the large, overcrowded English only ships! After all, we're traveling on a French cruiseline-they don't have to make announcements in any other language, but they do! We can't wait for a new experience!

[Fighterone]

On 8/22/2019 at 11:34 PM, messej01 said:

Hi,

My husband and I are looking to do a Ponant Antarctica cruise in 2020. Ponant seems to have nice ships and good prices. Our main concern is that the cruise is bilinigual. We don't want to hear every annoucement spoken twice - boring and annoying. Also for zodiac trips are you split into English and France speaking - again so we hear everything only once.

 

We did a bilingual tour and as English was the 2nd language we felt ripped off, as I lot more was said in French.

 

Just want to sure the same thing won't happen.

We will be sailing on “Le Champlain” in just 24 days and are excited to hear announcements in 2 languages.

 

Yes, as Host Jazzbeau mentioned,  while sailing on MSC, we listened to 5 languages spoken for each announcement. We did not feel this was a waste of our time nor  was it “boring or annoying”. It was rather entertaining. Announcements in just 2 languages seem quite reasonable ane will be  a good  French lesson/practice for us.

 

I agree with “parischris” that you most likely will dislike sailing on Ponant unless you go with an open mind.

 

After all, Compagnie du Ponant is a French cruise line.