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mediaprohi
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This just in from my TA.  We leave next week for the Yucatan Mexico cruise on Le Champlain.  It seems that the Mexicans and French are still negotiating.  Puerto Morelos is no longer the embarkation port.  It is now Cozumel.  You'll need to get from Cancun or Puerto Morelos  to Playa del Carmen on your own, but Ponant has secured a private ferry for the 45 minute ride to Cozumel at 5:00 pm.  Ponant says that the ferry is on them as well as disembarkation at the end of the cruise.  They did not specify whether that included a return to the airport.

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18 hours ago, mediaprohi said:

This just in from my TA.  We leave next week for the Yucatan Mexico cruise on Le Champlain.  It seems that the Mexicans and French are still negotiating.  Puerto Morelos is no longer the embarkation port.  It is now Cozumel.  You'll need to get from Cancun or Puerto Morelos  to Playa del Carmen on your own, but Ponant has secured a private ferry for the 45 minute ride to Cozumel at 5:00 pm.  Ponant says that the ferry is on them as well as disembarkation at the end of the cruise.  They did not specify whether that included a return to the airport.

 

Rats!

 

I thought as much. Is the private ferry leaving from the same pier as the regular ferries?

 

I'm switching my pre-cruise reservation to the PdC. There are hotels near the regular pier, and you can wait at the hotel till 5 pm.

 

Thanks.

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Sorry.  That was all my TA mentioned.  We are actually supposed to meet at Grand Hyatt Playa del Carmen Resort
1a Avenida esquina Calle 26, Colonia Centro, Playa del Carmen, Mexico, 77710
between 2:30 - 4:00.  I'll find out then.  BTW, booking in PdC does not guarantee that the port won't be switched again.  I'm sure that Ponant would prefer to pay PM berthing rates than Cozumel.

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Thanks for the update.  We are sailing on the 21st and I talked to a Ponant rep a couple of days ago who said everything was settled and our cruise would be departing and returning to Puerto Morelos.  However, she did add that if we had to leave from and return to Cozumel that all transportation to the Cancun airport would be paid by Ponant.  Of course anything can change in an instant in Mexico.

Too bad for Ponant and Puerto Morelos--I imagine if these problems continue Ponant will pull out of that market.

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5 hours ago, mediaprohi said:

Sorry.  That was all my TA mentioned.  We are actually supposed to meet at Grand Hyatt Playa del Carmen Resort
1a Avenida esquina Calle 26, Colonia Centro, Playa del Carmen, Mexico, 77710
between 2:30 - 4:00.  I'll find out then.  BTW, booking in PdC does not guarantee that the port won't be switched again.  I'm sure that Ponant would prefer to pay PM berthing rates than Cozumel.

 

 

Thanks for the info.

 

I'm hedging my bets with two reservations. The region has a lot of vacancies, and I've found hotels with free cancellation up to -5 days.

 

 

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34 minutes ago, laurelguy said:

Great info all! I guess it's hurry up and wait. We have a hotel in Puerto Morelos the night before our 12/28 embarkation. Would be silly to change now I guess since things are still up in the air...Que sera I guess. Good luck!

Yep, we are going to do the same since it could go either way.  In any case, it is only a 30 minute ride from our hotel in Puerto Morelos to Playa del Carmen.

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Can someone tell me what you received from Ponant--hard copy of tickets, luggage tags, folder, etc.?  I'm not on good terms with our TA and apparently Ponant sent her these items a week ago and she never bothered forwarding them to us--and our cruise is next week.  She forwarded us the e-docs but nothing else.

 

BTW, I spoke to Ponant this morning and our cruise, Dec. 21st, is still scheduled to leave and return to Puerto Morelos.

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On 12/6/2019 at 4:41 PM, mediaprohi said:

This just in from my TA.  We leave next week for the Yucatan Mexico cruise on Le Champlain.  It seems that the Mexicans and French are still negotiating.  Puerto Morelos is no longer the embarkation port.  It is now Cozumel.  You'll need to get from Cancun or Puerto Morelos  to Playa del Carmen on your own, but Ponant has secured a private ferry for the 45 minute ride to Cozumel at 5:00 pm.  Ponant says that the ferry is on them as well as disembarkation at the end of the cruise.  They did not specify whether that included a return to the airport.

Mediaprohi, curious to hear what the final instructions are as far as the port of embarkation.

We still have no word from Ponant and we sail on 12/21 out of Puerto Morelos, supposedly. However, I have received different information from the contact given on Ponant’s documents. It is included below in my response to HappyInVan.  

On 12/7/2019 at 7:37 PM, HappyInVan said:

 

 

Thanks for the info.

 

I'm hedging my bets with two reservations. The region has a lot of vacancies, and I've found hotels with free cancellation up to -5 days.

 

 

HappyInVan, I went ahead and contacted the address Ponant noted on the email documents, as you recommended. Here is the response I received. I will be curious to see what the final word will be on this. 

 

If you contact them, please note that the email address provided by Ponant In the edocs received is wrong and does not include an “r” after dotcom.

 

“From: fcaceres <fcaceres@aconsur.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 12, 2019 19:10
To: ....
Cc: Jose Celis; destrella
Subject: RE: Ponant's Le Champlain Embarkation on 12/21/19
 

Good afternoon ...

 

For Your kind information the embarking port for now is Cozumel Island ,Mexico

And the name of the pier is PUNTA LANGOSTA CRUISE TERMINAL and is located on the Rafael E Melgar Av. Between 7 and 9 street.

In down town.

 

Any more information that you required please feel free to contact us.

 

My best regards

 

L.T. Fernando Caceres Echavarria

Operations Manager

Mobile: 521)9878711135

Mail : fcaceres@aconsur.com

Agencia Consignataria del Sureste S.A de C.V.“

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4 hours ago, Fighterone said:

If you contact them, please note that the email address provided by Ponant In the edocs received is wrong and does not include an “r” after dotcom.

 

“From: fcaceres <fcaceres@aconsur.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 12, 2019 19:10
To: ....
Cc: Jose Celis; destrella
Subject: RE: Ponant's Le Champlain Embarkation on 12/21/19
 

Good afternoon ...

 

For Your kind information the embarking port for now is Cozumel Island ,Mexico

And the name of the pier is PUNTA LANGOSTA CRUISE TERMINAL and is located on the Rafael E Melgar Av. Between 7 and 9 street.

In down town.

 

Any more information that you required please feel free to contact us.

 

My best regards

 

L.T. Fernando Caceres Echavarria

Operations Manager

Mobile: 521)9878711135

Mail : fcaceres@aconsur.com

Agencia Consignataria del Sureste S.A de C.V.“

 

 

Thanks. Ponant needs to improve their communications. As I feared, Puerto Morelos is a cargo port, not a cruise terminal.

 

Here's a link that may be useful...

 

https://www.whatsinport.com/Cozumel.htm

 

 

Hope these images are useful...

 

 

Cozumel Langosta Pier.JPG

ferry-pier-melgar-ave.jpg

Plaza_Punta_Langosta_in_-2000.jpg

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Our TA said this morning that she has not heard anything concerning a change in the arrival and/or departure ports for the Dec. 21st sailing.  She is supposed to contact Ponant to see how things stand so, hopefully, we will know something later today--of course whatever she is told may still change before the cruise starts.  Oh well, "nimodo", as they say in Mexico...

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Hi st.zoomer...we're going right after you on 12/28...I spoke with Ponant myself yesterday and was told every cruise thus far has changed to Cozumel so I'm thinking ours (yours) probably will too. I'm hoping they reach out with good advance so we know where to show up and when. We have one night precruise at hotel in Puerto Morelos...yikes..

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3 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

 

 

Thanks. Ponant needs to improve their communications. As I feared, Puerto Morelos is a cargo port, not a cruise terminal.

 

Here's a link that may be useful...

 

https://www.whatsinport.com/Cozumel.htm

 

 

Hope these images are useful...

 

Thank you! We love Cozumel, been there over 20 times. Leaving from there is not an issue but lugging the suitcases around is. Hope Ponant provides us with solid information. 

You are right! They need to improve communication. They sent the hard copy of the docs to the host company of our T.A.  ...or so she claims. As a result, we have no luggage tags with our room assignment since those were not included in the e-docs. Now we are hoping to get these before we leave next Tuesday since we are on a cruise out of MIA for 3 days. Not sure if she sent them snail mail or FEDEX...we will give her the benefit of the doubt for now...

 

 

 

 

 

 

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20 minutes ago, laurelguy said:

Hi st.zoomer...we're going right after you on 12/28...I spoke with Ponant myself yesterday and was told every cruise thus far has changed to Cozumel so I'm thinking ours (yours) probably will too. I'm hoping they reach out with good advance so we know where to show up and when. We have one night precruise at hotel in Puerto Morelos...yikes..

So far the only info we have is from Meidapro who is leaving tomorrow. They will leave out of Cozumel. We also have a hotel booked in PM. Not going to change hotel and transportation for now either. BTW, I am st.zoomer's other half, laurelguy. 

 

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39 minutes ago, laurelguy said:

Hi st.zoomer...we're going right after you on 12/28...I spoke with Ponant myself yesterday and was told every cruise thus far has changed to Cozumel so I'm thinking ours (yours) probably will too. I'm hoping they reach out with good advance so we know where to show up and when. We have one night precruise at hotel in Puerto Morelos...yikes..

 

Hey laurelguy...

 

Who knows what is going to happen?  We also have a pre-cruise Puerto Morelos hotel booked as well as transportation back and forth from the Cancun airport to Puerto Morelos.  Fortunately, we can cancel both if we need to until three days before the cruise.  I guess I'll wait until the last minute to decide if we want to do that or not.  However, if what has been posted before is accurate for our cruise I will try to change hotels to the Grand Hyatt Playa in PDC so we won't have so many different stops and rides to do...

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3 hours ago, laurelguy said:

Hope all works out for your departure date. Let us know! Very much looking forward!

Unfortunately, our TA leaves a lot to be desired--she was supposed to contact Ponant yesterday to see if there were any changes in ports but apparently she didn't bother to do so--so, I will call Ponant Monday to see if there is a change. If not, I will just leave our current reservations intact and assume we are leaving from Puerto Morelos.

 

I will try to post our experience once we are on Ponant--assuming we get on and the WiFi is working...LOL...

 

 

Edited by st.zoomer
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On 12/17/2019 at 1:21 PM, Travelingmickeys said:

Hello!

Ponant in NYC claimed they still do not know what is going on with cruise leaving Puerto Morelos port or where to meet to take ferry to get to ship....does anyone know today being Wednesday 18 December 2019.

 

thanks everyone...

Just got notice that we will be leaving out of Cozumel instead of Puerto Morelos on the 12/21 cruise. So sorry Ponant has to be put through this by the Mexican Government. We are on another cruise right now and the internet is pretty spotty but I will try to keep you up to date.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I posted this on another thread by mistake this morning--meant to post it here:

 

We were on the Dec. 21, 2019, Le Champlain cruise out of Puerto Morelos--changed to Cozumel.  The change to Cozumel wasn't Ponant's fault but I thought they handled the related problems well.

 

The ship was beautiful, more of a large scale yacht than a cruise liner.  The only problem I had with the ship itself was that the seating in the bar area and the grill could get crowded and tables, especially for two, could become taken quickly.  The cabin was on the small side but functional, and the crew was great.

 

My main problem was the food which I felt was sub-standard.  The chef was from Haiti and the sous Chef from Guadeloupe--not sure if that had anything to do with the problem or not.  Another problem was the hours of service--evening meal was sometimes at 6:00 PM, sometimes 7:00 PM and sometimes 8:15 PM.  If you didn't eat during the short hours of service there was no other food option except a limited room service menu.  The open hours of the BlueEye and Observatory Lounge were also very limited.  (BTW, I understand that one's idea of food quality is subjective).

 

I enjoyed the itinerary since we went to several off-the-beaten-path ports and visited some places not normally seen by cruisers.  The two excursions we took were interesting, one to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and the other to Quirigua in Guatemals.  LIvingston was interesting to walk around but Belize City was completely closed, at least in the downtown area, because it was Boxing Day.

 

Overall I thought it was a good cruise, but not a great cruise because of the food issue plus the timing, and availability, of the meals.  

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