Ponant Ship Repositioning for the Winter 21-22 Season

[AussieBoyTX]

We're going to find out soon which parts of their Winter 21-22 schedule they're going to operate. I'm particularly interested in the Antarctic & Seychelles cruises, but there are upcoming Caribbean and Australian cruises as well.

 

First up is Le Commandant Charcot, which arrived in Lisbon today. Charcot's first cruise is scheduled to be The Emperor Penguins of Bellingshausen Sea departing from Punta Arenas (not Ushuaia) on October 31. When Ponant offers repositioning cruises, it takes twenty-six days to make that route, so one might say it's already three days late departing -- but it's only 6400 nautical miles, so at 15 knots, maybe it could complete the trip in 18 days...

 

Shortly after, we'll need to see Le Lyrial, L'Austral and Le Boreal begin their journeys for mid-November departures from Punta Arenas. Then Le Champlain needs to get to Mexico from France for a November 14 departure and Le Bellot needs to get from France to the Seychelles by November 18.

 

The first Australia / New Zealand cruise is now leaving Dunedin, New Zealand on January 6. Le Soleal is well positioned to get there in just a few days.

 

(Le Paul Gauguin is scheduled for a seven-day cruise on October 16). We'll keep an eye on that as well.

 

Hopefully we'll have an exciting few days of ship movements ahead!

 

(Obviously, it's a slow holiday Friday here...)

[AussieBoyTX]

According to AIS, Las Palmas is Charcot's next reported destination, so that's promising.

Edited October 8, 2021 by AussieBoyTX

[cboyle]

Have you seen this? Note last two paragraphs:

 

"An attempt by Ponant to restart cruising in New Zealand in January was rebuffed at the last minute when the Immigration Department tried to insist some crew members should be replaced by New Zealanders.

 

"The Le Laperouse was turned away  at enormous cost to the line – a full season had been booked by New Zealander passengers – because of the 11th hour intervention."

 

https://cruisepassenger.com.au/no-cruising-in-new-zealand-before-october-2022/

[AussieBoyTX]

4 hours ago, cboyle said:

Have you seen this? Note last two paragraphs:

 

"An attempt by Ponant to restart cruising in New Zealand in January was rebuffed at the last minute when the Immigration Department tried to insist some crew members should be replaced by New Zealanders.

 

"The Le Laperouse was turned away  at enormous cost to the line – a full season had been booked by New Zealander passengers – because of the 11th hour intervention."

 

 

Yeah I listed the cruises still on Ponant's site, assuming they intend to operate them.

[gogo65]

Hmmm. So we are on Le Soleal January 6th followed by the Antartica cruise.

However Ive been checking regularly, and they are still selling mid December cruises in Oz and NZ (assuming they will cancel these in the next week or two).

Still dont believe they will sail, ready to book another cruise but need them to cancel first so we can move our deposit across.

[AussieBoyTX]

Le Commandant Charcot departed Lisbon for Las Palmas, Canary Islands today and is expected to arrive tomorrow. It's currently off the coast of Portugal doing 14 knots.

[AussieBoyTX]

8 hours ago, gogo65 said:

Hmmm. So we are on Le Soleal January 6th followed by the Antartica cruise.

However Ive been checking regularly, and they are still selling mid December cruises in Oz and NZ (assuming they will cancel these in the next week or two).

Still dont believe they will sail, ready to book another cruise but need them to cancel first so we can move our deposit across.

 

I didn't realize that Ponant maintains a different cancellation list for AU/NZ. This goes through March and only lists cancelled cruises. It's confusing...

 

https://en.calameo.com/read/00013242352370cf4f98e?authid=IKGWl3KXEijB

[gogo65]

@AussieBoyTX I wonder whether we can only see the availability on the December cruises being they are only for AU/NZ citizens/residents.

Similar to our Kimberley cancellation, you were unable to see them, where as they were still selling over here.

In saying that Ponant had said they would give 2 months notice of cancellations, which is what has been happening here, so I assume it will be a matter of time.

 

Your cancellation list is interesting particularly the Charcot Commandant end of Antarctica cruises, I definitely would have expected they would be utilising that ship as much as possible.

[AussieBoyTX]

1 hour ago, gogo65 said:

@AussieBoyTX I wonder whether we can only see the availability on the December cruises being they are only for AU/NZ citizens/residents.

Similar to our Kimberley cancellation, you were unable to see them, where as they were still selling over here.

In saying that Ponant had said they would give 2 months notice of cancellations, which is what has been happening here, so I assume it will be a matter of time.

 

Your cancellation list is interesting particularly the Charcot Commandant end of Antarctica cruises, I definitely would have expected they would be utilising that ship as much as possible.

It looks like those two cruises were replaced with this longer one?

 

[GTJ]

Going beyond winter 2021-22, I have been trying to determine the schedules for Le Boreal, L’Austral, and Le Commandant Charcot, for October 2022, as all three vessels make their way from Alaska to South America. All three vessels arrive in Nome, Alaska, in mid-September and early October. L’Austral then has a trip scheduled from Nome, Alaska to Vancouver, British Columbia, at the end of September, but otherwise there is a blank space in their timetables until all three vessels reappear in Chile and Argentina in mid-October and early November. Are the three vessels all going to deadhead to Chile and Argentina sans passengers, or will they be in passenger service? Or on charters? I would think that Le Boreal and Le Commandant Charcot would at least make a trip out of Nome to someplace (presumably Vancouver). All three vessels might then transit from Vancouver on one or two cruises each via Honolulu, Hawai'i; Papeete, French Polynesia; or west coast of Mexico and South America. Any ideas? Below is the schedule now being advertised by Ponant.

 

Le Boreal

27 August 2022, Depart Tromsø, Norway, 24 nights via Northeast Passage

20 September 2022, Depart Nome, Alaska, 12 nights r/t to Wrangel Island, Russia

2 October 2022, Arrive Nome, Alaska . . . unknown schedule thereafter

7 November 2022, Depart Ushuaia, Argentina, 15 nights to Antarctica, etc.

 

L’Austral

25 August 2022, Depart Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, 21 nights via Northwest Passage

15 September 2022, Depart Nome, Alaska, 14 nights via Bering Sea

29 September 2022, Arrive Vancouver, British Columbia . . . unknown schedule thereafter

23 October 2022, Depart Talcahuano, Chile, 13 nights to Antarctica, etc.

 

Le Commandant Charcot

7 September 2022, Depart Reykjavík, Iceland, 24 nights via Northwest Passage

1 October 2022, Arrive Nome, Alaska . . . unknown schedule thereafter

30 October 2022, Depart Punta Arenas, Chile, 14 nights to Antarctica, etc.

[AussieBoyTX]

@GTJ, the one small piece of information I have:

 

In the 2021 printed brochure, Le Commandant Charcot had a 28 day repositioning cruise departing October 1, 2021 from Nome to Puerto Montt, which would speak for the 2022 gap above and likely not leave room for a stop in Vancouver.

 

I'm hopeful that we'll see more repositioning cruises return when the Covid situation is more clear.

[GTJ]

7 hours ago, AussieBoyTX said:

In the 2021 printed brochure, Le Commandant Charcot had a 28 day repositioning cruise departing October 1, 2021 from Nome to Puerto Montt, which would speak for the 2022 gap above and likely not leave room for a stop in Vancouver.

It may also be that there is not enough demand for three one-way cruises from Nome to Vancouver all within a few days of each other in October 2022. But it seems that Ponant would do something to earn at least some passenger revenue, even if not going through Vancouver, for a repositioning cruise that runs at a slight revenue loss is better financially that the complete revenue loss involved in deadheading from the Arctic Circle to the Antarctic Circle without any passengers. True, if there is very little demand, then the preparations to carry passengers at all might exceed the passenger revenue generated, and in that case deadheading would be most economic, but I would think that bar to be rather low, and that in most all cases the incremental revenue from a few passengers would exceed the incremental cost of carrying those passengers.

 

In making educated guesses, it would nice if there were a repository of past cruise itineraries that were readily accessible. But with an industry that seems focused exclusively on prospective sales of passenger tickets, once a departure date has passed, the details of the cruise itineraries are obliterated, and there is little or no interest in preserving the itinerary information for historical or other reasons.

 

The reason for my interest is that I edit Canada and Alaska Timetable, the bimonthly publication that shows all schedules of railways, bus lines, ferries, and cruise lines that provide intercity transportation (meaning journeys from point A to point B, and not merely round-trip excursions) to, from, and within Canada and Alaska. The November issue always includes the annual update to the cruise line schedules for the following year. Right now I have one Ponant vessels ending in Vancouver, and two in Nome. If those vessels will be carrying passengers from Vancouver and Nome, I would like to be able to include those schedules in the November 2021 issue update, and not have to wait until the January 2022 (or later) issue, for that would certainly inconvenience those timetable readers who may use the November 2021 issue to plan out their 2022 cruise holidays.

[AussieBoyTX]

Le Commandant Charcot had a brief stop in the Canaries and is now enroute to Montevideo, but there's no valid travel time estimate.

 

Le Paul Gauguin continues its schedule and is enroute to Fakarava.

[AussieBoyTX]

17 hours ago, GTJ said:

It may also be that there is not enough demand for three one-way cruises from Nome to Vancouver all within a few days of each other in October 2022. But it seems that Ponant would do something to earn at least some passenger revenue, even if not going through Vancouver, for a repositioning cruise that runs at a slight revenue loss is better financially that the complete revenue loss involved in deadheading from the Arctic Circle to the Antarctic Circle without any passengers. True, if there is very little demand, then the preparations to carry passengers at all might exceed the passenger revenue generated, and in that case deadheading would be most economic, but I would think that bar to be rather low, and that in most all cases the incremental revenue from a few passengers would exceed the incremental cost of carrying those passengers.

 

In making educated guesses, it would nice if there were a repository of past cruise itineraries that were readily accessible. But with an industry that seems focused exclusively on prospective sales of passenger tickets, once a departure date has passed, the details of the cruise itineraries are obliterated, and there is little or no interest in preserving the itinerary information for historical or other reasons.

 

 

 

Agree. Usually I can only find past schedules from travel agency websites that haven't been cleaned up, or catalogs I've saved.

 

Ponant's pre-COVID 2021 schedule had the following cruises:

L'Austral - Nome - Vancouver on September 23, 2021

     Austral didn't show up again on the schedule after this cruise.
Le Soleal - Vancouver - Seward - Nome on August 23, 2021

     There were also four Vancouver - Juneau cruises each way between June 14 & August 2.

     Soleal then exited Alaska for Russia then Japan.

 

And the previously mentioned Nome - Puerto Montt on Le Commandant Charcot.

 

Also, Le Boréal had a Nome - Nome (Russian Arctic) on September 21, 2021, but nothing scheduled within weeks on either side.

 

[GTJ]

The expedition vessels (those operated by, e.g., Ponant, Hapag-Lloyd, Silversea, Hurtigruten) are a challenge to follow, also in part because many times these vessels are chartered by travel agencies (e.g., Tauck, Quark, Abercrombie & Kent, Adventure Canada), or even non-profits (e.g., Students on Ice). The issue also comes up with cruises on certain inland itineraries, which are sometimes served by expedition vessels (e.g., Great Lakes, St. Lawrence). Certain time slots not being present on the line's regular website, as is the case with Ponant in October 2022, sometimes searching among travel agencies will find the missing holes. Alas, no luck here. But it can also be also useful going back in time, to see how a line had scheduled cruises in prior years, yet missing data hampers understanding. And because of the interactive nature of the lines' websites, using the "Wayback Machine" at archive.org, rarely works.

[Catlover54]

On 10/9/2021 at 1:23 AM, gogo65 said:

Hmmm. So we are on Le Soleal January 6th followed by the Antartica cruise.

However Ive been checking regularly, and they are still selling mid December cruises in Oz and NZ (assuming they will cancel these in the next week or two).

Still dont believe they will sail, ready to book another cruise but need them to cancel first so we can move our deposit across.

Are Aussies and Kiwis now allowed to leave the country for tourist travel and come back in?  Or is there a future date certain though not here yet?

And are foreign tourists allowed in, or will be?
I saw the luxury German line Hapag Lloyd has a bilingual cruise, an expedition ship (Inspiration) through Dunedin/Antarctica this season, presumably to cater to Aussies, and wondered if it could actually sail.

When cruise lines leave cruises they know they will cancel or change up on their websites a long time it makes planning confusing. They all seem to do this.

[gogo65]

8 hours ago, Catlover54 said:

Are Aussies and Kiwis now allowed to leave the country for tourist travel and come back in?  Or is there a future date certain though not here yet?

And are foreign tourists allowed in, or will be?
I saw the luxury German line Hapag Lloyd has a bilingual cruise, an expedition ship (Inspiration) through Dunedin/Antarctica this season, presumably to cater to Aussies, and wondered if it could actually sail.

When cruise lines leave cruises they know they will cancel or change up on their websites a long time it makes planning confusing. They all seem to do this.

Up until this week, we could not leave the country and there were caps on the number of arrivals into Oz, once here mandatory hotel quarantine at a cost of $3000pp.

AS of last week last week, we were advised residents of NSW can leave from November 1st, without quarantine on the return, however each state needs to get above 80% double vacc for this to occur. It is expected Victoria will be at 80% in the next few weeks.

Unfortunately NZ are keeping their borders closed until they have 90 double vacc, so that cruise won't go ahead.

I spoke with my TA last week who specialises in expedition travel, he advised Ponant are in talks with the government to try and get the cruise embarkation port changed to Hobart instead of Dunedin. of course we need permission to get to Hobart and we also need permission to cruise, but it may happen as part of the initial test of resumption to cruising with small ship cruising to start. expect to hear in the next fortnight if they were successful.

[AussieBoyTX]

L'Austral left Marseille today and is en-route to Rio de Janeiro. ETA November 7.

 

Le Commandant Charcot is off the coast of Brazil, with an ETA at Montevideo of October 25.

[AussieBoyTX]

Le Boreal left Papeete today for San Antonio, Chile. ETA November 8.

Edited October 21, 2021 by AussieBoyTX

[AussieBoyTX]

Le Commandant Charcot has skipped Montevideo and is now heading direct to Punta Arenas, ETA October 30.
Le Lyrial leaves for Montevideo tomorrow.

Le Champlain moved to a new dock at Saint Malo.

Le Boréal will pass Oeno Island (Pitcairn Islands) today.

L'Austral is passing through the Canary Islands.

Edited October 25, 2021 by AussieBoyTX

[AussieBoyTX]

Le Champlain left today for Cozumel ETA November 14.
Le Lyrial left yesterday for Montevideo with passengers for Ponant's first ocean voyage since the pandemic. Next waypoint is the Canary Islands, arriving tomorrow.

 

That leaves Seychelles, which we'll know about in November and Australia / New Zealand.

Edited October 27, 2021 by AussieBoyTX

[gogo65]

5 hours ago, AussieBoyTX said:

Le Champlain left today for Cozumel ETA November 14.
Le Lyrial left yesterday for Montevideo with passengers for Ponant's first ocean voyage since the pandemic. Next waypoint is the Canary Islands, arriving tomorrow.

 

That leaves Seychelles, which we'll know about in November and Australia / New Zealand.

In regards to NZ/AUS they have cancelled all NZ cruises except for the two Antarctica cruises 13/1 and 3/2 and one cruise from NZ to noumea everything else is now officially on the cancelled list or changed to ‘sold out’ (which had plenty of availability).

They are really hoping that they can move the embarkation point to Hobart for the Antarctica cruises it seems. 
 

I'm very interested how the cancellations will deal with our back to back, when we booked the first cruise had a 20% off back to back offer, the first cruise was $5k pp and the second was 28k pp, so booking the first gave us 20% off the second. Do the math it was free.

We haven’t been notified of the cancellation as yet (expected this week), but I wonder if they’ll remove the B2B discount off the second cruise? 
Apparently an amendment to the bio security act has been tabled for parliament this week (as per a thread on the aus board), expected to discuss the return to cruising so we may have answer this week otherwise it will be November sitting in which case Ponant will cancel the full season.

Time will tell

[AussieBoyTX]

Le Bellot left Piraeus today with a reported destination of GR ATN, which is not recognized as a valid destination by AIS, but it should be heading towards Seychelles.

Le Commandant Charcot will arrive at Punta Arenas later today, just in time for its cruise leaving tomorrow!

Le Boréal is passing very close to Easter Island and appears to have altered its course to get closer.

[AussieBoyTX]

Le Bellot spent the night in Santorini and is now enroute to Alexandria, Egypt.

Le Commandant Charcot is in Punta Arenas and should be leaving tonight for its first public cruise.

[onlyslightlymad]

On 10/18/2021 at 12:40 PM, Catlover54 said:

Are Aussies and Kiwis now allowed to leave the country for tourist travel and come back in?  Or is there a future date certain though not here yet?

And are foreign tourists allowed in, or will be?
I saw the luxury German line Hapag Lloyd has a bilingual cruise, an expedition ship (Inspiration) through Dunedin/Antarctica this season, presumably to cater to Aussies, and wondered if it could actually sail.

When cruise lines leave cruises they know they will cancel or change up on their websites a long time it makes planning confusing. They all seem to do this.

New Zealanders have always been allowed to leave the country. The difficulty is getting back in.  Quarantine slots are limited and hard to get.