On Board Le Commandant Charcot — Le Havre to Reykjavik — April 24-May 1, 2022 (Or are we?)

[AussieBoyTX]

Hello from on board Le Commandant Charcot where we are currently in Cherbourg waiting until Tuesday for a late Diesel oil delivery. It is expected to arrive tomorrow morning (Tuesday, April 26) and fuel logistics are a small sign of the war in Ukraine, less than 1500 miles away.

 

Anyway, the switch to Cherbourg from Le Havre was a late change necessary because the ship needed a hull inspection and Le Havre didn't have necessary facilities. To compensate, Ponant offered a complementary bus leaving from Paris and picking up other passengers in Honfleur on the way to Cherbourg. We had already planned to explore Normandy by car, so changed our plans to drop off the car in Cherbourg. On Saturday, we found out about an additional change -- to accommodate a larger ship, the AIDA Sol, our ship had been moved from the super convenient and famous Quai de France (former home of the S.S. France) to the less convenient Quai de Normandie (home of the Brittany Car Ferry) -- which caused additional logistical issues for us -- but we eventually made it on board with help from Ponant's local agent, who helped get us a ride from the car rental drop off to the embarkation point.

 

Le Commandant Charcot is impressive and has that "new ship smell" probably more about the ship while we're en-route to Iceland.

 

We learned about the fuel logistics issues from Captain Garcia at the Welcome on Board meeting. As I understand the briefing, the fuel needed is for the ship's generators and is needed in such quantity that it's not available in Iceland, so we can't leave without it. It is expected on Tuesday morning, so we have a bonus day in Cherbourg. Ponant has offered us complementary admission to the local museum La Cité a la Mer. Also, as soon as AIDA Sol left, we sailed back to the super-convenient Quai de France, making everything in Cherbourg city center only a ten minute walk (forty-five from Quai de Normandie).

 

We had dinner at the Sila restaurant on Deck 9. it was lovely.

 

Our cabin is the over-the-top Duplex Suite. I can't find words to describe it yet, so you'll have to do with pictures, once I find enough bandwidth to get them to you.

[jpalbny]

We are dreaming of a long expedition aboard Le Commandant Charcot some day, so I will be following along with great interest! Enjoy your bonus time in Cherbourg and I hope that you are underway soon.

[AussieBoyTX]

As Captain Garcia promised (more-or-less), we left Cherbourg at noon today (Tuesday) and are now in the English Channel heading to Reykjavik.

 

Yesterday, we took advantage of Ponant's recommendation and visited the Cité de la Mer museum that was literally 100 feet from the gangway. It was great -- they have a collection of bathyspheres, including Trieste and Deepsea Challenger, both of which made it to the bottom of the Mariana Trench; a very well done exhibition on oceans; movies on Normandy and the twenty days to liberating Cherbourg after D-Day; a walkthrough of Le Redoubtable, a former French nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine. (I'm starting to be annoyed that ships are masculine in French and feminine in English. e.g. Le Redoubtable is a submarine and she was commissioned in 1971). But I digress...

 

But the highlight was a very well done exhibition of the "icebreaker" S.S. Titanic that was laid out so that you toured parts of the ship overlayed on a timeline that represented the ship's last two hours. So, not only did we get to compare Titanic's design with our own icebreaker Le Commandant Charcot, but we also got to compare a First Class stateroom on Titanic to our own suite on Le Commandant Charcot.

 

We were at the museum for five hours and only returned because we didn't want to miss lunch (which we had at Sila and it was good).

 

After lunch, we chilled for awhile and enjoyed gin & tonic from the minibar -- which is upgraded from the other ships -- Bombay Sapphire & Fever Tree tonic. Thumbs up from me.

 

Although we were still in port, we had the Captain's Gala Reception & Dinner. Due to a timing error on my part, we missed the reception and arrived in time for the introduction of the senior officers. 

 

The Gala Dinner was at the Alain Ducasse-inspired restaurant Nuna on Deck 5. I had the classic menu, which was:

• Chilled zucchini & and cilantro soup
• Marinated sea bream with caviar
• Truffled Guinea fowl and fore gras torte
• Crockpot of Lobster
• The special Le Commandant Charcot chocolate desert.

It was good and I especially liked the torte. As usual, the Gala Dinner took time and we finished right before 10 and we went back to the suite instead of the bar.

 

Today (Tuesday), we had breakfast at Nuna and then went out for last-minute shopping at the local Carrefour before returning to the ship just before eleven for the safety drill. We saw the oil being loaded onto the ship from fifty-five gallon drums -- looks like it's some kind of lubricant.

 

The safety drill was about the easiest I've done -- we watched a video that contained additional information not pertinent to this particular voyage, (but I now know how to don an exposure suit) and then made the 100 foot walk from the theater to the muster point and then to the tender which we'd use if we had to abandon ship.

 

We also received a Ponant parka as a souvenir of the trip -- it's a nice gift and I didn't think we'd get one with only being on an ocean voyage.

 

At noon, we left Cherbourg and watched the departure from the helipad on Deck 6. It was fortunate we had the new parkas, because it was cold!

 

This afternoon, we had a full schedule. First, a tour of the lab and explanation of the science conducted on board the ship -- there's several hundred thousand dollars worth of instruments meant for measuring water temperature to the thousandth of a degree celsius and depths down to 1000 meters and plenty of space for additional equipment that is on order.

 

Then I decided to crash a presentation meant for Travel Agents -- of the 100+ passengers on board, it feels like most are TAs and lost of them are American. The presentation was led by a Ponant Ambassador Frederic Jansen and I thought it informative & entertaining.

 

I passed on a tour of the ship's public areas, but if anything interesting comes of that, I'm sure my better half will report back.

 

I'll add pictures in the next message if I can get them to upload...

Edited April 26, 2022 by AussieBoyTX

[AussieBoyTX]

Pictures...

 

                   

[gogo65]

Wow looks amazing! Enjoy 😊 

[highplanesdrifters]

Thank you for taking us along!  

[AussieBoyTX]

We completed Tuesday evening with dinner at Nuna, which went long, so we missed the beginning of the entertainment in the theater. Like other Ponant shows, it had a small number of performers -- in this case, two dancers, singer and violinist. It was fast-paced and completed in forty-five minutes. Gabriela, the powerful singer, was on Le Champlain with us in November -- so our streak of having a crew member from a prior cruise continues unbroken.

 

Wednesday was our first full day at sea. After breakfast, we received an overview of the ship's design and engineering from Captain Garcia and the Chief Engineer. We learned a lot about the unique 360 degree azipod main propulsion system that can actually chop up ice with its massive stainless steel blades. We also learned a lot about the hybrid LNG / Diesel generators and the battery system that allows the ship to run for 10-15 minutes completely silently.

 

In the afternoon, I took the bridge tour -- the layout is similar to the other Ponant ships with plenty of glass screens.

 

My better half took the stretching and relaxation classes and tried out the unique snow room and sauna experience.

 

Then a presentation on "Arctic vs. Antarctic" by our Ponant Ambassador.

 

We got a very late start for dinner at Nuna and didn't finish until well after 10 (but the sun hadn't set yet).

 

There were lots of other activities that we both missed, including olive oil and rum tastings, as well as a violin recital in the evening.

 

There are so many English speakers on board that all of the activities have been offered in English and French separately -- with the exception of the safety drill and the introduction of the officers on Monday. Announcements have been made sometimes in English first, and several French crew members have commented they are working on improving their English.

 

Without exception, the crew are enthusiastic and delightful. We enjoy being around the restaurant staff especially.

 

There are some disappointments:

 

 - The spa booked up quickly, leaving a long waiting list. 

 - The boutique had a limited selection. Even Ponant logo-wear was sparse and no clothing specific to Le Commandant Charcot was available.

 

Without spa or boutique, we're very limited in how to spend the substantial onboard credit we have. Unless we start heavily drinking (or have three of the EUR 250 "Why Not" cocktails), we will forfeit most of our OBC.

 

 - Our cabin is adjacent to the smoking area and we could hear the smokers at all times of the day and night. If you intend to book the Duplex Suite, I suggest you get one of the inboard cabins 642 or 645. It does seem like the smoking area is an afterthought.

 - Having all the travel professionals on board has changed the vibe of the cruise. They're quite active moving between their educational sessions and it feels like they're adding to the crew's burden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AussieBoyTX]

Thursday was an amazing day!

 

We started by learning about the real science being conducted on Le Commandant Charcot through a lecture led by scientists from Duke University and NOAA entitled Taking the Pulse on a Changing Ocean. We learned how the oceans absorb much of the impact of climate change through increasing water temperature, increasing water acidity & increased phytoplankton. Le Commandant Charcot is one of sixteen vessels that measure water temperatures and contribute to this research and it's the only icebreaker, meaning it's the only one taking measurements in polar waters.

 

Later, we had lunch outside at the Deck 9 bar. The tailwind equaled the ship's speed, so it was completely windless and extremely comfortable. This let us try the Inneq outdoor restaurant menu. I had a quite artful club sandwich and fries. 

 

Before dinner, Captain Garcia told us stories about the ship's trial run to the North Pole and spoke of some of the plans for future polar trips.

 

My better half did an aqua class and otherwise enjoyed the indoor pool and the detox juice bar.

 

Dinner again at Nuna and another great post-dinner show with all eight of the ship's performers.

 

We gained an hour last night and again tonight. really loving these 25 hour days!

 

 

             

[highplanesdrifters]

Thanks again for taking us along. Rather green with envy.  How goes the smoking issue? Is it crew or passengers?

[AussieBoyTX]

2 hours ago, highplanesdrifters said:

Thanks again for taking us along. Rather green with envy.  How goes the smoking issue? Is it crew or passengers?

 

Since we discussed it with the hotel manager, the noise has diminished substantially. I didn't go to see exactly who it was, but I would have guessed passengers, figuring the crew have their own smoking area somewhere on a crew deck

[AussieBoyTX]

Today is our final full day and we disembark tomorrow early morning.

 

It's also the first day that matched my expectations (and I say this only tongue-in-cheek) because there was nothing organized that I wanted to do, so I did pretty much nothing! Believing the cruise collateral, I expected to have heaps of time to catch up on my reading, work on projects, edit vacation videos and none of that got done. None of it.

 

Today, I enjoyed the serenity of the over-the-top cabin; used the outdoor Jacuzzi (we've used it almost every day -- it's a very comfortable 101F); had lunch at Sila; tried out the outdoor pool (heated to 95 degrees -- it's salt water and filled only to 2-3 feet deep to keep it from splashing into the bar area -- great fun to slide around!); and hit the sauna & snow room (sauna overlooks the ocean & snow room is freaking cold and snowy).

 

Tonight, the farewell cocktail party and dinner at eight -- we've been invited to join Captain Garcia at his table, which will be fun!

[AussieBoyTX]

On our last night, we attended the farewell reception and we were served deconstructed piña coladas (skewers of pineapple, coconut milk and a shot of dark rum) — “your mouth is the blender,” said the bar manager. We also had caviar, smoked salmon and other hors d'oeuvres.

 

We joined Captain Garcia at dinner. There were only five of us from three cabins at a round table in a quiet corner of Nuna. Our small group meant we were all able to hear each other, which was special. Usually, those of us closer to the ends of a larger Captain’s Table can’t hear what he says, much less the conversations at the other far end.

 

And our conversations covered a lot of ground! Aside from lots of non-Ponant things, like the TWA hotel at JFK, here are some highlights:

 

- Captain Garcia always has the weather in mind when planning his trips. “Marketing” lists destinations for the cruises because they have to, but he’s willing to change that to give the best passenger experience (be that sights, weather, animals).

- A lot of discussion about the technical aspects of the ship. It’s only two meters longer than the sisterships, but with a ten meter draft, icebreaking capabilities, width and substantial interior and exterior design considerations for polar cruising, it is different (yet similar).

- Epic story about getting Le Boreal home from Antarctica two years ago.

- Brief discussion about COVID and French regulations regarding procedures that apply to French-flagged cruise ships (which is basically only Ponant).

- Some intel on his favorite cruises and some he’d like to try as a passenger.

- A discussion on Le Paul Gauguin and what we’ve heard that the current product doesn’t delight Gauguin faithful or longtime Ponant cruisers.

- Maybe a little frustration about the question he’s often asked — “I speak English. How will I fare on a Ponant cruise?” Garcia noted, “We all speak English and with a handful of exceptions marketed only to French or English speakers, all cruises are in French and English.”

 

Well after 10PM, our Captain excused himself, as he had to be up at four to meet the harbor pilot joining us for the arrival into Reykjavík. We went to the main lounge to find the dancers and a fair number of passengers dancing to the band. At that point, I realized the saxophonist was the same as we’d had on two prior cruises. We had digestifs and we were in bed by one.

 

The final morning was surprisingly leisurely. Breakfast at Sula and we were ready to disembark at nine. Our captain was in the foyer having final conversations with the remaining passengers and thanking them for joining the cruise.

 

Our butler caught us on the gangway and he thanked us as well, hoping he’d get to have us aboard again soon.

 

And after that, we were off.

 

 

Edited May 2, 2022 by AussieBoyTX

[AussieBoyTX]

   

Edited May 2, 2022 by AussieBoyTX

[jsea]

On 4/28/2022 at 9:31 AM, AussieBoyTX said:

Our cabin is adjacent to the smoking area and we could hear the smokers at all times of the day and night. If you intend to book the Duplex Suite, I suggest you get one of the inboard cabins 642 or 645. It does seem like the smoking area is an afterthought.

Do you, by chance, know if the smoking area is port or starboard? From your photos it appears you were in 643 which is starboard. We are booked next summer in a Privilege Suite and thinking about upgrading to a Duplex. I absolutely loathe cigarette smoke and would hate to have it wafting around the balcony at most hours during our voyage to the North Pole. I suppose if one’s averse to smoking, selecting a French line may not be the best choice.

 

Many thanks for the review and photos. It was all very helpful.

[AussieBoyTX]

2 hours ago, jsea said:

Do you, by chance, know if the smoking area is port or starboard? From your photos it appears you were in 643 which is starboard. We are booked next summer in a Privilege Suite and thinking about upgrading to a Duplex. I absolutely loathe cigarette smoke and would hate to have it wafting around the balcony at most hours during our voyage to the North Pole. I suppose if one’s averse to smoking, selecting a French line may not be the best choice.

 

Many thanks for the review and photos. It was all very helpful.

 

Smoking is on the Starboard side and it's possible you'd smell some smoke and hear the smokers. I would take either of the two center Duplex Suites for most privacy -- which was not what we were expecting when we booked.