Tauck Small Ship Cruise on Le Dumont-d'Urville

[boblerm]

I recently returned from a Tauck Small Ship cruise of the Great Lakes aboard Le Dumont-d'Urville.  This report will focus not so much on the Tauck land aspects of the trip, but rather on our onboard experiences.

First, I have to mention that I am not sure that this cruise would be a “typical” Ponant cruise, as our Tauck tour group were the only passengers on the ship, and were nearly all from the US.  Accordingly, the language used on board was all in English, and I am guessing that the menus were geared for the group that was sailing.  FWIW, I had asked the Hotel Manager how this cruise may differ from a purely Ponant cruise, and he told me that the only difference would be that all of the information would be given in both French and English.  You can take that with as many grains or salt as you’d like; that said, here are my impressions.

 

Ship

 

I found Le Dumont-d'Urville to be a lovely ship, a very pleasant environment.  The décor was elegant, without being over the top. 

 

 

 

 

 

On deck 3 is the Main Lounge, leading to a deck with a small swimming pool

 

 

 

 

 

Dancing on the ceiling?

 

 

Nah, the Lounge's ceiling is mirrored🙂

 

 

 

On the other side of deck 3 is the Theater. 

 

 

In between is the reception area and a small Boutique.  There were no shop offering sundries, or pharmacy items, so if you need, say, toothpaste or the like, you would have to find that on land.

 

 

 

 

The main restaurant is Le Nautilus, on deck 4.   You can also dine outdoors at Le Grill, located outside of the main lounge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a nice Panoramic Lounge on deck 6, with a well stocked library.

 

 

 

 

Also on deck 6 is a small area with tables for card or board games.

 

 

 

 

On deck 7 is a spa, and a small fitness center.

 

 

There is also a Blue Eye underwater lounge located on Deck 0

 

 

 

There are only 2 public restrooms, one on deck 3, with a common sink area and 2 private stalls, for some reason they are marked men and women.  So if you are dining in the main dining room, you need to exit and go down to deck 3.  There is also 1 stall on the stairwell of deck 5, strange location, as it’s a deck with only passenger rooms.  Even more strange is that the bartender in the Observation Lounge on deck 6 sends you to deck 3 if you ask him where the nearest restroom is.

 

 

To be continued.....

[boblerm]

Cuisine

We had all of our meals in Le Nautilus, so I cannot comment on The Grill (although I think that the menu was comparable at both venues)

At breakfast, there was a nice buffet, as well as items to be ordered from the menu, served to the table.

Lunch was a small salad bar and very few other buffet items, so it was pretty much ordering from the menu.

At dinner, the menu varied each evening, with a choice of 2 soups, 3 starters, 3 mains, and a few desserts. There is also an “always available” section

 

 

 

 

The Steak offering, “Beef entrecote” was not listed as “always available”, but was on the menu every evening.

 

We found breakfasts to be quite good.  We only had 2 lunches onboard as on other days we had them during our excursions.

Dinners were a major disappointment for us, both in terms of the variety of items offered, and the quality of the cuisine.  On several nights, we struggled to find things that we actually wished to order.

 

On the second night of the cruise was the best meal of the cruise, the Captain’s Welcome Dinner.  This was a fixed menu, no choices, so those with dietary needs would need to have made that known ahead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was the only dinner of the cruise that we thought was really good.

 

Here is a sample menu from another evening

 

 

 

The Accra had no flavor

 

 

I had the Fried Chicken, it was good but it was nothing better than I can get at any fried chicken chain

 

 

My wife had the Arctic Char, it was dry and overcooked.

I spoke to someone that had the Fetuccini with Meatballs, who told me that the meatballs were pretty much akin to hockey pucks.

 

Other nights were better, some of the better dishes were

Scallops

 

 

Vegetable and Mushroom Tartar

 

 

 

 

 

 

Veal Sirloin

 

 

 

The soup offerings were uniformly delicious.  Each meal was preceded by an Amuse Bouch, also consistently excellent.

 

I mentioned earlier that I was told that the menu would likely be similar on a typical Ponant cruise.  I am skeptical about this, my hunch is that knowing that nearly all of the passengers were from the US, they tried to tailor the menu to what they thought that particular population would want.  If that is the case, I think that it was a mistake.  I think that most people that travel with Tauck are sophisticated enough in their tastes that they  would appreciate a more international cuisine.  Also, assuming that the Chef is French trained, he should probably emphasize what he specializes in.

 

To be continued....

 

[May B]

Thank you for the nice report and great photos. Looking forward to the continuation.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Every review before our Backgrounds/Ponant cruise in 2019 mentioned that breakfast and lunch were great but dinner was a big let-down.  I couldn't figure out what they meant – and your photos don't explain it either – but it was true [and we were a small group on an otherwise French cruise].  Here's what I said in my review:

 

Service is very attentive.  The included wines are good and varied.  The food is imaginative, and might be better appreciated if were a little less so.  The four daily entrée choices always included one fish [almost always a white fish] and one vegetarian dish, but the other two didn’t add the expected variety [for our taste].  We rarely go to the ‘always available’ menu on ships, but tried the rib eye steak [cooked medium rare as ordered but tough], and the hamburger [strange].

There was also the option to dine at the Grill on deck 3, which has a carving station plus a limited menu – it got great reviews from some fellow passengers, but it is outside and it was too cold to consider on our cruise.

I would suggest offering the Grill carving selection on the Restaurant dinner menu [if they can figure out how to ‘plate’ it], adding more shellfish and red meat as entrees, and more Traditional French recipes – the cuisine was heavy on ceviches and carpaccios rather than cream sauces.

[gogo65]

The food seems very similar to what we have had on Le boreal. The always available appears the same.

I’ve really struggled with the food as we have no other option for dinner (buffet is closed), tonight was a gala dinner and I had a green salad and dessert, as there was nothing I would eat.

Last gala dinner I asked if I could have chicken and was advised no, eventually they served up the chicken from the burger.

a few examples of the current menu on Le boreal.

 

 

Edited September 24, 2022 by gogo65

[boblerm]

12 hours ago, Gimlet Eyes Logan said:

The failings here sound like they might be Covid-supply related.

 

Or else, maybe Ponant is taking a page from The Producers and trying to make more money with a flop than with a hit!

 

Either way, thank you for this review @boblerm. You did a great job with your images!

Thank you, Gimlet Eyes Logan.

I have no way of knowing to what extent, if any, supply chain issues may have played.  Based on other comments, it seems that these issues existed on Ponant pre-Covid.

FWIW, I have been on 2 other cruise lines  since cruising resumed, and the cuisine was superb on both.

[boblerm]

12 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

The food is imaginative, and might be better appreciated if were a little less so.

On my cruise, I would have appreciated it more if it were more so.

 

7 hours ago, gogo65 said:

The food seems very similar to what we have had on Le boreal. The always available appears the same.

I’ve really struggled with the food as we have no other option for dinner (buffet is closed), tonight was a gala dinner and I had a green salad and dessert, as there was nothing I would eat.

Last gala dinner I asked if I could have chicken and was advised no, eventually they served up the chicken from the burger.

a few examples of the current menu on Le boreal.

 

 

I am surprised that the buffet is closed at dinner, on my cruise, it was open every evening, although I never tried it.

 

The Captain's Dinner menu that you show, looks identical to the one that we had, as mentioned, I thought that this dinner was excellent. But I do think that it is unfortunate that there are no options, surely there are many that, like you, do not fancy these particular offerings.

 

The other menu that you show seems to have several French style items that I would have loved to have been able to try, sadly, we did not have those options to any great extent.

[FieldstonEagle]

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https://www.vogue.in/culture-and-living/content/sailing-through-the-arctic-unexplored-wilderness-aboard-the-le-commandant-charcot

[highplanesdrifters]

Thanks for the great report!

[boblerm]

Entertainment

 

I was not expecting much in terms of production style entertainment on a small ship, in a theater with a small stage.  I was expecting, at most, some cabaret type shows with some pleasant singing.  I couldn’t have been more wrong, I was absolutely blown away by the quality of the shows presented!

 

The production cast consisted of 4 very talented ladies, 3 dancers and a singer named Olena.  They put on 3 production shows in the course of this 7 night cruise, each of them wonderful.  Olena has a fabulous voice, and can performs songs of many genres.  The choreography in the shows was great, and performed with precision and amazing coordination.  The lighting was first rate, and at the back of the stage there was a back-lit screen with beautiful changing scenery.  I lost track of all of the costume changes, and the costumes were beautiful.  The music was canned, obviously, as there is no live orchestra onboard, but the sound system was very good.

 

My favorite of the shows was called “Frida”, with each number relating to something in the life of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo.  In terms of pure talent, inventiveness, creativity, special effects and sophistication, , it rivals anything that I can remember seeing on a cruise ship.

 

Here are the 4 ladies with Cruise Director Cedrik

 

 

  

 

In the theater, there was another show, a piano recital of classical music from a young lady from Ukraine named Oliana.  I must confess that I am not all that much into classical music, however this performer's proficiency and passion for her craft had me mesmerized throughout.  Knowing what her fellow countrymen are enduring at this time made her playing all the more poignant.

 

Sadly, for any given performance, I estimated the theater to be approximately 10-20 % full.  Those of us that attended were enthusiastic in our appreciation, but I felt kind of bad that these talented individuals were performing their hearts out in front of such a small percentage of the passengers onboard.

 

The 4 cast members performed an additional show in the lounge, called “Girl’s Evolution”, again with top notch choreography, singing and lots of costume changes.  Just great.  This one was better attended.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were also 2 singers that sang in the lounge at various times with lovely voices.

 

 

Service

Overall, I was pleased with the service on board, with a few glitches. 

In the restaurant, I thought that the waiters seemed somewhat overworked in terms of the number of tables that each needed to service.  I think that they did as well as they could.  It was a rare occasion that my water glass was filled without my having to ask.  Happily, that was not a problem with my wine glass.🙂

 

In the lounge, once in a while there was  someone circulating to take drink orders; more often than not, you had to go up to the bar and order your drink.  No real biggie, unless you wanted a drink at a time like this

 

 

 

For me, this does not exactly scream, “luxury”.

 

But wait, it gets worse.  On day 2 they ran out of Grey Goose.  On day 3, they ran out of Bombay Sapphire gin.  They were never replenished.  As @Gimlet Eyes Loganpointed out, perhaps we need to cut them a little slack due to supply chain issues.

 

Here is the bar list (it says “Premium List”, but these are the included liquors.  I did not see any additional cost liquors available)

 

 

 

 

We had a suite with a butler, he and our cabin attendant delivered perfect service to our rooms.

Edited September 24, 2022 by boblerm

[boblerm]

Enrichment

There were 2 sailing days.  On the first, we were sailing through the Welland Canal, there was a lecturer onboard that did commentary as we sailed.  He also did a lecture on “Shipspotting 101”.

 

The sea day was a sail day on Lake Huron, not much to see, and not a whole lot to do.  Here is the daily program

 

 

 

 

Other Things

The cruise director, Cedric, was pleasant, engaging, and kept things well organized.

My wife had a massage in the spa, and said that it was outstanding.

The wi-fi was the worst that I can remember having at sea.  Full Stop.

I would be happy to answer any question, given that the cruise was over a week ago, the chances that I will remember enough to answer is questionable. 🙄 But the chances that my wife will remember is very good, so I can ask her.

 

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, boblerm said:

Here is the bar list (it says “Premium List”, but these are the included liquors.  I did not see any additional cost liquors available)

Maybe because you were on a Tauck charter.  On our Ponant cruise, Hendrick's Gin was definitely an extra-cost option (and I was surprised at how high the price was, since it was simply an upgrade from the already-included gin choices).

[AussieBoyTX]

@boblerm, your Captain's gala menu looks like a typical Ponant menu (as you noted it's very similar to the one @gogo65 posted), but the Wednesday menu is unfamiliar to me and looks quite simplified compared to what we were served on this ship in August.

 

Since we're talking gin, Hendrick's, Bombay & Tanqueray would be an extra charge on a regular Ponant cruise (including Smithsonian).

 

Given the cruise was in the US and Canada, I'd be inclined to discount supply chain as being a primary cause for an alcohol shortage..

[May B]

What might “local bourbon” mean, do you think?

[jpalbny]

On 9/23/2022 at 3:31 PM, boblerm said:

I mentioned earlier that I was told that the menu would likely be similar on a typical Ponant cruise.  I am skeptical about this, my hunch is that knowing that nearly all of the passengers were from the US, they tried to tailor the menu to what they thought that particular population would want.  If that is the case, I think that it was a mistake.  I think that most people that travel with Tauck are sophisticated enough in their tastes that they  would appreciate a more international cuisine.  Also, assuming that the Chef is French trained, he should probably emphasize what he specializes in.

 

9 hours ago, AussieBoyTX said:

@boblerm, your Captain's gala menu looks like a typical Ponant menu (as you noted it's very similar to the one @gogo65 posted), but the Wednesday menu is unfamiliar to me and looks quite simplified compared to what we were served on this ship in August.

 

I agree with both of you, based on our one cruise with Ponant. Those menus and dinner offerings that you've posted don't look anything like what we had during our Ponant expedition in Corsica. I posted those menus at the end of my trip report.

 

We ate very well (too well?) and enjoyed the menu choices and the food. Dinner was not a let-down at all for us. Your dinner menu doesn't look like something I'd be excited about either.

 

Looking forward to what they come up with for food offerings as we cruise Indonesia in March.

 

Thanks for your review, Bob. It makes me think that I'd best stick with the non-Smithsonian or non-Tauck charters and continue with the regular Ponant sailings.

Edited September 25, 2022 by jpalbny

[boblerm]

4 hours ago, May B said:

What might “local bourbon” mean, do you think?

 

Can't say.  But on the first evening I asked the bartender what bourbons he had, and he rattled off a list of whiskeys, none of which, to the best of my knowledge are bourbons. 

[boblerm]

2 hours ago, jpalbny said:

It makes me think that I'd best stick with the non-Smithsonian or non-Tauck charters and continue with the regular Ponant sailings.

If you enjoy the Ponant experience, and are interested in booking a nice cruise, I think that you would be correct. 

I can't comment on Smithsonian, but the reason to book a Tauck Small Ship Cruise would be for the outstanding experience that one gets when traveling with Tauck.  I would certainly consider doing another Tauck tour on a Ponant ship, even given my less than stellar experience with the cuisine on this one.

[AussieBoyTX]

4 minutes ago, boblerm said:

If you enjoy the Ponant experience, and are interested in booking a nice cruise, I think that you would be correct. 

I can't comment on Smithsonian, but the reason to book a Tauck Small Ship Cruise would be for the outstanding experience that one gets when traveling with Tauck.  I would certainly consider doing another Tauck tour on a Ponant ship, even given my less than stellar experience with the cuisine on this one.

 

I wonder if you can get what we think of as the Ponant experience if the ship has Tauck among other guests, instead of being completely chartered by Tauck? 

 

The Smithsonian cruise we did on Le Dumont d'Urville in August did not have any menu changes to suit the basically all-American guests. It did have added crew and other resources to make the experience more like one would get on a charter like Tauck, as it was explained to me.

[boblerm]

2 hours ago, AussieBoyTX said:

I wonder if you can get what we think of as the Ponant experience if the ship has Tauck among other guests, instead of being completely chartered by Tauck? 

I cannot say that I do.  I can say that as best as I can tell from the comments,  there are some fundamental differences between a purely Ponant cruise, and the one that I cruised on.

 

My guess, and it is only a guess, is that those who love cruising on Ponant may be disappointed in a Tauck small ship tour on Ponant, due to these differences.

[boblerm]

For those that might be interested in the Tauck experience of this trip, I have started a thread on the "Other Cruise Line" forum, which I think is a more appropriate place to discuss that

 

 

[3664shaken]

Wow, things have changed we were lucky enough to sail on Le Dumont-d'Urville a few months after she was launched (pre-covid). The menus are so different and very sparse, I would have been highly disappointed.  My question is on our sailing, there was no mention of Tauck. Did Tauck charter the ship? Or are they partners now?

PS The public bathrooms on the ship were not well thought out at all.

 

Edited September 26, 2022 by 3664shaken

[boblerm]

19 hours ago, 3664shaken said:

Wow, things have changed we were lucky enough to sail on Le Dumont-d'Urville a few months after she was launched (pre-covid). The menus are so different and very sparse, I would have been highly disappointed.  My question is on our sailing, there was no mention of Tauck. Did Tauck charter the ship? Or are they partners now?

PS The public bathrooms on the ship were not well thought out at all.

 

Tauck does not own any ships, so any of their cruises have to take place on ships owned by other lines. 

On our cruise, the entire ship was taken by our tour group, there were no people onboard that had booked through Ponant.  My understanding is that on other Tauck cruises, there may be a mix of passengers, some of who are on a Tauck tour, and others that have simply booked a Ponant cruise.  I do not really know to what extent the Tauck group's presence on these cruises would impact the cruise experience of the "Ponant" passengers, and vice versa, nor do I know how often this is likely to happen.

[CUTTERSAM]

On 9/25/2022 at 6:32 AM, May B said:

What might “local bourbon” mean, do you think?

There is a still in the engine room.