On Board Le Lyrial — The Great Austral Loop — November 16-December 1, 2022

[k_sheep]

On 11/30/2022 at 5:18 AM, AussieBoyTX said:

 

We then decided to check out the pool — it was nicely heated and the restaurant manager said we were the first to use the pool this cruise.

 

 

Afraid I pipped you to this one - I've got photos of me in the pool on the 20th Nov 😉 John must've been on break for that one.

 

Signing in for a post cruise roll call here - I was one of the trio of Aussies across the hallway from you!  You still owe me an ice licking photo 😄

 

For those who asked the questions, I agree with the sentiment that South Georgia and Antarctica are just incomparable.  You just have to do them both!

 

And those worrying about dressing up for gala dinner, do not stress; for gala dinner we just went to buffet to avoid it all but saw plenty of others in relatively casual gear. For white night, I just wore black trekking pants and a white sun shirt and felt absolutely fine. 

[Jim_Iain]

On 12/5/2022 at 10:08 AM, AussieBoyTX said:

 

Well... As you know, tips are included for tickets booked in the US and are shared among all hotel department staff. We were strongly advised that if we wanted to give something extra to put it in the Crew Welfare Fund to be shared among the crew. If there's something extra you'd like to give to a special crew member, give it to them directly -- how much? Don't know -- I would think even $5 or $10 a day would be meaningful to a housekeeper. 

For guests that do not have gratuities included, Ponant says the average is 13 euros per day.

 

Really interested to find out a little more.   

 

We have a U.S. booking for next weeks cruise.   I don't see anywhere that they mention that tips are included.    Is this something I need to call Ponant or my agent and inquire about it or just wait and see once on-board.

[AussieBoyTX]

13 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Really interested to find out a little more.   

 

We have a U.S. booking for next weeks cruise.   I don't see anywhere that they mention that tips are included.    Is this something I need to call Ponant or my agent and inquire about it or just wait and see once on-board.

 

On our booking for this cruise, it is highlighted as Open Bar and Gratuities Included at the bottom of the invoice. It used to be featured on the us.ponant.com homepage -- maybe it still is, but I can't check at the moment.

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, AussieBoyTX said:

 

On our booking for this cruise, it is highlighted as Open Bar and Gratuities Included at the bottom of the invoice. It used to be featured on the us.ponant.com homepage -- maybe it still is, but I can't check at the moment.

Thanks much.     No need to search I will check their website.