Couple questions about Ponant

[Jim_Iain]

We have some friends from Australia who are great Ponant fans and trying to convince us to jump ship from 22 years of only sailing Celebrity in Suites.   We usually spend 3-4 months a year at sea.   We understand the small ships and find the ability to visit ports not possible on a larger ship.   We love just being at sea and not really into needing to be entrained and usually don't participate with casinos, large theater shows etc.   I will have to say that French food is my favorite.

 

Couple Questions -

 

Is Internet Included or is it an add on?

 

Drinks -   I don't drink but my husband does.    Are all drinks included or are there package add on's for better wines

 

The small ship idea -  On any cruise there is always the possibility of a loud disruptive guests.  We are somewhat worried on a small ship on how that might affect guest on a really small ship.   Any thoughts appreciate. 

 

Finally -   I'm a walking maniac and walk 10 miles a day even when on a ship.   Are their decks where walking would be possible?  As an introduction we are considering the Great Lake Smithsonian on Le Dumont-d'Urville

 

[AussieBoyTX]

1. Seems like you've got a good handle on what to expect & welcome!
   
   Internet is included.
2. Drinks are included, but there is a premium drinks package for spirits. Premium wines can be purchased by the bottle. There is some discussion of all of this here: 
3. We have not been in the situation where we've been stuck near someone we really couldn't stand, but yes, there have been people we don't mesh with and you do see them again and again -- but aren't really in such small places that you have to interact with them for long periods, unless you are on the same excursion. I confess we've asked to be placed on the other side of the dining room on occasion for such a reason. I imagine everyone has their own personal threshold on this.
4. The only Ponant ship with anything approaching a viable walking space like you're talking about is Le Commandant Charcot, which has a true Promenade. In desperation on the other ships, I have walked each deck end to end, which is maybe 400 yards and I've done a lot of stair climbing as well. Given your itinerary, I'd plan to be ashore before / after excursions and get some extra walking in. Sometimes I've let the guide know that I was abandoning the tour early and walked back to the ship. There are treadmills with a nice sea view as you might expect, but I really don't call that walking either.

Edited December 10, 2022 by AussieBoyTX

[Jim_Iain]

12 minutes ago, AussieBoyTX said:

1. Seems like you've got a good handle on what to expect & welcome!
   
   Internet is included.
2. Drinks are included, but there is a premium drinks package for spirits. Premium wines can be purchased by the bottle. There is some discussion of all of this here: 
3. We have not been in the situation where we've been stuck near someone we really couldn't stand, but yes, there have been people we don't mesh with and you do see them again and again -- but aren't really in such small places that you have to interact with them for long periods, unless you are on the same excursion. I confess we've asked to be placed on the other side of the dining room on occasion for such a reason. I imagine everyone has their own personal threshold on this.
4. The only Ponant ship with anything approaching a viable walking space like you're talking about is Le Commandant Charcot, which has a true Promenade. In desperation on the other ships, I have walked each deck end to end, which is maybe 400 yards and I've done a lot of stair climbing as well. Given your itinerary, I'd plan to be ashore before / after excursions and get some extra walking in. Sometimes I've let the guide know that I was abandoning the tour early and walked back to the ship. There are treadmills with a nice sea view as you might expect, but I really don't call that walking either.

 

Thank you for your quick reply.   

 

1.  I chuckled when I read your response about someone you couldn't stand.   I was trying to say that diplomatically.    When Iain brought up that possibility I said well it would be no difference than someone we found disruptive in Celebrity's  Suite - Ship on a ship concept.   Their Luminae Dining room is probably the same size as Ponant. 

 

Having said that -  there were two ladies that were rather noisy and I may have made a disparaging remark about them.    They were seated next to us last night and we had a very fun evening chatting and found them very interesting.   I said to Iain that we had really misjudged them.   Mia Coppala time.

 

2.   Walking...  I can be quite happy walking the floors and stairs and also as port intensive as the cruise is will have to opportunity to do it ashore.    I agree I don't like treadmills but do enjoy an elliptical if nothing else available.

 

3.   What you just reminded me of was the included tours.  Are they all early morning tours?   I'm assuming they are in ports early and off the ship.   I'm an early morning person while Iain is one that does not like getting out of bed before 9:30.     Last port I scheduled a 8 AM tour which also coincided with a loss of an hour time zone.   While he did go along he grumbled about it. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

Taking a Ponant cruise as a tester is a very good idea.  My one caveat for you would be your desire for French food.  The food on Ponant is not what we Americans tend to think of as French food.  It's very hard to describe, and until we actually sailed Ponant I couldn't figure out what people were complaining about.  Breakfast and lunch are fine.  Dinner choices are limited in strange ways.  And none of the food is classic saucy French recipes.  But we didn't starve...

[AussieBoyTX]

3 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Taking a Ponant cruise as a tester is a very good idea.  My one caveat for you would be your desire for French food.  The food on Ponant is not what we Americans tend to think of as French food.  It's very hard to describe, and until we actually sailed Ponant I couldn't figure out what people were complaining about.  Breakfast and lunch are fine.  Dinner choices are limited in strange ways.  And none of the food is classic saucy French recipes.  But we didn't starve...

 

Ponant self-describes their menus as "International," which I guess gives quite a bit of latitude in what's actually delivered. @jpalbny and @swyftal have both posted comprehensive trip reports with menus, so it's possible to have a good idea what to expect:

 

 

And I post pictures of the plates I've particularly enjoyed as well. 

[AussieBoyTX]

9 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

3.   What you just reminded me of was the included tours.  Are they all early morning tours?   I'm assuming they are in ports early and off the ship.   I'm an early morning person while Iain is one that does not like getting out of bed before 9:30.     Last port I scheduled a 8 AM tour which also coincided with a loss of an hour time zone.   While he did go along he grumbled about it. 

 

Forgot about this. It depends on the itinerary, but most excursions offered to us have been in the morning leaving at 8 or 9 and returning in time for late lunch. Sometimes, afternoon excursions were offered, or for very popular excursions, there were several sections, leaving every 15 minutes or so.

 

I don't think this applies to this itinerary you're thinking of, but one of the advantages Ponant has at popular destinations is that they can get you there well before the large cruise lines -- At Krka falls in Croatia, Delos in Greece and Briksdal Glacier in Norway, we had theme all to ourselves for more than an hour or two before the larger ships got their passengers there -- but, to do that, in addition to docking at a much closer port, we had an early start -- but it was worth it.

Edited December 11, 2022 by AussieBoyTX

[PACruiser5]

As to the food... I had read comments disparaging the food on Ponant so my expectations were a tad low. BUT, on our recent Great Austral Loop on Le Boreal we found the food definitely superior to that on Seabourn's brand new fancy Venture a few months back. And that on a sailing with Seabourn's President and top brass aboard. Service better  on Ponant too. The various cruise line forums are filled with complaints that the food/service/wine whatever is not what it use to be. I suspect its going to depend on individual ship personnel and provisioning. And FWIW, I am a food and wine person and I also found the included wines just fine. At least equal to those found on Seabourn and Silversea. They had some particularly good ones on gala nights.  

[dleighb]

Wow, Jim_Iain! Imagine my surprise to see a post from you here! We were on your Celebrity Summit NJ to Iceland cruise in August. After that cruise, I told my husband that we were moving to smaller ships. We'll take fewer cruises as we'll have to change our budget, but I think that they will suit us better. We found that Celebrity cruise (followed by a Disney cruise over Thanksgiving with my family) to confirm that we would rather deal with smaller amounts of people and risk the occasional bad apple. My cousin recently sailed Ponant and raved about it. I want to do an exploration Antarctica trip. So, here I am starting to gather info to know how many years it will take me to save up to take this trip. 🙂 I'll keep an eye out for your live review if you decide to take the polar plunge with Ponant.

[Jim_Iain]

On 12/14/2022 at 6:45 AM, PACruiser5 said:

As to the food... I had read comments disparaging the food on Ponant so my expectations were a tad low. BUT, on our recent Great Austral Loop on Le Boreal we found the food definitely superior to that on Seabourn's brand new fancy Venture a few months back. And that on a sailing with Seabourn's President and top brass aboard. Service better  on Ponant too. The various cruise line forums are filled with complaints that the food/service/wine whatever is not what it use to be. I suspect its going to depend on individual ship personnel and provisioning. And FWIW, I am a food and wine person and I also found the included wines just fine. At least equal to those found on Seabourn and Silversea. They had some particularly good ones on gala nights.  

 

Happy to hear.   I believe that food is very subjective and on many cruises I've been on I read negative reviews and my experience is totally the opposite.

 

I have noticed that with the inflationary increases in fuel and food there are many efforts to provide a good product but to reduce cost.

 

Iain mostly drinks Chardonnay with Pouilly-Fuisse region being his favorites.  Any comments on their Chardonnay's.  

. 

[Jim_Iain]

On 12/15/2022 at 12:11 PM, dleighb said:

Wow, Jim_Iain! Imagine my surprise to see a post from you here! We were on your Celebrity Summit NJ to Iceland cruise in August. After that cruise, I told my husband that we were moving to smaller ships. We'll take fewer cruises as we'll have to change our budget, but I think that they will suit us better. We found that Celebrity cruise (followed by a Disney cruise over Thanksgiving with my family) to confirm that we would rather deal with smaller amounts of people and risk the occasional bad apple. My cousin recently sailed Ponant and raved about it. I want to do an exploration Antarctica trip. So, here I am starting to gather info to know how many years it will take me to save up to take this trip. 🙂 I'll keep an eye out for your live review if you decide to take the polar plunge with Ponant.

 

Good hearing from you.     We are thinking of doing the Great Lakes Cruise as an introduction.   Close enough for an easy flight and we have a number of really good friends in Toronto we would love to visit with pre-cruise.  

 

 

[jpalbny]

38 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Any comments on their Chardonnay's.  

 

Nothing specific that I remember but the menus that I posted in my review would have included the wines offered every day.

 

NB: the Great Lakes cruise sounds very different from the usual Ponant experience. I think you should look for the thread started by mauibabes (now on page 2 of this forum) about their trip from Toronto to Chicago.

[Jim_Iain]

I'm just back from a B2B and just starting reading through he Ponant board.   Is your review posted as a message  on the main thread or under the review area? 

[jpalbny]

There is a link to my trip report (review) in my signature. It's the one from September 2021. It's a thread on the forums, not a formal review. The other review by Mauibabes is also a thread on these forums but it's on page 2. 

[Jim_Iain]

On 12/22/2022 at 3:16 AM, jpalbny said:

There is a link to my trip report (review) in my signature. It's the one from September 2021. It's a thread on the forums, not a formal review. The other review by Mauibabes is also a thread on these forums but it's on page 2. 

 

Thanks much.  What a wonderful review.  You have a wonderful way with words, thanks for the pointer.  

[Jim_Iain]

I've been looking for payment terms on Ponant site and can find the expired Cruise with Confidence but can't seem to find what it is now.    I assume it would be 25% deposit at booking but when is final payment due?

 

edit:   Never mind I found it by reading the fine print in the Terms and Conditions -  25% deposit and Final Payment 90 Days

Edited December 24, 2022 by Jim_Iain

[zqtchas]

How is the laundry done . Self or send out?

[jpalbny]

47 minutes ago, zqtchas said:

How is the laundry done . Self or send out?

 

Thinking about Ponant? We have our second cruise coming up with them in March and we will have free laundry. I assume it's send out but I'm sure someone who knows will answer.

[zqtchas]

40 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

 

Thinking about Ponant? We have our second cruise coming up with them in March and we will have free laundry. I assume it's send out but I'm sure someone who knows will answer.

just looking. Smithsonian journeys are using them for there tours. Did you think the meals were strange like jazzbo says?

[jpalbny]

7 minutes ago, zqtchas said:

just looking. Smithsonian journeys are using them for there tours. Did you think the meals were strange like jazzbo says?

 

Strange? No, but different and not tailored to classic American tastes. I posted a week's worth of menus from the September 2021 sailing on my blog. I was perfectly happy with the food. Things may be different on a charter such as Smithsonian or Tauck.

[AussieBoyTX]

33 minutes ago, zqtchas said:

just looking. Smithsonian journeys are using them for there tours. Did you think the meals were strange like jazzbo says?

 

The Smithsonian menus were not modified at all for American tastes when I was on Le Dumont d'Urville in August.

 

Others have reported menu modifications on ships exclusively chartered by Tauck.

[AussieBoyTX]

2 hours ago, zqtchas said:

How is the laundry done . Self or send out?

 

I guess I don't understand the question. A laundry service is offered and items usually come back the following afternoon. 

 

As a bonus, if you're a member of Ponant Yacht Club and have booked (not sailed) a second cruise, then each of you get five complementary items laundered each day.

[parischris]

On 2/1/2023 at 10:16 AM, zqtchas said:

How is the laundry done . Self or send out?

no self service laundry. all done through 'send out'.

[zqtchas]

2 hours ago, parischris said:

no self service laundry. all done through 'send out'.

Thank you. That’s what I wanted to know.

[Jim_Iain]

Wanted to let all those who have been so helpful that I booked our first Ponant cruise - The 7 Day Great Lake in September.   We are mostly taking it as a sampler to determine if Ponant is a fit.  

 

Learning a lot even after booking.    I'm sure all the regular Ponant cruisers can zip around their website but finding it a bit difficult to always find what I'm looking for.

 

The main think I have learned is unlike some of the original comments that everything is included is always the case.   Ponant seems to make a big differentiation between a "Regular" sailing and a Exploration Sailing.    I was falsely of the opinion that sailing on an Exploration Class Ship would be an exploration cruise.

 

While I could be wrong it doesn't appear on our cruise they include any excursions and all of the excursion are additional and we will be advised of the cost at about 2 months before sailing. 

[AussieBoyTX]

8 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Wanted to let all those who have been so helpful that I booked our first Ponant cruise - The 7 Day Great Lake in September.   We are mostly taking it as a sampler to determine if Ponant is a fit.  

 

Learning a lot even after booking.    I'm sure all the regular Ponant cruisers can zip around their website but finding it a bit difficult to always find what I'm looking for.

 

The main think I have learned is unlike some of the original comments that everything is included is always the case.   Ponant seems to make a big differentiation between a "Regular" sailing and a Exploration Sailing.    I was falsely of the opinion that sailing on an Exploration Class Ship would be an exploration cruise.

 

While I could be wrong it doesn't appear on our cruise they include any excursions and all of the excursion are additional and we will be advised of the cost at about 2 months before sailing. 

 

(I'm consolidating an answer to several excursion thoughts you had in different threads back to your initial comments here.)

 

I wasn't sure if you saw this, but Ponant lists excursions and excursion pricing for each port on the "Itinerary" tab for the cruise. Other excursions may be offered, but we have found this list to be reasonably complete. You can book these excursions 60 days in advance by calling US Reservations. If it turns out there's something more interesting once you get on board, you'll have an opportunity to change an existing tour or book one of the new options at that time.

 

 

HIKING THE CUP & SAUCER TRAIL

© 3h30

The Cup and Saucer Trail, located 18 kilometres west of the port of Little Current, is one of Manitoulin Island's premier tourist destinations. This unique hiking trail offers a panoramic view from 250-foot high cliff lookouts.

From the pier, board your coach for the scenic 30-minute drive to the foot of the trail. The hike takes about one hour to reach the summit and another hour to hike back down to the parking lot

At 352 metres (1,160 feet), the Cup and Saucer is the highest point of Manitoulin island. The cliffs are at an altitude of 70 meters (230 feet) and the view on the forests and lakes are just incredible. Depending on the season, enjoy the fall colours at their best.

Upon returning to the base of the trail, you will be treated to a selection of Canadian wines and cheeses and locally smoked rainbow trout.

• Participants must be in reasonably good physical condition as some sections of the trail are steep and a good pair of hiking boots is recommended. The paths can be muddy and slippery when wet.

The entire trail is approximately 9.5 km (5.9 miles) in length and takes about 2.5 hours to complete, with an elevation gain of 70 metres (230 feet), allowing for plenty of time for photos. There is one local guide for every 6 passengers taking part in the excursion.

TOTAL: €200

According to availability, price per passenger.