Looking into Ponant for St. Malo to Dublin 2024

[YoungDubFan]

I have never cruised Ponant before. I’ve done a few large ship cruises and 1 Crystal - Baltic Capitals back in 2014. I’ve also done 2 river cruises with Avalon and have a 3rd (Tulip Time / Netherlands & Belgium) in less than 4 weeks. After a few large cruises, I definitely like the feel of a smaller ship. I understand that Ponant is significantly smaller than Crystal Symphony but is larger that the river cruises. I’m in my mid 50s and travel with my mom who is in her early 80s. She’s in pretty good shape. We’re looking at this particular cruise because visiting Mont St. Michael is on her bucket list. The fact that this cruise departs from St. Malo would give us a few days in France at the beginning to possibly tour Normandy / Bayeux & MSM before we board. 

 

I’ve been reading some of the posts on this board trying to get a feel for Ponant. We loved our Crystal cruise and had a few booked with them that were cancelled due to COVID. We were lucky to have travel insurance and got all of our money back when they declared bankruptcy. Our favorite part of Crystal was the service. On the other extreme, my Paris to Normandy cruise on Avalon only had 50 passengers on a ship with a total capacity of 136. We’re used to quiet evenings from river cruising and would be okay with maybe a piano player in the evening. I also like that this cruise is only 7 nights, so if we don’t like it, we’re not on for an extended period of time. The itinerary is really the main draw for us.

 

I’d love to hear from anyone who has done this itinerary to see how it went. I’ll continue to search the forum to see if I can find any reviews or posts but I’d love to  hear thoughts as to how Ponant may compare to my experiences. Thanks in advance for any replies. 

[bike utah]

I cruised with Ponant once (Norway) and liked it enough that I signed up for Antartica cruise with Ponant next year.   The ship and facilities are beautiful and once I figured out how to order I liked the food.  (I prefer food spicy, but without sauces, which is a bit unusual.)

Their excursions seem a bit disorganized, but that's mainly because Ponant communications are mediocre.  If you're willing to ask the same question of a few different people, you'll figure out what's going on.  

The evening activities were short, and we enjoyed every performance and lecture we went to.  For us, the classical pianist was a highlight.

Bayeau and MSM are both wonderful (take the Rick Steves book!)  and easy to tour on your own, so that would be a lovely 3-4 days before your cruise begins.

[Jim_Iain]

On 4/5/2023 at 10:21 AM, bike utah said:

The ship and facilities are beautiful and once I figured out how to order I liked the food.  (I prefer food spicy, but without sauces, which is a bit unusual.)

 

 

Can you expand upon what you learned about "How to Order"?   This could be very helpful.