Le Commandant Charcot , In the Ice of the Arctic, from Greenland to Svalbard, 6/22-7/10

[vjt]

The sailboat who would not let us rescue her.  Looks precarious to me.

[vjt]

Two AM "rescue of The Boreal"  Note the grateful passengers aboard Le Bellot and our helicopter showing off!

Edited July 31, 2023 by vjt
Wrong ship name

[vjt]

Walter and his scientific ice core.

[vjt]

Of course, the Polar Plunge. Shudder.

[vjt]

[vjt]

I hope these photos will give you some idea of our cruise, or bring back your memories of the arctic.

 

I will wait a bit before discussing our Disembarkation Surprise!

[vjt]

   Day eighteen was lightened up quite a bit by two onshore activities and a wonderful debriefing that was accurate and very funny at the same time.  So our spirits were pretty good, and we even enjoyed our dinner.  Suitcases in the hall with the usual variety of tags, we looked forward to our Longyearbyen tour and luxury flight to Paris, where we had some pretty nice plans for two days.  

 

   Instead of being ushered from the lounge into the tenders for transport into town, we were all summoned into the theater.  We all knew this couldn't be Good.  So it was a pretty hushed crowd.  The Captain came in and announced that there a slight issue with our plane as it was stuck in New York for the next few hours and therefore was not available to fly us anywhere.  At all.  But, never mind, we will still have our tour and they would work something out.  Tiny bit vague, but of  course we needed to leave the ship so they could get it ready for the next crowd.  Oh dear.

 

  So, in response (at last) to Jeanallan 18, here is what I know about Longyearbyen: Despite the unsettling news, we all rallied and went to see the Svalbard Museum, a small European skin hunters' lodgings and to meet a number of very sweet sledding dogs, much tamer than we had seen previously.  There are quite a few other tourist activities around Svalbard (which is basically only reachable by ship and aircraft).  I think it would be fascinating to visit Pyramidin, an entire semi-deserted soviet mining town. The Svalbard  government now refuses to post any info on a visit there...but there is actually a hotel.  Different aspects of the coal-mining industry can be visited in Longyearbyen and there are a few shops...nothing too inspiring along those lines, I'm afraid.  Of course there are many sea based activities.  But if it's a day visit to a fjord or wildlife area, it might very well overlap with stops the cruise ships make.  

 

   We were put on a tight schedule (not that we had one at that point) because buses are in short supply, and another ship was coming in) and were dropped off at a very nice hotel, The Funken Lodge.  It's family owned and nicely appointed.  We were served a quite good lunch with two choices.  As we were eating, one of the company's agents appeared and told us that arrangements had been made.  I thought that was very quick, considering the mess....but then again, the company had to know about the transportation issue considerably before us.  As two agents came around to each table, explaining arrangements and handing out seating assignments, the Captain showed up.  He was extremely gracious, visiting every table and assuring us that we were at the top of his mind until all was completed. 

 

   So, the commercial flights go to Oslo.  We would fly there early evening, getting in around 11, stay overnight at the airport hotel, and early the next day, fly to Paris CDG. There was an ensuing flurry of arrangements and everyone including us, completed those.  I don't know about the others, but we lost a fair amount of money in the process and will have to check with our insurance provider on that.

 

   There was time for a walk and some shopping, and then we met our bags, very neatly sorted, at the airport, were checked in instantly, given a sack dinner by Ponant (I wouldn't nominate Norwegian Air for luxury...no food and they charge for water!!) and then left us to wait for our plane.  We landed thick-headed in Oslo, and again were greeted by Ponant agents in a very kindly way, and directed to the hotel, steps away.  To me, it was very touching that our Cruise Director, who was off for vacation, greeted us each in person (sans high heels, in jeans and her hair down!) welcomed us to the hotel, gave us room keys and  showed us to another sack (this time breakfast) and up we went to bed.  There was no air-conditioning, and the room was very basic, but they brought us a good fan, and we were able to have four hours sleep before the next flight, to Paris.

 

   The next morning, there the agents were again, to be sure we were checked in.  All was done in a kind and professional matter.  We sat next to a nice man traveling alone..he had lost his credit card in all the excitement, and we bought him something to drink, given that Norwegian Air certainly wouldn't. In all, I have to stress that all the Ponant staff, agents and Captain Garcia handled everything with grace and care to details.  Just to round out the tale, the next Polar Cruise had a Japanese and a Chinese group aboard.  Their planes were all delayed as well, and Le Commandant Charcot left a day late from Longyearbyen!  So, Jenallan 18, some folks did elect to stay in town for a few days after the cruise, and I'm sure they had a good time.  But, in a remote location, with very little commercial service, I would stick with whatever the ship provides so they can take charge of all the changes which need to be made when something runs amok.  

 

   

 

[vjt]

    Well, this saga has come to an end, although, two weeks later, we are still just as pleased with our first Ponant experience, Le Commandant Charcot...and...the Arctic!  I am happy to answer any questions if I can.  We do have another Ponant cruise booked, on Le Champlain to Seychelles and Madagascar for next January.  Different ship, totally booked and "polar opposite" place.  We'll see... 

[vjt]

I will leave you with this little momento from Walter:

 

 

 

 

 

[jpalbny]

31 minutes ago, vjt said:

We do have another Ponant cruise booked, on Le Champlain to Seychelles and Madagascar for next January.  Different ship, totally booked and "polar opposite" place.  We'll see... 

 

We looked long and hard at that itinerary but didn't end up booking it. We visited Madagascar in 2016 and spent two weeks there on land. Some day we'll go back and finish the Southern half - just not sure if it will be by land or by cruise. Hope you post about your next cruise too!

[Jenallan18]

1 hour ago, vjt said:

   Day eighteen was lightened up quite a bit by two onshore activities and a wonderful debriefing that was accurate and very funny at the same time.  So our spirits were pretty good, and we even enjoyed our dinner.  Suitcases in the hall with the usual variety of tags, we looked forward to our Longyearbyen tour and luxury flight to Paris, where we had some pretty nice plans for two days.  

 

   Instead of being ushered from the lounge into the tenders for transport into town, we were all summoned into the theater.  We all knew this couldn't be Good.  So it was a pretty hushed crowd.  The Captain came in and announced that there a slight issue with our plane as it was stuck in New York for the next few hours and therefore was not available to fly us anywhere.  At all.  But, never mind, we will still have our tour and they would work something out.  Tiny bit vague, but of  course we needed to leave the ship so they could get it ready for the next crowd.  Oh dear.

 

  So, in response (at last) to Jeanallan 18, here is what I know about Longyearbyen: Despite the unsettling news, we all rallied and went to see the Svalbard Museum, a small European skin hunters' lodgings and to meet a number of very sweet sledding dogs, much tamer than we had seen previously.  There are quite a few other tourist activities around Svalbard (which is basically only reachable by ship and aircraft).  I think it would be fascinating to visit Pyramidin, an entire semi-deserted soviet mining town. The Svalbard  government now refuses to post any info on a visit there...but there is actually a hotel.  Different aspects of the coal-mining industry can be visited in Longyearbyen and there are a few shops...nothing too inspiring along those lines, I'm afraid.  Of course there are many sea based activities.  But if it's a day visit to a fjord or wildlife area, it might very well overlap with stops the cruise ships make.  

 

   We were put on a tight schedule (not that we had one at that point) because buses are in short supply, and another ship was coming in) and were dropped off at a very nice hotel, The Funken Lodge.  It's family owned and nicely appointed.  We were served a quite good lunch with two choices.  As we were eating, one of the company's agents appeared and told us that arrangements had been made.  I thought that was very quick, considering the mess....but then again, the company had to know about the transportation issue considerably before us.  As two agents came around to each table, explaining arrangements and handing out seating assignments, the Captain showed up.  He was extremely gracious, visiting every table and assuring us that we were at the top of his mind until all was completed. 

 

   So, the commercial flights go to Oslo.  We would fly there early evening, getting in around 11, stay overnight at the airport hotel, and early the next day, fly to Paris CDG. There was an ensuing flurry of arrangements and everyone including us, completed those.  I don't know about the others, but we lost a fair amount of money in the process and will have to check with our insurance provider on that.

 

   There was time for a walk and some shopping, and then we met our bags, very neatly sorted, at the airport, were checked in instantly, given a sack dinner by Ponant (I wouldn't nominate Norwegian Air for luxury...no food and they charge for water!!) and then left us to wait for our plane.  We landed thick-headed in Oslo, and again were greeted by Ponant agents in a very kindly way, and directed to the hotel, steps away.  To me, it was very touching that our Cruise Director, who was off for vacation, greeted us each in person (sans high heels, in jeans and her hair down!) welcomed us to the hotel, gave us room keys and  showed us to another sack (this time breakfast) and up we went to bed.  There was no air-conditioning, and the room was very basic, but they brought us a good fan, and we were able to have four hours sleep before the next flight, to Paris.

 

   The next morning, there the agents were again, to be sure we were checked in.  All was done in a kind and professional matter.  We sat next to a nice man traveling alone..he had lost his credit card in all the excitement, and we bought him something to drink, given that Norwegian Air certainly wouldn't. In all, I have to stress that all the Ponant staff, agents and Captain Garcia handled everything with grace and care to details.  Just to round out the tale, the next Polar Cruise had a Japanese and a Chinese group aboard.  Their planes were all delayed as well, and Le Commandant Charcot left a day late from Longyearbyen!  So, Jenallan 18, some folks did elect to stay in town for a few days after the cruise, and I'm sure they had a good time.  But, in a remote location, with very little commercial service, I would stick with whatever the ship provides so they can take charge of all the changes which need to be made when something runs amok.  

 

   

 

Thanks vjt for the info re Longyearbyen and your detailed report.  Happy that you’re home safe and sound

[vjt]

Jenallan 18...thanks for the kind words and I hope you have a wonderful Arctic cruise next year!

[highplanesdrifters]

Thanks for taking us along.  Always appreciate a good report. 

[vjt]

Thanks so much. I’ve enjoyed your entries…just thought I should do my share.

[2SailingNomads]

Thank you for the very informative narrative.  We will be boarding in a few weeks for the North Pole cruise and totally looking forward to it and the ship.

[vjt]

2SailingNomads…wish I could be aboard, too! Have a great time!

[2SailingNomads]

13 hours ago, vjt said:

2SailingNomads…wish I could be aboard, too! Have a great time!

Thanks, would enjoy meeting you!  

Question for you, and maybe it is in one of your earliest posts, typing on my phone now, I assume you had a Ponant arranged flight to or from Paris to / from the ship. If so how was it? And did you get an offer for biz class?

[vjt]

2SailingNomads…

I did write it in my post…but it’s sort of embedded.:

The fare includes a charter, economy class, from Longyearbyen to Paris. Perhaps due to the relatively few cruisers on that run, they contracted with La Compagnie, which is a small French Airline, all business class, lie flat seats.  It was to land at Orly very late, around midnight. Most of the passengers had no idea it would land at that smaller airport, and had not been properly prepared for that.

 

However, what actually happened was that the La Compagnie plane couldn’t get out of  NYC due to weather. Quite a lot of rushing around on Ponant’s part to find a solution. They put us on a late plane to Oslo..( economy, low budget Norwegian). We arrived very late in Oslo, were given very plain, clean, un-air conditioned rooms and had to show up quite early the next morning for the next hop to Paris, this time CDG. We arrived mid morning and were really tired.  Ponant provided sack meals for the dinner and breakfast as there was no food aboard Norwegian.

 

Staff were with us all the way, and in place at all locations to help. They were knowledgeable and kind. I really have no complaints. 

My advice, for what it’s worth: Longyearbyen is not a city. It has little commercial service, so I would take the offered charter. If anything goes wrong, Ponant has excellent people and volume of passengers to get the best solution. Our travel agent had put us on the waitlist for Business Class, so some planes are two classes I guess. Most important, make sure you find out timing and routing for the charter so you are not stranded at an unforeseen airport in Paris!

 

 

 

[Catlover54]

3 hours ago, vjt said:

2SailingNomads…

I did write it in my post…but it’s sort of embedded.:

The fare includes a charter, economy class, from Longyearbyen to Paris. Perhaps due to the relatively few cruisers on that run, they contracted with La Compagnie, which is a small French Airline, all business class, lie flat seats.  It was to land at Orly very late, around midnight. Most of the passengers had no idea it would land at that smaller airport, and had not been properly prepared for that.

 

However, what actually happened was that the La Compagnie plane couldn’t get out of  NYC due to weather. Quite a lot of rushing around on Ponant’s part to find a solution. They put us on a late plane to Oslo..( economy, low budget Norwegian). We arrived very late in Oslo, were given very plain, clean, un-air conditioned rooms and had to show up quite early the next morning for the next hop to Paris, this time CDG. We arrived mid morning and were really tired.  Ponant provided sack meals for the dinner and breakfast as there was no food aboard Norwegian.

 

Staff were with us all the way, and in place at all locations to help. They were knowledgeable and kind. I really have no complaints. 

My advice, for what it’s worth: Longyearbyen is not a city. It has little commercial service, so I would take the offered charter. If anything goes wrong, Ponant has excellent people and volume of passengers to get the best solution. Our travel agent had put us on the waitlist for Business Class, so some planes are two classes I guess. Most important, make sure you find out timing and routing for the charter so you are not stranded at an unforeseen airport in Paris!

 

 

 

 

I know they did the best they could under the weather circumstances, but being switched from a planned business class seat  from NYC transatlanttic to a low budget economy (not even premium economy) seat for several hours transatlantic, and then an unairconditioned hotel in summer,   would likely have frozen my arthritic and inflamed body into a position that would require several days of recovery. 😞  .  Your story highlights the importance of being very healthy and physically easily adaptable if one plans to travel to out of the way places. Likely  doing one's own airline arrangements, even many days in advance in case something goes wrong (to avoid surprise long haul coach flights) , is also hard or impossible to do given the limited supply of flights to the area. 

 

Were you given OBC or some compensation for the changes?

 

 

[vjt]

I may have a different point of view.  First of all, they were not transatlantic or even transcontinental flights. I believe if the trip had occurred as expected, the total time would have been between 4-4.5 hours. As it was both flights were about 2 hours.  Second, the contract with Ponant clearly states that these transfers are economy (only).  There were no planned or promised business class seats. And, as you know, there is a clause for adverse weather conditions. They did open an early waitlist for folks who wanted upgrades because at that point, the contracts for flights had not been completed and no one knew whether there would be business seats at all.  La Compagnie planes hold only about 75 people...so we were lucky they even considered those planes, possibly because there were only about 70 passengers on board.....very unusual situation.  Ponant covered absolutely all costs related to getting us to Paris. OBC would have been of no use because this all happened within 6 hours of disembarkation (during the night)!  What we did lose had nothing to do with Ponant, which was a guaranteed room in Paris, a right costly thing that our travel insurance will reimburse.  Finally and oddly enough, some folks were happy with the change as their international flights left from CDG a bit later in the day and Orly would have been an inconvenience.  And some of the Germans went direct Oslo to their hometowns so they were happier.  

 

As to travel fitness.  I agree.  Travel in and out of very remote places is always very uncertain, mostly due to weather. In fact, I believe only Norwegian shuttles ( budget airline) has nonstop flights to Oslo...maybe Tromso. SAS may have flights...but I believe they all would require at least one stop to get to a major airport. That is why it is essential to have charters.  If sitting on uncomfortable benches while waiting, or flying business only is necessary for medical reason, I have to agree, it would be a very bad idea to choose such a trip!

[2SailingNomads]

On 8/11/2023 at 7:21 AM, vjt said:

2SailingNomads…

I did write it in my post…but it’s sort of embedded.:

The fare includes a charter, economy class, from Longyearbyen to Paris. Perhaps due to the relatively few cruisers on that run, they contracted with La Compagnie, which is a small French Airline, all business class, lie flat seats.  It was to land at Orly very late, around midnight. Most of the passengers had no idea it would land at that smaller airport, and had not been properly prepared for that.

 

However, what actually happened was that the La Compagnie plane couldn’t get out of  NYC due to weather. Quite a lot of rushing around on Ponant’s part to find a solution. They put us on a late plane to Oslo..( economy, low budget Norwegian). We arrived very late in Oslo, were given very plain, clean, un-air conditioned rooms and had to show up quite early the next morning for the next hop to Paris, this time CDG. We arrived mid morning and were really tired.  Ponant provided sack meals for the dinner and breakfast as there was no food aboard Norwegian.

 

Staff were with us all the way, and in place at all locations to help. They were knowledgeable and kind. I really have no complaints. 

My advice, for what it’s worth: Longyearbyen is not a city. It has little commercial service, so I would take the offered charter. If anything goes wrong, Ponant has excellent people and volume of passengers to get the best solution. Our travel agent had put us on the waitlist for Business Class, so some planes are two classes I guess. Most important, make sure you find out timing and routing for the charter so you are not stranded at an unforeseen airport in Paris!

 

 

 

Thanks we are going the opposite direction from Paris.  A few days ago were offered an upgrade to business class which we accepted. Hopefully it is worth the price.  Never received a formal confirmation after paying for it but shows in the Ponant app.  11 days to go!!!

[vjt]

2SailingNomads,

Sounds very good to me. I will keep my fingers crossed! In any event, I know you will have a great cruise! Let us know!

[highplanesdrifters]

9 hours ago, 2SailingNomads said:

Thanks we are going the opposite direction from Paris.  A few days ago were offered an upgrade to business class which we accepted. Hopefully it is worth the price.  Never received a formal confirmation after paying for it but shows in the Ponant app.  11 days to go!!!

Hopefully you'll tell us all about it.  Fair winds!

[2SailingNomads]

On 8/15/2023 at 7:22 AM, highplanesdrifters said:

Hopefully you'll tell us all about it.  Fair winds!

Absolutely will!

[Jim_Iain]

Thanks for the wonderful live post.    Really enjoyed..... especially the pictures and the ending video.