Jim_Iain - First Non-Celebrity Cruise in 22 year - Ponant vs Celebrity Comparison

[kwokpot]

58 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I didn't know that.   Not really a downside for us as I rarely gamble.  I finally hit Pearl level about a year ago.     I did a bit of gambling last cruise while draining some of our OBC off.     I hit a jackpot and won a couple thousand -   To this day I have no idea how this slot machine with Lions, Rhino's and Elephant works but the thing just went into auto mode and started spinning and money piling up.   I just chuckled. 

https://thepointsguy.com/reviews/crystal-serenity-cruise-ship/

[Jim_Iain]

I'll go back to about 9 months ago when we made the decision to try out Ponant

 

Their website is pretty well designed but like celebrity has broken links and outdated information.

 

They have 4 types of ships -

 

Explorer Class ships

Expedition Class Ships (also refereed to as the Sister Ships)

Ice Breaker -  Incredible cruises like arctic circle and Norther Passage

Le Ponant - A masted Yacht

 

I will concentrate on the Explorer Class  - which I will be on.

 

The Ponant Explorer – Created in 2018 they have 6  luxury ships with only 92 cabins

 

PONANT EXPLORERS series consists of small-sized ships, which combine respect for the environment, elegant design and cutting-edge technology. They feature Blue Eye, a unique multi-sensory lounge, the only one of its kind in the world, which is located in the hull, below the waterline. These six exceptional yachts, with just 92 staterooms and suites, bear the names of French explorers who went in search of previously unknown territories.

 

They have a good Crew to Passenger ratio of  118 Staff for 92 Suites (186-220 Pax). 

 

Differences -  

 

I won’t even compare Celebrity and Ponant -  As expected Ponant has small intimate ships with the ability to get to places you will never even see on Celebrity.   To compare them would be like comparing a Lear Jet to a Boeing 777.  

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 2, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

By the way I have put a link in my Signature for the Ponant Live Post.   I will try to keep both going and try not to duplicate. 

 

 

[jcpc]

Hi Jim,

 

Looking forward to following along and getting your take on Ponant.  Ponant looks like a very interesting cruise line (although I believe a tad out of my budget).

 

I, like you, have been sailing almost exclusively on Celebrity since 1990 (33 years), with the odd Royal or Holland America cruise thrown into the mix. I got bitten by the "suite bug" around 12 years ago and have been sailing in suites (mostly Royal Suites) since then.  However, due to the recent changes to Zenith and Suite category benefits (and the overall decline on Celebrity ships in general) I have finally decided to have a serious look at different cruise lines.  First on my list to investigate is MSC.  I'm sailing next week on MSC Meraviglia in Yacht Club.

 

Enjoy your Ponant sailing and I'll be following closely.

[Jim_Iain]

OK --- How much does this cost ?  Prices are per person.  

 

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

For this cruise we opted for a Prestige Stateroom Deck 6

 

 

 

[Moby Jones]

19 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

 

Iain and I will be embarking on our first Non-Celebrity Cruise in 22 years a week from today.  

 

We have been very satisfied with Celebrity and never seen a need to cruise another line because Celebrity was a perfect match for us.   Celebrity has made some major changes in the past 1 1/2- 2 Years and finally reached the point for us to say -  Loyalty is a two way street.    Kinda like catching your spouse cheating we have come to conclude it is  time for a trail separation and possibly a divorce.   

 

It may take me awhile to get sorted out on how I am going to post a comparison between Ponant and Celebrity and Live Post at the same time.    Ponant is a  totally different products.

 

Ponant's Cruise Critic Forum https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/846-ponant/  is also very different to the very popular and free ranging Celebrity Forum.   Ponant's forum is only 15 pages long and their are no Roll Calls.      Most live post only run 1 or 2 pages and have very little banter.   For this reason I want to be respectful of their Forum and at the same time drive some of you to visit Ponant's Forum and understand their product offering.

I'll be following with interest. 
 

Ponant is a French cruise line with a large majority of French guests. Onboard English is very much a secondary language. Which will explain the lack of activity on Cruise Critic. 

[Jim_Iain]

18 minutes ago, jcpc said:

Hi Jim,

 

Looking forward to following along and getting your take on Ponant.  Ponant looks like a very interesting cruise line (although I believe a tad out of my budget).

 

I, like you, have been sailing almost exclusively on Celebrity since 1990 (33 years), with the odd Royal or Holland America cruise thrown into the mix. I got bitten by the "suite bug" around 12 years ago and have been sailing in suites (mostly Royal Suites) since then.  However, due to the recent changes to Zenith and Suite category benefits (and the overall decline on Celebrity ships in general) I have finally decided to have a serious look at different cruise lines.  First on my list to investigate is MSC.  I'm sailing next week on MSC Meraviglia in Yacht Club.

 

Enjoy your Ponant sailing and I'll be following closely.

 

We are similar and our sweet spot has been CS and RS.   I'm really getting excited to try something new.  

[Jim_Iain]

1 minute ago, Moby Jones said:

I'll be following with interest. 
 

Ponant is a French cruise line with a large majority of French guests. Onboard English is very much a secondary language. Which will explain the lack of activity on Cruise Critic. 

 

Thanks -  Will be interesting to see the demographics on this cruise.   It is rather unique even to Ponant's normal more exotic cruises.   I suspect in addition to a high French presence there will be a large number of French Canadians.  

[horseymike]

Thanks for sharing , hope you have a great time.

Looking forward to your posts.🛳️

[Jim_Iain]

Comparison -

 

Ponant Bellot - 

 

Deluxe Stateroom    204 SQ Ft

Prestige Stateroom  204 SQ Ft

Privilege Suite  344 SQ Ft

Prestige Suite       409 SQ Ft

Grand Deluxe Suite  482 SQ Ft

Owner Suite           484 Sq Ft

 

Celebrity E-Class

 

Veranda, Concierge , AquaClass Staterooms    200 Sq Ft

Sky Suite 300 Sq Ft.

Celebrity Suite  460 SqFt

Royal Suite 687 Sq Ft

Edge Villa 739 Sq Ft

Penthouse – 1,378 Sq Ft

Iconic   - 1,802 Sq Ft

 

It 's easy to quickly see Cabin size across the board are smaller on Ponant.  

 

 

Edited September 2, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[Barwick Cruiser]

Wow, took me 6 pages to catch up but so glad I saw this thread…love your postings @Jim_Iain! Hope you have a wonderful time, you’re only a couple hours west of me when you disembark in Toronto. Beautiful itinerary and although it’s early you might be lucky and see some Fall colours! 🍁 

Cathy

[Jim_Iain]

10 minutes ago, Barwick Cruiser said:

Wow, took me 6 pages to catch up but so glad I saw this thread…love your postings @Jim_Iain! Hope you have a wonderful time, you’re only a couple hours west of me when you disembark in Toronto. Beautiful itinerary and although it’s early you might be lucky and see some Fall colours! 🍁 

Cathy

 

Thanks Cathy -  Looking forward to Toronto.    We have some dear Celebrity  friends in Toronto and hope to get to see them.     I have a feeling we may miss the  best color, it's a bit (maybe 2 weeks too early). 

 

We get a bit of color in our area -  Gold (during the summer) and Green (Winter).    Some years we actually do get some nice color in the Fall but nothing like New England and Canada.

 

Edited September 2, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

Internet - 

 

While I hope to be able to do a Live Post, Since most of our cruise will be very close to land I'm hoping I can mitigate by using my cellular data when available and in ports to keep caught up.

 

I've been advised by @garykool81 -  Thanks Gary

  Posted August 27

 

"You absolutely will not be able to do Zoom meetings aboard any Ponant ship. Their Internet is among the most outdated in the industry, and the worst I've experienced on any modern ships. As you can see, I've sailed with them multiple times on three of their ships -- two of them among the newest in their fleet. I found the Internet speeds, especially while at sea when demand is higher, to be as slow as 15KB/s -- literally 1990s dial-up speeds. On the best of days, I got to perhaps 100KB/s -- so think very early age DSL circa early 2000s. 

 

I often work while I am on vacation, and the WiFi aboard their ships has been pretty challenging. At times, it was so slow that it would take over a minute to load a text-only email. 

 

Definitely make alternative arrangements for connectivity if you need to have Zoom meetings while onboard! "

[mchell810]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

It is so nice to see all of our regulars back.    I have to admit I go through withdraws at the end of a Live post.

 

We are similar to you.   My biggest concern initially was that with such a small ship what if there's a really offensive passenger aboard.    On this small of a ship it will be hard to avoid.   I've been assured by many on the Ponant board that it is easy to find separation.

 

I do feel Ponant may be too small for me (not that I'm leery of offensive passengers -- I spent the first 40 years of my life in NYC, I know how to deal with offensive 😉).   I have fallen in love with Silversea Muse class ships -- their 600 passenger max seems perfect with so many dining venues and lounges. I spent 30 days on Spirit last spring and was very happy.  I worry that the smaller ships will feel confined, especially for dining venues.

 

Edited September 2, 2023 by mchell810

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

OK --- How much does this cost?  Prices are per person.  

 

 

 

How do they handle the single supplement?  200%?

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

There's not a lot of information and it is only about a month old-

 

Just make sure you list Captain's Club by Celebrity as oppose to Celebrity.   Their agent's were rejecting almost all initial application on multiple lines by looking Club Name instead of Cruise line.

 

https://us.ponant.com/benefit-from-the-status-match/

 

I started a thread on Ponant's board -  there are some links to a PDF file there

 

 

 

Thanks.  I didn't see anything about expiration of status.  MSC is pretty clear about that up front.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

 

 

duplicate post

Edited September 2, 2023 by Happy Cruiser 6143

[GonzoWCS]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

There's not a lot of information and it is only about a month old-

 

Just make sure you list Captain's Club by Celebrity as oppose to Celebrity.   Their agent's were rejecting almost all initial application on multiple lines by looking Club Name instead of Cruise line.

 

https://us.ponant.com/benefit-from-the-status-match/

 

I started a thread on Ponant's board -  there are some links to a PDF file there

Thanks for this we luvs us some status matching.

 

Cheers

 

[az4ship]

Have a wonderful time.  Looking forward to your review

[hcat]

It will be  fun & interesting to read the review and enjoy  the photos.

 

 Prices  are beyond our budget and ships are too small.. 

 

But of course they will take you where a regular cruise ship can't ..a great adventure!

[Traveling Fools]

Enjoy your cruise!  I'll be monitoring your comments.

[MikeMary4449]

Hi Jim,  Following you and Iain as you discover Ponant.  We will be most interested in your experience.  Thank you for giving us a "front row seat"!

All our best, Mike and Mary

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, mchell810 said:

 

I do feel Ponant may be too small for me (not that I'm leery of offensive passengers -- I spent the first 40 years of my life in NYC, I know how to deal with offensive 😉).   I have fallen in love with Silversea Muse class ships -- their 600 passenger max seems perfect with so many dining venues and lounges. I spent 30 days on Spirit last spring and was very happy.  I worry that the smaller ships will feel confined, especially for dining venues.

 

 

I initially had the same feeling and still have some trepidation's. 

 

My per-cruise research show that they have two dining venues -  The Main Dining Room, Le Nautilus - Gastronomic Restaurant, is large enough to accommodate 100% of the passengers in a single seating.   The Main Dining Room, offers the ability to open up to the Aft Stern Deck for alfresco dining when conditions permit.  During a 8 night Cruise the have 2 Captain's Formal Nights.    Everyone eats at the same time.   

 

Other nights you dine at your convenience.

 

They also have the Grill Restaurant where they offer dining in a more relaxed environment and is also used for both Breakfast and Lunch. 

 

They also have Room Service available 24 hours per day.

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

How do they handle the single supplement?  200%?

 

I'm sure you will find this interesting.  They have a full section on cruises with NO SINGLE SUPPLEMENT.

https://us.ponant.com/offers/no-single-supplement

 

After resumption of travel I read of a number of couples that  were booking two rooms with no  supplement instead of a larger suite.  Hmmmm...