This was a make-up cruise following COVID cancellations. The itinerary looked interesting, included many places I'd never been, and I liked the starting and ending points. Also, there was no single supplement, something that Ponant offers a lot and I really appreciate that. As to how it went, I love Ponant for so many reasons, it's hard to narrow it down. I'll start with the ship, beautiful, ...
Ponant is one of the few cruise lines that offers multiple cruises without a single supplement. For almost the same price as a Caribbean cruise on a premium cruise line (double for solos), I was able to book a mid-ship balcony cabin on an ultra-luxury Ponant cruise. Le Dumont d'Urville is a beautiful mega-yacht with a modern, minimalist design. Food, drinks, service, cabins, lectures and so forth ...
Our 2022 Ponant cruise, along with our 2020 Ponant cruise - same ship- was the thrill of a lifetime because the smaller ships can get into ports the large ships can't visit. I also was thrilled to take two ecotours on this ship - one right before Covid lockdown in 2020, and then again, this winter in 2022. The ship captain was kind enough to ALWAYS translate for us, though we were the only two ...
I was totally excited to be going on this trip with Ponant to Costa Rica. Afterall great destination, French wine and french food... what is there not to like. Well was I sorely disappointed. The wine was mediocre and limited variety. At dinner many nights there was only one red or one white. The food was good not great(except for the special nights) and some of the meals were downright poor.
I ...
Hubby & I chose the cruise because we wanted a short cruise that included a Panama Canal crossing. This cruise was an expedition cruise focusing on national parks in Costa Rica & Panama. Started in Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica and ended I. Panama City, including a Pacific to Atlantic crossing of the Panamá Canal. We’re not naturalists but thought it may be an interesting experience. This review is ...
Everyone has different likes and dislikes. I’m going to summarize what we look for in a cruise vacation which we felt Ponant came closest to an overall exceptional experience and why.
My sister n husband ( late 50s very active non drinkers) and my husband (70) and myself(62) - both drinkers and not super active wanted a Xmas holiday experience together. We didn’t want to travel too far from USA ...
We were looking forward to an expedition cruise to the Bijou Peninsular as these are very difficult islands to visit ordinarily. However on approaching the docks unlike other expedition cruises which clearly have signage and generally personnel to help passengers, there were no signs to indicate the whereabouts of the ship even though our taxi driver tried very hard to find the entrance of this ...
Great WiFi and easy to get on and off the boat, great butter and cheese...other than that is was like being on a geriatric prison boat.
Same food everyday
Extremely minimal service
Small Dark rooms with the toilet separate from the sink.
No bars to sit at
No comfortable seating
Morose staff
Not enough staff
2 hours to eat each meal and then nothing else...
Very little to ...
Negative was the english lectures which were poor and limited. As this is a french ship, there was separate lectures for the french-speaking. All announcements were in dual languages. French passengers were friendly but we did not socialize together because of our large group.
Staff was friendly. I would go again on this cruise line just because of the food. The pastry chef was outstanding. The ...
Ponant cruise lines chartered the Le Dumont D'Urville to Thomas P Gohagan & Co. who then marketed the Baltic Sea cruise primarily through college/university alumni offices, Smithsonian Journeys, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Philadelphia Council on World Affairs, etc. So the cruise passengers were members of the various alumni groups and marketing organizations and each of the ...