We chose Le Soleal because we wanted to visited Japan and cruise on a relatively small ship.
We are hard pressed thinking of any negatives in regard to the ship, the crew, the food, the destination and the fabulous Japan experts, marine biologist, ornithologist and knowledgeable guides.
We visited places on the Seto Inland Sea which see very few tourists. We had such warm and welcoming ...
We just completed a 2 week cruise on the Ponant ship Le Bouganville to the Seychelle Islands in the Indian Ocean. It was sold to us as a National Geographic Expedition cruise. A summary of my review is as follows:
• The ship is clean, modern and has nice layout.
• The standard sized cabin was smaller than many cruise lines, but adequate. We found plenty of storage space available for our ...
Rarely have I been so disappointed by a cruise.
I booked, what was promised to be an "Expedition" cruise through the Indonesian archipelago, from Singapore to Darwin.
The supposed highlight of this cruise (and the main reason why I booked it) was the exclusive visit to an Orang-utan rehabilitation project in the Tanjung Puting National Park on Borneo.
Whilst for most other passengers on ...
I chose this so called ‘expedition’ cruise mainly for the Orangutan encounter in Tanjung Puting in Kalimantan. Well, because of the total incompetence of the ‘Expedition Team’ we never got there. The expedition guide totally miscalculated the bearings and took us for one and a half hour, over a very bumpy sea, in totally the wrong direction. How this happened is an enigma to me, as he has already ...
We were expecting the best ever cruise and our personal experience is as follows:
The good things:
- The ship is beautiful, fairly new and nicely appointed.
- The dining and room staff are great and will do anything for you.
- The itinerary of our 17 day cruise from Bali to Hong Kong was well thought out and perfect for us.
- The whole ship is clean and tidy.
- The rooms are well ...
We chose these cruises for the expeditions and ability of the vessel to get into small ports and also to change course to find unexpected delights. We also love French food!
The expedition leaders were wonderful as were their lectures each evening on the following day's adventures. All the crew went out of their way to make sure those of us who were less able-bodied were included in as many ...
Having made numerous cruises on various lines (20 +) I can honestly say Ponant really misses the mark. Cruise is billed as high end with gourmet dining, luxury cabins and exciting entertainment all to be accompanied with outstanding French service standards.
Rooms are clean, not spacious but such should be expected on a small ship. Toilet is in a separate room from shower making it somewhat ...
We spent two days in Bali before embarking.
We chose this cruise for the remote expedition excursions, and we were not disappointed. Mick, the expedition director, created some wonderful and unusual experiences on fairly isolated Indonesian islands. Expedition staff was excellent. Lectures were excellent. Weather was hot and muggy, but we expected that. Two of our excursions had to be ...
After nearly 14 days tour in Sri Lanka time to enjoy the newest ship in the Ponant fleet, Le Laperouse. The time fit perfect in school holidays and single travel appealed. I was fortunate to have the disabilty cabin on deck 4, which made the time on board comfortable. As always, the French flair in dining was great, and the bistro style on deck 3 always had surprises, but you needed to find seats ...
We first saw Le Lapérouse from above, in port, next to a massive Costa ship - the contrast couldn't have been greater! If you like all the benefits of a small, well-run, brand new ship and enjoy French food and style, then this is definitely for you. Everything was impeccable - the warm welcome, the incredible ease of embarkation, the super-excellent service, the delicious and very imaginative ...