Ponant Australia & New Zealand Cruise Reviews

This is my second Ponant cruise and I found both cruises to be of a very high calibre in relation to food and experiences. Ponant is an 'all inclusive' line, with the sub-Antarctic cruise including all meals, drinks (non-alcoholic and alcoholic) at all times, including a mini bar which is re-stocked daily to your specifications. The food is toward the Epicurean, but more standard fare was also ...

We are destination driven cruises, so If a ship is going where we like to travel, we will book & travel on it. This last cruise, also happened to be over Xmas & I wanted a break from cooking for up to 16 people for lunch. We boarded the ship on 14 December in Dunedin New Zealand, as our tour was the Sub-Antarctic Cruise. The service from our Cabin attendants was fantastic, everything was ...

It is my second attempt to explore and visit the New Zealand subantarctic islands. 2 years ago, I was on the Spirit of Enderby which I am going to call "SoE". That trip was booked by a travel agent which I trusted. The result however was something I never do again. I can't handle SoE. Sharing a small room, small shower, toilet that isn't allowed to flush toilet paper etc etc.. well, you get the ...

After a very disappointing cruise with Ponant to the Seychelles (See my comments Le Bougainville) we had been thoroughly enjoying this cruise to the sub-Antarctic Islands of New Zealand and Australia. It’s definitely one of the windiest and choppiest corners of our globe and weather related changes of the itinerary are more than common. The captain and the crew had been outstanding in every ...

Based on the price, we thought Ponant would be a really nice cruise, but we were disappointed in comparison to other top-notch cruise lines we've enjoyed. Many incidents were individually small things that would have been easily overlooked IF the overall cruise or friendliness of the staff would have exceeded (or even MET) our expectations. As our cruise progressed though, the tiny annoyances ...

Our recent cruise on Ponant's Le Laperouse around New Zealand went way beyond our expectations. We hadn't sailed with Ponant before, but are avid cruisers, having enjoyed several with Seabourn, Silversea, Regent and Viking, all of which have been wonderful, but we would have to say that our experience on Le Laperouse has most definitely been the best to date. The ship is stylish, comfortable, ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 sailed twice before with Ponant on expedition cruises the choice for our cruise to the Kimberley was easy to make as we knew first hand the type of cruise that we would be joining. Ponant are a little expensive compared to some other operators in the Kimberley area, however the quality with Ponant is always the same and they spare nothing to allow each person to enjoy the most out of the ...