Ponant Europe - Eastern Mediterranean Cruise Reviews

I was fortunate enough to have reserved for this Ponant Cruise among seven Greek islands, departing and returning to Piraeus the last week of September 2023. I had a wonderful trip with no negative incidents or unhappy memories. The vessel is one of Ponant's sisterships (built 2010 - 2015). It is a very well appointed vessel, even luxurious. As it only carries a maximum of 264 guests (and ...

We chose our cruise on a relatively short notice (two weeks before) and were positiviely surprised. We liked the intimacy of the ship a lot (you get to know all the staff and especially the waiters started to remeber our preferred drinks quite soon). We were somewhat worried because we read in other critics about Ponant that they are more focused on French people, but we thought to give the ...

This was our first cruise since 2019 and it was another enjoyable experience on Ponant. This review is lightly abridged from my day-by-day accounting here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2793516-on-board-le-lyrial-—-treasures-of-the-aegean-sea-—-july-30-august-6-2021/ This cruise was originally scheduled Istanbul to Athens, but was changed to Athens / Athens about 60 days in advance. ...

A brand new ship, 150 other guests, many from France and Belgium as it was a a Opera Cruise. Us Australians were adopted by all and again we could not fault Ponant. The destinations visited, the tours, the food, the wines, the cruise companions, the crew..... you name it, all lends for a perfect cruise. We visited Greece, Turkey, Egypt and Jordon. Add that to our Antarctic cruise in late 2017. ...

We liked the idea of French food and smaller portions and not American food which we get on Seabourn. We also wanted to visit Croatia in a small ship. We loved the ship and the open bridge policy. We found the Captain, officers and crew terrific and well trained. The ship was attractive but the pool rather small. We would have liked sun umbrellas as there was no shade around that area...nor in the ...

This cruise was chosen as it is a smaller ship with only 220 guests. We never felt crowded and the choice of services meant everyone was spread out. A lovely group of people cruising and the whole experience was very refined. Absolutely 5 star food and wine. Staff also excellent. When we stopped at each port the information and excursions made available were extensive. We did some excursions ...

This might be a lengthy review, but I feel it needs to be because when booking with Ponant, I found little to no reviews on this company, especially for people who were bringing children. We traveled with our kids 8 and 10 and just got home from an 8 night Mediterranean cruise onboard the Le Lyrial. We LOVED this ship. The staff were amazing, there was a kids club that I couldn't pull my kids ...

Ponant met our needs with their short 7 night cruise down the Dalmatian Coast. We had some friends who had taken this cruise and recommended it.Looking back on the experience we would have to say it exceeded their recommendation. Although we only slept there the cabin was excellent, the crew (with one exception) were great, a special mention to the cabin cleaning staff who opened cabin doors with ...

This was the second cruise that we did on Le Lyrial ( Ponant ) . All of our needs were taken care of by a very professional staff and crew . We had an excellent cabin ( # 614) that was very close to one of the restaurants and the swimming deck . We enjoyed the buffet restaurant on the sixth level for lunch and dinner and were able to make an advance reservation at a certain table each evening for ...

Unlike other reviewers, I was very pleased with my time spent aboard the Le Lyrial. The entire crew was very personable and took care of my every need. I found it amazing how the cleaning staff mysteriously appeared to clean my cabin and turn down my bed at night. My omelets were cooked to perfection every morning and there was an abundant selection of entrees at the buffet. Yes some were ...