Ponant Cruise Reviews for Expedition to South America

We booked in The commandant Charcot in 2019 , for summer of 2020 to North Pole , as soon as we had heard about its Polar Class 2 Ice breaking capabilities. However the voyage to 90’N , North Pole got cancelled twice due to COVID pandemic. Finally after experiencing an exceptional Arctic trip on L’Boreal last year in 2022, we booked with Ponant on Le Commandant Charcot for November 2023 for ...

This was our 14th cruise, the second on Ponant, and we sought it out because we are tired of the large ship cruises. Ponant offers expeditionary experiences, rather than the traditional "rest, relax and party" cruise, so we approached our time with that expectation. We were incredibly impressed. The ship is graceful, beautiful and very comfortable. Appointments are sophisticated and of the ...

We are on this cruise now via a Tauck trip. Our room is spilled with sewer gas. We finally figured out that if we run the shower constantly over 24 hours, at a low rate, it keeps the trap from allowing sewer gas into the room. The concentration of sewer gas was really bad, only 2ppm can cause bronchial construction in people with asthma, 10-50ppm you get headaches. Higher concentrations you get ...

Superb Antarctic navigation aboard La Commandant Charcot leaving from Ushuaia through Drakes Passage, tracking west along Antarctica from Marguerite Bay to Cape Adare and then up to Lyttelton, NZ Captain Devorsine & Expedition Leader Kuyper went out of their way to provide an exceptional Antarctic experience including navigation along the Ross Ice Shelf, navigation through ice floes, ...

We wanted to see Maya sites and wanted to try Ponant. We have sailed on Cunard, Celebrity, Oceania, Windstar, Seabourn, Holland America and Viking - 20+ cruises in all, 6 on Seabourn. I would say 80-90 percent of the passengers spoke French as their primary language. We enjoyed that. The officers are French, the staff Indonesian or Filipino. We were rather taken aback to see the captain ...

This report includes information on our February 15—March 12, 2022, “Ross Sea” expedition cruise on the Le Commandant Charcot with Ponant. Although we had taken a “drive by” cruise of the Antarctic Peninsula in 2007 on the Golden Princess and explored “Beyond the Polar Circle” in 2020 on the Le Soléal with Ponant, this expedition offered the opportunity to experience much more of the Antarctic ...

We are now one week into the cruise and I’m sorry to say that it doesn’t live up to its promotion. On the positive side, the ship and its equipment are outstanding. The same goes for the cabins, the restaurants, bars, and all the people working there. What’s bad is that expectations fostered by Ponant are not met: this maiden voyage was promoted as a uniquely adventurous expedition going ...

Le Commadant Charcot is a beautiful ship: conceived by a star designer, it is pure luxury both inside and outside. Moreover, it is uniquely capable. Powered by the latest hybrid technology, it achieves the highest icebreaking class except for the Russian nuclear-powered behemoths. In short, it is the ultimate icebreaker for luxury expedition cruises. Unfortunately, its potential has been ...

We had such hopes for this trip. The ship & itinerary fit our needs on paper but in reality we were disappointed with the execution of this cruise. Not only did embarkation change from Puerto Morelos to Cozumel after booking our flights but the trip was advertised to include diving in Honduras. On boarded we learned Puerto Cortes was a dirty shipping port with no diving. The water was green ...

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 ...