Ponant Luxury Cruises Reviews

This is a journal of our February 27-March 12, 2024, “Exploring the Chilean Fjords” land/expedition package on the Ponant L’Austral. The package includes one night at a 5-star hotel in Buenos Aires, flights and transfers to/from Ushuaia, and 13 nights aboard the L’Austral. We had cruised from Valparaiso to Rio de Janeiro around Cape Horn in 2011 aboard the Star Princess ...

We've talked about an Antarctic cruise for years...we like Ponant, and we are Smithsonian fans, so when the combination came up this seemed a good omen. We were extremely pleased to find superb support, assistance and communications from the Ponant-Smithsonian Journeys representative. She was in touch early and often. We had a couple of glitches and in each case were helped through the ...

Cruised to Antarctica but could not go to South Georgia due to bird flu and birds dying. The alternative given were well planned. It's great to go to the bridge and watch the Captain navigate tricky channels while the passengers are cluelessly enjoying the views. Got to see a whole of feeding frenzy from the water thus attracting tons of birds above, lots of pods of ocras, different species of ...

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 ...

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 ...

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, ...

John and I were delighted to discover this one-off food- and wine-centric itinerary on the L’Austral. We enjoy the French ambiance, excellent food, and great wine onboard Ponant’s ships. This cruise promised more of the same by including a Michelin-starred guest chef, guest experts on wine and cheese, and special wine and gastronomic events. The Ponant Corporate Chef was also onboard this ...

It was our second journey with Ponant, this time to Madagascar and vicinity. The ship is in great shape and feels very new. We used a regular balcony cabin and found it of a decent size and ample amount of storage space. The food and the service were fabulous. The shore tours were great. The team of naturalists was very good. Local guides were reasonably prepared. The lectures in preparation for ...

Chose this cruise for the destination and the fact that it was a small ship and expedition. All excursions were expedition with an experienced naturalists leading each off ship experience. Dining was exceptional. Staff on board took care of every detail to maximize your experience. Destination did not disappoint. There was entertainment each evening and while we did not dance the night away, I ...

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 ...