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 ...
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 enjoy smaller ships and this was the smallest we have cruised on other than riverboats. The ship is well appointed and very easy to get around. It is a lovely ship!
The staff were all very friendly, efficient and willing to help you in any way they could. They work very hard and always have a smile on their face!
Entertainment was impressive for a small ship and we thoroughly enjoyed the ...
The only ship of this capability and what an opportunity so we had to take advantage of it. The following describes the actual experience we had.
Flight from Paris
We were offered the opportunity to pay to upgrade to business class and accepted it, the flight was supposed to leave at 10 a.m. but we did not leave the terminal, on a bus, to the plane until after 10:05. We had to carry ...
My experience on the Ponant La Boungaville cruise from Malta to Nice was, for the most part, a mix of positive emotions and some disappointments. Let me start by highlighting the best aspects of this journey:
The standout of the cruise was undoubtedly the presence of Andrea, the cruise director. From the moment I stepped onto the ship, Andrea proved to be an exceptional host. Not only did he ...
The ship, food and staff were fantastic, and there were a couple of extraordinary meals. These were cooked by Rashid from La Mamounia in Marrakesh.
However, the overall experience was marred by the wi-fi, which was appallingly bad. It was slow and didn't really function well. It also only allows one device to be connected at a time. In this day and age, good internet access is critical and ...
We’re so happy to hear about how much you loved the ship, food, and staff on board! Our entire team works hard to please all dietary restrictions and interests, and we’re delighted your trip...
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 were on with a group from a wine club and had cruised many times in the past but never on Ponant. The ship and cabins were superior to most. The cabins were well appointed with the most storage space of any similar cabin on any ship. Overall the service was great but it was definitely some skew toward the half of the passengers that were French speaking and away from the English speaking. We ...
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, ...