Ponant South Pacific Cruise Reviews

I travelled with Ponant to Antarctica in January 2020 with my Son, aboard Le Soleal on the 11 day “Emblematic Antarctica”, this being my first cruise with Ponant. From first contact with Ponant’s Australian office, which is located in Sydney, it was apparent that the standard of customer service was going to be impeccable. This was demonstrated by being able to speak with the same staff ...

The South Pacific is a bucket-list destination and the back-to-back cruises on Le Soleal hit all the high spots. I generally like expedition-style cruises, but the itinerary captivated me: Cruise #1: Easter Island, Pitcairn, Gambier Islands, Moorea, Bora Bora and Papeete; Cruise#2: Papeete, Moorea, Tuamotu islands, Marquesa Islands, Hilo, Honolulu This review will cover both ...

I have always wanted to visit Pitcairn and Easter Island, so this cruise became an excellent opportunity to visit these two isolated destinations. I arrived in Papeete five days before the cruise was due to begin. This gave me plenty of time to explore Papeete, do a round island and inner island tour and laze by the pool. The embarkation in Papeete was the best of my three Ponant cruises. My ...

We enjoyed four days in Honolulu prior to the arrival of Le Boreal. The ship was actually a day late as she had been stuck in ice attempting a Northwest Passage transit in August. After disembarking her passengers in Greenland she sailed full speed for Hawaii via the Panama Canal, encountering Hurricane Rosa on the way across the Pacific. We felt it too on our flight from Sydney to ...

We had travelled on Ponant (L'Austral) previously and found that the size of ship, crew numbers, facilities suited the style of cruising which we look for. The destinations are different to other cruise lines with experts on board to give detailed information about the destination and customs of the local people. Disembarkation at the ''ports'' is via zodiacs which makes for a fun experience. ...

This cruise visited Wallis and Futuna which I could not get with another cruise line. Since this was also a 30 anniversary cruise lots of specials were in store, such as reception in Wallis; native entertainment on board and on shore and the fireworks on the last night. The hula performances were a highlight. those dancers could surely move. The shore excursions were well organized allowing me to ...

This cruise was from Lautoka in Fiji to Papeete in Tahiti, in September/October 2018. It was promoted as the 30th Anniversary cruise for Ponant, and made a special visit to Mata Utu, the registration home for Ponant ships. The Ponant CEO was onboard for the cruise, along with a very large proportion of French passengers.We had cruised on Ponant a few times before, and on this particular ...

This was our 3 cruise with Ponant, The staff were very friendly and helpful, especially when we had to get on and off the zodiac boats as my husband not long ago has a knee replacement but was still able to go and enjoy the expedition. Level 3 was easier for him to get around to reception and get on the zodiacs. The expedition staff were amazing and were very passionate and knowledgeable about ...

Cabins too small, temperature too cold throughout the ship including in cabins, food very disappointing for what is expected from the French, meat tough, food too salty even the doctor on board told the chefs this but they refused to change. Little to no service poolside, pool only a plunge pool. Ponant office in Sydney much too slow at sending documents, many passengers did not receive prior to ...

We booked this cruise 18 months earlier and we are so glad we did. To begin with, the Kimberley area is stunning! The scenery, the wildlife and the indigenous rock art is all wonderfully beautiful. We saw an abundance of the most beautiful birds, crocodiles, whales and sea turtles, all in their natural environment. The physical scenery was absolutely stunning. The geological features are ...