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Ponant Expedition Cruises
DavidNorthern Region, NSW
- 3 reviews
- 1 like
- Verified customer
First & last Ponant cruise
My wife & I chose Ponant on the recommendation of our travel agent as the preferred cruise line to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary with a transit of the North West Passage.
Unfortunately, Ponant failed dismally to deliver & in our opinion, were misleading & deceptive in their decision to proceed with the cruise in view of the forecast sea ice conditions. We believe that Ponant should have known that the NWP was or was likely to be impassable prior to embarcation on le Soleal (& le Boreal) as reported by the Canadian Ice Service & Can...Read more
adian Coast Guard. I recommend that you read the reviews of other Cruise Critic members (under le Soleal / North West Passage: https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=732) on the saga of the connecting air charters, the second class treatment of non-French passengers, the shortage of restaurant staff, food & drinks or the amount of time spent needlessly sailing around Greenland so as to use up the number of cruise days. These comments are consistent with our experience & that of other passengers, including a number of French passengers who were equally unimpressed - "luxury" it was not! While these issues have been formally raised with Ponant by a number of passengers, no adequate response has yet been provided. The cabin, a “deluxe stateroom” was clean & comfortable but included only one chair in the room & we had to bring a chair from the verandah to sit in the room as a couple. Dining was a disaster as the ship was full to capacity & there was insufficient capacity in the 2 dining rooms – one of which required bookings & was usually full. Further, both restaurants were understaffed, the food selection was limited & definitely not “haute cusine”.Similar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
SimonMGreater Melbourne (Metropolitan), VIC
- 2 reviews
Awesome cruise in the Kimberleys in July 2018 on Ponant Line ship L'Austral from Broome to Darwin
I recently watched 'The Kimberley Cruise: Australia's Last Great Wilderness' on SBS, which documented a cruise trip on the Coral Discoverer from Broome to Darwin, and that prompted me to write this review. Compared to the cruise I did in July 2018 also from Broome to Darwin, I'm very glad that we went on the French ship L'Austral, and not the Coral Discoverer as shown in the documentary. I don't know what the difference in price is between the two, but going by the documentary the cruise in the Coral Discoverer seemed boring in comparison.
L'A...Read more
ustral is a small cruise ship but large in comparison to the Coral Discoverer. It has a crew of 139 and passenger capacity of 230, so a very good ratio of crew to passengers. Service was excellent, the crew was friendly and helpful, all food (and room service if you want something in the middle of the night) is included, the food especially in the buffet generally superb (French cuisine) constantly changing and with an amazing choice, standard drinks free at all the bars, and free mini bar in every cabin, restocked regularly. Every cabin has a private balcony, and the cabins were large enough, comfortable and serviced daily. One of the best things about cruising in L'Austral was the daily expeditions in the Zodiacs, sometimes a morning and an afternoon expedition, with helpful and knowledgeable guides. A lot of the expeditions included landing on a beach and walks through gorges etc. We saw lots of wildlife and aboriginal rock art, not to mention the spectacular scenery. Also included was an exhilarating trip on a fast boat through the Horizontal Falls! The ship had 16 Zodiacs! The onboard entertainment was good, and also the daily informative talks and films about the expeditions and the Kimberleys. My only criticism is that the internet connection was expensive and slow, but you can’t have everything! I highly recommend this cruise and am writing this review as we were blown away by the experience and how enjoyable the cruise was.
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JohnemvSydney
Fantastic crew and fantastic destination
11 days aboard Le Boreal departed on 18 December. In all our years of international travel including ships, we could not have been looked after more professionally. I worked with Orient - Express Hotels for many years so do have an understanding of quality and service standards.
From embankment with French champagne, to culinary delights, French wines, zodiac trips and a highlight of being on the Captains table for the farewell dinner, all added to a great 11 day cruise.
The weather, especially across the Drake Channel was kind as were abunda...Read more
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goorawinToowoomba
- Verified customer
Ponant: “A Second Class Expedition Experience”.
Ponant “A Second Class Expedition Experience”.
My wife and I (both from Australia) have just completed a 5 week expedition cruise on-board Le Soleal. The cruise started in Greenland and sailed through the North West Passage to Nome, in Alaska, and then continued on to Petropavlovsk in Russia.
This ship is very well built, comfortable and ideal for this type of expedition cruising. The standard of the hotel section of the ship was excellent, in fact as good as you could expect on any ship. Staff were friendly and eager to please at all times,...Read more
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