PONANT Cruises: Greatest For Luxurious & Journey?
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I haven’t taken a cruise in over 20 years, although recently I’ve had an itch to alter that. As I perform some research, I believe PONANT may simply be the cruise line that’s most up my alley. Let me make it clear that this isn’t a paid commercial, or something (I’ve by no means spoken to anybody on the firm). I’m simply impressed by what the cruise line provides, and would love to listen to about any experiences from OMAAT readers.
My philosophy on taking cruises
Everybody has completely different sorts of trip preferences. Some folks love cruises, some folks love all-inclusive motels, and many others.
As a child (I’m speaking in my pre-teens), I was obsessive about cruise ships, virtually as a lot as I like airplanes now. Nevertheless, that zeal disappeared in a single day, and admittedly I haven’t had a lot want to go on a cruise ever since. Nicely, at the very least that was the case till lately.
For my very own journey type, I don’t see the attraction of taking a cruise that visits locations that I may in any other case simply journey to. The idea of cruising to Cozumel or Nassau simply doesn’t curiosity me, particularly on a mega-ship, the place you continually really feel such as you’re a part of an meeting line.
I can admire {that a} cruise is a straightforward and (probably) reasonably priced trip. Now that we’ve got a child, perhaps these sorts of cruises will likely be of curiosity some years down the highway, since I acknowledge it’s nice for household journey.
Within the meantime, the place I do more and more see attraction with taking a cruise is with a view to go to a vacation spot that one couldn’t in any other case go to in consolation. In different phrases, the cruise ship isn’t the vacation spot, however slightly it’s only a comfy floating lodge that takes me to someplace distant I’d truly like to go to, and sure wouldn’t in any other case journey to.
For instance, I’ve written about how I’d wish to take a cruise to Antarctica. Clearly that’s a vacation spot that’s best and most comfy to expertise by ship.
In recent times we’ve seen a rise within the variety of luxurious cruise ships in operation. Initially I used to be actually involved in taking a cruise with Ritz-Carlton Yacht Assortment. When the cruise line was first introduced, there have been some actually attention-grabbing sailings, together with up the coast of Canada, and even round Iceland. Nevertheless, after important delays, I’m discovering that a lot of the itineraries simply don’t attraction to me a lot.
Though the ship is smaller, it largely visits related ports to the place you’d go on mega ships, and that’s simply not too thrilling for me. And that brings me to a cruise line that’s beginning to get me …
Why I’m pondering of taking a PONANT cruise
After I’ve written about luxurious cruises prior to now, a number of readers have talked about constructive experiences with PONANT. Over the weekend I used to be performing some shopping on PONANT’s web site, and I’m now type of obsessed. The cruise line appears to be on the intersection of luxurious and journey, and that’s precisely what would get me to take a cruise.
PONANT is a French cruise line with roughly a dozen ships. A lot of the ships accommodate a few hundred friends at most, and the ships are primarily constructed for journey cruises. Heck, PONANT even lately launched a hybrid luxurious icebreaker ship, which is the primary of its variety.
The rationale I’m most involved in PONANT, although, is due to the wonderful journeys they provide. PONANT actually appears to have the philosophy that I’m in search of, providing cruises to locations you possibly can’t in any other case simply attain.
PONANT has all types of cruises to Antarctica, which look wonderful. In equity, fairly just a few of the smaller cruise traces supply Antarctica journeys.
Equally attention-grabbing to me are the cruises to the Arctic, together with Iceland and Greenland, since these are locations that may in any other case be robust to discover, at the very least with any degree of consolation or ease.
Heck, there are even some fascinating cruises across the South Pacific, together with to Papua New Guinea, one other place that many in all probability wouldn’t in any other case journey to.
Even a number of the cruises in North America look superior. There’s a cruise from Iceland to Canada by way of Greenland and Saint Pierre and Miquelon, which is one other place that has been on my radar (primarily because of the cool transatlantic flight from there).
And whereas I can’t say {that a} 14-day cruise from Toronto to Boston has in any other case ever been on my radar, PONANT manages to make this legitimately attention-grabbing.
Anyway, it’s simply usually refreshing to see a cruise line the place I can scroll by way of the itineraries and discover virtually every one in every of them attention-grabbing. In the identical method that I get pleasure from taking a look at airline route maps, I’m actually having fun with taking a look at these itineraries out of curiosity, if nothing else, since there are some distinctive locations on these cruises.
In the meantime after I take a look at the itineraries of most different cruise traces, I’m rather less impressed, to place it mildly.
Let me after all acknowledge that there are different nice small luxurious cruise traces. I’m additionally not a cruise knowledgeable, so I can’t converse to this firsthand, however right here’s my notion (and others are after all welcome to appropriate me):
- Lindblad Expeditions appears to be like nice, although the road doesn’t have as many trendy journey ships, and doesn’t appear to have fairly the identical give attention to luxurious
- You after all have the well-known high-end manufacturers like Silversea, Seabourn, and many others.; my impression is that they’ve fewer journey itineraries, and likewise go after a barely completely different demographic (with extra of a give attention to retirees than these essentially in search of journey)
What’s included with PONANT cruises
PONANT cruises aren’t low-cost, and pricing is similar to what you’ll discover with many different luxurious cruise traces. Pricing varies wildly based mostly on the itinerary, and cruises appear to begin at $600-1,500 per individual per night time, relying on the routing, season, and many others.
All cruises with PONANT embody meals, an open bar (together with champagne!), limitless Wi-Fi, and actions throughout expedition cruises. Primarily based on what I’ve heard from OMAAT readers, the meals can be excellent, with French influences.
Backside line
I’m more and more itching to take a cruise to an journey vacation spot like Antarctica or Greenland, and as I take a look at choices, PONANT looks like the cruise line I’m probably to go together with. A number of OMAAT readers shared constructive experiences, and as I’ve frolicked shopping PONANT’s web site, I’m intrigued by the large number of distinctive itineraries.
I’d love to listen to from extra skilled cruisers if PONANT is definitely pretty much as good because it appears to be like, or if I’m simply getting just a little obsessive about the itineraries, and am ignoring one thing else.
Anybody else discover PONANT’s itineraries to be attention-grabbing? To OMAAT readers who’ve taken a PONANT cruise, what was your expertise like?
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