Cruising from Bali to Irian Jaya and down to Cairns

[Quickstatus]

thank you for the Tr very informative

Some time can you do a little mini review of the stateroom choices , please thanks

 

[Coathanger]

Very enjoyable trip report between the unique ports/piers, beautiful ship and entertaining narrative

 

[luxury-lizard]

Thanks from me too - great report - after 2 lacklustre cruise on Ponant - maybe I need to rethink them. I agree their no SS is about the best of any cruise line - and myself and Mr LL have used it to book 2 interconnected single cabins. We found many other aspects a bit lacking - food in particular- how can a French ship not serve French cheese.

 

[RooFlyer]

thank you for the Tr very informative

Some time can you do a little mini review of the stateroom choices , please thanks

Sure. The Ponant boats are laid out similarly. If you go to the following link, you can view the rooms by clicking on them, which also allows viewing of a room plan and videos. If you scroll down to the ship, and click that, you can bring up deck plans.

Epicurean Delights: The Food & Wine of Sicily: from 11 Apr 26 to 19 Apr 26 | PONANT Australia

Epicurean Delights: The Food & Wine of Sicily: from Valletta (Malta) to Sicily. Duration: 9 days, 8 nights on board. Theme: Timeless

au.ponant.com

The lowermost cabin deck (say, 3) will have 'lower deck balcony stateroom', much the same as deck 4 'upper deck balcony stateroom' - (the latter also called 'Prestige' staterooms), except lower deck will have a large window and a regular door whereas deck 4 (and above) will have large sliding door to the balcony. Both pretty tight, but manageable. You don't spend much time in them except to sleep! Separate v small loo, also bathroom - stand before the sink, and separate shower. Oodles of storage space - and on cruises, you unpack completely!

Decks get more expensive as you go up (even same room type), but not as you go from, say, bow area to midships, unlike SilverSea for instance. I choose deck 4 midships for stability, and price. Deck 5 waste of extra money for same room.

Deck 5 will also have 'upper deck balcony staterooms', but with inter-connecting rooms.

Deck 5 and above will have 'Deluxe suites' which will be 50% bigger and more than 50% more expensive; priority boarding, butler service for all the upper deck types. More like a small hotel room. Never been in one, but look to me to just have more main floor area, and extra 'dressing room' area. I thought the latter would be a waste, but on SilverSea, the 'dressing room' is really good for storing bags etc.

Deck 5 and above will also have 'Prestige suites', twice as big as the 'upper deck balcony staterooms' and is essentially a double cabin. Can take 4 (ie kids in sofa bed I guess) 'Privilege suites' are smaller than Prestige.

Grand suites and owners suite top-of-the range; baths, big rooms, big terraces, the lot. Tend to be at the ends and upper decks, so if stability is an issue may not be great choice, although the boats are small, so no point really high and swaying, except in worst seas.

Main a la carte restaurant tends to be on lower deck, or deck 2 and pool and buffet restaurant tends to be on upper-most deck, say 6. Lifts in the middle and bow. Like hotel rooms, I stay away from the lift areas.

 

[RooFlyer]

We found many other aspects a bit lacking - food in particular- how can a French ship not serve French cheese.

The tucker on my first Ponant - the Kimberley - was also lacking a bit and no cheese at all offered with the daily French menus! Cheese was offered with the 'Australian' menus' ??? This cruise was so much better. Poolside lunches a daily highlight.

 

[RooFlyer]

Just a bit more on the boats.

As mentioned, buffet restaurant on the pool level - inside and outside seating. Table service for drinks. A la carte restaurant on the lowermost public deck; starched linens etc. I find the service in the a la carte very slow, so don't often go there.

Casual areas -

Main lounge tends to be about deck 3; has an all-day bar, casual seating and often has entertainment in the evening - or trivia, quizzes etc in afternoon or evening. At 4pm its 'tea time', with different themed snacks on different days - macaroons, or scones or other fancy pasties and finger food; maybe gravlax salmon tasting for instance; (as if you need more).

Observatory and library usually on uppermost deck, limited hours bar and front-most open viewing area. People read, play cards, chat etc here.

Other areas:

There will be a theatre on level 4 or 5, which can hold entire pax list for lectures, briefings and evening shows. Most lectures are separate French/English versions (not always the same, which can be annoying), some briefings (ie captain, cruise director) are bilingual - and its impressive how they rattle from one language to the other!

24/7 reception desk; expedition desk with someone there most times when not on excursions. A photo studio where you can view and buy the ship's photographer's photos and videos (expensive).

Spa - usual stuff.

Gym.

Boutique - clothes, bags, sunglasses, hats (expensive!)

Pool

Bridge open all daylight hours

Hospital with doc and nurse. Doc goes ashore when excursions are on (except if with patient, I guess).

I've always been on 'expedition' trips - zodiacs used in remote locations. With 'classic' cruises, vessel is usually tied up in port and bus excursions offered; mostly a choice of included excursions, but I think some paid ones. I'm doing some 'classics' next year.

Ponant aren't quite as good as they think they are - but they offer a lot of 'no single supplement' cruises, and go to places I want to go, at decent pricing, so I'll put up with the inconvenience of the bilingual thing and occasional related shortcomings. 6 more booked!

 

[somebol]

Thanks for another wonderful report.

 

[Chalkie]

Thanks from me too - great report - after 2 lacklustre cruise on Ponant - maybe I need to rethink them. I agree their no SS is about the best of any cruise line - and myself and Mr LL have used it to book 2 interconnected single cabins. We found many other aspects a bit lacking - food in particular- how can a French ship not serve French cheese.

The tucker on my first Ponant - the Kimberley - was also lacking a bit and no cheese at all offered with the daily French menus! Cheese was offered with the 'Australian' menus' ??? This cruise was so much better. Poolside lunches a daily highlight.

I was really surprised to read about the absence of French cheese on a Ponant expedition. On each of the expeditions we've done (Emblematic Antarctica - Jan 2016; Kimberley - July 2018; French Polynesia (Society Islands, Tuamotus, Marquesas) - April 2023; The Great Austral Loop (Falklands, South Georgia, Antarctica) - January 2024 and Eastern Indonesia - June 2025) there was French cheese (and foie gras, caviar and champagne) in abundance! However, the hotel manager on our second Antarctic trip explained to us that logistics provisioning for Ponant expeditions other than in Europe can present some real challenges. He said that post-Covid, he has been doing his provisioning at least nine months in advance. He said that supply chains have continued to be strange, and when you combine that with Australia biosecurity and Food Standards Code restrictions on importation of raw milk cheeses, there can be real challenges in provisioning items such as French raw milk cheeses for expeditions originating in Australia or which require provisioning from Australia.

+1 and I have had really exceptional experiences with Ponant. We cannot fault the food, booze, expedition team, crew or service we've had. I suspect there are a number of reasons for this. +1 is French functionally bilingual and I speak enough to hold my own in a carping contest with French speakers. If we encounter something that doesn't meet our expectations, we switch languages. Once the word gets around there are a couple of Anglos who speak and understand French, we find that any hauteur from French crew tends to disappear. We also make an effort to get to know other passengers and crew (especially the cruise director, hotel manager, restaurant maîtres d’hôtel, sommeliers and bartenders). That said, I also wonder whether that almost all of our expeditions have had a decent French contingent (without them being an absolute majority (other than French Polynesia, where not being French was a real advantage) counts for something in terms of needing to please the French. French crew on our previous expeditions have shared with us that the French are, in general, nightmares as customers.

My convictions about Ponant not being for everyone are now pretty confirmed. In my experience, Americans don't do well with Ponant as a rule. Their cultural mores are just too different to the Ponant French/European vibe. My observation is Australians mostly do well with Ponant - we appreciate the fully inclusive nature and the absence of real tipping pressure, and our general outgoingness lends itself to enhancing the small ship atmosphere. I think Ponant is getting better in understanding the Australian market and I think that is reflected in what they are doing in our neck of the woods.

I appreciate the small ship vibe and interesting expedition destinations of Ponant. That said, we would never do a purely Mediterranean leisure cruise with them (and previous crew have warned us off those in any event as not being "interesting" enough for us). Ponant can be culturally quirky - which isn't for everyone. But for us that adds to the interest.

We are doing our first non-Ponant cruise next October on Regent Seven Seas SS Grandeur from Lisbon to Valletta. So that will provide a basis for comparison for us! Someone should remind me to do a TR.

 

[Quickstatus]

other than French Polynesia, where not being French was a real advantage

@RooFlyer and @Chalkie

Should there be a Ponant thread?
Why is not being French an advantage?

 

[Chalkie]

@RooFlyer and @Chalkie

Should there be a Ponant thread?
Why is not being French an advantage?

So, there are two types of French Polynesia cruises offered by Ponant on the Paul Gauguin. The seven day cruises around the Society Islands are 75% Anglophone (mostly Americans) and 25% Francophone. The 14 day "expeditions" to the Tuamotus and Marquesas are the reverse; 75% Francophone and 25% Anglophone. The French won't fly to Tahiti for a 7 day trip, but they will for a 14 day trip. The stereotype (which exists because it is true) of the French being difficult, disorganised, disobedient and unruly was writ large on our 14 day expedition in French Polynesia. They didn't listen to the cruise director, turned up late, paid little attention to important things like bus/car assignments and generally made nuisances of themselves. In contrast, the Anglos were punctual, lined up neatly and did as they were told. This meant the Anglo excursions and explorations went smoothly, ran on time and were enjoyed as much by the guides and drivers as the passengers. It also meant that for some excursions - especially in the Marquesas where a fairly robust degree of walking/clambering fitness is needed to see some sites is required, the Anglos who went had virtually private tours.

We've been told on other expeditions (notably our Kimberley expedition, which "accidentally" had 14 French pax (booked onto our trip by Ponant HQ when it was meant only to be open to Anglosphere bookings) but also on our second Antarctica expedition) by various members of the crew (from senior to junior) that the Anglos who choose to travel on Ponant are, generally, less demanding, more easygoing and more obedient passengers than the French.

But these comments have to be understood in the context of the circumstances in which I formed these opinions. @RooFlyer didn't have the same experience as I have when he was in an Anglo minority in his expedition to Svalbard. The other thing we've really noticed is the quality of the leadership team (captain, cruise director and hotel manager) makes a huge contribution to the experience. We've been exceptionally fortunate on Ponant to have had fantastic senior folks each time (and we've had the same expedition leader and cruise director on two different expeditions, which adds to the enjoyment as there's the reunion / "coming home" element when you know some of the crew).

But who knows - our next Ponant expedition in Feb 2027 may break our lucky streak.