General differences between Ponant and Az?

My extended family is looking forward to our second cruise with Azamara and we are widening the circle to include my parents along on this next one. They just returned from a Tauck tour on Le Boreal/Ponant. If anyone has been on both, how can I describe the general differences (aside from size differences and that Ponant is a French inspired ship)? Any thoughts on what differences they might expect?

We really enjoyed our first trip on Azamara and are excited about #2!

We have sailed on Azamara and are booked on another, so we really like them. We haven't yet sailed on Ponant but have been looking at them. One thing I notice is that you can either book directly with Ponant or book the same itinerary with an English-speaking group. Your parents did Tauck. I have been looking at the Circumnavigation of Iceland, which can be booked as a hiking tour with Backroads. I think that if you book directly with Ponant you will be in a French-primary environment, although they will probably try to include English as a second language. When you book through one of these other groups: if it is a whole-ship charter, the entire trip should be English-primary; if it is a group within a regular sailing, at least your shore excursions and briefings should be English-primary. Although DW and I make an effort to speak French the results are not wholly satisfactory [on either side], so we would only book Ponant through someone like Tauck or Backroads. [but I would be happy to learn that I am mistaken from someone who has booked with them directly!]

I have been looking at Ponant extensively and they are coming out with some exciting new ships.

From what I have read, they have both French and English speaking guides, staff, lectures, etc. They are really trying to cater to the N. American market. You do not have to go with Tauck because they do speak English and can book thru your TA or directly.

They do work with Tauck and those reviews are excellent. I just returned from a Tauck Danube cruise, followed by an AZ cruise to Adriatic. Both were very nice and close to a month in Europe was lovely too.

What did they think of Ponant?

We've been looking at a Tauck cruise on LePonant, but shying away from that as there are some reviews which are really awful. Pretty consistent about the complaints - beds, and food.

What did they think of Ponant?

 

We've been looking at a Tauck cruise on LePonant, but shying away from that as there are some reviews which are really awful. Pretty consistent about the complaints - beds, and food.

Have you read the Tauck reviews on their own Board?

Have you read the Tauck reviews on their own Board?

Tried, but I can't find any.

We chose Ponant for our Antarctica trip in January. We booked through Abercrombie & Kent, an organization similar to Tauck, which had chartered four consecutive sailings. I loved the ship (Le Lyrial). All of the senior officers are French, although the ones we encountered spoke at least passable English. The Captain spoke flawless English, as did the women at the front desk and in the shop. Most of the crew are Filipino or Indonesian, and they all spoke English (and French, although they didn't use it on the charter).

The ship is beautiful and the service was top notch. As you would hope with a French line, the food was mostly fabulous and the house wines were eminently swillable. The have a good selection of alcoholic beverages that are complimentary. For our trip it was all day long; I'm not sure if that's the Ponant model or the A&K one, though. I did notice that people who paid for upgraded wines got better wine glasses (that was never us).;p

The main difference to me was that the crew is more formal than on Azamara - you don't get that "welcome home" vibe. Some stayed "correct" for the entire cruise, but more warmed up as the cruise went by. Not so much the officers, who, although visible, tended not to wander over to start a conversation with passengers. The CD was an A&K employee, brilliant but not relevant to the comparison.

If you think that Azamara is light on entertainment, Ponant is even more so. There were a couple of solo singers, a classical pianist and a lounge lizard entertainer who were on every night, but that was it. But this was an expedition, so the theater was occupied by lecturers and excursion briefings, so that may not be the norm.

I would sail Ponant again, and would book with them directly if the itinerary were appealing. I read a bunch of reviews that said that they have more non-French passengers that I would have expected, which increases the odds of more English being spoken onboard, so I think we'd be fine. I only speak enough French to find basic things like a loo and a drink, lol.

We have sailed Azamara once and really enjoyed the cruise. One main distinction is that the Ponant ships carry about 200 passengers vs 700 on Azamara. Azamara did a great job refitting their ships. It looks like Ponant has similar finishings/decor. Unfortunately, Azamara does not sail expedition cruises to Antartica. We selected Ponant for our future Antartica cruise because we found it to be the best blend of comfort, price, and timing. Now we have lots of time to learn some French!

We chose Ponant for our Antarctica trip in January. We booked through Abercrombie & Kent, an organization similar to Tauck, which had chartered four consecutive sailings. I loved the ship (Le Lyrial). All of the senior officers are French, although the ones we encountered spoke at least passable English. The Captain spoke flawless English, as did the women at the front desk and in the shop. Most of the crew are Filipino or Indonesian, and they all spoke English (and French, although they didn't use it on the charter).

 

The ship is beautiful and the service was top notch. As you would hope with a French line, the food was mostly fabulous and the house wines were eminently swillable. The have a good selection of alcoholic beverages that are complimentary. For our trip it was all day long; I'm not sure if that's the Ponant model or the A&K one, though. I did notice that people who paid for upgraded wines got better wine glasses (that was never us).;p

 

The main difference to me was that the crew is more formal than on Azamara - you don't get that "welcome home" vibe. Some stayed "correct" for the entire cruise, but more warmed up as the cruise went by. Not so much the officers, who, although visible, tended not to wander over to start a conversation with passengers. The CD was an A&K employee, brilliant but not relevant to the comparison.

 

If you think that Azamara is light on entertainment, Ponant is even more so. There were a couple of solo singers, a classical pianist and a lounge lizard entertainer who were on every night, but that was it. But this was an expedition, so the theater was occupied by lecturers and excursion briefings, so that may not be the norm.

 

I would sail Ponant again, and would book with them directly if the itinerary were appealing. I read a bunch of reviews that said that they have more non-French passengers that I would have expected, which increases the odds of more English being spoken onboard, so I think we'd be fine. I only speak enough French to find basic things like a loo and a drink, lol.

A really good read from someone experienced of both lines. Thanks

I was under the impression of was definitely scewed towards French speaking although I too need to practice my Franglais so that would be fine too🙂

Phil

Azamara is quite different from Le Ponant. Size matters. Smaller can be better or worse. Be sure if you book Le Ponant that it isn't partially chartered out. Tauck has small ship sailing tours on several ships. Look at Tauck website to make sure that you are not booking a cruise that Tauck has chartered. It would be ok if the cruise lines made tour companies charter the entire ship. Having just taken a cruise independently that had 80 Tauck guests, I would steer clear of booking as an independent guest. The group dynamics when mixed with independent guests left a lot to be desired. Not sure if Azamara sells tour groups. Even if they had a group of 80, it would not overwhelm the other guests.

Azamara is quite different from Le Ponant. Size matters. Smaller can be better or worse. Be sure if you book Le Ponant that it isn't partially chartered out. Tauck has small ship sailing tours on several ships. Look at Tauck website to make sure that you are not booking a cruise that Tauck has chartered. It would be ok if the cruise lines made tour companies charter the entire ship. Having just taken a cruise independently that had 80 Tauck guests, I would steer clear of booking as an independent guest. The group dynamics when mixed with independent guests left a lot to be desired. Not sure if Azamara sells tour groups. Even if they had a group of 80, it would not overwhelm the other guests.

Good point. I know that A&K had chartered the entire ship for 4 consecutive cruises. And the cruise after ours was a full Chinese charter. With only 200-250 passengers, I'm surprised that they allow the partial charters.

Not sure if Azamara sells tour groups. Even if they had a group of 80, it would not overwhelm the other guests.

There was a group of about that size on our cruise in the Aegean.

In terms of that experience you are correct, the group had minimal impact.

When they had special activities during the day, those were held in the Cabaret which otherwise would have been empty.

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