Ponant Suspends Operations

[MrRandal]

4 hours ago, resistk said:

 

My payment was to the US LLC but it says French law applies HOWEVER they do not state which French laws.  I do not think this would be considered valid in the United States.  Ponant has been sued over this before in the USA.

 

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/14883202/1/jones-v-ponant-usa-llc/

 

 

One thing is obvious, at least to me, Ponant will fight us to keep our money. Wow, $355,000 in airfare, and I thought Business Class on ATN was too expensive.

[jonikal]

Norway's shipyards must be functioning since Le Bellot has moved from Soviknes, Alesund to the Vard Langsten ship yard in Tomra.  Hopeful sign, perhaps?

[AussieBoyTX]

1 hour ago, jonikal said:

Norway's shipyards must be functioning since Le Bellot has moved from Soviknes, Alesund to the Vard Langsten ship yard in Tomra.  Hopeful sign, perhaps?

 

We can hope. Vard's Norwegian page says they are open and have taken certain precautions.

https://www.vard.com/newsandmedia/news/Pages/Information-from-VARD-regarding-COVID-19-in-Norwegian.aspx

[AussieBoyTX]

Le Champlain & Le Dumont d'Urville docked at Saint-Malo, France this morning. I'm sure there are pictures somewhere (but I haven't found them yet).

 

Le Bougainville is still in Seychelles.

 

The first cruse still scheduled is Le Lyrial from Athens to Venice on May 22 -- less than thirty days away.

 

Ponant haven't updated their cancellation page, but I notice that the first cruise on Le Bougainville now departs on June 1.

Edited April 24, 2020 by AussieBoyTX

[AussieBoyTX]

On 4/8/2020 at 1:26 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

The ships that are docked or anchored have at least skeleton engineering crews to keep everything in working order.  I don't know if that crew level is sufficient to sail.  If so, any of these ships could deadhead quickly to the next embarkation point and the rest of the crew could meet them there.  [Assuming that if passengers can get there, so can crew.]

A small bit of information here. Le Champlain & Le Dumont d'Urville landed at Saint-Malo with Nineteen French sailors and fifty-two foreign sailors in total. I'm guessing a skeleton crew needed to sail is well below thirty sailors.

[AussieBoyTX]

Le Lapérouse has been chartered to repatriate 300 Wallis & Futuna residents from New Caledonia. It will be over two sailings.The ship will apparently be at sea for fourteen days instead of the five required for the transit to help ensure there are no active COVID-19 cases on board.

 

In French: Covid-19: Wallis and Futuna open up to the rest of the world with a "floating fortnight"

 

Separate articles note the ship's last docking was March 17 in New Zealand. The crew are therefore presumed to be virus-free. They have not been permitted to disembark in New Caledonia.

 

In French: Containment: the luxury cruise yacht returns to Noumea

Edited April 27, 2020 by AussieBoyTX

[Host Jazzbeau]

Interesting articles.  A creative approach in combining the voyage and the quarantine.

 

Also of interest [to me] is that Le Laperouse is consistently referred to as 'he' in both articles.  I had been told that although many French ships are named after males and therefore have names beginning with "Le," they were nevertheless referred to as feminine in the third person singular.  Not so here:  always "il"

[Frncie]

6 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

6 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Also of interest [to me] is that Le Laperouse is consistently referred to as 'he' in both articles.  I had been told that although many French ships are named after males and therefore have names beginning with "Le," they were nevertheless referred to as feminine in the third person singular.  Not so here:  always "il"

Same with Le Bougainville. Also Le Reine Elizabeth, the Fairmont hotel in Montreal. No clue. 

[Bamboo99]

In French ships are always male, i.e. LE France, LE Normandie

[jland]

Could we please stay on topic. The quirks of  language has nothing to do with cruising.

[Host Jazzbeau]

9 hours ago, jland said:

Could we please stay on topic. The quirks of  language has nothing to do with cruising.

 

This thread has already drifted – from an announcement of Ponant's suspension of cruising to lots of talk about refunds [for which there is already another thread].  That's what happens on cruise critic, and since there is no cruising at the moment to talk about, it has been happening even more than usual.

[sullaRaffaello]

On 4/27/2020 at 4:04 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

Interesting articles.  A creative approach in combining the voyage and the quarantine.

 

Also of interest [to me] is that Le Laperouse is consistently referred to as 'he' in both articles.  I had been told that although many French ships are named after males and therefore have names beginning with "Le," they were nevertheless referred to as feminine in the third person singular.  Not so here:  always "il"

The two words in French that translate into English as ship are both masculine. Le navire and le pacquebot. Therefore the pronoun il.

[AussieBoyTX]

The headline:

The nine ships of the only French cruise line are stationary. After having repatriated 1,600 passengers in March, Ponant surveys its customers about their expectations and prepares a protocol to manage the restart of its activity in good sanitary conditions.

 

 

"Having managed the emergencies, [Ponant] can now work to prepare for the recovery. The first step is to develop a protocol to ensure health safety on board, but also during the transit of passengers on planes, from and to airports, or even during stopovers. “We are working on different scenarios […]. The problem for an actor like Ponant, whose ships are small, is however different from that of other companies [which operate giant liners, note], ”explains Hervé Bellaïche. On ships "on a human scale", it is easier to organize filtering or taking temperature, for example.

 

"These ships, which accommodate between 150 and 200 passengers, could also be an asset for the future, while the coronavirus epidemic has highlighted the danger of being too crowded. Ponant also probes its customers about their desires, or their potential fears. “We are in the reflection and discussion phase. It is a bit early to draw conclusions, but one option could be to offer more local cruises, ”said the manager. The company could also focus on its conference cruises, led by prestigious guests.

 

In French: Coronavirus: stopped, Ponant reflects on the future of its cruises

[directionfinder]

Does anybody have new informations about the coming Ponant cruises?

The last update on canceled cruise they did was 8th of April, no news till now?

On their internet page I found today, that all their future cruise even in 2022 are in  "fully booked" status.

So nothing at all is bookable! 

[AussieBoyTX]

Le Soleal is under sail today. Still off the coast of Tahiti, so perhaps not going anywhere and just testing systems...

 

[Jared Purdy]

1 minute ago, AussieBoyTX said:

Le Soleal is under sail today. Still off the coast of Tahiti, so perhaps not going anywhere and just testing systems...

 

 

Go to the Tahiti Tourism web site and you'll have your answer.

[AussieBoyTX]

12 minutes ago, Jared Purdy said:

 

Go to the Tahiti Tourism web site and you'll have your answer.

It's not apparent that there's anything new that affects Le Soleal on that site. Link, please?

 

[Jared Purdy]

1 minute ago, AussieBoyTX said:

It's not apparent that there's anything new that affects Le Soleal on that site. Link, please?

 

 

https://tahititourisme.ca/en-ca/  Click on the yellow bar at the top of the page.

[AussieBoyTX]

13 minutes ago, Jared Purdy said:

 

https://tahititourisme.ca/en-ca/  Click on the yellow bar at the top of the page.

 

I see.

 

That's not new & Le Soleal has been docked at Papeete with Paul Gauguin for several weeks now. I thought you had news that they were forced to leave French Polynesia.

[Jared Purdy]

Just now, AussieBoyTX said:

 

I see.

 

That's not new & Le Soleal has been docked at Papeete with Paul Gauguin for several weeks now. I thought you had news that they were forced to leave French Polynesia.

 

No, that's not what I was suggesting.  I had no idea where those ships were.  It makes sense that they're in Tahiti as that is where they sail from. 

 

The point it that there aren't any tourists on them, and there won't be until the Tahitian government clears the way.  When that is, is anyone's guess. And, they may well restrict people from certain countries that still have a high rate of infection.  

[AussieBoyTX]

26 minutes ago, Jared Purdy said:

 

No, that's not what I was suggesting.  I had no idea where those ships were.  It makes sense that they're in Tahiti as that is where they sail from. 

 

The point it that there aren't any tourists on them, and there won't be until the Tahitian government clears the way.  When that is, is anyone's guess. And, they may well restrict people from certain countries that still have a high rate of infection.  

 

Agree.

 

Le Soleal's supposed next cruise departs from Osaka on May 30. I think that's doubtful, though Japan is one of the new places it's possible to get to from North America & Europe.

 

https://us.ponant.com/asia-an-immersion-in-japanese-culture-s300520-12

[Host Jazzbeau]

8 hours ago, directionfinder said:

Does anybody have new informations about the coming Ponant cruises?

The last update on canceled cruise they did was 8th of April, no news till now?

On their internet page I found today, that all their future cruise even in 2022 are in  "fully booked" status.

So nothing at all is bookable! 

 

Their website was acting very funky yesterday (Saturday May 2).  No cruises were showing up.  But today it's back to normal.  My January 2021 New Zealand cruise is showing great availability, and the newly announced April 2022 Azores cruise is wide open.

[AussieBoyTX]

7 hours ago, AussieBoyTX said:

Le Soleal is under sail today. Still off the coast of Tahiti, so perhaps not going anywhere and just testing systems...

 

 

Video of Le Soleal’s night sailing. 
 

 

[AussieBoyTX]

Le Bougainville left Seychelles today and is heading southwest on a track to pass north of Madagascar.

[AussieBoyTX]

The document hasn’t been updated, but several cruises are now missing. I noticed Le Laperouse’s first cruise is now June 17 (Darwin Broome).  Le Bougainville’s first cruise is June 1 (Valletta - Civitavecchia ). 
 

There night be other changes. I didn’t capture the old list.