Ponant Offers 5% Additional Discount for Bookings Confirmed Before Y/E 2021

[AussieBoyTX]

From Facebook:
 

❕ Your End of Year Offer ❕

As 2022 quickly approaches, we wanted to celebrate the end of another year with a little something special for the festive season.

**Book your next PONANT voyage before 31 December and quote XMAS21 to SAVE an extra 5%* on any departure!**

Contact your local PONANT Reservations team for more information or to book.

[gogo65]

I got the email too, 24 hours after we locked in the north east passage cruise…

oh well I’m managed the 5% off for watching their online presentation, on top of everything else, so not to sad.

[Host Jazzbeau]

I check the website immediately after seeing @AussieBoyTX's post, and they had raised the prices on my cruise by 5%.  So a 5% discount off that would actually be more expensive than the original prices...

 

[AussieBoyTX]

Just now, Host Jazzbeau said:

I check the website immediately after seeing @AussieBoyTX's post, and they had raised the prices on my cruise by 5%.  So a 5% discount off that would actually be more expensive than the original prices...

 

😱

[Sitti]

Oh no, I booked and paid deposit my cruise 3 weeks ago😞 All I got was €250 first cruise welcome bonus, not €500 because I'm solo even though I have to full single supplement, nearly the same price as double occupancy.

 

 

 

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

Had to come back to update my post with good news!  I called Ponant on Monday because my TA said they should be able to change the cabin category (down from Deluxe Suite to Prestige Stateroom) and still keep the 30% discount pricing.  Ponant rep said the computer would not let her do that.  But as she worked through the numbers doing a new booking for the stateroom, it turned out she was manually giving me the price difference as an adjustment.  And she also added the XMAS discount!  So the upshot is we paid less on Monday than I had expected to pay the week before.  Very nice customer service!

[gogo65]

Good to hear Jazz, they are generally very good with discounts.

I checked and the price of my cruise was exactly the same , They generally do stick with their pricing model, start at 30% and reduce by 5% as cabins are sold, and then add any discounts and occasionally get a bonus offer like this the Christmas one.

Edited December 10, 2021 by gogo65

[AussieBoyTX]

Agree with @gogo65 -- Ponant seems very consistent on not reversing the Ponant Discount. The one discount we haven't mentioned is flight credits. I have seen some fairly substantial flight credits offered on select cruises sailing in less than 90 days. (Though there are none right now.).

[Sitti]

I knew it was very unlikely to work, but I asked my TA to ask Ponant if somehow this 5% coupon could be applied to my reservation. Answer was no, it is non-retroactive for bookings made before 2 December 2021. However, I did get a consolation prize. Ponant added 250.00 EUR onboard credit to spend during my cruise. 5% would have saved me a few thousand euros, but oh well, I'll gladly take 250 EUR credit over zero. I did get something after all😁

 

At first I really thought about waiting until December for possible additional discounts. When I found out there were only 2 remaining Privilege Suite, I went ahead and secured it. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

IMO Ponant has worked out a fair and effective pricing scheme:  cruises are released with a 30% discount; as sales proceed the discount is cut at regular intervals.  There are never supposed to be 'fire sales' at the end [can't verify this, but I suspect it is true].  This 'Christmas sale' was unusual for them, but with Covid these are unusual times – and it may be a one-off.  Plus, as you found, with these small ships if you want anything special you should plan to book early – e.g. there are only 5 Deluxe Suites and 4 Privilege Suites on each of the 'explorer' ships and they go fast.  Other cruise lines have tried to emulate this approach, but with larger ships it's really hard for them to keep the discipline and watch dozens of empty cabins 'sailaway.'

[ProfCB]

We just arrived home after covid brought a slightly early end to our back to back cruises from Cozumel to Puerto Caldera on Le Champlain. Ponant has been amazing on all fronts — including providing refunds & paying for air fares — right down to extending the Christmas discount past the year’s end for a cruise I booked on board for a August sailing on Le Ponant. We were unable to get the booking done because some information was missing from their website and they said it wasn’t my fault and applied the discount. All in all they have been a stellar company to travel with in these tricky times!!!

Edited January 12, 2022 by ProfCB