Dakar, set at the tip of the Cape Vert peninsula, is West Africa’s westernmost point and the capital of French-speaking Senegal. Although it was not founded until 1857, it is West Africa’s oldest European city and one of the most westernised. The opening of the Dakar-St Louis railway in 1885 put the town on the map; it subsequently became a French naval base and in 1904, the capital of Afrique Occidentale Française. It bears the legacy of Africa’s French colonial past, especially so in the downtown Plateau area, where the architecture is redolent of southern France. Every inch a modern city, Dakar is a frenetic buzz of activity, which can be startling. Perhaps sample the popular mint tea and try your hand at bartering in the colourful craft markets for traditional embroidery, woodcarvings, metalwork and costume jewellery.
Start your Expedition Cruise in Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, located in the south of Santiago Island. You can explore its old centre overlooking the ocean and its historical buildings with transom windows. In the old quarter, you can also learn about the diversity of the archipelago’s cultural origins in the Ethnographic Museum. To finish your day, head to the harbour to visit the Diogo Gomes statue, paying homage to the man who discovered the archipelago in 1460.
Your next stop will be Cape Verde’s cultural capital, Mindelo. Get along with the locals listening to the real morna in the bars of the old town and sipping the local drink, a sugarcane spirit. This island is also known by its British and Portuguese colonial architecture and pastel-coloured houses, the municipal market and the facades of the old Governor’s Palace.
Also known as ‘La Isla Bonita’ (the beautiful island), La Palma is typified by lush forests of pine, laurel and fern which contrast with the rugged splendour of the gigantic Taburiente crater. The island is dotted with attractive villages, which are a delight to discover, and the capital Santa Cruz also makes for an interesting day of exploration. Perched on the edge of the volcanic crater of La Caldereta, Santa Cruz comfortably blends modern architecture with old colonial buildings. Perhaps visit the fascinating Natural History Museum, stroll around the historic quarters and the Plaza de Espana or travel a few miles outside the city to the exquisite Church of Our Lady. If you enjoy shopping, you can find reasonably priced silver jewellery, leather goods and beautifully embroidered clothes, tablecloths and napkins, a speciality of the Canary Islands.
Also known as ‘La Isla Bonita’ (the beautiful island), La Palma is typified by lush forests of pine, laurel and fern which contrast with the rugged splendour of the gigantic Taburiente crater. The island is dotted with attractive villages, which are a delight to discover, and the capital Santa Cruz also makes for an interesting day of exploration. Perched on the edge of the volcanic crater of La Caldereta, Santa Cruz comfortably blends modern architecture with old colonial buildings. Perhaps visit the fascinating Natural History Museum, stroll around the historic quarters and the Plaza de Espana or travel a few miles outside the city to the exquisite Church of Our Lady. If you enjoy shopping, you can find reasonably priced silver jewellery, leather goods and beautifully embroidered clothes, tablecloths and napkins, a speciality of the Canary Islands.
Formed by a volcanic eruption, Madeira lies in the Gulf Stream, about 500 miles due west of Casablanca. Discovered by Portuguese explorer João Gonçalves Zarco in 1419, this beautiful island became part of Portugal’s vast empire and was named for the dense forest which cloaked it – ‘Madeira’ means ‘wood’ in Portuguese. Sugar plantations first brought wealth here, and when King Charles II of England granted an exclusive franchise to sell wine to England and its colonies, many British emigrants were drawn to the capital, Funchal. Today’s travellers come to Madeira for the varied and luxuriant scenery, from mountain slopes covered with vines to picturesque villages and a profusion of wild flowers. The natural beauty of the island has earned it many pseudonyms such as ‘The Floating Garden of the Atlantic’, ‘The Island of Eternal Springtime’ and ‘God’s Botanical Gardens’ and our selection of excursions aim to show you why.
Formed by a volcanic eruption, Madeira lies in the Gulf Stream, about 500 miles due west of Casablanca. Discovered by Portuguese explorer João Gonçalves Zarco in 1419, this beautiful island became part of Portugal’s vast empire and was named for the dense forest which cloaked it – ‘Madeira’ means ‘wood’ in Portuguese. Sugar plantations first brought wealth here, and when King Charles II of England granted an exclusive franchise to sell wine to England and its colonies, many British emigrants were drawn to the capital, Funchal. Today’s travellers come to Madeira for the varied and luxuriant scenery, from mountain slopes covered with vines to picturesque villages and a profusion of wild flowers. The natural beauty of the island has earned it many pseudonyms such as ‘The Floating Garden of the Atlantic’, ‘The Island of Eternal Springtime’ and ‘God’s Botanical Gardens’ and our selection of excursions aim to show you why.
Set on seven hills on the banks of the River Tagus, Lisbon has been the capital of Portugal since the 13th century. It is a city famous for its majestic architecture, old wooden trams, Moorish features and more than twenty centuries of history. Following disastrous earthquakes in the 18th century, Lisbon was rebuilt by the Marques de Pombal who created an elegant city with wide boulevards and a great riverfront and square, Praça do Comércio. Today there are distinct modern and ancient sections, combining great shopping with culture and sightseeing in the Old Town, built on the city’s terraced hillsides. The distance between the ship and your tour vehicle may vary. This distance is not included in the excursion grades.
Set on seven hills on the banks of the River Tagus, Lisbon has been the capital of Portugal since the 13th century. It is a city famous for its majestic architecture, old wooden trams, Moorish features and more than twenty centuries of history. Following disastrous earthquakes in the 18th century, Lisbon was rebuilt by the Marques de Pombal who created an elegant city with wide boulevards and a great riverfront and square, Praça do Comércio. Today there are distinct modern and ancient sections, combining great shopping with culture and sightseeing in the Old Town, built on the city’s terraced hillsides. The distance between the ship and your tour vehicle may vary. This distance is not included in the excursion grades.
Services provided
In addition to the common services provided to all our suites and staterooms:
Services provided
In addition to the common services provided to all our suites and staterooms:
Services provided
In addition to the common services provided to all our suites and staterooms:
Services provided
In addition to the common services provided to all our suites and staterooms:
Services provided
In addition to the common services provided to all our suites and staterooms:
Services provided
In addition to the common services provided to all our suites and staterooms:
Services provided
In addition to the common services provided to all our suites and staterooms:
Services provided
In addition to the common services provided to all our suites and staterooms:
Services provided
In addition to the common services provided to all our suites and staterooms:
A la carte meals are served at the table in the gastro restaurant. At lunch, a selection of dishes inspired by contemporary French brasseries will be offered. At dinner, it is time to sample the grand traditions of French fine dining, with menus to go with one of the best wines from our cellar, as recommended by our sommelier.
To the rear of deck 2 you’ll find a gastronomic restaurant big enough to seat all passengers together at one sitting.
Whether you wish to have breakfast in the privacy of your stateroom, savour a snack in the middle of the day or enjoy your dinner in an intimate setting, our Room Service is available for you. Have a gourmet interlude and treat yourself from a varied menu at any time of day or night*.
Excursions & land itineraries
Each itinerary has been thoughtfully created by our teams to offer you a complete excursion experience. You can discover the hidden gems of the regions you visit in line with your interests.
Hidden creeks, ancient cities, UNESCO world heritage sites… the world reveals its hidden gems as you journey along the routes taken by travellers. In keeping with our ethos “Accessing the worlds treasures by sea”, we offer a wide choice of land excursions during all our cruises (except for expeditions). Chosen by our PONANT experts for their cultural value and historic interest, these excursions can last a few hours or a few days. If you need to stay on land overnight, we take care of your stay from start to finish, until you rejoin your ship. These longer excursions mean you can discover the unmissable sites of the region you are visiting, like Cuzco in Peru for example or the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.
You can access these trips by pre-booking two months before your departure date.
On board the sisterships (Le Boreal, L’Austral, Le Soléal and Le Lyrial) and PONANT EXPLORERS, the reception desk and the excursion desk are arranged side by side to facilitate all your requests.
Reception: our receptionists can accommodate you 24 hours a day on all our ships (from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Le Ponant) to answer all your needs, such as room service, etc.
The excursion office: the excursion team is available at all times to tell you about the onshore programmes, organise group or private excursions and to manage transfers at the start or end of the cruise.
On Le Ponant, the receptionist will answer all your questions about excursions.
The Theatre
The Theatre* is the most unique meeting space on board. It’s the largest space on the ship and regularly accommodates all the passengers. It plays host to shows and entertainment as well as conferences from our experts, naturalist guides and guests of honours. The Theatre makes every cruise unique and enriching thanks to its constant and very accessible events.
On board all our ships, a shop is open during sailing. It offers a selection of presents and souvenirs: clothing, jewellery, beauty products, postcards and accessories.
All our ships feature an onboard spa. Equipped with massage cabins and a Turkish bath (Sister ships) or a sauna (Explorers), the spa offers a wide choice of top-of-the-range treatments provided in association with SOTHYS™ or CLARINS (Le Bellot and Le Jacques-Cartier only), leading French spa and wellness centre brands.
Discover a range of facial treatments, aromatic baths, exfoliation and body massage treatments designed to provide moments of complete relaxation. You can also supplement your beauty ritual with additional services such as hair-removal, makeovers, manicures and pedicures.
Prices and details of services in the PONANT Yacht Spa menu.
The gyms on our ships are equipped with the very latest Technogym© equipment and machines. Treadmills, exercise bikes, Kinesis Wall© strength training machines and many other types of equipment are all provided in a laid-back relaxing environment. The wide floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the sea add undeniable charm to the exercise sessions.
Each day also begins with organised morning workout sessions, either out in the open air or in the theatre. These are supplemented by water aerobics in the pool, or in the sea off the beach for PONANT passengers, when the situation allows it.
Provided in partnership with KÉRASTASE® and L’ORÉAL PROFESSIONNEL®, the hairdressing salon offers a complete range of top quality treatments designed to strengthen, nourish and reinvigorate hair’s shine and brilliance. Our stylists are available to serve all your styling, highlighting, colouring, cutting and tailored hair advice needs.
Your stateroom Officer will be able to take care of your laundry**. The washing and ironing of your clothes will take between 24 and 48 hours. Only ironing** can be delivered on the same day. As dry-cleaning is not possible on the ship, please only give us clothes that can be washed in water.
** These services are not free of charge and are billed directly to your stateroom account.
PONANT ships are non-smoking, even on the stateroom balconies. Smoking is only allowed in the exterior parts of the ship designated for the purpose.
A number of electrical outlets are provided for our cruise guests to use in our common areas.
European power sockets
the 220 volt 50 hertz alternating current is distributed by sockets meeting European standards. Onboard power is 200 volt AC (European standard) and 110 volt AC (North American standard). For safety reasons, hair irons and clothes irons cannot be used in staterooms. Please note that on Le Ponant, 110 volt AC is only available in stateroom bathrooms.
Children under one year of age shall not be authorised to embark on the ships.
On classic cruises, children are accepted from the age of one, with a maximum of 5 children between 1 and 6 years old on board.
On “expedition” cruises children are accepted from 6 years old (except cruises aboard Le Commandant Charcot) and must be fully independent during all the outside activities organised and during disembarkation in rubber boats, be sufficiently tall to sit on the inflatable sides of the boats, and old enough to understand, and immediately respond to the orders given by the persons in charge. As a result, children’s participation in any activity in an inflatable boat shall be subject to the agreement of the Captain and of the Expedition Head, depending on the sea conditions, and the difficulty of disembarking at each location visited. The ships do not carry Parka’s in children’s sizes. Parents must arrange to bring a suitable Parka for children. In all cases, children and young people under the age of 18 are at all times on board or on land under the full and total responsibility of their parents or carers.
For all “expedition” cruises on board Le Commandant Charcot, children are accepted from 8 years old only.
Children aged 4 years or more can be welcomed in the Kid’s Club when the service is offered on board (consult the list of cruises concerned).
The crew are bilingual in French and English. All signage and announcements made are in French and English. On certain cruises, crew members also speak other languages.
On board our vessels you can enjoy the following services:
Free Wi-Fi internet access is available on all of our ships, in both the staterooms and the communal areas. One or several computers are at your disposal in the recreation centres. Please note that the Wi-Fi connection may be discontinued depending on the navigation area and landscapes that may block the vessel from satellite coverage, especially at high latitudes (no connection possible beyond 80° North or South), or for technical reasons beyond our control.
All the ships have a doctor and a nurse available on board, except Le Ponant, on which there is a nurse and a telemedicine service available:
Medical Consultations
Consultations, medical or surgical treatments, and laboratory-based or medical imagery-based (radiology) analyses carried out on board by the doctor or the nurse have to be paid for. The price can vary according to the time and place of the consultation (hospital or stateroom). The prices for all treatments and procedures are displayed in the waiting room. Any medication must also be paid for by the passenger. If using medications on a regular basis make sure to bring adequate supplies for the duration of your cruise.
The doctor on board is not authorised to distribute sick leaves and prescriptions. Only accounts and invoices are provided which may be used by the passenger to obtain a refund from his/her health insurance if his/her contract allows.
Special Medical Treatment
If you have any special treatment, we ask you to inform the reservation service when you register for the cruise, to note it on the information sheet before departure, then inform the on-board crew at the moment of departure and always keep your medication with you for the duration of the cruise.
Seasickness
Our ships (except Le Ponant) have stabilisers equipped with dynamic fins which adapt to the movements of the ship. This system allows the ship to anticipate and compensate for the pitching and tossing of the sea to achieve greater stability. Passengers suffering from seasickness will see their symptoms alleviated and are pleasantly surprised to not feel uncomfortable during their journey. However it is wise to bring travel motion medication with you for peace of mind.
Our Sisterships, PONANT EXPLORERS, Le Paul Gauguin and Le Commandant Charcot were designed for people with reduced mobility in mind:
Access ramps allowing easy movement in communal areas:
– Decks 3 (307), 4 (407) and 5 (509) on board the Sisterships: three 18 m² double cabins adapted for wheelchair access and fitted with either a double bed (180 x 200 cm) or two single beds (90 x 200 cm), a bathroom with shower and toilet, and in the case of the cabins on decks 4 and 5 only, a 4 m² balcony fitted with a small exterior wheelchair access ramp.
– Decks 4 (431) and 5 (527) on board the PONANT Explorers: two 27.5 m² double cabins adapted for wheelchair access and fitted with either a double bed (180 x 200 cm) or two single beds (90 x 200 cm), a bathroom with shower and toilet, and a 4 m² balcony with a small exterior wheelchair access ramp.
– Decks 6 (626 and 628) and 8 (818) on board Le Commandant Charcot: three 28 m² double cabins adapted for wheelchair access and equipped with either a double bed (180 x 200 cm) or two single beds (90 x 200 cm), a bathroom with shower and toilet, and a 7.5 m² balcony with a small exterior wheelchair access ramp.
– Deck 4 (415 and 416) on board Le Paul Gauguin: two 21 m² double cabins adapted for wheelchair access, with cabin 416 fitted with a queen size bed (160 x 200 cm) and cabin 415 fitted with two single beds (90 x 200 cm), and with both cabins featuring a panoramic window and a bathroom with shower and toilet.
Despite these arrangements, each passenger should be able to be independent or travel with a close family member or friend who can give them whatever assistance they require during their trip.
If a person has not been judged suitably fit for travel in complete safety, the company reserves the right to refuse their embarkation. Disembarkation in difficult places or in a Zodiac® is subject to the approval of the Captain, who will always have the safety and wellbeing of the passenger in mind.
We advise our passengers to wear casual and elegant outfits at their convenience, and more formal attire for the Captain’s Dinner.