Ponant cruise ship cabin and suite guide: Everything you need to know

What are the cabins and suites like on Ponant Explorations ships? In a word, elegant.

Known for expedition-style voyages to off-the-beaten-path places such as Antarctica and Australia’s Kimberley region, the France-based line operates 13 small vessels with some of the most stylish and comfortable cabins of any ship sailing to such destinations.

In general, Ponant cabins are sleek and contemporary, with a generous amount of space. In contrast to what you’ll find on many cruise ships, they also all have windows of some sort looking out over the ocean. Ponant ships do not have windowless inside cabins.

Nearly every cabin and suite on the 13 Ponant ships also comes with a balcony, which isn’t always the case with small cruise ships and expedition ships. The line’s seven newest ships are all-balcony vessels.

In short, Ponant vessels are a good choice if you’re looking for a ship that can take you to the most remote parts of the world in style.

A Ponant Cruises cabin primer

Ponant’s entire fleet of 13 vessels has been designed for intimacy, with even the biggest of the ships home to just 132 cabins. Six of the line’s newest vessels, known as the Ponant Explorers, have just 92 cabins apiece.

That’s far fewer cabins than you’ll find on most upscale ships. Most of the ships operated by luxury line Seabourn, for instance, have 226 to 302 cabins.

From an experiential point of view, this is wonderful news, of course — who doesn’t love a more intimate vacation experience away from the crowds? But it also means that there’s limited cabin inventory for any particular sailing.

If you find a Ponant sailing you like, you shouldn’t wait too long to book it.

On the line’s seven newest vessels — the six Ponant Explorers and the 123-cabin Le Commandant Charcot (the world’s first and only luxury icebreaker) — every cabin features a balcony.

That means you’ll always have a place to sit outside and take in the fresh air when sailing on these ships.

Four more of the line’s ships that each have 132 cabins, known as the Sisterships, are almost completely outfitted with balcony cabins. Just a handful of cabins on these ships are what’s known as ocean-view cabins — that is, they have a window but no balcony.

Only the line’s two small sailing vessels, the 16-cabin Le Ponant and the six-cabin Spirit of Ponant, are built with mostly ocean-view cabins. That’s normal for small sailing ships, as the waterline on such vessels is too close to cabin areas to accommodate balconies.

As noted above, Ponant ships do not have windowless inside cabins, as you’ll often find on other cruise vessels.

The bottom line? You’ll likely have an easier time locking down a balcony cabin on a Ponant ship sailing to an off-the-beaten-path destination such as Antarctica than you will when booking many of the ships operated by competing brands that don’t operate ships with as many balcony cabins.

Just note that you’ll want to book particularly early if you’re aiming for a suite on one of these vessels, as the small size of the ships means that each one only has a handful of bigger suites. Also, suites tend to sell out early on cruise ships in general.

An old saying in the cruise industry is that “ships sell from the top and the bottom.” That is, the first cabins on any vessel to sell out are the most expensive cabins, which are the suites, and the least expensive cabins, which typically are the inside cabins. The midpriced “middle” cabins sell last.

Ocean-view cabins on Ponant Cruises ships

With an ocean-view cabin, you get a window looking out to the sea but not an attached balcony where you can sit outside and enjoy the fresh air.

As noted above, this style of cabin is relatively rare on Ponant ships. Only the line’s four Sisterships (Le Lyrial, Le Soleal, L’Austral and Le Boreal) and its two sailing ships have ocean-view cabins.

In the case of the four Sisterships, just a handful of ocean-view cabins are on each vessel — eight, to be exact, out of 132 cabins in all. Every other cabin on each of these ships has a balcony.

Each of these cabins measures 226 square feet, which is notably bigger than the interior area of many of the balcony cabins on these ships (most of which measure 193 square feet). If interior space is your main concern, these cabins are a good option.

All of these ocean-view cabins are found toward the front of Deck 3 on the ships. They all have a picture window, with the exception of cabin 300 on each vessel, which has a porthole.

The cabins for the line’s two sailing vessels, Le Ponant and Spirit of Ponant, are mostly ocean-view cabins. This is typical for sailing ships, where cabins often are located near the waterline.

On Le Ponant, 12 of the 16 cabins are ocean-view cabins. All are located on Deck 2, the ship’s lowest passenger deck.

Balcony cabins on Ponant Cruises ships

Everyone wants a balcony cabin these days, and Ponant delivers, with huge numbers of balcony cabins on nearly all its ships. As mentioned above, all of the line’s Explorer Class ships, which debuted between 2018 and 2020, are all-balcony ships. So is the line’s groundbreaking new icebreaker, Le Commandant Charcot.

On these newer vessels — Le Jacques Cartier, Le Bellot, Le Dumont-d’Urville, Le Bougainville, Le Champlain and Le Laperouse — the typical balcony cabin has an interior space of 161 square feet plus a balcony that measures 43 square feet (for a total of 204 square feet).

These are upscale, contemporary rooms with a king-size bed that can be divided into two singles, a seating area with a chair and small table, and a bathroom with a walk-in shower. The private balcony, accessible through a sliding bay window or panoramic swing door, has two armchairs.

Balcony cabins on the four Sisterships measure 193 square feet in total, including a 43-square-foot balcony. They also have a king-size bed that can be divided into two singles, a seating area with a chair and small table, and a bathroom with a walk-in shower.

The most elegant balcony cabins in the Ponant fleet are reserved for Le Commandant Charcot, which was built to be as luxurious as it is tough (it is the only purpose-built cruise vessel in the world capable of sailing to the North Pole).

Even the vessel’s smallest cabins measure a respectable 215 square feet, bigger than the entry-level balcony cabins on the Explorer Class ships and Sisterships, and they are filled with luxury touches.

In deluxe stateroom balcony cabins, for instance, this includes lovely light faux wood paneling enveloping the bed area, covering not just the wall behind the bed but the ceiling above, with a curvy transition between the two.

Ultramodern built-in furniture in these cabins offers plenty of storage space while also giving the room a hip look. The bathrooms are sexy with dark granite countertops, gray stone shower walls and faux wood walls.

Suites on Ponant Cruises ships

Looking to live large on a Ponant vessel? You might want to book one of the line’s newer ships.

Despite being relatively small, each of the line’s six new Explorer Class vessels offers a wide range of suite options that offer both more space and extra perks.

For starters, all six of the Explorer Class vessels offer four categories of stand-alone suites that range from 290 square feet to 484 square feet in size — significantly larger than the standard 204-square-foot cabin on the vessels.

In all, these account for 13 of the 92 cabins on the ships — about 14% of the total.

Ponant also markets 18 additional suites on these vessels that it can create by combining two standard cabins that have a sliding wall between them. Add these in, and there are up to 31 suites on every sailing available for booking.

The line’s four-year-old icebreaker, Le Commandant Charcot, meanwhile, has even more suites on board, with 61 standalone suites and 17 additional suites that can be created by combining two standard cabins. It is, by far, the line’s most suite-heavy ship, which is in keeping with its most-luxurious-vessel-in-the-fleet positioning.

That said, as on the Explorer Class ships and Le Commandant Charcot, the Sisterships offer additional suites that are created by combining two standard cabins that have a sliding wall between them. There are 20 of these suite configurations — known as Prestige Suites — on each of the Sisterships.

The Prestige Suites are a particularly good choice for families, as their two-cabins-combined-into-one footprint means that there are two sets of bathrooms that can be split among parents and kids. When configured as Prestige Suites, they are set up with a king-size bed that can be converted into two singles on one side of the complex and a sofa in place of the bed on the other side. But that sofa can be converted into a king-size bed or two single beds, too, allowing for up to four people to sleep in these rooms.

Most stand-alone suites on Le Commandant Charcot are designed to hold two people, though a handful of the bigger suites can accommodate up to four people. The ship’s Owner’s Suite — a truly massive complex measuring 1,238 square feet — can hold up to six.

The suites on Le Commandant Charcot include four two-deck-high complexes that are among the most spectacular suites you’ll find on any expedition ship. Each has a large living and dining area on its lower level, with sleeping quarters on the second floor.

Despite being a small vessel, Ponant’s 16-cabin Le Ponant sailing ship has several lovely large suites measuring more than 500 square feet.

For all of the suites mentioned in the section, you’ll typically receive extra perks that you wouldn’t normally get with a regular cabin, including a welcome bottle of Champagne and fruit on arrival.

Higher tiers of suites often bring personalized butler service, priority boarding, complimentary spa treatments and private transfers to the ship.

For instance, passengers in top suites on Deck 6 of the four Sisterships (Le Boréal, L’Austral, Le Soléal, Le Lyrial) receive dedicated butler service and priority embarkation. On the six Explorers vessels, butler service and priority come with suites across Deck 6 as well as Privilege, Grand and Owner’s Suites.

On Le Commandant Charcot, butler service and priority boarding come with all Grand Suites, Privilege Suites, Duplex Suites and the Owner’s Suite.

Some top-tier suites also bring complimentary wellness treatments for two and included premium bar selections and private airport transfers.

Bottom line

Upscale expedition cruise-focused Ponant is known for elegant cabins that have a sleek and contemporary look. Almost all the rooms on its ships come with balconies.

It offers some of the most inviting accommodations among small-ship brands operating voyages to off-the-beaten-path places such as Antarctica, the Arctic, Australia’s remote Kimberley region and little-visited parts of South America, Africa and the South Pacific.

Planning a cruise? Start with these stories:

Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

Source: thepointsguy.com