We have traveled to several continents, sometimes with major tour operators like Tauck and NatGeo, but more frequently on our own. This was our first cruise and overall Ponant was very good. The ship, cabin, staff, food, and locations were all wonderful. The presenters and guides were consistently good, and measured up to that I would expect from the Smithsonian. The logistical execution was flawless, especially with getting passengers onto shore and back again. Onboard announcements and information was timely and accurate. My criticism focuses on the communications between Ponant and guests leading up to the cruise, which were in a deluge of emails. One email arrived June 23rd requesting a response by June 19th. A series of emails confused me on what I should wear for "dinner", "galas", "black and white theme" etc. Some information was found online but most was not. Other emails were imprecise, to be kind. For example, passengers should not select excursions based on a code like HRPLE02. These ought not be passenger facing, and caused us to miss a much anticipated excursion to Mostar. Again, all of this was done via back-and-forth email, often with different people. All of this should be online in a passenger portal. Despite all the positives, the miscommunications would dissuade us from traveling Ponant again.
