State of the art and ultra-modern intimate ships, Ponant offers the best attentive service, and well-designed itineraries sailing to all corners of the globe. Each year PONANT offers more than 400 awe-inspiring journeys, calling at over 450 ports on all seven continents. The fleet of 12 purpose-built intimate ships are able to call at iconic, international ports as well as secret harbors accessible only to smaller-sized ships and Ponant expeditions all include Zodiac landings, and onboard expert naturalists to enhance your experience.
6 Ponant Explorers (ice-strengthened expedition mega-yacht) each built to nearly the same exacting specifications. All including The Blue Eye, a multisensorial underwater lounge offering a unique experience unlike anything else in the world.
Like the rest of the PONANT EXPLORERS series, Le Champlain successfully manages to subtly combine the desire to explore the remotest regions of the planet with the comfort and privacy of a cozily intimate ship. To the innovative and environmentally friendly equipment are added elegant design and a unique atmosphere in keeping with the whole PONANT universe. Your dream of a cruise onboard a cozily intimate ship is thus made possible through the combination of an authentically genuine voyage experience together with discreet luxury.
Guests Capacity: 184
Inaugural Sailing: 2018
Environmentally friendly, fitted with innovative equipment and complete with lounges designed to be largely open to the exterior, this new and intimately sized yacht offers a unique type of cruise experience. Onboard this ship sailing under the French flag, you’ll experience the incomparable pleasure of a cozily intimate cruise offering the possibility of exploring an ever-increasing range of destinations in an ethnic chic ambiance and with five-star service.
Guests Capacity: 184
Inaugural Sailing: 2018
Welcoming and spacious common areas, refined open-to-the-sea design, sleek exterior lines, a marina to make access to the ship’s Zodiac® inflatables easier, hi-tech equipment, an outdoor pool, a multisensorial underwater lounge… Le Bougainville represents the new generation of ships designed to combine discovery and exploration with luxury, even in the planet’s most remote and isolated regions.
Guests Capacity: 184
Inaugural Sailing: 2019
Guests Capacity: 184
Inaugural Sailing: 2019
As the fifth ship in a new series that remains true to the Ponant spirit, Le Bellot will embody the unique atmosphere that is the cruise line’s hallmark: a subtle blend of refinement, intimacy and comfort.
Guests Capacity: 184
Inaugural Sailing: 2020
As the sixth ship in a new series that remains true to the Ponant spirit, Le Jacques Cartier will embody the unique atmosphere that is the cruise line’s hallmark: a subtle blend of refinement, intimacy and comfort. In keeping with the philosophy of PONANT and the PONANT EXPLORERS, Le Jacques-Cartier combines the desire for adventure with five-star travel. A modern ship with slender, tapered lines, it is environmentally friendly and equipped with innovative technology. Tastefully decorated, Le Jacques-Cartier reflects the universe so dear to PONANT, with its light tones and open-to-the-sea design providing soft light and luminosity at every instant of the day. Its ethnic chic ambiance pays homage to the destinations we visit.
Located below the waterline, the Blue Eye, the first ever multisensorial lounge, offers a unique experience: the opportunity to enjoy undersea views and the sounds of the marine world whilst sharing a glass together.
Guests Capacity: 184
Inaugural Sailing: 2020
As the finale ship in a new series that remains true to the Ponant spirit, Le Surville will embody the unique atmosphere that is the cruise line’s hallmark: a subtle blend of refinement, intimacy and comfort. This will be the sixth explorer ship built in class.
Guests Capacity: 184
Inaugural Sailing: 2021 ?
PONANT’s 4 signature style vessel. Taking passengers to the farthest reaches of the planet onboard five-star ships offering top-of-the-range services.
The first of the Sisterships series, the Le Boréal paved the way for a new generation of cruise ships combining cutting-edge technology, intimate sizing and top-of-the-range services.
Le Boréal, like its Sisterships L’Austral, Le Soléal and Le Lyrial, epitomizes the unique feel and atmosphere of the ships of the PONANT fleet. Subtly combining luxury, intimacy and serene well-being, the ship has been designed to offer passengers both moments of conviviality and spaces conducive to peaceful tranquility and a sense of escape and getting away from it all. Its exterior and interior lines testify to the ingeniousness and refinement with which the Sisterships have been designed.
Guests Capacity: 264
Inaugural Sailing: 2010
Innovative design, sleek shape and profile, refined interior decoration, friendly, intimate atmosphere: French designers and decorators have managed to give this ship a unique style and veritable signature of its own. Combinations of fine materials, colors and tones harmoniously livened up with touches of bright color, elegant lines, discreet and subtle refinement… everything has been designed to create a unique atmosphere onboard, a veritable personality: the chic style and naturally relaxing ambiance of a veritable private yacht.
Guests Capacity: 264
Inaugural Sailing: 2011
Like Le Boréal and L’Austral, the two sister ships that preceded it, Le Soléal further reaffirms PONANT’s signature approach: to take passengers to the farthest reaches of the planet onboard five-star ships offering top-of-the-range services.
Guests Capacity: 264
Inaugural Sailing: 2013
First introduced in 2015 and the fourth ship in the Sisterships series, Le Lyrial is the very embodiment of this new generation of intimately sized cruise ships. Its exterior and interior lines, all sober understatement and refinement, make it a yacht of a rare and innovative kind. For the interior decoration, we took inspiration from the tones and colors of our destinations and used a palette made up of blues, from the soft, luminous grey-like tones of the polar ice to the vivid notes and turquoises of Mediterranean inlets and coves.
Guests Capacity: 264
Inaugural Sailing: 2015
This very first hybrid-electric polar exploration ship powered by LNG has been designed with the greatest attention to detail in terms of safety and respect for the environment.
With Le Commandant-Charcot, PONANT has imagined and envisaged the cruise voyage of tomorrow. The latest addition to the fleet will take you following in the footsteps of the great polar explorers in refined surroundings complete with the kind of luxury services never before offered in the farthest reaches of the southern and northern hemispheres.
Thanks to preliminary exploration, environmental impact studies and protocols developed by PONANT, Le Commandant Charcot’s itineraries are carefully chosen to be entirely safe for, and respectful of, the environment. Above and beyond offering its passengers the adventure of a lifetime, PONANT’s aim is to raise their awareness of the vulnerability of the Polar environments and turn them into advocates and ambassadors for these regions.
The indoor swimming pool, the conservatory, the panoramic restaurant, the Blue Lagoon outdoor restaurant, the Main Lounge, the Observation Lounge, the lobby… Each of the common areas has been designed to both convey French-style discreet luxury and arouse wonder and amazement. The common thread running through all their designs is the desire to allow the light to penetrate and open everything up the extraordinary polar landscapes and scenery.
aka: Ponant Icebreaker
Arctic Region Sailing Season: May > August
Antarctic Region Sailing Season: October > April
Guests Capacity: 264
Inaugural Sailing: 2010
Unique of its kind, Le Ponant is one of the most majestic sailing vessels in the world. With 16 spacious cabins and suites, one crew member per passenger, a dedicated chef, and authentic and exclusive experiences to be enjoyed at every stop, designed for and with you, the ship redefines the concept of luxury yachting and promises you an extraordinary experience.
In addition to its tasteful and refined design by Jean-Philippe Nuel, it has many innovative and environmentally friendly amenities.
Currently available for Private Charter only.
Guests Capacity: 32
Inaugural Sailing: 1991
Latest Refurbishment: 2020
My Ponant Information Page at Virtuoso
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page updated: October2020
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