Ponant L'Austral Cruise Reviews

4.5 / 5.0
113 reviews
From the Zodiac
Photo Credit: JulieDCanter
Perfect weather, icebergs, wild life and more
Photo Credit: SuzeG
Plenau Island scenic photo with L Áustral in background
Photo Credit: SuzeG
A platter of seals full on krill coming to surveil the people before floati
Photo Credit: SuzeG
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Cruiser Rating
4.1
Very Good
113 reviews
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Featured Review
Wonderful nightly world-class classical music Dublin to Glasgow; other aspects not ideal, especially communication
"Overall: 3/5 MUSTER Muster was a surprisingly complex affair in both English and French, and lasted over a half hour (first one went to the theatre to listen to info, then one went to the cabin to put on the life vests, then one filed back into the theatre, where the usher oddly separated me from my DH in order to fill up one spare seat in a row (certainly if I were getting into a lifeboat in an emergency, I would not allow them to separate me from my DH, so I felt this was inappropriate).We booked this one-week port-intensive "Music in Celtic Lands" cruise with the French small ship upper premium line Ponant (it is definitely not luxury) from Dublin to Glasgow, which featured classical music (a trio, a soprano, and a violist)...."Read More
Catlover54 avatar

Catlover54

10+ Cruises

Age 70s

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1-10 of 113 Ponant L'Austral Cruise Reviews


Exploring the Chilean Fjords on Ponant L’Austral

Review for a Antarctica Cruise on L'Austral

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cboyle
10+ Cruises • Age 70s

This is a journal of our February 27-March 12, 2024, “Exploring the Chilean Fjords” land/expedition package on the Ponant L’Austral. The package includes one night at a 5-star hotel in Buenos Aires, flights and transfers to/from Ushuaia, and 13 nights aboard the L’Austral. We had cruised from Valparaiso to Rio de Janeiro around Cape Horn in 2011 aboard the Star Princess ...
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Sail Date: February 2024


Interesting itinerary

Review for a Baltic Sea Cruise on L'Austral

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Texas travellers
10+ Cruises • Age 60s

We chose this cruise for the interesting itinerary. We actually did a back to back, staying onboard for the next cruise around Svalbard in the Arctic. Friendly, helpful staff and a beautiful ship, but there were issues. Our bed was two cots with a mattress topper that was different heights. Not the normal bed for a 5th floor room. We could not put our luggage underneath. We always are able to do ...
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Sail Date: May 2023


Wonderful nightly world-class classical music Dublin to Glasgow; other aspects not ideal, especially communication

Review for a Europe - British Isles & Western Cruise on L'Austral

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Catlover54
10+ Cruises • Age 70s

DH and I are veterans of many "luxury" and a few non-luxury cruises, with no particular favorite line. We like to mix and match depending on itinerary, timing, and other factors. We wanted to combine a pre-cruise land trip to Ireland with a classical music cruise, and then a land trip in Scotland, where we would disembark. We booked this one-week port-intensive "Music in Celtic Lands" cruise ...
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Sail Date: April 2023


Gastronomy, Vineyards & Grands Crus

Review for a Baltic Sea Cruise on L'Austral

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cboyle
10+ Cruises • Age 70s

John and I were delighted to discover this one-off food- and wine-centric itinerary on the L’Austral. We enjoy the French ambiance, excellent food, and great wine onboard Ponant’s ships. This cruise promised more of the same by including a Michelin-starred guest chef, guest experts on wine and cheese, and special wine and gastronomic events. The Ponant Corporate Chef was also onboard this ...
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Sail Date: April 2023


Great ship!

Review for a Arctic Cruise on L'Austral

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AnnaK1
First Time Cruiser • Age 30s

The ship has been given a makeover and looks great! The team on board is very attentive. We were able to travel in serenity in a bubble of comfort. The food is of high quality and varied. We enjoyed ourselves from breakfast to dinner. The expedition team accompanied us very well, the guides were all very interesting. They made us discover a multitude of marine species, fabulous birds... ...
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Sail Date: June 2022


Antarctic Excellence

Review for a Antarctica Cruise on L'Austral

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ncgirl2017
6-10 Cruises • Age 70s

Ponant was our second choice because our first line rerouted the ship we originally wanted because of the pandemic. Ponant was highly recommended and it proved itself to us. Covid took our first choice with Ponant, the Le Lyrial out of the running because of covid, but they had several ships running the Antarctic route and fit us on the Austral for the next day. L'Austral was captained by an ...
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Sail Date: February 2022


great landings and zodiac tours

Review for a Antarctica Cruise on L'Austral

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doccair
6-10 Cruises • Age 70s

We had a generally great trip to the Antarctic. The combination of the Captain and the Expedition leader enabled us to have freguent excursions and landings despite difficult weather. Breakfasts and lunches were good supplemented by great breads and pastries. Dinnners were a dissapointment with the fish and meats not well cooked and often arriving warm. Deserts were also ...
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Sail Date: December 2021


Beyond Wondrous in the age of Covid 19

Review for a Antarctica Cruise on L'Austral

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JulieDCanter
2-5 Cruises • Age 60s

We planned the trip of a lifetime to Antarctica on Ponant, impressed with reviews, the small size of the ship and everything French about it. We had no idea that the trip would be memorable in more ways than one. We had an amazing 15 days at sea, with highlights including stops along the Peninsula and South Georgia Island with surprise stops at the international research station (because a ...
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Sail Date: February 2020


Worst travel experience ever

Review for a Arctic Cruise on L'Austral

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PRL1314
6-10 Cruises • Age 80s

We chose the cruise to the Arctic because the ship was supposed to be small. I made a mistake and thought it was 128 passengers. It was 128 cabins. In the arctic and antarctic only 100 passengers can be on shore at any time so ships should be no more than 100 passengers to get the experience. All shore experiences except one were worthless wastes of time. More on that later. We called Ponant a ...
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Sail Date: June 2019


Brazil to Africa

Review for a Transatlantic Cruise on L'Austral

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SteamboatWillie118
10+ Cruises • Age 50s

First of all, on our many cruises we've never had such a warm and fuzzy crew, we felt like part of an extended family, and it was genuine. The crew actually bids to come back to the same ship because they like being around each other. We never witnessed grouchiness or tension among the staff, in definite contrast to the larger cruise ships we've been on in the past. The service was hence over ...
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Sail Date: March 2019


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