01Polar expedition gateways, Arctic and Antarctic regions
Le Commandant Charcot
Built for the high latitudes, with research spaces aboard.
02The story
Le Commandant Charcot exists to go where other ships turn back. It was built for the high latitudes, and the polar world is treated aboard as a subject rather than a backdrop: dedicated research spaces sit among the cabins, and what the ship passes on the way is the reason it is there at all. French habits survive the cold intact. The table is properly laid, the bread is good, and the day ends with the sort of dinner that makes eight hours on deck in a parka seem entirely reasonable. Zodiacs go out when the ice allows and the expedition team explains what is in front of you, which is the difference between a photograph and an afternoon you understand. Very little about the route is promised in advance.
A ship made for ice
The vessel is the reason the itinerary is possible at all. Built for the high latitudes, it travels into water where a conventional hull has no business, and the routes reflect that: places reached late in the season, or barely reached by anyone. The capability changes the temper of the voyage. Days are offered rather than scheduled, and the ship spends long hours moving slowly through country that very few people have ever seen from the water.
Research aboard, not ashore
Dedicated research spaces sit within the ship, which gives the polar regions a second dimension on board. What passes the window at breakfast has a name, a behaviour and a reason for being where it is, and the expedition team is aboard to explain all three. For a traveller that is the difference between a spectacular view and an education, and it sets the tone in the lounge, where the conversation tends to be about what was seen rather than what comes next.
The French part of it
PONANT is French where it counts. The crew speaks it, the kitchen believes in it, and the evening after a day on deck is a proper one, which matters far more at these latitudes than it would in the Mediterranean. Warmth becomes a genuine luxury when the temperature outside has an argument to make, and the contrast between the two, six hours in the wind and then a long dinner, is a large part of why people go back.
03Highlights
What sets it apart.
The signature moment
Nine at night and still light. The ship has stopped against the floe, the engines are off and the only sound is ice moving along the hull. Someone from the expedition team names the seal on the far edge, and the conversation carries on over dinner an hour later.
- 01Built for the high latitudes
- 02Dedicated research spaces
- 03Zodiac landings with the expedition team
- 04French cooking at the ice edge
- 05Arctic and Antarctic routes
04PONANT
What a preferred sailing brings.
- 01
Onboard credit
Credit to spend on board on eligible sailings with our cruise partners, on whatever the voyage suggests, from the spa to a day ashore.Onboard credit for the spa, the cellar or an outing ashore.
- 02
Selected cruise offers
Selected offers on eligible sailings, opened through our cruise partnerships and set beside the fare for the voyage you have in mind.PONANT offers for the exact ship and departure you choose.
- 03
Your place on board
Guidance on deck, cabin and suite from someone who has studied the plans: where the ship is quietest, where the light falls, where your party fits.A cabin matched to the vessel, from coastal sailing to ice.
- 04
Your fare, explained
A plain account of the fare before you reserve: what the voyage includes, from dining and drinks to excursions, and what remains yours to choose.What the fare covers, from landings to equipment, named before you reserve.
- 05
The voyage, end to end
The sailing set within the whole journey: the night before in port, the car to the pier and the days ashore that deserve to be kept.Flights, gateway nights and the days that frame a remote sailing.