Ponant Explorations doesn't run megaships. The French luxury line sails 13 small vessels, and ten of them belong to just two near-identical classes — which makes choosing a cruise easier than with almost any other upscale brand. Work out which type of ship your itinerary uses, and you know exactly what to expect on board.
The line started small. Founded in France in 1988, it spent years operating a single 32-passenger sailing ship, Le Ponant, before a rapid expansion from 2010 turned it into one of the biggest names in small-ship, expedition-style cruising. Its largest vessel is around 10,944 gross tons — more than twenty times smaller than the biggest Royal Caribbean ships — yet its newest vessels have far more space per passenger and a higher staff ratio than most mass-market ships.
The flagship is in a league of its own. Le Commandant Charcot, launched in 2021, is a true icebreaker — reportedly a $430 million build with just 123 staterooms — and the only passenger ship capable of commercial North Pole voyages and deep-antarctic routes others can't reach. It carries 245 guests, every cabin has a balcony, and the main restaurant Nuna serves a menu by Alain Ducasse, included in the fare. On many polar sailings the crew roughly equals the passenger count.
The six Ponant Explorers (built 2018-2020, 184 passengers each) are the warm-water yachts, sailing places like the Maldives and Papua New Guinea. Each has a hydraulic marina for kayaks and paddleboards, and the Blue Eye — an underwater lounge with whale-eye viewing portals and hydrophones streaming ocean sound into the room. All 92 cabins per ship have balconies and start at 205 square feet.
The four Sisterships (2010-2015, 264 passengers) are the polar workhorses with 1C ice-class hulls, so they're the ships you'll likely board for Antarctica or the Arctic — though Le Soleal also spends time on Australia's Kimberley coast. Cabins run from about 200 to 484 square feet, with most featuring balconies.
Finally, there are the sailing ships: the 32-guest Le Ponant, revamped in 2021, and the tiny 12-guest Spirit of Ponant from 2024, both plying classic sailing waters like the Mediterranean and Caribbean. Expect bilingual French-English service across the whole fleet.
For travellers, the practical takeaway is simple: pick Le Commandant Charcot for bucket-list polar extremes, the Explorers for warm-water expedition cruising with a beach-marina twist, the Sisterships for classic Antarctica and Arctic voyages, and the sailing ships if you want wind in the sails rather than engines. Prices are firmly luxury-tier, but the intimacy — no ship carries more than 264 guests — is the whole point.
Story via The Points Guy
