YVR Cockroach

Looks like the VC that bought Ponant from CMA-CGM and pumped a lot of money into new ships must be getting desperate. Quite a few cruises are being dumped through a well-known clearance OTA. Potential small boat luxury cruising for less than $210 pp pd.

747FC

YVR Cockroach

I guess the 1 or 2 percenters (or even fewer) have their own yachts, and the big lines do ship within a ship. The small ship lines can't compete with the amenities the big ships offer. Le Soleal doesn't even have a hot tub.

The prices on the Ponant's site is still at full whack. I guess they don't want to upset their regular channel customers.

FWIW, VTG makes the fare available to some but not others My wife wasn't offered it yesterday and today but was last week (we logged in on different browsers and different computers) while I am still being offered it. I guess VTG knows I am cheap.

Hoyaheel

Hmm, I'm not seeing huge discounts on VTG, and I am cheap too ;-)

I'm happy to see more smaller ships (all new small ships seem to be luxury lines these days, or expedition ships that are high end....) because that's our preference. I don't necessarily need the luxury (and can't afford to cruise often if I have to pay those high per diems....) but I'm not going to get on a ship with more than 1000 passengers. I like seeing that crowded field in the middle there.....

[going back to see if I can find that $210 pp per diem on Ponant ;-)]

YVR Cockroach

The prices, I think, are a lot lower than Silversea, Crystal, RSSC, etc. Even cheaper than Oceania. Of course, not the most desirable itinerary but this is our way of 1) seeing French Polynesia on a small ship, 2) getting to Asia (via PPT), and 3) trying a luxury cruise on the cheap which we would never pay for otherwise.

Let me know which ones you're interested in and I'll tell you what they're offering me. There are some last-minutes but quite a few for last next year. Discount in the order of 50%+

FWIW, the cruises my wife and I are booked on is $4,900 a/i for 28 days (2 cruises combined/back-to-back, the 2nd is a 13 night non-stop repo) - taking the balcony for the 1st leg through French Polynesia and a slightly bigger and cheaper oceanview for the crossing. If we had gone for the ocenview, we coul have gt the per diem down to $160 pppd. More detailed breakdown would be $203 pp p for French Poynesia and $131 pp pd for the crossng to Japan. The free repo "ocean" cruise and 1st cruise discount ($600 p.p. BEWELCO code) isn't offered at these rates which are also non-refundable

When I got the final quote yesterday, the price for the 1st cruises was even 10% (~$300) lower than published.

YVR Cockroach

I'll make it easy and list the cruises that are being offered at 50% or more off

14867 $143/day
13826 $276/day
14419 $250/day
11931 $236/day
14950 $150/day
12001 $300/day
22268 $270/day
22320 $270/day
16181 $250/day
29557 $146/day
13651 $146/day17207 $250/day
16370 $220/day
12772 $130/day

Nice thing is that gratuities are included (not necessarily so depending on where you buy the French FAQ seems to indicate tips are additional) as are drinks and internet access (or at least wi-fi is available in room, whether you have to pay extra or not...)

16414 and 16421 which is what I booked are no longer listed as discounted (to that degree in one case)

Hoyaheel

In the past, I think I've only ever priced Ponant for Antarctica, which is going to have much higher per diems anyway. So many of the luxury (and even the mid-high end) lines seem to have incremental pricing - by which I mean Azamara is only a litle more than mainstream, but some itineraries the same. Oceania has much higher pricing - but we did Seabourn in Alaska last month for just a little more than a similar Oceania itinerary, and so on. After that Seabourn trip, it's dang hard to go back to HAL after that, I think (we haven't tried ;-) We ended up finding the Seabourn trip after we'd pretty much decided on Oceania, but I said - well, just see what the luxury lines have - and we found a good deal.

I'm not actively looking, or at least, not for a cruise in the near future - just interested to see where the cheap itineraries are. Your trip sounds great!

YVR Cockroach

The Ponant Arctic transit cruise wold be the most interesting but very pricey and usually sold out months in advance.

I just thought they didn't discount much (was just 4% when I started looking a year ago, then went to undiscounted, then to 53%).

I'm not sure which line to compare Ponant.to. Ships are the size of the old Seabourn ships but the latter's current fleet are much larger, as are the luxury and premium lines. I've only ever done repos on the mass-markets so my per diems have been very cheap (including gratuities anywhere from $52 to 105). This Ponant cruise isn't much more and perhaps even less given that drinks and maybe internet access are included.

Clientele, I would hazard to guess, is probably more physically fit than other lines. They have cruises that begin and end on Easter Island where savvy cruisers on other lines know a miss jut as a port of call is a definite and distinct possibility due to rough sea conditions (no protected harbour).

And yeah, it will be hard to go back to the mass-market lines after but I can do without (unless it's really cheap).

I'd sign up for several VTG accounts and check them all when you're thinking just in case anything becomes discounted for some but not the others..

747FC

YVR Cockroach

So true. The French FAQ states the rates at €0.18-0.30/min depending on how much time you buy.

Fortunately by booking the cruise seperately, we're already at the first tier of the FCP and get 60 mins free (each, per cruise I hope) and free laundry.

farbster

I don't think that Azamara, Oceania, and Viking are considered Luxury. Not by luxury travel agent standards.

747FC

No argument from me, but these may be considered near-luxury. I know a number of Seabourn/Silverseas cruisers who also like one or more of these lines. As such, they are positioned to swing some of the luxury-line loyalists over to them if the price point and itinerary are agreeable.

Hoyaheel

They aren't, which is why I referred to the "crowded field in the middle". In travel agent nomenclature, I've seen them referred to as "premium" lines. [in the hierarchy of mass, premium, luxury] But fares have been all over the place, as are inclusions, so for me personally, I look at all of them and note what per diems include on each line....

Nicoolio

I don't think it was a VC -- same owner as Kering - Pinault family - one of the richest in France -- owns Gucci, Bottega, Puma I think - and then industrial companies as well.

Randyk47