Ponant is offering 13 new itineraries during its 2023-2024 winter season, including a voyage to Norway to catch the Northern Lights and a tour around the Mascarene Islands. All in all, the cruise line is offering around 30 itineraries across Asia, the Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean, Caribbean and Latin America next winter.
Three highlights among the 13 new winter itineraries with Ponant are:
- The 10-day Nordic Discoveries & Traditions cruise roundtrip from Tromso aboard Le Bellot, with stops in Narvik, Reine, Alta and two new ports—Hammerfest and Honningsvag. The four departure dates to choose from are: March 1, March 11, March 21 and March 31, 2024, with prices starting at $10,160 per person.
From Tromso, otherwise known as the “Paris of the North”, travelers will encounter the Sami people of Narvik, travel the Trollfjorden—named after the trolls that were once thought to guard it—and admire the vertical rock faces on both sides, check out the Struve Geodetic Arc—a chain of survey triangulations that stretch across Europe and have UNESCO World Heritage site status and visit Hammerfest—the northernmost town in Continental Europe—to see the Northern Lights.
- The 14-day Madagascar & the Mascarene Islands Adventure round trip from Port Louis. The three departure dates to choose from are: Dec. 3 and Dec. 16, 2023 aboard Le Champlain, and Dec. 7, 2023 aboard Le Jacques-Cartier, with prices starting at $8,330 per person.
The journey with Ponant begins in Port Louis on Mauritius, where travelers can visit 16th-century Fort Adelaide before the ship heads to Ile Sainte-Marie, also known as Nosy Boraha Island, which was a pirate hotspot in the 17th century, then on to Ile ax Nattes and Tamatave. The next stop is the UNESCO World Heritage site of Reunion Island with its famed vanilla plantations before the ship heads to Rodrigues Island, the smallest of the Mascarene Islands and a little known gem with beautiful white-sand beaches, a lagoon with translucent water and a thriving town market. New ports of call on this voyage include Ile Sainte-Marie, Ile ax Nattes, Tamatave and Port Mathurin.
- The 16-day Seychelles to Sri Lanka Expedition from Victoria, on the island of Mahe, to Colombo via the Maldives aboard Le Jacques-Cartier. The cruise is from Jan. 4-19, 2024, with prices starting at $8,910 per person.
From Victoria, explore the Seychelles archipelago, with stops at Praslin Island for snorkeling and a visit to the Vallée de Mai Nature Reserve, Aride Island to see island’s bird sanctuary, Curieuse Island to catch a glimpse at Aldabra giant tortoises, La Digue Island to visit the Anse Source d’Argent beach. Then it’s on to the Maldives, to visit the Rasdhoo and Baa atolls (the latter being a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve), before heading to Sri Lanka with stops at Galle—one of the country’s oldest cities— Hambantota to see the elephants at Yala National Park and finally, the Silk Road trading port of Colombo.
For more information, visit us.ponant.com.
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