To provide you with the best possible experience, the PONANT website uses cookies. Its use means that you accept it. For more information, please refer to our personal data management policy. Learn more.
Le Commandant Charcot
Le Commandant-Charcot, the very first hybrid-electric polar exploration ship powered by liquefied natural gas, and the latest addition to the PONANT fleet, has now made it possible to operate polar expedition cruises of a kind never before undertaken.
Until 245 Guests
123 staterooms & suites
215 crew members
Spa
2 restaurants
With Le Commandant-Charcot, PONANT has imagined and envisaged the cruise voyage of tomorrow. The latest addition to the fleet will take you following in the footsteps of the great polar explorers in refined surroundings complete with the kind of luxury services never before offered in the farthest reaches of the southern and northern hemispheres.
The indoor swimming pool, the conservatory, the panoramic restaurant, the Blue Lagoon outdoor restaurant, the Main Lounge, the Observation Lounge, the lobby… Each of the common areas has been designed to both convey French-style discreet luxury and arouse wonder and amazement. The common thread running through all their designs is the desire to allow the light to penetrate and open everything up the extraordinary polar landscapes and scenery.
This very first hybrid-electric polar exploration ship powered by LNG has been designed with the greatest attention to detail in terms of safety and respect for the environment.
In detail
Technical Specificity
Deep polar exploration
This first ever deep polar navigation cruise ship opens the gateways to the highest latitudes of the Arctic and the Antarctic. Embark for a faraway odyssey combining exploration with science, and become experts in these regions that for centuries have stirred the imaginations of the greatest adventurers. See this captivating and wondrous part of the world for yourself.
An on-hand expedition team by your side
Le Commandant Charcot expedition team constitutes one of the best guest-to-staff ratios found on any voyage of this kind. Biologists, naturalists, engineers, glaciologists, and geologists, these experts in the polar regions will be on hand to ensure the safety of all your activities and experiences and to share their passion for the poles. They will be by your side throughout your voyage of discovery, providing key insights to help you get the most out of the encounters with fauna, flora and local populations that await you, and helping you better understand the stakes and challenges involved in preserving this natural and cultural heritage
Expedition leaders
Alongside the captain, the expedition leader is the main person responsible for managing and coordinating the exploration aspect of the cruise. They supervise the team of naturalist guides and scientific mediators, ensure the safety of the organised activities offered, and tailor and adapt the experiences, thus ensuring the full richness of these fascinating ecosystems is revealed in all its glory.
+
Naturalist guides
A team of 23 naturalist guides trained in supervising activities in polar environments will be by your side every day to interpret and explain everything about these largely unexplored ecosystems, both onboard the ship and during onshore activities. Meet some of the members of the team.
+
Science Mediators
The scientific mediation team on Le Commandant Charcot brings science to life for guests onboard the ship. Their mission is to give you an insight into the profession of scientific researcher and the challenges involved in the scientific approaches deployed, and enable you to contribute directly to the study and protection of the polar regions by giving you the opportunity to take part in citizen science workshops.
+The poles like never before
Le Commandant Charcot takes you further than ever before, sailing well inside the polar circles and deep into the middle of the ice, where only a PC2 polar class ship (icebreaker) can safely venture. Onboard, on land, on the sea or on the ice, enjoy a range of unique, intense and authentically immersive experiences amidst the quasi-hypnotic power of the polar environment, such as dog sledding, sightseeing excursions in Zodiac® inflatable boats, snowshoeing, polar diving, kayaking, ice fishing and citizen science sessions.
Discover the voyages
A scientific research and monitoring vessel
Sailing through the remote and icy regions of the poles provides a unique opportunity to regularly and periodically collect scientific data for use in understanding how sea ice forms, analysing ocean circulation, studying the biological characteristics of the polar marine environment, tracking and monitoring marine megafauna, and analysing the social and environmental impacts of tourism. The data collected by researchers and passengers through citizen science sessions is helping to advance research into these regions – which more than a century after the heroic golden age of polar exploration still have much to reveal – and move forward efforts to protect and preserve them.
Scientific research
Because Le Commandant Charcot is capable of travelling to the most remote and isolated polar regions on the planet, we also wanted to give researchers access to it. Envisaged from the outset as a vessel of scientific opportunity, the ship is equipped with two dedicated research laboratories and a variety of measuring and recording instruments and equipment, such as buoys, drones, ice core drills, salinometers, sonars, underwater cameras and Argos beacons, and represents a unique partnership between academic science and polar travel and tourism.
Read more
Citizen science
By enabling observations and samples made and collected in the field to be shared with scientists via special apps that feed data to their databases, citizen science gives everyone the chance to contribute to research programmes in areas such as whale identification and meteorological and oceanographic profiling, for example. This provides valuable information for the study and protection of these ecosystems.
Read more
Everything is included when you take an expedition cruise onboard Le Commandant Charcot.
Everything is included in our services when you take an expedition cruise onboard Le Commandant Charcot. Excursions and onshore landings by Zodiac® inflatable or hovercraft; onboard, onshore and water-based activities and experiences – simply relax and enjoy the adventure with complete peace of mind. A complimentary parka is included and snow boots are provided.
Discover the voyages
Expedition leaders
John Frick
John has been sharing his passion for adventure and polar voyages with others for 30 years. He has been a PONANT expedition leader since 2015. His work as a naturalist guide has taken him all over the world, from the Arctic and Alaska to Africa and Nepal. John speaks English.
Florence Kuyper
After training in humanities and gaining professional experience in applied social science, Florence visited and discovered Antarctica and became passionately interested in polar destinations. Florence has been an expedition leader for PONANT since 2015. She loves teaching people about the history of the polar regions and passing on her knowledge of penguins and ethnology. Florence speaks French, English, Dutch and German.
Jonathan Zaccaria
An engineer by training, Jonathan worked on both French and international scientific bases in Antarctica before becoming a naturalist guide on expedition cruises to the polar regions in 2018, after which he went on to become an expedition leader. Jonathan speaks French, Italian, English, Spanish and German.
Naturalist guides
Laura Jourdan
A marine mammal biologist, Laura worked initially on environmental management projects in Africa, South America and Asia, which was followed by a period spent teaching science at a secondary education institution. The call of the sea led her to seek adventure again as a naturalist guide working in the Arctic regions and Svalbard. Then in 2019 she joined PONANT. Laura speaks French and English.
Laureline Formanek
A doctor in marine biology, Laureline worked initially as a university researcher and lecturer before going on to join teams of naturalist guides on boats operating wildlife watching trips in Australia, New Zealand, Europe and Canada. She has been working for PONANT since 2015. Laureline speaks French and English.
Rémi Bigonneau
Rémi trained in environmental education and conservation management and has participated in numerous research and conservation programmes out in the field, particularly in the French Southern and Antarctic Territories and Siberia. He is also a specialist in ornithological observation. He speaks both French and English.
Batshéva Bonnet
Batsheva is a qualified veterinarian and has completed a thesis on the physiology of the Adélie penguin. She also had the opportunity to study king penguins on the island of Crozet and elephant seals in Kerguelen during two periods she spent in the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (an overseas French territory). Bathsheva is involved with organisations that campaign to increase awareness about the polar environment and serves as a member of veterinary teams for sled dog races in France and aboard. She speaks both French and English.
Christian Genillard
Christian is an engineer with a passion for cold seas and the polar regions. Having visited Antarctica for the first time in 1993, he began working as a naturalist guide in 2004 before later going on to become an expedition leader on voyages to Spitsbergen, Greenland, Antarctica, South Georgia and the Russian Far East. He has been sailing with PONANT since 2015 and speaks French and English.
Benjamin Dy
Alison has degrees in both geography and political science and developed a deeper interest in the Circumpolar World and the geopolitics and peoples of the Arctic while studying in Canada. She has been sailing with PONANT as a naturalist guide since 2018. Alison speaks both French and English.
Science Mediators
Alison Thieffry
Alison has degrees in both geography and political science and developed a deeper interest in the Circumpolar World and the geopolitics and peoples of the Arctic while studying in Canada. She has been sailing with PONANT as a naturalist guide since 2018. Alison speaks both French and English.
Daphné Buiron
Daphné Buiron holds a doctorate in glaciology and spent 14 months at the Dumont d'Urville scientific station in Antarctica. She then decided to devote herself to the protection, study and exploration of the polar regions, firstly as a teacher and researcher, then as a guide-naturalist. Daphne has been sailing with PONANT since 2015. She speaks French, English and German.
Participate in studies into the way ecosystems work by collecting data as part of special citizen science sessions conducted onboard this floating polar monitoring and research station. Missions that sharpen your powers of observation!
- Activity examples:
- Taking photos of whale flukes and helping supply the Happy Whale tracking app with data
- Identifying and counting seabirds so that their distributions and life cycles can be better understood
- Describing atmospheric phenomena so that the way surface and air temperatures interact can be better understood
- Observing and listening to underwater wildlife using cameras (ROV) and hydrophones
- Collecting samples of plankton, which is fundamentally important for all marine life, so its reaction to temperature changes in the polar environment can be analysed
- Analysing the samples collected through microscopes
Our team of scientific mediators is trained by the Polar Citizen Science Collective
The Polar Citizen Science Collective is an international association that enables everyone to practically contribute to a better understanding of the polar regions through participatory science projects.
The common areas of Le Commandant Charcot
Le Commandant Charcot has spaces that have never been seen before in the PONANT fleet, designed and fitted out to serve all your needs and requirements whilst at the same time preserving the privacy of each passenger. They were designed by two world-renowned French architectural firms: the Studio Jean-Philippe Nuel and Wilmotte & Associés, whose design brief was to create a real connection with the surrounding landscapes. Names derived from Inuit culture to designate natural elements have been attributed to some of them as a reminder of our deep attachment to this fascinating culture.
Expeditions and conferences rooms - Deck 3
- Two dedicated expedition boarding and disembarking rooms to port and starboard.
- A conference room (Ilua - to be inside, to understand) : 30 seats
Reception - Deck 5
- A 270 m² (2,906 ft²) reception space
- The expeditions desk
- The onboard administrative services
- The sales office run by our reception and voyages manager
- The photo area : « Studio Ponant »
- "Oscillations": a digital artwork by Miguel Chevalier
The theatre
Kita (let’s go) - Deck 5
- Capacity for 270 persons
- Cutting edge audio and lighting technology
- LED stage background wall enabling the projection of ultra-high resolution media
The main lounge - Deck 5
- A 313 m² (3,369 ft²) main lounge
- A 24 m² (258 ft²) cigar lounge
- A tea room and bar with a programme of live music on certain evenings
Promenade Deck - Deck 5
The outside promenade deck is uninterrupted. This means that, unlike most passenger ships, it is possible to walk all the way around the ship and to the bow. It is also equipped with benches heated by energy recovery and two Swarovski Optik telescopes.
Boutique
Illu (the igloo, the house) - Deck 5
- A range of jewellery
- A range of ready-to-wear clothing and special outdoor items suitable for the polar adventure: Moncler, The North Face, Garmin, Swarovski Optik, Vuarnet, Feelfree
- Bespoke tips and advice from experts about how to get the most out of the onboard experience and the shore excursions
- A multilingual range of publications covering each different destination: informational guides, gorgeous photographic books, novels and adventure stories, a special range for children, etc.
- Unique souvenirs so you can share the magic of the Charcot experience with others
- A range of accessories for the home
- French- and European-made products and items
The pool deck - Deck 9
- A heated indoor swimming pool with a superb skylight thanks to its large glass roof
- A sunroom with large external-facing windows
- A Detox bar with sofas and armchairs
- Blue Lagoon pools, an outdoor heated lagoon with a temperature that ranges from 27 to 37° C using recycled energy from the ship
- A giant firepit (Inneq - le feu), so you can enjoy the polar landscapes in complete comfort
- An outdoor bar (Blue Lagoon bar) where you can enjoy a varied and refined range of sweet and savoury food throughout the day (11:00-18:00)
The Observation Lounge
Anori (the wind) - Deck 9
- A bar and a 262 m² (2820 ft²) observation lounge
- Library, reading area, live entertainment on certain evenings
- 2 Swarovski Optik telescopes
Wellness Lounge
Nuan (wellness / happiness) - Deck 9
- 430 m² dedicated to wellness
- Spa Biologique Recherche : 3 massage and beauty cubicles (including one double cubicle with sea view), a nail salon, 2 lounges with sea view to to wait or relax after a session
- A hair salon with Davines products
- A Sauna (Ikuma - the burning heat)
- A Snow Room (Siku - the ice) a fun and invigorating snow bath you can try out after leaving the sauna
- Gym with with sea view and TECHNOGYM machines (elliptical trainers, Kinesis®, 3 treadmills, exercise bikes, rowing machine…) a dedicated coach
- A heated indoor swimming pool (Imaq - sea water) with countercurrent swimming and a superb skylight thanks to its large glass roof
- A sunroom with large external-facing windows
- A Detox bar with sofas and armchairs
The restaurants onboard Le Commandant Charcot
An essential component of French culture, gastronomy naturally has a place of honour onboard : Le Commandant Charcot hosts the first Alain Ducasse restaurants on a cruise ship.
Gastronomic Restaurant
Nuna (the earth) - Deck 5
On deck 5, you will find a 484 m² gourmet restaurant that can accommodate all of our passengers in a single service. Elegance and refinement will be at the rendezvous of your breakfasts, lunches and dinners. The ship's second bridge is located at the back of the restaurant: behind its large windows, you will have a front row seat to observe the crew during their operations.
- French and international cuisine
- Fine wine cellar
Restaurant
Sila (the sky, outside) - Deck 9
In a more relaxed atmosphere, a 320 m² restaurant located at deck 9 will welcome you for your breakfasts, buffet lunches and themed dinners.
- Indoor capacity: 142
Open-air bar
Inneq (the fire) - Deck 9
At the open-air bar, you can enjoy a varied and refined range of international sweet and savoury dishes throughout the day (11am-6pm), as well as a permanent menu.
- Bar capacity : 79
- Restaurant capacity : 62
Exceptional suites and staterooms
On board, there are 135 suites and staterooms, ranging in size from20 to 115 m², providing warm, understated settings that look out onto the outside world. Each has a private balcony or terrace, the Le Commandant Charcot is fully in keeping with the PONANT philosophy: to provide a rare and exceptional ambiance for every passenger welcomed onboard and reinforce the feeling and sense of sailing on a private yacht.
At the rear of decks 6 and 7 are four stunning 94 m² (1,011 ft²) split-level suites equipped with private terraces and jacuzzis.
The 115 m² (1,237 ft²) Suite de l’Armateur (Shipowner's Suite) on deck 8 features wide sliding glass doors offering stunning panoramic views and opening out onto a 180 m² (1,937 ft²) private terrace.
Services provided
- Private balcony for all our cabins and suites
- Terrace for the Duplex suites and the Owner's suite
- Butler service and priority boarding : Owner’s Suite, Duplex Suites, Privilege Suites and Grand Prestige Suites
- Individually-controlled airconditioning
- Stateroom layout: king-size bed, or twin beds, communicating staterooms available, children welcome
- Minibar - 24hr room service
- Satellite TV channels (availability dependent on navigation); selection of videos on demand
- Bose™ Bluetooth speaker
- Safe
- Selection of Dyptique Paris top-of-the-line bath products.
- Dressing table, bath robes, Hairdryer
- Direct line telephone
- 110V American (two flat pins)/220V European (round sockets with two round pins)
- Internet access Wifi : Satellite reception (availability dependent on navigation and latitude)
Your stateroom category
Le Commandant Charcot in pictures
See the whole gallery
See the whole gallery
Discover Le Commandant Charcot
- VIDEO
Reaching the absolute aboard Le Commandant Charcot
A polar odyssey through the ice of the Arctic and Antarctica
Discover Le Commandant Charcot
Where will you travel next aboard :
Le Commandant Charcot ?
Your account
Log in to your My Ponant account
Don't have a My Ponant account?
- View your bookings
- See your options
- Edit your preferences
Create your account
Are you a travel agent?
Access your pro spaceChange my password
Create your account
To create an account, please fill in the form below