France-based Ponant was one of the first cruise lines to resume sailing during the Covid-19 pandemic and has operated more than 60 cruises since its fleet returned to service on July 11. It has completed itineraries in France, Iceland, the Arctic and Croatia as well as in French Polynesia with its Paul Gauguin ship. News editor Johanna Jainchill spoke with Navin Sawhney, Ponant's CEO of the Americas, about the lessons the rest of the cruise industry could learn from Ponant.
Navin Sawhney
Q: Do you think your resumption in Europe sets an example that you can replicate in other locations?
A: We hope this will help establish that cruising can resume safely and that protocols need to be observed strictly. It builds confidence to resume cruising in other parts of the world such as Seychelles, Emirates, the Caribbean. Small and very up-to-date, modern fleets like Ponant's have made different parts of the world begin to feel more confident to accept our travelers.
Q: What were the challenges to the resumption of cruising during a pandemic?
A: As you can imagine with Covid, it was a challenge to bring completely new itineraries -- in most places -- and in all cases a completely new way to operate in terms of protocols. It gave us an opportunity to practice the protocols we put in place. We have had about 3,500 guests thus far. I think the idea here was: Where we can, let's begin to cruise and give our guests a chance to return to the experience, give our crew an opportunity to truly execute and get guest feedback and crew feedback on executing the protocols. We are very pleased with the results.
Q: What was the guest experience like on your sailings, with all the protocols?
A: Guest satisfaction was very high, which is very encouraging. Crew morale was very high to be able to do this. We were at less than 50% capacity because we began marketing these cruises with about a month of notice. We literally flipped the switch, so to speak, and we sailed on average with about 60 guests [on ships with capacity for 184]. Even with 60 guests, you have enough people onboard that you can create an atmosphere. And I think it made following the protocols a lot easier. You wear a mask if you're outside your stateroom, but if you're seated to eat or in the lounge you can take it off. If you have a ship that is full, right now you'd have to reduce capacity in those areas to half. So if you are giving a talk on something to do with natural history, you'll do that twice so the travelers can social distance. The same for dining. Normally, we have open seating, but in this case felt it was far better to give people the opportunity to dine at fixed times. If the restaurant fills up you can't social distance on a small ship like ours.
Q: You had one incident of Covid-19, a positive test on an American passenger in French Polynesia on the Paul Gauguin. But you continued the season, unlike a similar incident with UnCruise Adventures in Alaska.
A: The ship immediately returned to port and [the passenger] and her mother were treated according to local medical protocols. All other guests and crew tested negative. Obviously, that cruise could not continue, but following that we've been sailing in Tahiti with that ship. Each company takes its own point of view, in concert and conjunction with local authorities and governments; everyone does what's most appropriate for their guests and crew and company. From our standpoint, we continued to operate, and we've had no other incidents.
Q: What are your plans regarding your late-fall and winter schedule?
A: We normally have three ships in Ushuaia, Argentina, sailing to Antarctica, and we'll follow the lead of the Argentines to see how prepared they are to receive ships. In the Caribbean, we hope to start our season in November out of Fort-de-France, Martinique. We worked with the government of Seychelles, and we will resume our program there sometime in November. And the Paul Gauguin will continue to sail in Tahiti.