Ponant’s plush new icebreaker is making the white continent more accessible – and luxurious – than ever, writes Nicola Moyne.
As the first flakes of snow fall, I hug my fur-lined Parka hood around my ears and watch a churning grey wake dance from the stern. The sky is shot with purple; ice bergs rise around us, like sculptures erupting from the ocean. It’s 8pm in Antarctica and we’ve just spotted our first humpback whale fluke, a mottled silky tail rising and falling beneath the icy waters as snow petrels patrol overhead. This may be the most inhospitable place on Earth for mankind, but the white continent seems to be positively teeming with life beneath its dazzling layers of white and blue.
I’ve hopped aboard Ponant’s luxurious icebreaker, Le Commandant Charcot, for a 14-night polar exploration cruise around some of Antarctica’s most scenic bays and ice floes. The adventure starts in Ushuaia, Argentina, where we embark the 123-cabin vessel before sailing through the notoriously unpredictable Drake Passage to reach the Weddell Sea – a water mass in the Southern Ocean that provides a gateway to some of Antarctica’s iconic animals, including its majestic emperor penguins.
First though, the ship: Ponant – a French operator renowned for its stylish, boutique approach to cruising – doesn’t disappoint with its first luxury ice-breaking vessel. Launched in 2021, Le Commandant Charcot is the world’s most powerful passenger-carrying icebreaker, and despite its size and technical prowess (it can break up to 3 metres of ice at the bow, 15 metres at the stern, and navigate more compacted ice-floe passages than any other vessel in the polar regions), its chic, modern aesthetic is pure elegance.
Think curvilinear walls; an interplay of textures, including walnut, oak and leather; and contemporary art installations. There’s two lounging areas to enjoy: the Observatory Lounge upstairs – which is all boucle-clad tub chairs, supersized wooden board games, and floor-to-ceiling views – and the Main Lounge – a warmer, cosier space that leads to the ship’s specialist Cigar Room and Theatre, where a daily programme of naturalist lectures, expedition briefings, and polar-centric films are hosted. There’s a gym and wellness area, comprising an indoor pool, Scandi-style sauna, snow room, treatment suites and salon (yes, you really can get your highlights touched up in Antarctica), plus a juice bar for ginger-spiked shakes should you experience the dreaded ‘Drake shake’.
The two restaurants onboard are also a treat: Nuna, a fine-dining option, delivers menus curated by Michelin-star chef Alain Ducasse, while the top-deck, more casual eatery opens out onto an outdoor lagoon for a heated alfresco dip among the ice-cloaked mountains (Champagne in hand, naturally). Sustainability is at the core of the ship’s design, too, with liquefied natural gas helping to power the vessel, while recycled water is utilised to warm the outdoor seating areas and replenish reserves in the kitchens, laundry and maintenance rooms.
The real draws here though are the cinematic landscapes and Attenborough-worthy wildlife. And you don’t have to venture far: we spot our first line of emperors snaking their way across the ice from the warmth of the restaurant, their iconic black, white, and gold silhouettes gliding through the white, lunar-esque snowscape beyond. Later, as we sail further south towards the Larsen C Ice Shelf, a pod of orcas cruise starboard of the ship. And then there’s the Adélie and gentoo penguins, chinstrap colonies, and plethora of seals – including leopard, Weddell, and crabeaters – to marvel at during our zodiac rib landings on Hope Bay, the Aitcho Islands, Carlsson Bay, Half Moon Island and Snow Hill, where we spend a magical couple of days walking with a shuffling army of emperors, their ‘highway’ to the ocean just metres from my feet.
Adrenaline junkies are catered for, too, with optional kayaking excursions, polar hikes, and the infamous ‘polar plunge’, which involves leaping into freezing waters (it was -2°C when I, quite literally, took the plunge cloaked in nothing but my swimsuit and a brave face).
It feels utterly surreal to be here; Le Commandant Charcot delivering an experience more akin to a spaceship than exploration cruise. “It’s very otherworldly,” agrees Casey Perry, our assistant expedition leader and naturalist. “That’s what I love about Antarctica – it’s one of the few wild places left on Earth; a place that’s pristine and pure and adventurous. A place like no other.”
As the sapphire sky turns to amber over a floating ice pack, and I reflect back on a day of exploring snow-dusted mountains while a cacophony of chinstrap penguins cut through the crosswinds, I honestly couldn’t agree more.
Emblematic Antarctica aboard Le Boréal, L’Austral or Le Lyrial starts from £9,900 per person, based on two people sharing a Superior Stateroom. Return flights and transfers, plus a pre-cruise night in a hotel in Buenos Aires, are included. Meanwhile, Polar exploration voyages aboard Le Commandant Charcot are bound for the Arctic in 2024. See ponant.com for details or to book.
