Experiencing the world’s most luxurious Arctic cruise

With its ethereal beauty, Indigenous communities and ubiquitous wildlife, an Arctic voyage is the epitome of a trip of a lifetime – made even more memorable aboard luxurious icebreaker Le Commandant Charcot

An Arctic sailing adventure is one of the world’s great journeys, an opportunity to experience a terrain so remote, changeable, potentially dangerous and, yet, so unbelievably beautiful, it reaches into your core at an emotional level. It is a privilege to be an observer in this wilderness, to see polar bears in their habitat, and marvel at the vast scale of the landscape.

Ponant’s Le Commandant Charcot is the world’s first luxury polar exploration vessel and the first polar cruise ship that routinely sails into both the Arctic and Antarctic regions, capable of carving a path through thick sea ice to areas and settlements that have been previously inaccessible. With the increasing threat of climate change, and the melting of the polar regions, it does somehow feel like the last chance to see one of the world’s most incredible – and at risk – natural wonders.

The ship

In 2015 Ponant was acquired by Artémis Group, which also has a 40.9 per cent equity stake in Kering, the global luxury goods portfolio of designer fashion brands including Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen and Boucheron, among others. Le Commandant Charcot is the jewel in Ponant’s fleet of 13 French-flagged cruise ships. This magnificent ice breaker was launched in 2021 and uses hybrid propulsion of liquefied natural gas and electric batteries to provide smooth sailing, with an environmentally responsible ethos.

In the name Le Commandant Charcot, Ponant pays homage to a notable figure in the French polar expeditions of the early 20th century, Jean-Baptiste Charcot. While passengers may feel they are voyaging forth to parts unknown, possessed with the bravery and spirit of the previous polar adventurers, the trip is now, thankfully, achieved with five-star levels of safety and luxury. You are in expert hands.

The Arctic cruise on Le Commandant Charcot sails from Reykjavik, Iceland, spending two days powering through open sea, before she slides deftly into the pack ice, churning and upturning icy slabs with her bow. Le Commandant Charcot is an elegant, understated ship, the interiors designed by two respected French architects: Jean-Michel Wilmotte and Jean-Philippe Nuel. The pair have combined their talents to give the ship the clubby feel of an expensive private yacht, using understated, pale blue, smoke grey and beige interiors, and materials such as pale stone, ashy wood and warm wool fabrics. There are 123 suites and staterooms with a private balcony or terrace, all roomy, toasty and well-imagined, with plenty of storage space for cold weather clothes.

Onboard

For dining, there are two restaurants; one the more formal, a la carte option, with 100 très Français recipes created by famed chef Alain Ducasse, the other a non-pretentious buffet-style with adjacent outdoor grill for delicious cheeseburgers and crumbed prawns. The cosy cocktail bars and lounge areas are dotted with fireplaces, there is a magnificent Observatory Bar serving cocktails and fine wines, a 430-square-metre wellness area with an indoor pool, three spa treatment rooms, sauna, snow room and detox bar and a tempting heated outdoor pool with heated lounges.

The early days spent sailing the open seas gives guests a chance to become acquainted with the crew and fellow passengers (for 104 passengers on my sailing there were a generous 200-plus crew members), deciding what activities to sign up for – such as polar plunging or dog sledding – and, most importantly, some practise time on how to change into polar appropriate survival outerwear, fast.

Off-ship

Polar weather conditions, ice floes (and hungry polar bears who apparently can smell a human from 10 kilometres) are highly unpredictable, and the possibility of participating in off-ship activities such as zodiac outings, sea kayaking or snowshoeing are assessed by the captain and crew minute-by-minute, via the use of an onboard helicopter for scouting ahead, and state of the art navigational software. Passengers have to be at the ready in order to quickly dress and assemble in their assigned groups, with boots on, to make the most of what may be a fleeting and exciting opportunity to leave the ship.

Nothing quite prepared me for the childlike thrill I felt on day three when the ship lurched slightly and made a quiet crunching sound and I saw that we had entered the vast cap expanse of solid (though slowly melting) sea ice. The North Pole! There I was, now technically a polar explorer, even though I was clutching a glass of French champagne. Almost on cue, a voice come over the loudspeaker alerting us to the fact there was a polar bear sighting at “11 o’clock, Port side!” This was the first glimpse of these ice nomads, far in the distance. By the end of the ten-day trip, we had seen an astonishing 22 bears, some sidling past while I was eating my breakfast in the restaurant.

One afternoon, a young male came so close to the ship (the captain turns the engines off to avoid disturbing them) that he looked up at the Observatory Deck and directly into my eyes, and I burst into tears from sheer amazement. I quickly learned his age and gender because the ship’s crew and research lab are filled with very chatty and knowledgeable naturalists, biologists, ornithologists, glaciologists and geologists from around the world. These experts know just as much about a billion-year-old rock formation, some glacial ice or an arctic gull as they do the age of a curiously unperturbed polar bear.

Part of the Ponant vision is to share knowledge about the polar environment to help guests get the most out of their journey and to understand the challenges involved in preserving and protecting these areas.

The good weather conditions we met, as Le Commandant Charcot traced the secluded shores of East Greenland, meant we were able to leave the ship most days; for short ice hikes, a dramatic zodiac trip in icy cold grey sleet and a polar plunge afternoon where brave individuals dressed only in their swimmers jump into a hole cut into the ice, into inky black Artic water, attached to a rope. As we sailed even further north, we were met by ten local ‘mushers’ from the Innuit settlement of Ittoqqortoormiit, which sits at the entrance of Scoresby Sund, the longest fjord on Earth. We rode on traditional sleds across the ice into the brightly painted wooden village, pulled by ten excitable dogs.

An Arctic voyage, as opposed to the Antarctic, allows guests the opportunity to interreact with indigenous peoples and visit the local church, the tiny museum and the one tourist shop, and to pay respects to one of the most remote communities on Earth – all while your ultra-comfortable ships’ cabin waits mere kilometres away. It is certainly a luxurious experience, but it also might just be one of the last great adventures.     

Journey Notes

The Geographic North Pole itinerary aboard Le Commandant Charcot spans 16 days / 15 nights on a return voyage from Longyearbyen in Spitsbergen to the Geographic North Pole. Rates start from AUD$56,570 per person. au.ponant.com

Good to Know

Avoid the temptation to overpack cold weather gear, as Ponant provides each guest with sturdy snow boots and a generous waterproof parka specifically designed for the polar climate. Make sure to pack waterproof pants, thermals and more glamorous attire for formal dining.  It can be surprisingly warm and sunny on the ice during spring/summer, so don’t forget sunglasses and strong SPF suncream.

While You’re Here

Leave time in your itinerary to visit Reykjavik, a friendly and walkable city, with great bars  and restaurants serving delicious seafood, warm baked bread and smoked butters.