Le Commandant Charcot
Antarctica and the polar regions (Ponant)
Location
The deepest polar reach
Le Commandant Charcot is a PC2 icebreaker that reaches places few ships can: the Geographic North Pole in the Arctic season, and the Weddell Sea, Ross Sea and Peter I Island in Antarctica.
Transfer
Charter flights to embarkation
Polar voyages include charter flights and transfers to the embarkation port; details are confirmed by itinerary, the icebreaker then pushing through pack ice few vessels can enter.
Villas
123 all-balcony staterooms
123 all-balcony cabins across six categories, from the twenty-square-metre Prestige Stateroom to the Owner's Suite at a hundred and fifteen square metres with a hundred-and-eighty-six-square-metre terrace and hot tub; upper suites add a butler. French understated luxury throughout, the polar sea framed from every balcony.
Best For
Who it suits
Travellers who want the deepest, rarest polar reach with French understated luxury, fine dining and an onboard science programme — the only passenger ship to reach both the Geographic North Pole and the deepest Antarctic.
Board Basis
Largely all-inclusive
Fares include excursions, dining and most beverages and gratuities; top suites add a butler and further perks, confirmed by fare, with Alain Ducasse gastronomic dining at the heart of the table.
Overview
The world's first luxury polar icebreaker
Le Commandant Charcot is the world's first luxury hybrid-electric LNG polar icebreaker — a PC2 hull that is the only passenger ship to reach the Geographic North Pole and the deepest Antarctic, the Weddell and Ross Seas and Peter I Island. Around 200 guests sail Antarctica across 123 all-balcony staterooms in French understated luxury, with Alain Ducasse gastronomic dining, indoor and outdoor pools, a winter-garden conservatory, a spa with a sauna and a snow room, and onboard science labs running citizen-science programmes. The icebreaker reaches places few ships can: the Geographic North Pole in the Arctic season, and the Weddell Sea, the Ross Sea and Peter I Island in Antarctica, pushing through pack ice that turns other vessels back. The Owner's Suite reaches a hundred and fifteen square metres with a hundred-and-eighty-six-square-metre terrace and a hot tub, and days bring Zodiac landings among penguins and ice, lectures from the onboard scientists and the rare quiet of the deep polar latitudes. Icebreaker access few vessels can match, under the Ponant flag.
Accommodation
All-balcony staterooms and suites
123 all-balcony cabins span six categories, from the twenty-square-metre Prestige Stateroom to the Owner's Suite at a hundred and fifteen square metres with a hundred-and-eighty-six-square-metre terrace and hot tub, the upper suites adding a butler. In French understated luxury throughout, the staterooms make a calm, refined base aboard the world's first luxury polar icebreaker, the pack ice and the polar light framed from every balcony.
Entry
Prestige Stateroom
Sleeps two. A roughly 20-square-metre stateroom with a private balcony, French bath products and a minibar.
Private balconyFrench design
Upper
Privilege Suite
Sleeps two. A larger suite with a balneo bathtub and butler service.
Balneo bathButler service
Family
Duplex Suite
Sleeps four. A two-level suite aft with a terrace and butler service.
Two levelsAft terrace
Top
Owner's Suite
Sleeps up to six. A 115-square-metre suite with a 186-square-metre terrace, hot tub, fireplace, dining for six and a telescope.
115 square metres186-square-metre terrace
Food & Drink
Dining
Alain Ducasse gastronomic dining anchors the table, joined by the relaxed grill and buffet at Nuna and panoramic bars set against a winter-garden conservatory. It is fine dining at the ends of the earth, the Ducasse kitchen rare among expedition ships, taken as the icebreaker works through the pack ice.
Signature
Alain Ducasse restaurant
Alain Ducasse restaurant, gastronomic French dining at sea.
Grill
Nuna
Nuna, a relaxed grill and buffet.
Lounges
Panoramic bars
Panoramic bars, with a winter-garden conservatory.
Wellbeing
The spa, with a snow room
A spa brings a gym, a sauna and a snow room, joined by indoor and outdoor pools and a winter-garden conservatory — wellness designed for the polar setting. After a day on the ice, it is the warm heart of the ship, the snow room a playful nod to the world beyond the hull and the heated pools open to the polar sky.
A sauna and snow room
A sauna and snow room, polar wellness.
Indoor and outdoor pools
Indoor and outdoor pools, heated.
A winter-garden conservatory
A winter-garden conservatory, panoramic.
Activities & Experiences
Signature Experiences
The North Pole, the deepest Antarctic and the science behind it define a voyage — reach the Geographic North Pole in the Arctic season, push into the Weddell and Ross Seas and Peter I Island in Antarctica, and join the onboard scientists in the citizen-science labs. Zodiac landings among penguins and ice, and Alain Ducasse dining at sea, fill the rare days in the deep polar latitudes. Reaching the Geographic North Pole or pushing into the Weddell and Ross Seas takes guests where almost no passenger ship has been, the onboard scientists turning each voyage into a genuine expedition of discovery.
The Geographic North Pole
The Geographic North Pole, reached in the Arctic season.
The deepest Antarctic
The deepest Antarctic, Weddell and Ross Seas, Peter I Island.
Onboard science labs
Onboard science labs, with citizen-science programmes.
Zodiac landings
Zodiac landings, among penguins and ice.
Alain Ducasse dining
Alain Ducasse dining, gastronomic, at sea.
Getting There
Location & transfers
By air
Charter flights to embarkation
Charter flights to embarkation, confirmed by itinerary.
By sea
Through pack ice
Through pack ice few vessels can enter, to the deepest polar latitudes.
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Good to Know
Good to know
Board basis
- Largely all-inclusive; perks vary by fare.
Science onboard
- Science onboard, labs and citizen-science programmes.
Polar seasons
- North Pole in the Arctic summer; Antarctica in the austral summer.
Operator
- Sails under the Ponant flag.
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Dates, party size, villa preference and budget.
Dates & party
Date flexibility
Adults
2
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Budget & accommodation
Budget per person (flights + hotel)
£4,500
£500£50,000+
Villas Preference
Flights
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