Le Champlain, Middle East Review

Le Champlain, Middle East

The pre cruise communication from Ponant was very poor. Thankfully, our travel agent helped to sort things out. Major problem was that we had o get Hayya card ( for the Football Competition but like a Visa) . At first we were told it was not necessary as World Cup finished on 18/12 but then the Qatar Government extended it until the 23/12. Ponant said they would do it for us. BUT 5 days before we were to fly from UK , they told our agent that they could not do it. It took until 36 hours before we flew out to get the matter sorted and I had to do it myself. Ponant were communicating with the person we gave as our emergency contact and never made it clear to him who they were trying to contact !

Embarkation was excellent but dis-embarkation was not. I think that was because we decided to take our own taxi to our hotel, we were treated as ‘low priority’. I was held up at the port gates as security control at Muscat in Oman would not allow me to enter but did allow my partner. No assistance from Ponant - no one around to help! Luckily, one of the restaurant (Phillipino) staff was there and she came along to try to assist.

Food in the main Dining Room initially was excellent but after the fourth day the quality dropped (badly). Christmas Eve banquet meal was very poor. Many people were unhappy - it wasn't just us. Breakfast times are limited for a full breakfast buffet service . Good selection of drinks always available.

Staff were excellent particularly the Restaurant team.

Ship is well laid out and kept clean and tidy.

Room was smaller than expected but this is a luxury Yacht (182 capacity) so not an issue. There were only 92 on board , I was told.

The cruise itinerary was good. One day, we were taken to a private beach (with reef) which was a great day. Preferred Oman as it is more unspoiled than UAE or Qatar.