Ocean cruises

During two days in Croatia, be sure to try the famous Adriatic oysters and the excellent local wines while exploring the walled Old Towns of Zadar and Dubrovnik — each city also has their own unique culinary specialties. Then sail into Montenegro’s impossibly scenic waterways embraced by forested cliffs before continuing to the Tyrrhenian Sea, where you can dine on gnocchi and sip limoncello in Sorrento.

 

View Sample Shore Experiences in the Mediterranean.

In alliance with Smithsonian Journeys.

 

This cruise is part of a collection of PONANT voyages that are specially-tailored for English-speaking travelers who want to engage with the world. In addition to the usual elements of the PONANT experience, the listed price for these voyages includes transfers to and from the ship, talks and discussions aboard ship by world class experts, and a shore excursion or activity in each port of call that encourages guests to embrace the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of the local environment and culture.

Join us for this voyage along both the French and Italian Rivieras, exploring the rich history and culture of the fabled lands on the northern shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

Setting sail from Barcelona, your discovery of southern France begins from Sète in the Occitanie with the hilltop city of Carcassonne and its medieval citadel, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The ancient port of Marseille is your gateway to either Aix-en-Provence, "city of a thousand fountains" and home to Paul Cézanne, or to Van Gogh's Arles and the UNESCO World Heritage "City of Popes," Avignon.

The resort town of Nice, the last French mainland port on this leg of your voyage, offers a trip to the medieval hilltop village of Eze, with panoramic views of the Côte d'Azur. Or enjoy a visit to St. Paul de Vence to visit the Maeght Foundation’s collection of modern and contemporary art and sculpture.

The port of Santa Margherita Ligure provides access to the small Italian fishing village of Portofino, now a favored haunt of the rich and famous, where you may enjoy a relaxing afternoon of leisurely browsing through its shops and galleries and perhaps a chance to sample the local cuisine.

Porto Venere can serve as your gateway to discovery of the UNESCO World Heritage Cinque Terre, the villages at the heart of the Italian Riviera. Or you may spend the day exploring Romanesque Lucca, birthplace of Giacomo Puccini, and medieval Pisa, with its magnificent Duomo, Baptistry, and Leaning Tower.

From Livorno, a full day excursion to Florence introduces you to the heart of the Italian Renaissance. Or if you prefer, you may explore the Etruscan ruins and museum at nearby Volterra. 

The last port of call brings you back to French soil and to the spectacular 'sentinel city' of Bonifacio, perched high on cliffs on Corsica's southern coast, where you can stroll along medieval lanes lined with brightly colored houses, or take a local boat to explore the caves and islets along Bonifacio’s scenic coast.

Your voyage ends in the Roman port of Civitavecchia, with easy access to Rome.

Sail on the magical waters of the Saint Lawrence, where the ocean slowly fades into the river. From the red cliffs of the Magdalen Islands to the spectacular fjords of Newfoundland, via the forests to the north of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence sprinkled with yellow birch, American beech and sugar maple trees, fall under the captivating spell of unique panoramas inhabited by wild fauna: majestic deer, elegant whales and gracious belugas. Set off to discover the Inuit and Innu cultures, and soak up the tales of those who have made these lands their home for centuries.

Subject to ice and weather conditions. The expedition highlights and itineraries described above illustrate possible experiences only and cannot be guaranteed.

In alliance with Smithsonian Journeys.

This cruise is part of a collection of PONANT voyages that are specially-tailored for English-speaking travelers who want to engage with the world. In addition to the usual elements of the PONANT experience, the listed price for these voyages includes transfers to and from the ship, talks and discussions aboard ship by world class experts, and a shore excursion or activity in each port of call that encourages guests to embrace the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of the local environment and culture.

The waterways of eastern Canada and northern New England are among the loveliest in the world. The rock-bound coast, soaring cliffs, and idyllic waterfront villages have drawn visitors for more than one hundred years.

From Toronto, your first full day aboard ship is spent navigating the St. Lawrence Seaway, a network of lakes, canals, and locks that provides deep-water passage from Lake Ontario to the St. Lawrence River.

Montréal, the first of four calls in Québec, is a cosmopolitan metropolis, where you may tour the charming Old Town or explore the arts scene along St. Laurent Boulevard. Québec City, with its narrow cobblestoned lanes and historic battlements, is one of North America’s most romantic spots. Tadoussac, the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in Canada, sits at the mouth of the Saguenay River, an area famous for the whales that congregate there to feed.

The colonial seaport of Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island was the site of the conference in 1864 that set the stage for Canada's unification, and it is also home to the Anne of Green Gables House—inspiration for Lucy Maud Montgomery’s classic novel.

Cap-aux-Meules, in the Magdalen Islands of Québec, is a fascinating Acadian stronghold, where the legacy of the 17th-century colonists who settled here and defended their autonomy against both British and French lives on.

Nova Scotia is next, offering two historical towns for discovery. From charming Sydney on Cape Breton Island, you may visit the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site, a living museum that recreates 18th-century life through the reconstruction of the formerly thriving settlement. And Lunenburg, whose Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage site, is also home to the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic.

A day at sea brings you to Portland, Maine, once a bustling seaport, and now a center of arts and entertainment, where galleries, boutiques and cafés share the limelight with the seafaring traditions of an earlier time. Disembark the following day in Boston.