Luxury French cruise line Ponant first to resume cruises from the Seychelles

Ponant, the luxury French cruise line, has resumed cruises from the Seychelles, becoming the first to do so since the pandemic.

Ponant will sail five itineraries from the Seychelles between November and April, aboard its expedition ships Le Bellot, Le Bougainville and Le Jacques-Cartier.

RELATED: Luxury French cruise line Ponant purchases Paul Gauguin Cruises

RELATED: Cape Town cruise demand has grown faster than officials can manage

the Seychelles archipelago will be the focus of the itineraries, which include 19 cruises in total, visiting dozens of the country’s 115 islands.

Le Bellot departed from Mahé on November 18th for an eight-night sailing with ports of call at eight emblematic islands.

Le Bellot will be joined by Le Bougainville and Le Jacques-Cartier, also part of the Explorer fleet.

Ponant said sales for the 2022/2023 winter season are also now open, with six itineraries and 18 cruises scheduled.

“After long months of waiting, we are more than prepared to resume our operations in the Seychelles,” said Hervé Bellaïche, Chief Sales, Marketing and Communications Officer at Ponant.

“We’ve been taking guests to discover this paradise on earth for almost 20 years. We are happy to be able to actively contribute to relaunching tourism in the Seychelles,” he added.

RELATED: Norwegian Jade to return to Cape Town for 2023 summer season

RELATED: Another cruise line added to Dubai 2021 roundtrip line-up

Ponant joins AIDA Cruises, Silversea and Hapag-Lloyd in cruising from the Seychelles. Although Le Bellot, Le Bougainville and Le Jacques-Cartier are the first cruise ships to do so, AIDAblu, Silver Spirit and Silver Shadow and Europa 2 will all be joining them next year.

AIDAblu will be homeporting in Mahe, the capital of the Seychelles from December, 2022 through April, 2023 offering 14-night roundtrip cruises around the archipelgo, with port calls in Madagascar as well.

Europa 2 will cruise from Mahe to Cape Town on October 13th, 2022, a 15-night cruise with port calls in Madagascar, Richards Bay and Durban, while Silver Shadow will sail a 23-night cruise from Mahe to Cape Town on March 21st, 2023.

A further 15 cruise calls are scheduled during 2022 and 32 in 2023. Norwegian Jade will call in the Seychelles on her 2022 cruise from Dubai to Cape Town, and agan on her 2023 cruise from Cape Town back to Dubai.

Oceania Cruises, Phoenix Reisen, Costa Cruises, Seabourn, Crystal Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises are also scheduled to call in the Seychelles during 2022.