Once polar adventures were the purview of the movies with plots such as James Bond on a deadly chase in Die Another Day in Arctic conditions but now the luxury traveller can access the world chilliest regions on the deck of a custom-fitted boat.
Le Commandant Charcot’s heated armchairs and warmed plunge pool are designed to take the bite out of the icy winds, offering a suitable touch of luxury to its trips to a world once off limits to all but the hardiest of adventurers.
But even if guests do eventually get a little too chilly on the ship’s voyages around the poles, there are plenty of places to soak up the scenery from the inside the world’s only luxury ice breaker.
Views of the frozen wastelands are available from almost everywhere on the Ponant ship, including the gym, indoor pool, and even its fine dining restaurant by French restaurateur, Alain Ducasse, who holds more Michelin stars than almost any other chef.
Other highlights designed to cater to the tastes of the luxury traveller include a cigar lounge, detox bar, and a nail and beauty salon, which offers personalised treatments for "skin weakened by extreme temperatures". And for guests who have not had enough of the plunging temperatures outside, there is even a snow cabin inside the spa treatment area to obtain the benefits of exposing the body to the cold.
The experience Le Commandant Charcot offers those able to pay the £40,000 (Dh184,000) per ticket offers a glimpse into how the wealthiest holiday. “Most of our guests are from France, the US, Australia, and the UK. We do have quite a few Middle Eastern guests as well,” said Mr Saveliev.
World's only luxury ice breaker
Le Commandant Charcot sails to both the Arctic and Antarctic. It is able to do that because it is an ice breaker, which are different to regular ships in several ways, including having the ability to push through, glide over, or break ice. It does this via a strengthened hull, which is typically rounder.
Le Commandant Charcot is the only passenger ship in the world reinforced to polar class two, PC2, meaning it can sail through ice thickness of up to 2.5 metres. The most powerful ships are PC1 and can operate year-round, but there are no passenger ships of this class.
In September, the ship reached the Northern Pole of Inaccessibility, the furthest point from a coastline in any direction, after passing both the geographic and magnetic north poles during the same voyage. It is the only passenger ship in the world that can reach these northern poles. Other destinations it offers include the chance to be one of the few visitors to the Antarctic in early November, as well as the legendary Northwest Passage and Greenland, several weeks before any other ships.
Tickets do not come cheap. But the price includes everything, including all meals and services, such as 24-hour room service and entertainment. Guests are accompanied on board by around 20 experts, including biologists, naturalists, engineers, glaciologists and geologists, to educate passengers, whichever route they choose. “They will hopefully see a lot of wildlife, like polar bears in the Arctic, or penguins in Antarctica,” said Vladislav Saveliev, UK commercial sales manager for Ponant for the South and Midlands told The National.
“They will see whales. They will see a lot of fauna and flora. And they will also have the opportunity to interact with our guest speakers on board – the lecturers, from marine biologists, glaciologists and they have the opportunity to sit with them during lunch and dinners and have a conversation to learn more about their work and experience. Our guests absolutely love that.”
Guides also lead expeditions off the ship, allowing guests to explore the icy shores on foot or via the sea on kayaks among the icebergs. Activities include kayaking, dog sledding, snowshoeing and hiking, ice fishing and a polar plunge. And if passengers want to learn how to take the best photos to catalogue their trip, the ship has that covered too. There are also “photo ambassadors” on board to help guests learn how to take the best photos with their mobile phones or capture a shot in the fading light.
Those lucky enough to afford the trip witness a vanishing world, with warming seas due to climate change, resulting in near-historic lows sea ice in both the Arctic and Antarctica this year.
Visitors to the poles take part in a sort of "last-chance tourism”, where visiting these types of endangered sites is about wanting to see them before they disappear", said Emmanuel Salim, a geography lecturer at the University of Toulouse in France.
Le Commandant Charcot runs on a hybrid electric/liquefied natural gas engine to minimise its environmental impact on the polar regions it visits. That helps ensure the views remain unspoilt – but the question is, for how long?
Melting sea ice is opening up new routes for shipping, leading to increasing traffic in areas like the Arctic. According to the WWF, the number of ships operating in its waters grew by 37 per cent between 2013 and 2023.
"The effects of global heating are at their most pronounced in the Arctic," said Michael Hall, a University of Canterbury professor and tourism expert.
Global warming is accelerating "the loss of Arctic sea ice in summer, (as well as) the melting of permafrost, ice shelves and glaciers", he said, referring to elements that contribute to Greenland's uniqueness.
Across the island, locals are witnessing first-hand the effects of global warming. On the southwestern coast, in Maniitsoq, the sea ice has not been solid enough to walk on since 2018. Residents have also seen it shrink from year to year, in addition to less abundant snowfalls.
Authorities in Greenland aim to develop the tourism sector in order to create jobs. Ponant, the operator of Le Commandant Charcot, joined forces with the community, launching its own programme to train young people from Inuit villages to become expedition guides.
Greenland's glaciers – in pictures
"In recent years we've seen that young people have started to become tour operators," Maniitsoq mayor Gideon Lyberth, told AFP, speaking about the development of the sector in general. "We're very, very happy, because young people have been leaving here for Nuuk, to live there, but now they're coming back. Clearly such developments will usually be seen as a good idea – at least in the short term," he said.
