Ponant will continue its growth in 2020 with two new ships, Le Bellot and Le Jacques Cartier.

The French cruise line has also announced a new partnership with the Musée du Louvre for two of its 2020 sailings, as well as 50 new itineraries visiting destinations in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa.

Ponant’s new vessels will be launched in April and July of next year and will both feature an innovative Blue Eye lounge, the company announced in a statement.

Located eight feet beneath the water line, the space will allow guests to experience the subaquatic world through sight, sound and feel.

In 2021, Ponant will launch Le Commandant Charcot, a luxury hybrid polar vessel powered by liquefied natural gas and batteries. The ship will be able to reach the true North Pole at 90 degrees latitude.

The collaboration with the Louvre consists of onboard programs designed with curators and department directors from the museum, which will help guests discover the ancient lands that have inspired the museum’s collections. The programs will be available on two new sailings in the Adriatic and Persian Gulf departing in August and November 2020 respectively, the company announced.

Ponant will offer a new eight-day itinerary from Alaska to British Columbia departing July 22, 2020, where travelers on Le Soléal will sail amidst cliffs that rise over 3,000 feet on either side, and will also explore smaller inlets on the coasts.

In Europe there will be eight ships exploring the coastline on more than 15 new itineraries, including a nine-night music-themed cruise in September which will take guests to Northern Europe in the company of chamber musicians performing a Beethoven repertoire.

Le Jacques Cartier will debut five Asia sailings in fall and winter 2020. The ship is set to travel through the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman on an eight-night journey, while a new itinerary on Le Lapérouse will depart from Mumbai and continue south to the atolls in the Maldives before concluding in Sri Lanka.

Starting December 2019, Le Bougainville will travel in the Seychelles and explore the atolls in the Indian Ocean with port-intensive itinerary. 

Ponant will also next year offer a series of theme cruises featuring onboard speakers and shore excursions such as a birding trip through Costa Rica, a culinary sailing that circumnavigates Sicily, and a voyage through the Baltic Sea with leading policy makers, including former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO Admiral James Stavridis.