Media case study: Ponant Cruises

Ponant Cruises' L'Austral

Case Study: Ponant Antarctica
Vessel: L'Austral
Destination: Antarctic Peninsula, November 2011

Sydney travel marketing company, Travel the World (TtW), recently acquired GSA for French-flagged cruise line, Ponant.

TtW appointed public relations firm, Black Communications, to handle their media and PR activity.

Rod travelled aboard the then brand new vessel, L'Austral, on one of its Antarctic Peninsula itineraries in November 2011. Here is a summary of press results from that single trip.

Print:
News Ltd Escape: Suite Dreams on Antarctic Cruise
Also at News Ltd: Herald Sun | AdelaideNow | PerthNow | Courier Mail
Ocean Magazine: Haute Couture in Antarctica
Get Up 'n' Go: Autumn 12
Cruise Passenger Magazine: High Stepping into Antarctica
Toyota Drivers World:  Southern Exposure
Travel + Living: A new wave
From the Bridge: Vive la France 

Online: (not counting my own sites)

news.com.au: Suite dreams on Antarctic cruise
CruiseWeekly.com.au (PDF newsletter): Kicking Your Heels Up in Antarctica
Avidcruiser.com: Snow Petrels and Showgirls in Antarctica
USA Today: Snow Petrels and Showgirls in Antarctica (since offline)
Yahoo!7: Kicking up your heels in Antarctica

Broadcast:
The voyage was the subject of a 15 min ABC Local Radio segment on Monday Night Travel with Tony Delroy

Links to:
http://www.cruise-addicts.com/forums/f43/snow-petrels-showgirls-antarctica-179926/#post1546374

In the wake of the 'Sea Devil'

Hapag-Lloyd HANSEATIC

Felix Count of Luckner

IN 1917, the shipwrecked German skipper of a commerce raider, Seeadler, took a 10m lifeboat from the Society Islands to Fiji in an attempt to rescue his stranded crew and the prisoners they had accumulated.

Felix Count of Luckner, was of the old school of gentleman sailors who would not spill blood without just cause. Despite sinking numerous vessels during his raids in the South Pacific, there was only one accidental casualty in all these incidents.

But the stories don’t end there and even after the war, von Luckner, a powerfully built and dominant character became a hero of a different kind.

Beginning in March, Rod will journey along the course taken by von Luckner while aboard the luxury German adventure vessel, the 184-passenger HANSEATIC, currently the only such vessel to receive a Berlitz 5-star rating.