Last Call
You may not be 20,000 leagues under, but when you descend into Ponant’s Blue Eye lounge, you immediately know you’re in a world unlike any you’ve ever experienced.
You may not be 20,000 leagues under, but when you descend into Ponant’s Blue Eye lounge, you immediately know you’re in a world unlike any you’ve ever experienced.
The Place
— Blue Eye
Grab A Seat
— Ponant’s Explorer series ships, including Le Lapérouse
Standout Feature
— Oh là la! C’est magnifique! With a rippling whalebone-inspired interior and mesmeric deep-blue lighting, this multi-sensory lounge, located below the water line, earns all accolades. It is the literary voyages of Jules Verne and the reallife explorations of Jacques Cousteau that are emulated so brilliantly here by French architect Jacques Rougerie, and as you enter Blue Eye, you get a feeling that you’re about to embark on a great undersea adventure. Sit back and immerse yourself in the futuristic submarine-vibe and eavesdrop on the acoustics of the sea, where whales call and dolphins click. Their song is picked up within a 3-mile radius by hydrophones and transmitted live into the lounge. Visually, the two large, cetacean-eye-shaped portholes (reassuringly reinforced with 18 layers of glass) give guests a diver’s-eye view of the seabed, illuminated by night, while images of photoluminescent organisms, caught live on the ship’s three underwater cameras, are projected onto digital screens. Not sensory enough? Cozy down on one of the “Body Listening Sofas” that vibrate gently in unison with the sounds of the ocean and watch the twice-daily aquatic ballet performed by French freediving champion Aurore Asso.
On The Menu
— You’re lounging in what’s been dubbed “the coolest cocktail bar at sea” on a French cruise ship, so a glass of champagne is surely de rigueur. Expect the best of fine wines and cocktails, and if you’d like a side order of marine biology with your glass of fizz, no problem — just ask the barman, who has been trained to answer all of your questions about sub-aquatic life.