Le Dumont-d'Urville is the fourth ship of the Ponant Explorers-class cruise ship of cruise ships operated by Ponant. Each member of the class has been allocated the name of a famous French explorer. Initially, the fourth ship in the class was to have been named Le Kerguelen, after explorer and naval officer Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec.[1] However, before entering service she was renamed Le Dumont-d'Urville, after Jules Dumont d'Urville, another explorer and naval officer.[2][3]
Built by VARD, Le Dumont-d'Urville had her hull constructed in VARD's Tulcea yard in Romania. She was then transferred to the builder's Søviknes facility in Ålesund, Norway, for final outfitting.[3][4]