Each member of the class has been allocated the name of a famous French explorer.

[4] Ponant's order for Le Surville (as she was then named) and a sister ship, the fifth of the class, was announced in March 2018.

[5] The hull of each ship was constructed by VARD in the builder's Tulcea yard in Romania; the steel cutting ceremony for both ships took place on 4 April 2018.

[3] Upon completion, the hulls were transferred to the builder's Søviknes facility in Ålesund, Norway, for final outfitting.

[3] Following her renaming, Le Jacques Cartier was delivered to Ponant on 10 July 2020.