Le Boreal
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Le Boreal
Le Boréal is a luxury expedition cruise ship operated by Ponant, specializing in voyages to polar regions and remote destinations. The page highlights itineraries in the Arctic and Antarctica focused on nature exploration and wildlife observation. It describes an intimate cruise experience with luxury suites, onboard dining, and premium service. Cruises are all-inclusive and part of a French-speaking expedition offering focused on premium adventure travel.
Itineraries of the Le Boreal
Price and Availability Notice
Prices displayed are provided for informational purposes only. They reflect the rates in effect at the time of their most recent update and are shown in Canadian dollars, per person, based on double occupancy, unless otherwise specified.
Supplier rates, exchange rates, taxes and fees, room or cabin categories, and promotions are subject to change at any time. The applicable price is the one confirmed by a travel advisor at the time of booking, subject to availability. Only the confirmed price shall be considered valid.
It is the traveler's responsibility to confirm the price, inclusions, and applicable terms and conditions before making a reservation. While every effort is made to keep our content up to date, transmission, display, or pricing errors may occur. In such cases, the correct price will be communicated to the traveler before any booking is confirmed. Certain terms, restrictions, and exclusions may apply.
Technical specifications
- Tonnage: 10700
- Passengers: 404
- Length: 142 m
- Width: 18 m
Frequently Asked Questions
No. It is the one thing the fare does not cover, along with the spa, and it catches many people out. People expect to pay for the shore outings and to find tips prepaid; here it is exactly the reverse. Put them in the budget from the start.
Almost everything, bar two things. Included: shore excursions, most drinks other than prestige wines, Wi-Fi, the stateroom minibar, the talks and the entertainment, and a butler in the suites. Not included: gratuities and spa treatments.
Yes, all of them, with no cap on how many. It is the inclusion that most changes a comparison against a competitor, because on an expedition you land nearly every day and every outing is billed elsewhere. The advertised fare then stops being comparable at a glance.
A great deal of good, which is rare in this sector. The carrier is Compagnie du Ponant, established on avenue du Prado in Marseille. The contract is governed by French law and a dispute is pleaded before the French courts. The Athens Convention of 1974, consolidated in 2002 and carried into European regulation 392/2009, frames liability.
No, none, and the absence is worth more than a presence. The American contracts of several competitors send every dispute to an arbitrator and forbid class actions. This one does neither: the judge keeps jurisdiction and several guests can act together.
Two years, which is enormous in this sector. Some lines allow only fifteen days from disembarkation, others thirty. Here the limitation period is two years, and a tourism mediator exists on top if the discussion stalls.
Because size decides the itinerary. A ship under two hundred and fifty people enters where large hulls cannot, lands everyone in one rotation of zodiacs, and meets without delay the polar regulations that cap visitors ashore. It is not an aesthetic choice but an operating constraint turned into an advantage.
Around five very different families. Four identical hulls delivered from 2010 to 2015, up to two hundred and sixty-four guests. Six smaller exploration ships, from 2018 to 2021. One polar icebreaker. One three-masted yacht from 1991. One catamaran chartered privately. Few lines cover a spread like that.
Yes, this is a French line and it shows everywhere: French-speaking crew, talks given in French and English, French cooking. For a Quebec clientele that is a real advantage, above all on expedition where days at sea are largely spent listening to specialists.
The Athens Convention frames liability, with one clear exception: nothing is covered for baggage left unattended. The practical rule fits in a sentence: whatever is irreplaceable travels with you and never sits alone on a deck or in a corridor.
The figure is published nowhere, and we will not invent it. We check it file by file before confirming. On these ships, ask about the zodiacs too: access to the landings matters as much as access to the stateroom, and it is not solved the same way.
In 2010. She belongs to the Sisterships series, and that is the detail that matters most when choosing: ships in the same series resemble one another closely, and the difference is made by the itinerary and the season rather than the hull.
From two hundred and twenty-four to two hundred and sixty-four guests depending on configuration. It is the fleet's middle format: larger than the exploration ships, and still half the size of what is built elsewhere at this end of the market.
73 dates: 10 in 2026, 41 in 2027 and 22 in 2028. Inventory for distant years opens gradually, so a low figure for 2028 does not mean the ship stops.
She is the first of the four, delivered in 2010, the one that opened the series. L Austral followed in 2011, Le Soleal in 2013 and Le Lyrial in 2015. The four are near-identical.
