Ponant · 132 staterooms · Greenland and the Northwest Passage
L’Austral
The second of Ponant’s sisters, in service since 2011, and the one the company sends to Greenland and the Northwest Passage. French service, an open bar, and the Davis Strait outside the window.
Ponant
The sister ship that sails the long routes.
L’Austral left Fincantieri’s Ancona yard in 2011, a year after Le Boréal, with the same 142 metres, the same 132 staterooms and the same quiet Jean-Philippe Nuel interiors. An ice-strengthened hull, eleven Zodiacs, a theatre, a pool on the aft deck. French cuisine and an open bar. In the Arctic she is given the long routes: Reykjavík to the Greenland ice sheet at the end of July, and nineteen nights through the Northwest Passage from Kangerlussuaq at the end of August.
Celebrating the treasures of nature
Open to the horizon
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Refined and elegant furnishings
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Eleven Zodiacs
L’Austral moments
Between the landings the ship keeps the rhythm of a French house at sea: a long lunch, a conference, a swim, an aperitif at the piano. The expedition goes out twice a day; the rest belongs to you.
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A delicious awakening
Pastries from the ship’s bakery, eggs to order, and the Greenland coast sliding past the restaurant window. On landing days the kitchen opens early.
A delicious awakening
Pastries from the ship’s bakery, eggs to order, and the Greenland coast sliding past the restaurant window. On landing days the kitchen opens early.
Life on board
A day aboard L’Austral is the Ponant day: the expedition twice, French meals between, a conference in the theatre, an aperitif at the piano. On the long crossings of the Davis Strait and Baffin Bay the lecture programme fills the sea days.
Two restaurants: a gastronomic dining room and a grill on the pool deck for lunch outside. French cuisine, an open bar, and wine chosen to travel.
Elegance and intimacy
Staterooms and suites
A hundred and thirty-two staterooms and suites over four decks, every one with a sea view and almost all with a private balcony. Jean-Philippe Nuel’s interiors are warm and understated: pale wood, grey and ivory, a sliding window onto the balcony.
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Balcony Stateroom
18.5 m² with a 4 m² private balcony One king-size bed or two single beds Sliding panoramic window Bathroom with shower
Balcony Stateroom
18.5 m² with a 4 m² private balcony One king-size bed or two single beds Sliding panoramic window Bathroom with shower
L’Austral
A Boréal-class yacht for the Davis Strait
L’Austral is the second of Ponant’s Boréal class, delivered by Fincantieri in Ancona in 2011. She is 142 metres and 10,944 tonnes, with an Ice Class 1C hull for the summer waters of Greenland and the Canadian Arctic, diesel-electric propulsion and stabilisers. She carries 132 staterooms and suites, 140 crew and eleven Zodiacs, with interiors by Jean-Philippe Nuel.
In the Arctic she sails Reykjavík to Kangerlussuaq along the Greenland coast in late July, and the Northwest Passage from Kangerlussuaq at the end of August. Ponant sailed two of her sisters through the Passage three days apart in 2015, a first for any company.
- 132 staterooms · 140 crew
- Ice Class 1C · 142 m
- 11 Zodiacs
The expedition
How a day ashore is made
Ponant sails the Arctic the French way: two outings a day, a naturalist at every landing, and lunch waiting when the Zodiacs come back.
Launched from the marina at the stern, with the whole ship ashore in two waves. Landings are led by a French-speaking and English-speaking expedition team.
Her Arctic season
Voyages aboard L’Austral
Greenland from the edge of the ice sheet to the Thule region, the Northwest Passage from Kangerlussuaq to Nuuk, and in September the coast of Canada from Nuuk to Halifax. Tell us the month you have in mind and we tell you which sailing suits it, which stateroom, and what we can do on the fare.
All expeditions
Good to know
L’Austral, in practice
The questions we are asked most before guests choose this ship.
Up to 264 guests in 132 staterooms and suites, with 140 crew. In the polar regions Ponant sails with fewer, so that landings can be made in two waves.
Her hull is Ice Class 1C, built for the open summer waters of Greenland and the Canadian Arctic. The Northwest Passage is sailed in late August and September, when the channels are at their most open; for the heavier ice Ponant sails Le Commandant Charcot.
All meals, an open bar, the expedition programme, Zodiac outings and landings, guided walks, a parka to keep, boots to borrow, Wi-Fi and gratuities. Kayaking, where offered, is booked in advance. Most Arctic voyages include the Paris charter flight to the ship.
Both. Announcements, lectures and the expedition team work in French and in English, and the crew is used to Australian guests.
Via Paris or Reykjavík, with the Ponant charter to Kangerlussuaq where it applies. We arrange the flights, the night in Paris and the nights either side so the whole journey sits in one booking.
Made to measure
Tell us your Arctic, we build the rest
Every guest sails differently. Tell us what you are hoping for and who you are travelling with, and we shape the voyage aboard L’Austral around it: the sailing, the stateroom, the flights from Australia, the nights in Paris, and the offers we hold for Arctic Cruise guests. One specialist, from the first conversation until you are home.
The fleet
Other ships we sail
Each ship we work with has her own character and her own Arctic. Le Commandant Charcot is the icebreaker for the North Pole; Le Lyrial and Le Boréal are her sisters for Spitsbergen and Disko Bay.
Learn more
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