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Ponant · 132 staterooms · Disko Bay and the Northwest Passage
Le Boréal
The ship that began Ponant’s modern fleet in 2010, and the first French vessel to sail the Northwest Passage. Disko Bay, Inuit villages and the Passage, with French service.
Ponant
The first of the sisters, and the one with the record.
Le Boréal was delivered by Fincantieri in 2010, the first of four identical sisters that gave Ponant its modern fleet. In 2015 she and Le Soléal crossed the Northwest Passage three days apart, the first time two ships of one company had done so. 142 metres, 132 staterooms, an ice-strengthened hull, eleven Zodiacs, a theatre, a pool on the aft deck. Jean-Philippe Nuel inside. In the Arctic she sails Disko Bay and the villages of West Greenland in a week, and the Passage itself in August and September.
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Refined and elegant furnishings
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Open to the horizon
Celebrating the treasures of nature
Eleven Zodiacs
Le Boréal 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 icebergs of Disko Bay sliding past the restaurant window.
A delicious awakening
Pastries from the ship’s bakery, eggs to order, and the icebergs of Disko Bay sliding past the restaurant window.
Life on board
A day aboard Le Boréal is the Ponant day: the expedition twice, French meals between, a conference in the theatre, an aperitif at the piano. In West Greenland the settlements are small and the ship anchors off; in the Passage the sea days are filled by the historians.
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, lower decks
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, lower decks
18.5 m² with a 4 m² private balcony One king-size bed or two single beds Sliding panoramic window Bathroom with shower
Le Boréal
The ship that set the pattern
Le Boréal is the first of Ponant’s Boréal class, delivered by Fincantieri in Ancona in 2010. 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 Disko Bay and the Inuit villages of West Greenland, and the Northwest Passage in August and September. Ponant has sailed the Passage since 2013, longer than any other European 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 Le Boréal
The 2028 season in Greenland and Canada: the edge of the ice sheet, the Thule region, the Northwest Passage and the autumn coast 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
Le Boréal, 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 Le Boréal 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 L’Austral are her sisters for Spitsbergen and the long Greenland routes.
Learn more
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