We wanted to go see the Stromboli volcano erupt at night up close, and that is how we ended up booking a cruise on board Le Boreal, a ship by French cruise company Ponant.
For us, this wasn’t our first Ponant experience. Ten years ago we sailed on their Lyrial ship for an Antarctica expedition. That trip left a mark: frozen eyelashes, Zodiac landings, penguin colonies and the kind of quiet luxury that makes you feel looked after even at the end of the world. Coming back to Ponant a decade later felt a little like returning to a familiar house — same French elegance, same calm rhythm, same attention to detail.
Is that really true?
Did Ponant and Le Boréal really live up to our expectations?
This Ponant Le Boreal ship review isn’t only just about the itinerary. It’s about the ship itself: our cabin, the restaurants and the food, the service, staff, excursion and organisation, the bars and lounges, and how well Ponant welcomes travelers on board to give them the best experience.
We paid for our cruise and didn’t get or ask anything in return for this review.
Boarding
Unfortunately we start off our Le Boréal ship review with a negative intro.
The boarding in Valletta was atrocious. Never seen more chaos, pushing and shouting before – and we are experienced cruisers we might add. Disorganised, a boarding hall that was way too tiny even for the meagre 220 passengers checking in. Not enough seating area, for a clientele that is in average well over 70 years of age. No air conditioning. One tiny bathroom, 2 self service water stations that were empty in a blink of an eye and never refilled again.
You might say, that is the fault of Valletta’s port – not Ponant’s. With so many people complaining about it, you’d think something would change to appease the disgruntled clients. Throughout the entire cruise, we heard seasoned and loyal Ponant clients say that they had complained about numerous negative points, but nothing was ever done about anything. Same old. Guess changing Valletta as a checkin port isn’t something on their to-do list either. Just thought we would mention how unreal the boarding was.
We have checked in with other much larger cruise ships. Even on HAL, the time between depositing our luggage at the terminal and sitting down to enjoy a hotdog in the sun on the pool deck has never been more than 1 hour. It took us over 2 hours to get onto Le Boréal.
Rant over.
Our cabin
We booked the very last cabin on this trip a couple of months ago.
Superior stateroom 302, on deck 3, portside, the last cabin at the end of the hallway before the medical centre. No balcony, just one large window.
Bedroom
Our cabin had that signature Ponant palette: soft grey, light blue and white color touches, and just enough texture to feel cosy without trying too hard. Very comfortable bed and mattress, one firm and one soft pillow (you can ask for the pillow menu if you are not happy), soft carpet on the floor. And since we don’t have a balcony, that space is turned into extra bedroom space where a comfortable sofa, chair and table is sitting. The large window lets in enough bright light.
There is storage space practically everywhere: under the bed, in the many wardrobes and drawers. The layout is clever and spacious. We didn’t miss a balcony at all. Not huge balcony fans anywhere here.
In the bedroom as well: a complimentary mini fridge with water, sodas, beer and small hotel style liquor bottles. On the desk: a Nespresso coffee machine with 6 capsules, kettle, teabags, sugar, 4 cups, bottles of still and sparkling water. Everything is complementary, and is restocked twice a day.
You also get 2 reusable water bottles that you can fill with the water in the room, or at the water station in the hallway near the Grand Salon lounge. Take them on excursions and take them home with you after your cruise.
Bathroom
The bathroom is small, compact but elegant.
No rain shower, only a hand shower. Good shower pressure, toiletries (shower gel, shampoo, conditioner) – Luc didn’t like the smell of them, amenities (cotton buds, shower cap, nail file, makeup removal pads), and housekeeping that resets everything with quiet precision. Nothing flashy, nothing excessive. Just well‑designed comfort, and everything you need – well, all that we need.
Housekeeping was done twice a day, by our housekeeper Lou: once in the morning and a turndown service in the evening. We left here 2 notes with requests which she always took care of.
There’s a separate toilet next to the bathroom.
Electric Sockets
Bedside
On both sides of the bed, there is a universal Type L (Italian-style) power socket. The outlet accepts both standard 2-pin European plugs and many international plug types, making it convenient for charging devices overnight. No USB charging ports here.
Desk
The cabin desk is equipped with both a US-style Type B outlet and a European Schuko (Type E/F) socket, which also accepts Italian Type L and standard 2-pin European plugs.
Bathroom
A dual-voltage shaver outlet (120V/230V) is provided in the bathroom. Intended primarily for electric shavers, it can also accommodate some low-power grooming devices, but it is not a standard power socket for general electronics.
Reception
You can find the reception (left) on deck 3, as well as the excursion desk and a future cruise desk.
This area is mainly used as a gangway to get on and off the ship when docked at a port quay. If the ship is on anchor, tendering happens from the marina on deck 2 aft.
Bars and Lounges
The Grand Salon main lounge is located on deck 3 aft.
It has an outdoor seating area, where smoking is allowed.
Coffee and tea is available here 24/7. It’s the perfect place to read during a calm port day, and for a pre‑dinner cocktail – one you have to get yourself at the bar, no table service. There’s early breakfast from 6am onwards here too — fruit, pastries, yogurt, tea, coffee. And you can get a bite to eat here during afternoon tea later in the day: savory sandwiches, sweet treats such as cakes and pies, and on one occasion crepes Suzette prepared on the spot. Yum. During these moments, you can enjoy live violin or piano music. In the evening this salon turns into a dance floor and gets a more clubby vibe.
The Observation Lounge on deck 6 forward is quiet, bright, and wrapped in windows.
There’s a small library, a chess table, comfortable seating, and telescopes for scenic cruising. It’s one of the best places on the ship to sit and watch the world drift by. Lectures for small groups of 20 are also held here. The barman was always attentive and walk around to take your order.
There’s also an outdoor bar on deck 7 aft, right above the buffet restaurant outdoor area overlooking the pool. It is casual, sunny, and ideal when the weather is gorgeous. A quiet outside corner to read on a port day with a nice view over the city.
Check your daily program for specific bar opening hours.
Restaurants
Ponant leans into its French identity, and Le Boréal reflects that beautifully. Not in a pretentious way — in a “good sauces, good fish, good desserts” way.
La Licorne
La Licorne is the main dining room on deck 2.
It serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Opening hours depend on excursion days and are mentioned in your daily program.
Breakfast consists of 2 parts: a small breakfast buffet and à la carte items. The buffet has a small selection of pastries, bread, cold cuts, bacon, scrambled eggs, cheese, yogurt, porridge, vegetables and fresh fruit. You an order eggs any style, French toast, waffles, pancakes etc that will be prepared in the kitchen and brought to your table. Your waiter will also take care of any hot or cold drinks you want.
We loved all the dishes that we ordered: the eggs Benedict, omelets and the French toast. Big shoutout for the bakery on board: excellent French baguettes, crispy croissants and other pastries. This is for us the first time that a cruise ship does all of the baking perfectly right. Very good breakfast here, and a quiet place to sit and enjoy your morning coffee. Most people go up to the self service buffet on deck 6.
Lunch at La Licorne is again part buffet – part à al carte. The small buffet has a selection of soups, warm appetisers, salads, vegetables, cold cuts, cheeses, smoked fish, pasta salads, breads and lovely desserts. Then there are 4 main courses: meat, fish, pasta and vegetarian. Expect dishes such as pan seared fish fillet with ratatouille vegetables, lamb curry with rice, beef bourguignon, pasta Alfredo, eggplant parmesan, mussels, vitello tonnato, polenta with grilled vegetables. There was always something we liked.
For lunch and dinner, besides the daily changing menu there are a couple of classic dishes that you can always order instead: club sandwich, steak frites, poached salmon, burgers, pasta pesto.
Dinner always starts at 7:30pm and is purely à la carte. On Ponant French cuisine is the main influence. Expect dishes such as foie gras, duck à l’orange, poached eggs in red wine sauce, turbot, lobster, steak Rossini, chicken vol au vent, salmon coulibiac, chicken in morel cream sauce, scallops. Other less French influenced dishes: quail biryani, Spanish pork pluma with sweet potatoes, tuna tataki, Asian pork belly.
Desserts are top notch: the patisserie chef was amazing. Delicious crumbles, pies, tarts, poached fruits, ice creams, everything we tasted was perfect. What we also loved and truly have to mention, is the quality of the cheeses on board Le Boreal. Did we already mention that the butter here comes from famous French butter master Bordier? Well cheeses are another of their specialty and we truly loved them. No sorry slices of Gouda, cheddar or flavourless blue cheese. True French cheeses such as Langres, Reblochon, Brie, Tome, Comté, goats cheeses, blue cheeses – and not just great cheeses but served at the perfect temperature and ripeness they have to be served at to develop fully. What a feast.
Wines are poured generously at lunch and dinner. There is always a white and red wine suggestion, but you can also ask for another type of wine. Many are still included so don’t worry. Only when the wine list arrives and the sommeliers pay more attention to you going through it, you know it won’t be free. They were never pushy though.
Service is warm and attentive. We would usually sit in the area where waiters Heladio and Joel were working and they would know already our preferences after the first night.
La Boussole
We have to be honest, we love our à la carte meals with table service. Which doesn’t mean that we never went to the main buffet restaurant on deck 6, La Boussole.
It is more casual, no white linens on the table, it is bright and easygoing, with a lovely outside seating area by the pool for the perfect breakfast, lunch or dinner in the sun if the weather allows it. The buffet mirrors the food served at La Licorne, and also offers extra dishes to choose from.
Breakfast for instance has a wider choice of breakfast pastries, yogurts, cold cuts, cheeses, breads, fruits, salads and warm breakfast options such as scrambled eggs, baked beans, sausages, bacon. You can still order eggs any style, waffles, pancakes and such here too, just ask the waiter.
Lunch contains the lunch dishes on the à la carte menu downstairs again that you have to get yourself, and it offers more salads, has sushi, a carving station with 1 daily meat option such as pork roast, roast chicken, beef tenderloin, pork belly etc. Breads, soups, cheeses, desserts. Sometimes there is a themed station with barbecued meat or fresh mussels.
Dinner also mirrors the à la carte dishes from downstairs again plus most stations you had for lunch: carving, sushi, more salads etc. Cheeses and desserts again here as well, fresh breads and more.
The alfresco setting is lovely, and that is the main reason we came here 3 times for breakfast – to enjoy the view and the warm weather. One night we had dinner here because that night the ship stayed close to the Stromboli volcano and we had front row tickets to a spectacular set of eruptions in the dark with a glass of wine in our hand.
Room service
Room service offers comfort food done well: burgers, steak, fries, salmon, salads, club sandwich, desserts. Even on exhausting days, we’d still find the courage and energy to go down to the dining room for lunch or dinner so we didn’t order anything in.
What we did order twice was in-room breakfast on a very early excursion day. Filled in the form, hung it outside our door. Twice our breakfast arrived right on time, with everything we ordered. Eggs were warm and the coffee was hot. Very good in-room breakfast and a quiet way to slowly wake up before a busy port day.
Our overall opinion about the food
The positive: consistently good and well executed French classics, apart from one dish perhaps. Excellent pastries, cheese, butter and breads that would drive us crazy. Balanced and daily changing menus, fresh ingredients, good and consistent service and a kitchen that can clearly follow and execute.
What we missed on this ship was more Italian influences from Sicily, where we cruised. Apart from eggplant parmesan and vitello tonnato, and the tiramisu and cannoli buffet at the Stromboli, we would have loved to see more local ingredients. And that is something we heard other passengers talk about as well. So wherever we could, we’d go eat in the ports and cities to at least experience some of that fantastic Sicilian food.
I’m sure we are pretty spoiled after many cruises with Silversea where their SALT program does just that: bring the local flavors on board. Apparently it is a thing on Ponant: the caviar tasting, and the Spanish Serrano ham night – something seasoned Ponant clients know. To us it sounded so off: eating Spanish ham in Italy. Like I said, spoiled. But are these negative points for us a reason to not cruise with Ponant ever again? No.
Service & Staff
The crew is one of Le Boréal’s biggest strengths. Professional, warm, and attentive without hovering. They remember names, preferences, and small details that make the experience feel personal.
The atmosphere is calm and grown‑up. No loud entertainment, no forced fun — just a ship designed for travellers who enjoy comfort, good food, and a sense of ease.
Excursions and Organisation
Top notch during our cruise. We booked our (included) excursions well ahead of time. Excursion tickets are delivered to your mailbox outside your cabin the day before the excursion, telling you at what time and where to meet (always at the Grand Salon) and what group you are in.
Our cruise director Marie would announce in the Salon when your group was ready to leave the ship, always perfectly on time. The groups were always kept small, and the buses with good AC were modern and large – giving everyone a lot of space to sit. Everything ran on time, and fortunately nothing felt chaotic.
Our guides were hit and miss. Some spoke very articulate, and others not so. At the beginning of our cruise we were all given earpieces, and once you leave on an excursion, an excursion staff member would hand out these receivers you can hang around your neck. Plug in the earpiece to hear the guide. Again hit and miss, not always very clear to hear and quite some static crackling that made it very uncomfortable.
The included excursions were of very good quality, we visited great cities and villages and panoramic viewpoints. The excursions we booked often had refreshments and snacks (coffee, ice tea, juices, pastries, sandwiches) included that was taken in a nearby coffee bar – which was always a welcome break in the heat. We even did a (included) Marsala wine tasting with absolutely delicious food.
We loved our excursions and how they were organised, well done Ponant!
Swimming Pool
The pool on Le Boréal was heated, which made it pleasant to use even on cooler days. However, it was very small, more of a plunge pool for a quick dip and to cool off than a proper swimming pool. If you’re hoping to swim laps, you’ll be disappointed, as it’s simply not large enough for that.
Entertainment
The theatre is where all evening entertainment happens.
Expect the usual classic cruise shows à la Broadway with dancers and singers. We are not really into that, but a lot of fellow passengers were absolutely taken by the performances.
Other entertainment is live piano, violin or singers during afternoon tea, pre dinner drinks and after dinner piano recitals.
Lectures
During our trip 2 speakers were on board: Gail Parker (English) and Claire Hinaut (French).
We went to both of their lectures and found them very interesting. Topics were: Pompeii, history of Malta, etc. Most of the lectures were held in the theatre on deck 2. Some lectures were for only 20 people and had to be booked in advance at the reception. Those small lectures (more like Q&A sessions) were held in the Observation Lounge.
Check your daily program for lecture times and whether you need to book in advance.
Boutique
The boutique on deck 3 is small but offers a range of clothing such as Ponant branded clothes, Columbia outdoor wear, caps, and fashion as well as jewellery, post cards, stuffed toys, souvenirs and trinkets.
As we had a 100 euro onboard credit we were not going to spend on expensive wines, paid excursions, spa treatments or photos and videos of the trip, we spent it in the boutique where we found quite a few Columbia clothes on sale. We never buy anything in the boutique, but this time were we happy to walk away with 5 discounted quick-dry Columbia t-shirts.
Other Amenities & Activities
- spa
- photo and video corner
- internet corner
- yoga class
- dance classes
Passengers
On our trip we estimate that half of the passengers came from France and the other half were American or Canadian. Just a handful of couples were from the UK, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium.
The average age was about 70 years, with ages ranging on average between 50 and 85.
Dress Code
During the day comfortable clothing is fine: shorts, sandals, no problem.
From 6pm onwards a more smart casual attire is expected. However it was never really enforced. I once saw a lady wear bright orange Teva sandals and shorts for dinner at the posh à la carte restaurant, and nothing was said.
So don’t fret. There’s a gala evening on the second night where people like to dress up in suits and dresses, but again it really isn’t expected. Even a simple collared shirt or polo for men is fine, doesn’t even have to be long sleeves. There are 2 nights where the color code is white, or white and black. Quite a lot of people would wear something white or black and white, but again it is absolutely fine if you don’t. We never felt any pressure to dress up and never saw or heard anyone being sent away to change.
WIFI
Wifi was stable and good throughout our trip. We could connect 2 devices per account, which made it so much easier when switching between phone and laptop.
Final Thoughts of our Le Boréal Ship Review
We enjoyed our cruise on Le Boréal. The combination of good food, a comfortable cabin, attentive service and interesting destinations made this a voyage we thoroughly enjoyed. The ship offers an elegant yet relaxed atmosphere, and its smaller size allows access to places that larger cruise ships simply cannot reach.
Boarding in Valletta could have been handled much better and we would have liked to see a stronger connection to the local cuisine in the menus, but these were minor drawbacks in an otherwise enjoyable experience.
If you appreciate smaller ships, destination-focused itineraries and good French cuisine, Le Boréal is a ship we would happily sail on again.