Le Boreal Feb 18 2012

Anyone going on this trip? Husband and I are from Scotland and are booked on this cruise - looking forward to touching land on our 7th continent. Can anyone help with regards to dress code for evening?

18 February 2012?

2012 should have read 2013!!!! Operator error!

On our February cruise on Le Boreal the dress was all casual all the time. Some people did change from expedition wear to nicer clothes for the evenings, but not all and it wasn't required. Wear what you are comfortable wearing within the strict luggage limitations.

We'll be on the sister ship (l'Austral) which is also sailing from Ushuaia on Feb 18, 2013. We'll give you wave if we spot you! :p

Will you be on the charter flight from BA?

Shall give you a wave! No we are not on the charter flight - we have arranged all our flights ourselves from Scotland to Buenes Aires and then to Ushuaia - we're staying the night before in Ushuaia just in case there was a problem with the internal flights!

Just about to order our boots.

Re dress code - is there no formal evening? -Husband usually takes his kilt for such occassions but if there was no formal evening that would free up some luggage allowance.

Just checked our documents and they say all casual. There was a captains welcome night and a captains farewell night onboard but the dress was still all casual. As I said, some people changed clothes for dinner and some did not. I expect it may have had to do with which expedition groups they were in and the amount of time they had. In any event, I never saw any male passenger in even a sportscoat, certainly no gowns or tuxedos or suits. I did see some nice trousers and some skirts on women, but nothing remotely dressy. In my experience, expedition cruising is very different and much less dressy than regular cruising.

Re dress code - is there no formal evening? -Husband usually takes his kilt for such occassions but if there was no formal evening that would free up some luggage allowance.

On a (Belgian) tv documentary about this cruise, I saw that there was a welcome and farewell party where guests were expected to dress up a little. Didn't see anything elaborate apart from the occasional sports jacket. Mind you, I didn't see any jeans, either.

Hi, I am trying to book Le Boreal/L'Austral for 2014...would be interested to hear your experiences on your return..many thanks x

+1... let's have some detailed reports.

I'd also like to know how French it is. I speak French; my wife doesn't.

+1... let's have some detailed reports.

 

I'd also like to know how French it is. I speak French; my wife doesn't.

We speak no French-EEK!!

+1... let's have some detailed reports.

I'm just finishing a 5000+ word review that I'll be posting in the next couple of days. I'll keep you posted.

I'd also like to know how French it is. I speak French; my wife doesn't.

We speak no French-EEK!!

Don't worry, the French don't speak English. :D

This is what I write in my review:

Compagnie du Ponant is French, so expect the primary language on board to be French (unless the vessel is chartered by an American or Chinese TA). On this sailing, there were 179 passengers, 75% French and 25% other (UK, Australia, USA, Germany, Belgium, Hong Kong). On the previous sailing, only 25% was French so YMMV. All crew and staff spoke English, so there was never a language barrier, nor were non-French speakers treated differently.