Our home for the next two weeks was the mega-yacht, Le Boréal, a 466 foot French vessel (registered in Mata-Utu in the Wallis and Futuna Islands in the South Pacific) launched in 2010. It has a maximum capacity of 264 passengers, but there were only 193 aboard for our cruise through the Chilean fjords; it has a crew of 139.
The passengers were from about a dozen different countries with 145 of them from France. The other English speakers were from Australia and South Africa. RuthAnn and I were very surprised to find that we were the only two Americans aboard this beautiful Italian built ship!
Our starboard cabin was very comfortable, had a small balcony and was located near the rear of the ship. We were just a few steps from the purser's and excursions desks and the main lounge. One level down took us to the main dining room and one up to the theater. Going forward and up took us to the bridge (an open bridge policy allowed us access to the bridge 24/7) and a small lounge and library.
Two excellent lecturers kept us well informed as to the flora and fauna encountered on the voyage as well as the history and anthropology pertaining to the Patagonian region of Chile. Two pianists, two female vocalists, and a small dance troupe kept us entertained in the lounges and theater.
The French crew operating the ship was led by Captain Patrick Marchesseau, an entertaining and charming man with some very interesting experiences at sea. He was the captain of the three masted yacht, Le Ponant, when it was hijacked off the coast of Somalia in 2008; he also captained the solar powered ship, Tûranot PlanetSolar, for the first half of its 18 month voyage around the world in 2010/2012.
We chose this ship for our journey through the Chilean fjords because it was small enough to navigate waters that many of the larger cruise could not, but still give a level of luxury that added to the enjoyment of the cruise.
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| Our very comfortable cabin |
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| The CruiseSHow on the tv kept us well informed |
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| Exhaust stacks |
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