|
 L'Boreal is one of the Compagnie Ponant's
new 5-star small cruise ships, she has a tasteful and discreet elegance and
décor combined with exterior and interior lines to reflect a nautical style. I
loved the neutral tones and splashes of red throughout the ship. The ship is
pure luxury with a French touch but not stuffy. The type of surrounds that are
more upbeat and draw a younger clientele.
I had a standard balcony stateroom and for a
small ship the stateroom was spacious and very comfortable. I was quite
impressed when I started checking out the closet and drawer space how much room
they have. The closet was large enough for all my clothes and more, plus
something that you don’t always get…. Plenty of hangers! One thing that I have
not seem before unless I was in a suite, you have a separate room for your
toilet and a separate room for the very large shower and sink area. There are
two other features that I experienced that evening and one is very important,
the large mirror over the sink does not fog up no matter how hot you make the
shower water… trust me I tried! The other is the non-slip flooring in the entire
bathroom. You can walk out of the shower without the fear of slipping.
The bedding is fantastic along with bathrobe
and slippers that really fit. A full bathroom amenity package from L’Occitane is
included plus the standard- hairdryer, hi-fi radio, safe, stocked mini bar, flat
screen satellite TV, iPod station, Video On Demand, WIFI internet access and
direct line telephone. Room service is also available and the balcony is large
enough to enjoy morning coffee and breakfast or a cocktail before dinner. I was
quite pleasantly surprised the first morning I had room service coffee. The
coffee was really hot, I hate warm coffee, the cream was warm too but not just
plain cream is was “Clouded Cream”. Talk about being spoiled, I drank the entire
pot! Just a note on how informed the cabin stewards are. I did not mention to
mine that I was getting off the ship in Marigot Bay. When he brought my morning
coffee he wished me safe travels and hoped to see me again. Very nice touch!
On-board cuisine, this is a French Cruise
Line and they are very proud of their culinary expertise. The food was excellent
and this is coming from someone that doesn’t eat a lot of French foods.
Breakfast in the Le Grill was excellent. I
was very impressed with all the fresh fruits, cold meats and cheeses. A hot
buffet is also available as well as omelets and eggs made to order. Don’t miss
stopping at the pastry table with all the fresh baked breads and croissants or
the dessert station. Worry about your waistline when you get home.
The lunch buffets were also a special treat.
A wide selection of salads and fruits, soup of the day and a hot buffet.
Depending on the itinerary they offer many themed buffets too such as seafood,
Spanish, Indian and not to be left out French. Mediterranean style BBQ lunch is
available at the pool area grill. Hold on to your palate because you won’t find
hamburgers and fries here!
Dinner in the main dining room is mainly
open seating and the menu is “a la carte”. While we were on the ship there were
two evenings the entire ship dined at one time. The menu was more limited but it
was excellent. Wines are included with lunch and dinner. Be careful, I don’t
think the wine stewards likes to see an empty glass!
On the last night of a normal sailing the
Captain has a “Farwell Reception and Dinner”. As many cruise lines do Lobster is
one of your entrée selections. The Hotel Manager knew we were getting off the
ship a day early and would not be able to experience the Farewell dinner. When
the waiter gave us our menus on our last night we had the option to order
lobster. Ok picture this, we are a party of four and the dining room is almost
full. The waiters brought out our lobster entrée’s that wasn’t t just a one or
two tails but almost half a lobster. Talk about being spoiled. We were asked by
many people sitting around us why we have lobster and they didn’t? We laughed as
we were enjoying our dinner but this shows you how accommodating the ship can
be. Just FYI the lobster was amazing!!
The entertainment needs a little more work
but I understand that improvements are coming. There is always live
entertainment playing in one of the lounges during day which is a pleasant
change. The ship offers a main show on many nights and the main show lounge has
live music and a disco for the evening. If you have a chance stop in for a fun
time at the Piano Bar.
I mentioned we embarked the ship in Curacao
but by the time we got settled in toured the ship and had our life boat drill it
was time to leave. Our next port was Los Roques, Venezuela. We anchored off of
Madrisqui Island for an afternoon at the beach. The only way to get to the
Island was by Zodiac’s. Now I know how to swim and not afraid of the water but I
have never been on a Zodiac. The boat seats about 12-14 plus staff. You sit on
the sides of the boat and have ropes to hold on to. I was a little nervous about
this venture but didn’t want to be a wimp. The ride over wasn’t too bad, the
water was calm and not many waves. The Island was nice but with very limited
amenities. There wasn’t a real bar but the staff did serve punch and fruit juice
and water off a float in the water however there were no toilet facilities
available. Kind of put a damper on how much you drank! We stayed for a while and
enjoyed the beach and the water. Now it’s time to go back to the ship via the
Zodiac. I am now an experienced Zodiac sailor and ready to go! Well the current
had changed and we hit a lot of waves. Needless to say by the time we got back
to Marina I looked like a drowned rat! I was soaked to the skin. Would I do it
again…. sure because it was fun!
Our next port was St. Georges, Grenada known
as the “Spice Island”. We hired a private car and had a great tour of the Island
and of course stocked up on the local spices.
From there we went to Bequia, St. Vincent &
The Grenadines. We decided to do our own walking tour and find a restaurant that
served lobster since it is so common in this area. We found a quaint little
local place that had open air seating and a gorgeous view of the bay area. We
watched the locals and enjoyed the lobster that was prepared Island style with
local spices and cooked to perfection. We were getting ready to leave when a
very gentlemen stopped at are table and asked how the lunch was and where we
were from and about the ship. We was a very interesting man to talk and a lot of
fun too! During the conversation we found out that he was the retired” Prime
Minister”. This is one for the book!
We were on the ship for four nights but it
was enough time to get a good feel of the product. Even though the ship is small
compared to what I was used to she felt big. With the electric diesel engines I
hardly felt any vibrations, the cabins are very quiet and I didn’t hear any of
the normal hallway noise. The ship has two 150 passenger tenders which load at
the stern of the ship for quick and safe disembarkation for tender ports. They
also have a fleet of Zodiacs for guest use that load at the stern as well.
The ship has 4 areas that can hold the
entire ship for meals, cocktails and meetings. Excellent French-inspired and
International gourmet cuisine, attentive yet discreet service from a bilingual
(French-English) crew, ability to visit global destinations that your larger
ships cannot. A Unique, Authentic and Exceptional style of sailing. The ship is
perfect for groups or charters. |
