Le Boreal Review
A and K Le Boreal charter Spitzbergen Greenland and Iceland - 14 magical days
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Additional details
We joined Le Boreal in Longyearbyen on the A & K chartered cruise on 27 July.
We had the previous night as part of the tour at Thon Opera, Oslo as the nominated hotel at our time of booking (Hotel Bristol) was closed for renovations which was disappointing as we had booked and paid months earlier at Thon Rosenkrantz around the corner from Bristol and was, we thought, walking distance with wheelable luggage to relocate after arriving 2 nights earlier from Australia off longhaul flights. FYI we could not book Bristol – fully booked at the time, but as time went by, no bookings at all, so clearly this last minute move by A and K was known for some time!! The advice for the hotel change was only after we had paid our final amount, which was pretty disappointing and meant we had to make a change from one side of the city to the other – not insurmountable but inconvenient and had we known we probably would have booked the Opera for the whole period.
The Thon Opera is a BIG 4ish star hotel, right on the back of the station. Very convenient, nice room, however we liked the Thon Rosenkrantz better despite much smaller rooms – better central location for two days exploring Oslo major sights, not so good for a longer stay though – room is a bit tight. Rosenkrantz also has a complimentary “supper” service and included breakfast. The supper, basic and a bit sloppy (bread, salad, stew of sorts) was great on the travel weary day, not great night 2 but we were still being lazy and not much else around the hotel without a few blocks walk. Rosenkrantz has a lovely enclosed rooftop area with free water and coffee with views of the Palace – would be a good catch up location to be with a group, would make up for the tiny rooms. Breakfast was as you would expect a buffet to be without being sumptuous.
Cabin Review
Deluxe Stateroom
My husband and I took up our residence in cabin 331 which we thought turned out to be perfect. It is midships in case the weather was poor but on our cruise there was no rough weather. Firstly, unless you are in an upmarket suite, all cabins are the same size, layout and fit out no matter what your deck, so to pay more to be on a higher deck we felt was not necessary and proved so for us. In addition we found Level 3 most convenient.
Level 3 is the disembarkation point for all zodiac activities so this was very convenient and it also has a lovely stern bar and lounge with all day coffee and drinks and a small balcony, again very convenient. Level 2 is the main dining room, two flights of stairs down – we decided to use the stairs for exercise. Level 4 is the theatre where briefings and lectures were held – two flights up. It was a bit of a hike to the Level 6 casual dining area and pool deck, but all in all Level 3 was an excellent choice.
I note there are complaints on Cruise Critic saying Level 3 has fuel smells – our group had 3 Level 3 cabins and we had no fuel smell issues, in fact no issues at all and great cabin service.
The cabin layout is practical and spacious enough with a good sized balcony which would be great in other parts of the world, but even in the Artic, it enabled you to pop out into the elements, feel the temperature, watch the scenery and it generally adds to the size of the cabin. The bed was large and comfortable. The bathroom layout was generous for a ship (and we have been on many of all sizes), there was plenty of wardrobe and drawer space and hooks to hang sometimes wet outdoor gear out of the way without it cluttering the bathroom. The desk was small but OK, there was one lounge chair and side table and a full size bar fridge that was topped up everyday with spirits, mixers, soft drink and water. All in all a very satisfactory home in our small expedition ship for 2 weeks.