Yes, please! Whatever information you can share would be appreciated.
Well, I have lots of info I can share, so let me try an overview of my own experience and we can go from there
Let me say at the top that once you are onboard, you should expect that Ponant is running the show with support from your
ABD Guides. You can also expect some 'extras' for your ABD trip while on board. But when it comes to day-to-day touring (hikes, zodiacs, etc.) it is all Ponant.
Ship - Ponant is a French cruise-line and I would say almost half the passengers were French. Almost half were American, and then there were 'the rest of us' from elsewhere - Canada (in my case), Germany, and South Africa. The senior crew was French and the remaining crew were from all over (much like on any cruise ship). The ship itself - Le Boreal - could hold about 260 passengers, I believe, but for the Antarctica cruise they purposely do not book to capacity. So we had just over 200 passengers, and about half were with the Tauck tour. The ship is ice-class and very well-suited for Antarctic travel. We found the crew to be extremely professional, courteous, and provided great customer service. The decor and amenities were all top notch and felt high-end. We found out cabin to be spacious and really well designed. We never felt cramped, and we had ample room to hang our wet clothes to dry them out. We had a balcony and we used it quite a bit for sightseeing! I will also add that, if you have ever done a high-end river cruise, the Ponant ship feels very similar.
Here's a link that outlines the details of La Boreal:
https://us.ponant.com/le-boreal
Food - simply outstanding! It's a French ship and you should expect some French cuisine and lots of wine. But the menu is varied (not only French) and we found something for everyone. Table service was fantastic (your wine glass is never empty!). There are a couple of restaurants and a few bars/lounges. After a long day of visiting with penguins, there was nothing better than sitting in the lounge with a panoramic view of the ship's bow while sipping cognac. If you have food allergies, etc. - the ship Chef (or designate) will actually meet with you at the beginning of the cruise to ensure they know your needs and they will 1000% accommodate (my wife has peanut issues). There are snacks in the Lounge pretty much always and the bar service excellent (this was included although there were some premium drinks offered for a cost). Snacks are also left in your cabin where there is also a mini-fridge with a good selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.
Clothing - I'm actually going to cover this in a separate post after this one.
Guides - Part of the ship's crew includes Guides. There is an Expedition Leader who works directly with the captain to plan your route and all your stops. The trip will have a planned itinerary, but it can/will change depending on weather and conditions. Example - our first 2-day crossing of the Drake Passage was very calm - aka Drake Lake - so we arrived in the Peninsula almost half a day earlier than planned. Therefore, the captain and Expedition Lead decided we would go further south than planned and see some sights. You can expect a daily briefing in the ship's theatre where the Expedition Lead and Guides will explain what you saw and will be seeing. There are MANY Guides on the ship that are experienced in Antarctic travel. Ours were Canadian, American, French, Columbian, and Australian. Many of them are biologists or have a similar expertise. They were fantastic and they will become like family. They drive the zodiacs, they plan the hikes, they mark the trails, they answer your questions, they do presentations - they are there to make sure you have the adventure of your lifetime.
Hiking/Touring - We had at least 2 outings every day on the Peninsula. For hiking, you can expect a wet/dry landing via zodiac on mainland or an island. There will be lots of Guides and crew to help you in/out of the zodiacs. Sometimes hikes are guided, but usually Guides will have marked a trail (using flags) and they will station themselves on the trail here and there. 90 minutes to 2 hours is what you should expect with hikes varying in how strenuous they are. You will walk on broken rock and/or snow depending on where you are, and there will be hills to consider at some sites. The nice part is that you can choose not to hike the marked trail and simply walk along the beach at the landing site. Other times, you will be sitting in a zodiac touring through icebergs or other areas of interest while your Guide navigates/narrates. There are days when you might do more than 2 outings because conditions are right (that's the part about being flexible). The only optional outing (aka was an extra cost) on our trip was sea kayaking. Ponant was testing this out at the time so it was not a regular offering. My wife and I opted to do the kayaking (1 hour guided tour almost the coast with lots of ice, seals, and whales) and it was worth every penny to us - but it was very expensive. Now... all your outings are dictated by a schedule. You can expect to be assigned to a colour-coded group when you arrive onboard, and you will receive a daily ship's newsletter that includes the schedule for each colour-group - i.e. when they need to be at the zodiac loading station, etc. This all works extremely well! We never felt rushed and it never felt crowded on land (quite the opposite). Note that the schedule also ensures there are never more than 100 people on land at any time (which is Antarctic Treaty law).
Being Bored on Ship - You will not. Ever. Between outings, changing clothes, a bit of relaxing, and great meals, you will have a full day. There will also be entertainment (Lounge and Theatre), briefings, lectures/presentations, etc. Even on 'at sea' days you will have full days.
Drake Passage - The schedule includes 2 days to cross the Drake from Ushuaia and then 2 days going back across. Our experience both ways was total 'Drake Lake' - very calm, which actually disappointed my wife and I. But it can be rough, of course - i.e. Drake Shake. We only had one instance of rough weather in the Weddell Sea. My wife and I do not get seasick, so this was not a concern. But the couple we traveled with DO get seasick so they came prepared with SeaBands, 'the patch', and medicine. One way you will know if rough weather is expected: the crew will quietly hang sickness bags along every handrail on the ship.
One thing you can expect on your initial crossing is that you will be outfitted with your boots and parka (more on this in another post). You will also attend a few briefings given by Expedition Leader and others. And you will also go through 'velcro inspection' with your Guides. Basically, any outer clothing you intend to wear that has velcro fasteners needs to be inspected and cleaned to ensure no 'foreign' plant material, etc. is brought ashore. Your Guides will help you with all of this.
On/Off Ship - Like any cruise, you will have a plastic ID card issued when you come aboard. When you leave ship for outings and come back aboard, your card will be scanned. You parka will have a card holder on the sleeve with a clear window for this process. When you come back aboard, you will step out of the zodiac and proceed to a boot-brushing station to clean the debris off your feet. Then you walk through a disinfectant bath to further clean your boots.
Weather - We were there late Jan 2020 into early Feb 2020. Most days were cloudy, but we did see the Sun on a couple of occasions. The temperature hovered around the freezing mark most days, so for a Canadian like me it was quite pleasant and bearable. There were some hikes where some of us wore our parkas open! We also had falling snow on a few days. Most landings saw bare rocky beaches, but once you walked uphill you were into deep snow. But the paths we followed on our hikes were all quite walkable.
Wildlife and Sights - Lots of birds. Lots of whales. Lots of seals. And lots (and I mean lots) of penguins. Where whales are concerned, we had a few occasions where whales were spotted and the ship altered course so that we could see them better (with a Guide narrating on the ship's sound system). You will not be disappointed. You will see a lot of icebergs and they are amazing. You will see hills, volcanos, rocky shorelines - much of it looking like a black-and-white photograph or a palette containing every shade of blue and white you can imagine.
My fingers are getting tired here and I suspect there are many typos!
I will be posting separately tomorrow about clothing (including boots and parkas). I've scratched the surface here and tried to avoid 'spoilers'. But let me say this... My wife and I have traveled to many places, but there are 2 that stand out as 'life-changing' in some way. Antarctica was one of them. It is very hard for me to describe, but all I can say is that it is as close to an alien world as I will ever see. It is absolutely an expensive trip - once in a lifetime for most of us - and I would go back in a heartbeat. For what it's worth, Galapagos was the other life-changing trip (it was almost a humbling experience that made me realize I'm just another animal living on this planet).
I am happy to answer any other questions - I'm sure I've missed lots of topics here.
And many thanks if you made it this far! lol