Le Lyrial Reviews

Antarctica - you must visit and soon and no better than with APT and Ponant. The ship was first class, the meals delicious and plentiful and the ‘free’ bar tempting. As a small ship, the Le Lyrial catered for the varied passenger list, all of whom were easy to liaise with and share experiences.

The expedition, yes expedition and not a holiday, was ...read more challenging for some as the twice daily zodiac trips to the mainland involved a dressing up/layering against the cold and somewhat difficult landings (no warm water and soft white sand). The naturalists, experts in a variety of animal, plant, mammal, fish fields, made the trip. Their enthusiasm in their fields excited the passengers to enjoy and learn while away. A visit to Port Lockroy, the British Antarctic station is a bonus. My only concern was pre-expedition in Buenos Aires where several meals were missing, something not encountered with our previous APT trip in Europe.

Global Journeys, our travel agent, were delightful and promptly helpful.

The Ponant cruise of Antarctica was excellent. Efficient management of daily tours by zodiacs to fascinating locations. Pristine environments and wildlife. Food, service and accommodation on the ship was also wonderful.

The land component in Peru was a delight as well. Of course we expected to be impressed by Machu Picchu, but there was so much more. ...read more Our wonderful local guide, Juan Jose, was full of info about Maras, Moray, the sacred valley, Cusco, and so very much more.

Our only niggle was the convoluted flights between different legs of the trip. Spent too much time waiting in airports! We started our trip in Buenos Aires and before we left from Cusco we had been on five internal flights. Also did not like being restricted by APT to using only Latam to get to South America. Other travellers used different airlines! Overall the cruise and land component of the trip were excellent, just a couple of things with APT were a bit iffy.

We had an amazing trip. Beautiful breathtaking scenery, wonderful interaction with the fauna (penguins, seals, whales, orcas), visiting historically significant sites, Port Lockroy, Danco Island, as well as experienced experts as guides and superior accommodation aboard the Ponant cruise expedition ship Le Lyrial. APT and Global Journeys assisted in ...read more making this a once in a life time memorable experience.

Whilst all sites were outstanding, the cruise to Antarctica and Machu Picchu were by far superior.
The cruise was excellent with the ratio of staff to fellow travelers just about one to one.