Ponant’s Le Lyrial completed ten years of service earlier this year after being delivered by the Fincantieri shipyard on April 11, 2015.
As the fourth and final ship in the company’s Boreal class, the vessel was built at Fincantieri’s facilityin Ancona, Italy.
Described by Ponant as a state-of-the-art expedition ship, the vessel features interiors by Jean-Philippe Nuel.
According to the company, the interior architect worked closely with then Managing Director Veronique Saadé to create public areas and staterooms with an intimate “yachting feel.”
With a name that references the Lyra constellation, the ship boasts a slightly modified design compared to the previous ships in the Boreal class.
Citing guests’ preferences, Ponant redesigned Le Lyrial’s Deck 6 to include larger staterooms, including a 600-square-foot Owner’s Suite.
As a result, Le Lyrial offers 122 cabins and suites compared to the 132 on Le Soléal, L’Austral and Le Boréal.
As part of its maiden season, Le Lyrial offered itineraries in the Mediterranean that included visits to destinations in Italy, Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, Turkey and more.
For its inaugural cruise, the ship sailed from the Italian port of Venice on May 9, 2015, embarking on an eight-night itinerary to the Adriatic and Croatia.
The sailing included visits to Split, Korcula, Dubrovnik, Kotor, Hvar and Rovinj, as well as enrichment activities with Jazz Composer and Musician Didier Lockwood, Pianist Dimitri Naiditch and Oceanographer Pascale Joannot.
The vessel then joined its sister ships in Antarctica for a winter season offering expedition cruises departing from Ushuaia, Argentina.
In 2025, the ship is set to offer itineraries to Greenland and the Canadian Arctic before offering cruises in Canada and New England.
Le Lyrial is then scheduled to reposition to South America for another season sailing to the Chilean Fjords, Antarctica, the Falkland Islands and South Georgia.
Upon returning to Europe, the vessel is scheduled to offer more expeditions to Svalbard, Greenland and the Canadian Arctic in 2026.
