Le Bellot in October, Toronto to Chi town

[mauibabes]

Reading the posts, it all looked pretty casual, should we be planning to dress for dinner? The seadays look pretty laid back with few programmed activities. Guess we will bring a game or two with us. 
From the menus, it looks like those with seafood allergies may be eating “lite” on some nights. 
We saw them offering an  iPhone camera and photo session, hope that is included on our cruise as we have a number of Apple techs traveling with us. Definitely getting excited to be traveling again. 
 

Mauibabes

[AussieBoyTX]

The only real rule is no shorts at dinner.

 

In practice, many men wear a blazer, some wear a polo shirt without a blazer. Someone inevitably overdresses and wears a tuxedo (especially on the gala nights). Personally, I wear a blazer in the main / gastronomic dining room and I don't if I'm the the buffet or outdoor dining room.

 

As usual, women are all over the place, ranging from "dress cargo pants and flannel shirt" to elegant maxi dress.

 

Don't forget the "always available" menu has non-seafood choices that can be substituted at any meal -- and really I can't think of any course that didn't have a non-seafood option. Even on the gala nights, it was possible to either substitute from the vegetarian menu, or the always available menu.

[mauibabes]

👍🙏 my DW is ready to travel, can’t wait. 

Mauibabes

[jpalbny]

Your trip is a Tauck charter, right? Liking your itinerary! Some nice ports of call.

 

We just spent two fun days in Toronto - our first time back since 1995. The waterfront was pretty, the distillery district had great food, and we squeezed in a visit to the Art Gallery which was enjoyable.

 

And Niagara Falls is iconic for good reason - we were awed again by how beautiful it was, and the vistas from the Canadian side are fantastic. The wineries at Niagara-on-the-Lake are always fun to visit.

 

We haven't been to Mackinac Island but friends who live in Michigan really like it there. Traverse City is nice, and we did some winery tours around there.  

 

Hope that you have a great trip!

[mauibabes]

👍🙏, will report once we get to Toronto and aboard ship. Right now just dealing with the anxious days prior to flying as some friends have been exposed to Covid last week. We will test tomorrow before flying to be sure it is safe to fly and 🙏 none of our friends test Positive before we board Le Bellot. 
🙏🙏 Mauibabes 

[mauibabes]

Our trip came and went and it was a hit and miss. 
The  ship and staff are lovely and we were blessed to have a Prestige Suite which means a double size room. This was great, two bathrooms and closet space 😁👍 the ship for 184 passengers only carried 144 which was great.  I am afraid I need to sail on larger ships because even on a calm lake, the motion got to some guests even though it was only about 3’ waves, nothing of any significance. 

Our problem, we know NO French so we lost a lot of information in conversations. We are not French food aficionados either so we were selective as to the gourmet menu choices. Some fish entrees were VERY small portions, two servings were not even a proper piece of Halibut or the other fish selections.  The only consistently great fish was the Grilled Salmon which I had for lunch and/or dinner every day. 
The Rib eye steaks were vey thinly cut and never cooked properly, but what can be done with shoe leather or cardboard? The Veal and Lamb entrees were good but VERY small portions. When they finally got around to offering the Beef Filet, the portion and flavor improved and we finally had a decent steak dinner. Soups were rarely hot, most often Luke warm.  The cream soups were tasty but only when they were served hot.  Deserts and Chocolate deserts were great.

 

I must confess, we are long time Oceania cruisers so the Finest Cuisine at Sea made our Ponant dining experience seem lacking. If Oceania is an A, Ponant daily grades ranged from C- to B- or B for their version of Filet Mignon. I would adjust my expectations if cruising on Ponant in the future.

 

The real bad news, DW and I both tested Positive for Covid mid way thru the cruise and we were quarantined for the duration of our trip. Dr. Care and staff care and attention were definitely an A.  That is why that double size Suite came in real handy. 

I know Ponant is highly rated so maybe we will just call this a faux pax and move on.

Mauibabes

 

[AussieBoyTX]

32 minutes ago, mauibabes said:

 

 

The real bad news, DW and I both tested Positive for Covid mid way thru the cruise and we were quarantined for the duration of our trip. Dr. Care and staff care and attention were definitely an A.  That is why that double size Suite came in real handy. 

 

 

Oh no! I hope you're doing okay.

 

Thanks for the report!