Braemar and Fred Olsen, final thoughts compared to P&O

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CaroleF
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Braemar and Fred Olsen, final thoughts compared to P&O

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Post by CaroleF »

Before we went on this Braemar cruise I wondered firstly what I would think of it compared to our very first cruise back in 2003 and secondly would I prefer the Fred Olsen offering compared to P&O. On our first cruise, like everyone the first time, I had no idea what to expect. I kept a diary over that cruise so it now makes interesting reading. I wrote that I thought the cabin was great, bigger than I imagined. We were in the Caribbean so somewhat different from the North of Scotland in the rain! I said that we enjoyed the food, and liked the other 6 people on our table, two of whom we have kept in touch at Christmas.

I enjoyed the cruise but it left me feeling that I would think about going back on Fred Olsen for a short cruise, nothing over a week probably. I have thought about what I missed - didn't like the fact that all restaurants were buffet for breakfast and lunch, although the Grampian Restaurant being smaller was less hectic. I didn't like the fact that food is only available at selected times - not that anyone is going to go hungry on a ship. There was one lot of lectures - in fact given by a man who, with his wife, was on our table for dinner - about all things Scottish. He appeared in full Highland dress on the final formal evening and very splendid he looked. I hated the very small bathroom, which had one cupboard divided into top and bottom, which was situated at sort of right angles to the toilet - not a very wonderful view when one was sat on the loo! Admittedly I've been spoilt by having either mini suites or suites on P&O so I have got used to the space. As far as cost go I think FO is expensive and you pay more on FO for a Balcony Suite than you would for a mini suite on P&O and with much less space. The only difference between our Balcony Suite and the Premium Suites - which are much bigger - is more space. Unlike on P&O you don't get any other extras if you have a Premium Suite.

The staff are brilliant, mostly from the Philippines, always ready with a smile. As far as food goes I suppose it's a personal choice. I thought the breakfasts were better, and some of the evening meals were very good, others rather ordinary. The coffee was as awful as it is on P&O. We were on second sitting table of 8, same as we usually are on P&O. The thing that was amazing to me was that some evenings the Thistle Restaurant, the largest, was half empty. It was obvious that the majority of passengers wanted first sitting dinner - this may be due to the age of a lot of them. The only time that the Thistle was full was on an evening when a tour had been late getting back - too late for the 6.15 sitting. I can only assume that the other evenings if people were unable to get in to first sitting in either restaurant, they would go to the buffet. The dress code was, I would say, mostly kept to - well on second sitting it seemed that most men were wearing DJs. I think I saw two men wearing lounge suits. Some women were very dressed up and other, older ladies not so much.

I can't really explain it clearly but it just didn't have the feel of P&O. Somehow it felt as though there was a strict timetable that had to be kept to. When I go aboard a P&O ship it almost seems like coming home - sorry if that sounds fanciful - this didn't. Fred Olsen certainly has a lot of very devoted followers. I think there is much more to do on a P&O ship - and I'm really comparing it to, say Aurora and Oceana, not the bigger ones. John enjoyed the smaller ship more than I did and I think he would probably happily go back, he didn't mind the smaller cabin, although he admitted he would have liked more space. For John the highlight of the cruise was his trip to the Braemar Games. He was gone for 11 hours but it was a lovely sunny day - no rain! He brought back some lovely photos and a couple of short videos of the hammer throwing, the marching bands - apparently there were 11 different ones - and the Queen arriving. He had paid for a seat and said it was well worth it.

We have the long Aurora South American trip coming up in January and I certainly wouldn't want to go on a Fred Olsen cruise for that long. So for me it was interesting going back to our first cruise ship but I prefer what P&O offers. So far the only other cruise line we've been on is Cunard, but we shall be looking to see if we can find a special offer on one of the upmarket lines - John says he'd like to try either Seabourn or Regent, but whether he will when he sees the price I don't know. We'll see.

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Manoverboard
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Re: Braemar and Fred Olsen, final thoughts compared to P&O

#2

Post by Manoverboard »

We also compared Fred with the various Cruise / Riverboat Lines that we have travelled with over the years but to us it matters not a jot that P&O or indeed A N Other may be better in some regards or worse in others. Itinerary and Food have always been the key drivers for us and will remain the sole basis for any future choices. The future P&O choices look uninteresting to us and they also seem to be reducing the number of Ports of Call per cruise, Fred conversely operates Port intensive cruises and that option suits us better as do many other Lines with smaller ships.

On our virgin Fred Cruise we missed the likes of Sindhu and were extremely disappointed that the Fred's couldn't manage to open the al fresco Grill within the warmer confines of the Palms Court.

Funny that you should mention the Scottish Speaker. We always have just the one Pina Colada each per cruise and he, Mike, and his other half popped over to chat with us in the Neptune Lounge(?) when he was wearing his full regalia and we were drinking our Pina Coladas. On that note I would add that Fred's Pina Coladas were vastly superior to those served by P&O.
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