Cruise Personaliser with Fred Olsen

Anything about Fred Olsen cruises

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CaroleF
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Cruise Personaliser with Fred Olsen

#1

Post by CaroleF »

I wasn't quite sure what to put as the title for this thread. We have booked a 10 night cruise on Fred Olsen's Braemar for the end of August going from Southampton up to Edinburgh, round the top of Scotland then calling in at Oban before going to Belfast and then back to Southampton. We booked through Bolsover as usual. We got the reduction we always get from Bolsover but there was no On Board Credit from Fred Olsen but we did get given their Inclusive Drinks Package because, apparently we booked over the St. Patrick's weekend - no don't know what that's got to do with anything. FO are now selling their all inclusive drinks package for £15 per person per night so good value we thought, makes up for no OBC. We first went with FO on Braemar back in 2003, our introduction to cruising, a fly cruise to the Caribbean. We haven't been on Braemar since, although we have had one short 3 night cruise on Black Watch back in 2010.

Once all the booking was done I was able to access the 'Manage my Cruises' section of the FO website. I had to enter the usual details, passport etc. I did find it more cumbersome than P&O but anyway it's done. This also gives the usual booking shore tours. We go at the end of August but I received a very smart Tours Brochure a couple of weeks ago. Most of the tours have a page to themselves, quite a lot of detail. However, they are not cheap. I would say that generally they are more expensive than P&O. I can also access the FO A-Z of information. On this I found the charges for Internet Access. This is: 30 minutes, pay as you go, £13; 1 day unlimited use, £17; 5 day unlimited use £50 and 7 day unlimited use £63. Not sure we will use any of this as we're only away 10 days and I can use WhatsApp on my phone if I need to contact the family.

Other things I found out was that smoking is allowed on cabin balconies - very surprised about this. The only exception to this is one deck of balcony terraces, as they are called on, I think, Boudicca. Of course there aren't many balcony cabins on Braemar but I'm still surprised they allow it. The all inclusive drinks package covers a reasonable amount of things - spirits, wine, beer, cider, prosecco and soft drinks but obviously only certain brands. However, if you want the more expensive wines etc or if you want cocktails, you do get 50% discount which isn't bad. Looking at the wine list FO also offers carafes of wine for several brands - carafes of 500cl, 350cl and 250cl.

Only the suites have fridges. All cabins have tea/coffee making equipment but no biscuits! We had what was called a Balcony Suite on our first cruise and we thought it was fantastic. Since being with P&O for most of our cruises since that first one I now know how small that suite was. Well we have the same balcony suite this time so it will be interesting to see what we think of it. There is no lunch provided on embarkation day and according to the website the embarkation will be from 1.30-3.30. It will be from the QEII terminal in Southampton, which I think has been somewhat updated since we were last there a few years ago. When we went on Black Watch for the short cruise I seem to remember I took some rather nice smoked salmon sandwiches with us which we ate once we were in our cabin.

On our cruise of 10 nights we have 2 formal nights and the rest smart casual - one of which is a theme night - British Night. Looking at the FO site on CC it doesn't seem a very popular evening with some cruisers. I certainly don't fancy buying anything for it - red, white and blue aren't colours I wear. Apparently the show on that evening is a sort of Rule Britannia thing - think the Great British Sailaway but in the theatre - not sure about that. A year or so ago FO trialled the idea of having the Second Sitting theatre show before dinner rather than after. This apparently got the regular cruisers up in arms and eventually FO said they were reverting to having it after dinner.

So it will be very interesting to see what we think of FO after all this time - we've been on all the P&O fleet apart from Britannia so we will have all sorts to compare - I suppose the nearest will be Adonia, which we love but although I'm sure we will have a great time back on Braemar I think there will be certain things we miss that are available on Adonia. We'll see.

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oldbluefox
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Re: Cruise Personaliser with Fred Olsen

#2

Post by oldbluefox »

I'll be interested to hear what you think Carole.
We have often considered FO partly because they leave from ports other than Southampton which are not so far for we northerners to travel However we are not in the suite bracket and looking at the cabins they all seem to have this strange bed configuration of twin beds at right angles to each other and no double beds.
Prices for FO seem to be no cheaper, if at all, than for P&O and the ships I have seen always look small, dated and sometimes rather tired so we have stuck with what we know. This is a pity since they do have some interesting itineraries so never say never but we remain to be convinced.


Lynda and David
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Re: Cruise Personaliser with Fred Olsen

#3

Post by Lynda and David »

Hello Carole, we're off on Boudicca this coming Wednesday doing the Lochs of Scotland cruise. This will be our first time with Fred O so will be interesting to see how different Fred O is from P&O. We're sailing from Liverpool which is also a first for us. I received an e-mail from Fred O today with 'summer offers' and our cruise still has some availability, we booked in February and the price of our grade of cabin is the same today as it was in February which is good for us but shows that you don't always get a late discount.

I joined a Facebook group and asked the question about food on embarkation day. One chap who has sailed from Liverpool several times said he always checks in at the terminal about 12 then walks across the road into town and finds somewhere to eat. David likes this idea but I think I'd rather do what you do and take some sandwiches to eat in our cabin. Embarkation time is 1.30 to 3.30pm. I have been told that afternoon tea is served from 3pm and a lot of people like to wait for this.

We are really looking forward to doing a different type of cruise, I've never visited the Highlands, David has as his parents took him on holiday there several times. I'll let you know what we think of FO when we get back

Lynda


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CaroleF
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Re: Cruise Personaliser with Fred Olsen

#4

Post by CaroleF »

Thanks Lynda, it will be interesting to hear what you think. As I said it's 14 years since we were on Braemar and she's been stretched since we were on her. We live near Southampton so we can have lunch at home before we leave but I think I'll still take some sandwiches. Our previous experience of tea on Braemar wasn't brilliant - items ran out very quickly - but things may have changed since then. We are on 2nd sitting dining so quite a long time to wait. Have a great trip.

Carole

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Gill W
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Re: Cruise Personaliser with Fred Olsen

#5

Post by Gill W »

We are booked on Balmoral next March for a Northern Lights cruise.

We booked this cruise after a cruise on Oceana, which we enjoyed, but were a bit disappointed with some aspects. Therefore we were in the mood for something different.

Since booking we've had two excellent cruises on Oriana and Aurora, so P & O have rehabilitated themselves in our eyes. In some ways I wish we had booked the P & O version of the Northern Lights.

However, it will do us good to try something different, and I will remember to take a packed lunch for embarkation day
Gill

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Mervyn and Trish
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Re: Cruise Personaliser with Fred Olsen

#6

Post by Mervyn and Trish »

I can't remember how it used to be but I've recently wondered if the embarkation day lunch contributes to the way P&O passengers rush to be on board as early as possible. "I can't bear the idea someone might be getting more than me". Maybe if there was no food before 3pm people might not rush to be in the terminal by 11.30!

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towny44
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Re: Cruise Personaliser with Fred Olsen

#7

Post by towny44 »

Certainly would make no difference to me Merv we never bother with lunch anyway, but we do like to be on board ASAP so we can start our holiday.
John

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CaroleF
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Re: Cruise Personaliser with Fred Olsen

#8

Post by CaroleF »

When we took sandwiches on our last FO cruise it was quite pleasant sitting looking out from our balcony once we were aboard. We did have a suite so we had a bottle of fizz. Of course on FO you are not allowed to take any alcohol on board so we won't be able to take our usual bottle of Pimms.

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Manoverboard
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Re: Cruise Personaliser with Fred Olsen

#9

Post by Manoverboard »

CaroleF wrote: 03 Jul 2017, 12:16
When we took sandwiches on our last FO cruise it was quite pleasant sitting looking out from our balcony once we were aboard. We did have a suite so we had a bottle of fizz. Of course on FO you are not allowed to take any alcohol on board so we won't be able to take our usual bottle of Pimms.
Have you considered pouring the Pimms into a squash bottle, albeit of the appropriate size and colour etc ?

Tis best to seal the top securely to stop it leaking out in the scanner of course, the Americans do this on a regular basis on their Princess cruises or so I was reliably informed by a chap from Arkansas on our Royal Princess cruise a few years ago.

:angel:
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Lynda and David
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Re: Cruise Personaliser with Fred Olsen

#10

Post by Lynda and David »

Hello everyone, We've been back from our cruise on Boudicca for over two weeks but things have been very hectic since our return which is why I have only just started typing up our thoughts on sailing from Liverpool, FO and Boudicca. I'm about half way through and will try to post the report tomorrow.

Lynda :wave:


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CaroleF
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Re: Cruise Personaliser with Fred Olsen

#11

Post by CaroleF »

Welcome home! I'm just starting to make lists for our cruise at the end of August. Look forward to reading your report.

Carole


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CaroleF
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Re: Cruise Personaliser with Fred Olsen

#12

Post by CaroleF »

Lynda and David, did you get round to writing a report of your cruise? I'd love to read it. Just under two weeks before we go.

Carole


Lynda and David
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Re: Cruise Personaliser with Fred Olsen

#13

Post by Lynda and David »

Hello Carole, I'm sorry we've been really busy since we got back from our cruise. I've typed up half of it, I'll try and finish it tomorrow, I have to wait in for a couple of people to give us quotes for a new roof on our house so while I'm waiting for them to turn up I should have some spare time.

Lynda


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CaroleF
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Re: Cruise Personaliser with Fred Olsen

#14

Post by CaroleF »

Thanks Lynda, looking forward to it.

Carole

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