This was a really disappointing cruise. From a 7 hour delay in departure, 4 missed ports, 3 Captains and an ignominious homecoming with one of the lifeboats strapped to the bow deck like a bathtime duck, this was definitely not Fred Olsen’s finest hour.
Storms in the North Sea resulted in the ship docking very late at Southampton with many passengers having several hours wait in the terminal.
Storms in the Atlantic then caused us to make an unscheduled stop in northern Spain and we were told that we couldn’t possibly make up the time and would have to miss 2 out of our 5 scheduled Caribbean ports. We started to wonder if there was something wrong with the ship (remembering that it totally broke down last year and all the passengers had to be flown home) as, in all our years of cruising and crossing the Atlantic at this time of the year, we have never been on a ship that simply couldn’t cope with storms.
The cabin was a decent size but totally overwhelmed by a double bed and 2 chairs. Very little surface space. Great big box with drawers which was totally useless for all practical purposes and meant no cases could be stowed under the bed.