Fred. Olsen Southampton Cruise Reviews

We have experienced 4 different types of Cruises... a block family booking of a Turkish Gulet (brilliant), a large NCL Ship 5,000 guests (Butlins-on-Sea ...not for us), a Tall Clipper Ship ( 150 guests...brilliant), and now Fred Olsen... 800 guests (600+ staff !) , We sailed to La Coruna, the Canaries and back via Madeira. We decided to ignore the negative reviews (ignore now, as the ship ...

We are seasoned cruisers and have been on 30 plus cruises over the past 15 -20 years, however this was our first experience of Fred Olsen. This is the only time I have felt the need, or rather obligation to go into print to warn others. We fancied a Christmas market cruise and had previously done the Rhine/Danube etc and loved it so fancied going further afield. Olsen cruises advertised this ...

Last time we went on a Fred Olsen cruise I said never again; if Olsen could charge for the air we breathed he would. But I succumbed. When we booked again we were offerd a drinks package at £25 or £29 a night (can't remember which) which seemed very expensive. During the criuse we learnt that late bookers had been offere free drinks packages. The moral is don't book early with Olsen. On ...

My wife and I enjoy cruising on small ships and wanted to see Iceland, this is as honest an appraisal as I can give on the whole Fred Olsen experience. Cabin. We had a premier suite which was perfect. Staff. Absolutely fine with one or two exceptions. Mask etiquette Some clown thought it was a good idea to let people sit in crowded restaurants without masks and dance in large ...

We chose this cruise for the itinerary, since we were visiting Amsterdam, Hamburg and Antwerp with an overnight in each base, so we were able to spend a lot of time ashore, including in the evenings. Amsterdam was particularly good regards this as we were there for the evening of St. Patrick's day, which seems a strange mix, but the vibe was even better than we have experienced in Amsterdam ...

This was our 26th cruise, 13th on Fred Olsen. While the cruise was ok, Olsen is not as good as it was before change of management. The outstanding feature is the crew. They are the very best of any cruise line we have been on. Efficient, friendly, helpful and always smiling. Many of them remeber us. The food was ok, The View self service restaurant is far better than the formal dining room, where ...

Wanting to celebrate Christmas and New Year away from the doom laden 2021, our plans had to be changed due to the uncertainty of travel to the U.S. A lucky chance took us to this cruise which included the Canary Islands for Christmas and to the fabulous firework display in Madeira for New Year. We have travelled with Fred only once before and found the whole experience comfortable and ...

rewards for oceans members appalling compared to previously: no fred olsen pens [surely this is a free advert when cruisers leave them around or lend them , miserable selection snacks as only reward for diamond oceans members [one between two!!]. guest entertainers very poor. tap dancers may be talented but who want to have to endure two shows of them. comedian OK but other musicians no one wants ...

Very first cruise so chose a very short 2 night trip Southampton – Honfleur just to get a taste. We were told in advance that boarding would be from 13.00 (or 13.30) and we would board at 16.30 (different times for different cabins/decks so not all together in one big mad rush) and must be at the dock in time but not earlier. We arrived at 15.30 (just in case of traffic, parking etc) and sat & ...

There were lots of good things about this cruise. Embarkation and disembarkation were wonderfully swift and painless. there was no pressured up-selling, such as we'd experienced on other, more high-profile cruise lines. The food was good, even for a vegetarian like me; the drink prices on the Balmoral are far cheaper than on other cruise lines; the coffee bar is superb, with prices much cheaper ...