I chose this cruise because it went to Iceland and Greenland, plus Ireland and Scotland. My travel companion booked this cruise first and I decided to join her. I was very happy with the itinerary and booked a shore excursion in each port. The shore excursions were very helpful in learning about the ports of call. I especially enjoyed the substitute stop in the Faroe Islands. The highlights of my shore excursions were Blarney Castle, Edinborough Castle and the Tattoo. Princess did a great job of getting us to and from the Tattoo. I was very happy to achieve Platinum level and enjoyed my 250 minutes of free internet service, a great way to stay in touch. I enjoyed my cabin with an ocean view window. My cabin steward Theresa was terrific, she did a great job of always attending to my cabin when I was out for meals. My meals in the dining room were excellent. I also enjoyed the buffet on level 9. I enjoyed the talks on the ports of call, found them very helpful. My embarkation and disembarkation went smoothly. I would definitely cruise with Princess again! Read Less

Booked mainly as it left from Dover, It could not have been easier to embark, cabin all ready and staff lovely. Nothing was too much trouble from any member of staff, and although our itinerary was unavoidably changed everything was done to make our cruise memorable. Shore tours were, in the main, excellent and just around the right length and certainly just as described. Dining was a pleasure with tables not too close, staff attentive and the evening menu varied. The Breakfast & Lunch buffet was very good plus there was an a la carte choice as well. Only downfall [for me] was the evening entertainment, it lacked a lot, but the evening of entertainment from the crew - excellent. Throughout the cruise we were always kept well informed of the days itinerary and shore visits very well organised. Have already booked two more cruises - from Dover of course with very helpful booking from the staff at Fred Olsen offices. Read Less

Only ever cruised with Fred. over many years. Black Watch is still to me the best. Excellent food all crew member were excellent Entertainment excellent ( I especially liked the choir performed by some passengers. Some crew say when they see me ' Welcome home'. Even remember my name and what I drink. I think of some of crew as friends, however the do not forget all passengers and are always professional. The ship is always spotless and all crew work hard to keep it so. I used to travel with my partner, who was confined in a wheel chair. The seating arrangements at meal times for her was excellent. we always had a table to suit her needs. and spoilt her of many years. Pushing her in her wheelchair we managed to complete many miles around the desk. I now travel alone and now go on most of the trips on port days. I especially liked the cycle trip of about 8 miles (although it was electric cycle full instruction was given to all. Have booked for Iceland for next year, together with two other cruises with Fred. Read Less

Had the trip of a lifetime on Blackwatch to St. Petersburg, fantastic holiday. I am a great believer in a holiday is what you make of it and I am staggered to see some of the reviews which are so negative. Especially a reviewer who mentions the price paid for their cruise, which is barely more than it would cost to feed yourself at home for 12 days, but they seemed to expect The Ritz Hotel, obviously looking to reclaim every penny of the fare by wishing to eat 24 hours a day. Embarkation at Dover - smooth, did not wait long at all. I found the ship to be spotlessly clean and the Blackwatch exactly the way I wanted it to be. It looked like a ship rather than a floating slice of Las Vegas. Lovely wood panelling and portholes -cant wait to book again for next year. Only minus point in the whole trip was I found the library roasting hot, despite wearing only a thin blouse. I found the food very good and the staff endlessly cheerful and good fun. My cabin was unobtrusively looked after and the information in the Daily Newspaper concise with the Captains Reports keeping us up to date with everything sea-wise. Found the guest speakers interesting, especially one gentleman who gave us a great talk on forensics. Cabaret is not really my thing, so I only went to one show. This was the one the crew gave and it was brilliant - all the better knowing this is not their day job so to speak. Fellow passengers - I am no spring chicken myself (51) and yes a lot of the passengers were elderly. However, I found them excellent company, most extensively travelled and very well educated, good fun and generally first off the boat when in port with a great spirit of adventure putting me to shame when it came to energy levels. Copenhagen was good and very pretty at this time of year - Estonia wonderful, St. Petersburg, staggeringly beautiful and empty as it was winter - a real plus point. Berlin was a slight disappointment but I think that was only because St. Petersburg knocked my socks off. Disembarkation - great once your floor called, off the ship in minutes with luggage all safely waiting. Because we had some rough weather Helsinki was missed, but it was Nov/Dec in the Baltics and we could hardly expect 80 degrees and smooth sailing. The weather delayed us considerably and I had to travel to the far north of Scotland, but I went on the internet in Hamburg and got the sleeper bus for £40.00 practically to my doorstep. Having the extra day and a half on the boat was great, I did not want this holiday to end. Superb!   Read Less

A few friends and I sailed at the end of June into July on the Eurodam to the Northern Baltics. What a fantastic cruise. Not only was the ship beautiful, but the customer service was beyond what I had experienced on any other cruise. We flew into Heathrow on an overnight flight. The only glitch in the whole cruise was the staff meeting us at the airport to bus us to Dover. We had to wait about 45 minutes before we left for the ship. After travelling all night, it was difficult. Embarkation, however, was a breeze. We walked in, stood in line maybe 5 minutes and then headed in. The line was a little large getting through the metal detectors, etc., but shortly we were on the ship and able to go directly to our cabins. Thank goodness for the first day being at sea. We were exhausted from the time change, etc., so the day at sea was one to recover. Right off the bat, however, we found that all over the ship, the staff would ask our names...AND...remember them. Each time we saw a staff member we had met before, they would call us by name. It was wonderful. All the ports we went to were great. I will only go into detail on two of them. We stopped in Germany. Here we took a tour booked through the ship. I did not realize until the tour that we were actually in east Germany. Our tour guide was extremely informative and was able to describe to us the before and after the Soviet Union reign. It was very educational. Our best port was St. Petersburg. By far one that everyone should visit. What a beautiful city in its' own way. We booked a tour with TJ Travel...which is a must for anyone going there. They were wonderful. The two days, however, were grueling. Because there was so much to see, we did a lot of walking. We never, however, rushed. From the canals (which are amazing...to Catherine's Palace...to the Summer Palace or the Church of the Spilled Blood (amongst many other places) TJ Travel gave us plenty of time to see everything. If anyone goes there...please look into TJ Travel. It was only $255 for a two day tour, which also included lunch each day in small Russian restaurants...which was a treat in itself. The last two days on the cruise were sea days, which were good as we were allowed to recover from this very port intensive trip. Disembarkation was quite easy. There were numerous busses...very well organized...waiting to take us back to the airport. All in all...this was the best cruise I have ever been on and I have travelled on many other cruise lines. Read Less