Southampton to Europe - British Isles & Western Fred. Olsen Bolette Cruise Reviews

It seems we were pretty lucky going across the Bay of Biscay - other ships on the same night had real problems. Perhaps our ‘luck’ was the result of the excellent stabilisers on Bollette. There were a lot of lectures which would appeal to passengers selecting a Cruise round Roman Spain. It was also useful that you could watch them live or recorded in your cabin. We stopped at some lovely ...

Occasions when all the Fred Olsen ships gather in one port are few and far between. We missed Bergen and Cadiz but were determined to do this one. Of course it was originally billed as 'Four Freds in Funchal' but the sale of Braemar has reduced the fleet to three. In fact the weather and various other unfortunate happenings meant that we on Bolette were the only ones who had a cruise that went to ...

Venice and Split have long been on our list to visit and when Fred sent us an offer, we just couldn’t refuse. Getting to Southampton was a little frought as it entailed an emergency visit to the dentist and a pile up meaning a long diversion. Thankfully, we still managed to get there around an hour before our designated time which was 3.30pm (rather late in our opinion when last onboard was ...

Second Fred Olsen cruise had something to live up to. Chosen because another Fred ship had relatively poor cruise critic reviews but Bolette reviews were very good. A good decision. We chose grade E deck 2 outside cabin which was always clean and always comfortable with no extraneous noises. Parking in Southampton was easy and free, embarked without delay close to dock. Returning to ...

Having never wanted to go on a cruise and only booking because our 12 year old daughter was dancing on the Bolette with Mayhew School of Dance I have to say I had a wonderful time. My only regret is that I didn’t find the dance class sooner. A special thank you to Patrick who was so kind and patient with me when I stepped onto the dance floor for the first time in around 30 years. You have ...

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 ...

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 ...