Great itinerary, kind staff but a tired hi-di-hi format

Location - we wanted to travel to Greenland and this cruise left from Liverpool which was reasonably convenient.

The itinerary (Iceland and Greenland with a short stop at Belfast at the end) was the decider.

Plus points -

Pleasant cabin

Very efficient cabin steward

Good food suitable for older conservative eaters (eating their body weight in smoked salmon)

Observatory lounge very comfortable

Excursions were interesting although they were keen to make sure that their elderly and very frail passengers didn’t struggle with the trips.

Chris Bielby’s talks on the natural history of our itinerary were an absolute highlight. He was available to help with whale and bird watching and never endingly patient.

Minus points

Entertainment was embarrassingly old fashioned. The “black & white minstrel show” version of the Jackson Five was toe curling.

The cinema was freezing cold and they had the nerve to show Mrs Doubtfire (made in 1993).

The entertainment was overall more like a trip back into a Sunday evening television programme from the early 1960s.

I wouldn’t travel on Black Watch or any other Fred Olsen ship unless it was for the itinerary.

Simple and comfortable though there was quite a lot of noise at nighttime.