Disappointing

Chose this cruise because the itinery seemed to meet our rquirements. Unfortunately the captain took the decision not to go to Shetland due to bad weather. While we accept his decision we felt more could be done to make up for this. All the people we spoke to said this was the port of call they were looking forward to the most. Instead we had 2 nights rather than one at Invergordon (NOT a holiday desination) Two buses were laid on at nearly £30 a time to go into Inverness (perhaps to offer this free would have been a nice gesture?) We took the local bus for about £11. Any other attraction was a long trip and expensive.

Other things we were not happy with - Firstly , the car park in Liverpool was hard to find. Inadequate map and sat nav took you to a building site (not Fred Olson rsponsibility)

- cabin noise (see below)

Buffet area quite small, not always able to get a table at busy times

- While the ship was well maintained there was no main staircase or reception area and the entertainment was mediocre .
- many of the staff had a poor grasp of English which could be a problem, particularly at guest services

- WiFi expensive

- Timing given in port were misleading for example 'late p.m actually meant about 3.30 in the afternoon.

- Tours were very expensive, there were 4 of us so it made more sense to book a private taxi to take us to the places we wanted to see, which worked out fine.

- Passengers were mostly quite elderly and infirm so activities were geared up for this. I did sometimes feel I was sitting in the common room of an old peoples home rather than a cruise ship!

- Finally the disembarkation process was not a happy experience, but mostly this was due to the facilites at Liverpool cruise terminal

Good points, main dining room was nice and our waiters were freindly and helpful and there was a very good wine list at reasonable prices plus the food was excellent.

Would not go with Fred Olson again

Lots of stoarge space and a bathroom that was larger than some. Single beds which are not our preference but they were comfortable. A fridge was provided but barely got cold. The biggest problem was the terrible vibration from the engines and a constant rattling of the cabin walls and ceiling which did not contribute to a good nights sleep. This is an old ship - modern ones have overcome this problem with new technology. Not sure what could be done here other than sound damping.