Borealis Review

Canada in the Fall fell way short of extectations

Review for Canada & New England Cruise on Borealis
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Joanne T
6-10 Cruises • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Sep 2022

I really don't know where to begin! Firstly, we specifically booked a cabin with bath. Our cabin was changed 5 weeks before departure and then 5 days before departure - to a cabin with no bath and very little wardrobe space for three travellers on a 19 night cruise! (We spoke with various other travellers who reported leaking showers, wet carpets, cabin windows leaking and even balcony doors being blown out!) At check-in we were told that the ship would have to miss the first port of call otherwise we wouldn't make the second port of call and that another port of call had been amended to somewhere we hadn't heard of. When we did visit the replacement port (Havre St Pierre) we found that it was nothing more than a weekend retreat for the local well to do and that the highlight was a children's playground. Another port of call was Saguenay. When we went to the information centre, I explained what I wanted to visit and was told that I wouldn't be able to visit these as it was a 25 minute taxi ride to them and as Fred Olsen had gone there on a weekend and there were no taxis, we were pretty stuffed! Our stop at Corner Brook took us via an excursion, to Trout River. The resort was closed for the season! The restaurant opened especially for our coach trip to accommodate lunch, otherwise everything was shut for the season! On the way back across the Atlantic, The Borealis again showed it's lack of ability because it wasn't capable of getting us to another stop - Belfast, so we headed straight back to Liverpool. Now Fred Olsen blame bad weather. Rubbish. This ship went into dry dock two weeks after getting back to the UK to have the stabilizers repaired and we missed more than 20% of our ports of call. If you are thinking of sailing across the Atlantic, don't go with Fred Olsen. If you are thinking of going to Canada, don't go with Fred Olsen. If you do go to Canada, make sure you are going in season and that you are not there at a weekend. Next years Fred Olsen Canada in the Fall goes even later than the 2022 cruise, so the resorts season will be sure to be over - beware. And what ever you do, don't bother complaining to Fred Olsen. They aren't interested. A little bit like their entertainment team. You barely ever saw them! And the entertainment team director Simon spent 95% of his time out of sight. The favourite habit at table tennis time, was to make the travellers play doubles - gets it all done quicker you see, then whoever from the entertainment team is doing the table tennis scoring can go and have another lie down! Not impressed at all! We will never ever travel with Fred Olsen again.

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