twotravellersLondon

Website states two.

We've also had a Sun Deck in the same location with no problems and have booked it again for a trip later this year.

It is... in the accompanying Essential Information... EMBARKATION "Should the medical screening indicate a positive test result from you or anybody else in your vehicle, or any other medical concern which would prevent you from sailing, your cruise will be postponed..." Page 1, section 3. As SAGA has suggested... we will take our own books and a laptop.

At the moment they do.

A letter dated 7 June has gone out from SAGA to clients who will soon cruise. To board the ship we will only need a negative Lateral Flow Test which will be administered in our car by the SAGA medical team on arrival and evidence that we've had both vaccines and a booster shot at least 14 days before. The use of face-masks on board is optional but recommended. Staff will wear masks. Social distancing restrictions will be lifted. The only people required to self-isolate are those who have tested positive. So in the words of Bob Marley... "Don't worry about a thing, Cause every little thing gonna be all right!"

Difficult to give any "reports" credibility unless one knows where they have originate from and so it's right to be skeptical... We were once of a ship which "according to reports"... which originated from one person and one person only... was running out of fuel, food and water (nothing could be further from the truth). By afternoon tea the rumour mill was in full swing and "according to reports" we would soon lose all power, electricity, heating, water, sanitation and navigation and end up drifting through ice-bergs... (we didn't) So it's right to ask for other information because we don't know who made the original post or posts, who they are, what they do, or what their agenda could possibly be..

We're on a SAGA cruise in July and our understanding is that private car transfers are included for anyone up to 250 miles from the port. In pre-covid times we paid a little extra... about £17... to have a car to ourselves. SAGA were always very amenable to our requests and there was never any problem for us.

Following your link... the report begins with "On March 29 my wife and I removed ourselves from a Saga cruise"... ( I can't read any more because of the pay wall) so the experience reported on is almost 10 weeks out of date.

May be in the Telegraph "today" hidden behind a paywall but it's a month out of date... and isn't this the newspaper famed for printing obituaries of people who were in fact very much alive at the time?

Certainly up to twice the price that they used to be on a like for like basis when everything's considered and a real turn off when for the same price other lines are offering the same itineraries, better food, better entertainment and far better benefits. We've done about 30 cruises with Fred... and now find that we're selecting other lines because his whole dynamic pricing strategy is just too much time, trouble and hassle. And the Bolette and the Borealis are not "new" ships, they are not "newly launched", terrace cabins do not have "balconies" and a change of names doesn’t make them any better that the Amsterdam or the Rotterdam which they originally were. How Fred thinks that he can charge twice as much as Holland America did for cruises on the same ships... is a mystery to me. Fred. Jun seems to think that the Olsen "Brand" is something special but doesn’t take into account that in the ten years prior to Covid that he lost about 25% of his passengers, the prediction of a year ago that he would now be cruising with capacities at pre-covid levels has just not happened and Fred lost £20,000,000 in Jan-March this year. In my opinion... Fred's just got to realise that he's lost a significant proportion of his "captive market," he just can't attract the high spenders onto his "new" old, outdated ships and, to many people, his 'brand' is less and less attractive.

That explains it all! The reason that she is shown current at the Port of Tyne is that's where she is. What you've shown is the past tract as to where she was in the last couple of days. Mystery solved.

That would seem to suggest that she's left earlier than the estimated departure date of 30/05/2022. The Port of Tyne also recorded that she moved "seaward" but if that's not being shown on the usual sites... it probably means that AIS is switched off. We are left with a bit of a mystery!

That's interesting because Marine Traffic and Vessel Finder both show the ship still berthed at the cruise quay and she's still in port according to the Port of Tyne list. But... the Youtube video was posted two days ago. How very strange.

I have a similar problem... I wake up in the morning to find that things are not as I remember them... often my specks can't be found, my watch is in odd places and the telly is still on mute... I put it down to the abandoned chateaux on the kitchen surface or even... the mysterious spirits from some ancient glen.

Just come back from Cornwall after a week's break... considerably more expensive than it was pre-covid. In one hotel that used to have a busy bar and restaurant trade in the early evening, the manager was bemoaning that he only had seven rooms booked that night and one walk-in in the bar. Maybe it's the cost of petrol he said. When fish and chips for two cost £35 or a couple of sarnies cost £30 and there is very little change out of £15 for a couple of drinks... the petrol is the least of the worries.

Have a good voyage.

Currently due to be berthed at the cruise quay until 30 May 2022. Perhaps the captain likes Newcastle!

Looked at this. We have a major celebration at this time. Fancied a balcony cabin... looked very closely at the Terrace Cabins from £18,999 per person + another £4,000 pp for add-ons including "gratuities." So... looking at £46k for two without excursions. Then investigated further and found that the terrace cabins, advertised as balcony cabins, don't have a balcony! Really! So... have been put off and have given this a miss.

Obviously not.

It may be that some folk have been a bit put-off visiting the Eastern Baltic by the recent threats against Finland, Sweden and Poland.

Several UK press sources are reporting that a passenger suffering from Covid and in isolation for several days onboard Fred Olsen's Bolette... on a cruise to the Amalfi coast... was transferred ashore at Salerno, Italy on Wednesday 20 April and passed away there on Friday 22 April. The Bolette is currently on route back to Southampton. I'm sure that everyone will have every sympathy for the family and for everyone else affected by this immensely sad event. Perhaps a lesson to us all, if any was needed, to be careful, cautious and considerate towards our fellow passengers at all times.