callyuk

For smart casual because I wear a lot of trousers at home, and like to dance when on a cruise, I tend to wear sparkly shoes with a skirt and pretty top (not t shirts) or, occasionally, a dress.

My other half tends to wear smart trousers and shirt, sometimes with a tie sometimes with a jacket, sometimes with neither.

As long as you're comfortable and smart nobody minds or, lets be honest, notices that much.

A friend of mine had a wash, cut and blow dry of her long hair on one of Fred's ships. She said that she felt the finished result was rather old fashioned and aging for her and wished she had not let him cut it.

It looked fine to me, but who am I to judge? :o

It's all according to personal preference, and sometimes the first ones you sail on!

We've been on all of Fred's ships (including the now defunct Black Prince, as well as other cruise lines).

For us it's: 1.Balmoral 2.Braemar 3.Black Watch 4.Boudicca.

We prefer the dining and lounge areas on the Balmoral and Braemar and find the Boudicca's layout makes it feel a bit crowded at times, particularly around meal and show times.

As regards staff, food and entertainment, the ships are much of a muchness.

"The red wine in the deal is just ok. The White is better and the sparkling very good."

Just to say, it's all according to personal taste.

I like the red wine and the rosé, my other half prefers the white, neither of us particularly like the sparkling.

We always have Fred's all inclusive now. What we do find useful is the half price Guinness, cocktails and good bottles of wine that become more affordable for us. We've worked out that the £10 per day for us is worth the cost (honestly we're not complete lushes!).

Hi Fletch,

You're very welcome to be on this board.

I don't think Ray66 meant any offence or that you aren't welcome to post here. Only that, as Brits don't have to go through immigration when docking at Southampton, we just walk out with our cases (stopped by customs if they wish!), we may not be in the best position to answer a query on how long it would take.

When you dock at 5.30 the whole ship will have to be cleared before anyone can get off. When not self-disembarking we've generally left the ship between 8 and 9; the latest was on a P&O ship at 9.30.

However, observing what goes on, I don't think it would take as long to get through immigration as it can in the U.S.A.!

Have a good trip.

Glad to hear it! Have a good trip.

The terms and conditions when we've used Tesco vouchers for holidays (we've not used them for cruises) stated that they were non-refundable and any loss would have to be claimed under holiday insurance.

If I read it correctly, once you've swapped your Tesco voucher for the specific reward voucher they're non refundable.

We lost some once when we swapped them for a restaurant voucher and then were unable to use them before they were out of date.

We've used both Relyon and Dover Ports twice and never had a problem with either.

We paid a bit more with Dover Ports but both times were parked within walking distance of the ship.

With Relyon it was shuttle bus to and from their parking, about 10 minutes, and didn't wait too long for the transfer.

This was today's response to someone's query on Facebook about the rumour that theme nights are being discontinued.

>>>>It is correct that we have discontinued our theme nights. This will allow us to direct our budget elsewhere and improve upon other areas of the Fred. Olsen product and general on board experience.

Occasions such as Burns Night, Valentines Day, Easter and Christmas etc will however continue to be celebrated on board and in a grander manner than present.

Where theme nights do occur, a selection of props will be provided on board for our guests to choose from.

We are sorry for the inconvenience and hope to welcome you on board in the near future.<<<<

I, for one, am disappointed; not all of us are on ships for such occasions as Burns Night etc. I'd be interested to know what they mean by directing their budget elsewhere. Oh well, no further use for my tropical outfit then!

Hi durhamgirl,

Yes, we also prefer Balmoral, and Braemar, to their other ships; we particularly wouldn't want to spend a great length of time on the Boudicca. Just personal taste, I know.

Hi,

We were also hoping to do a sector of the Balmoral's Grand Voyage that year.

We were a bit disappointed when I spoke to Fred Olsen, on another matter, and asked about it. I was told that they had decided to use Boudicca, with Black Watch, in 2016 for the Grand Voyages and that Balmoral would be used for sailings from the UK.

They said that, as usual, itineraries other than Grand Voyages will be advertised later, most probably September this year.

Hi

On returning to the ship, if we are too late for lunch, we usually have room service. Quite a good, free, selection and it has always arrived within 20 mins of ordering.

We haven't visited Petra from a cruise ship, but when we stayed in Jordan, but this should still apply.

In order to see Petra you have to walk around the site, there is not really any other option. There are also parts where you can climb up to get further views of the site.

There's a walk down to where the site starts, and when we were there you could pay to go on horseback to that point if you wished, but from there it's walking all the way.

Well worth it though, it's an impressive place. We spent a lot more than three hours there.