perismo

Thanks for sharing your wonderful photos. I also love the Braemar and am very sad that she is being ditched from Fred's fleet. I was booked to go on her again next May. Boudicca was my favourite ship, probably because I did so may long cruises on her. Needless to say, I was very upset when she was scrapped, although I knew that she could be considered past her best.

I've been on Bolette 3 times and although I enjoyed the cruises, I don't think ship has the same wrap around cosiness that either Boudicca or Braemar had.

I'm going on Balmoral tomorrow and can't help wondering how much longer she will be a part of Fred's fleet.

To be honest, I can't be sure either way. I was just responding because you really don't want to sit at a big table and said it would be a deal breaker for you. 

From my own experience when in one of Fred's buffet restaurants, it depended on the time we got there and the number of people in the restaurant at the time, whether there were tables for 2 available.

1 hour ago, Rcibrit said:

Hello persimo !

 

Thanks very much for taking the time to reply, you say you can "request a small table" does this mean that the staff show you to a seat of their choice if you go to the Palms rather than you simply sitting where you like? 

 

You can go to the Palms for every meal and you can request a small table every time. However, there is no guarantee that one will be available.

Yes, you are quite right. We emailed the local tour operator to check on that and their reply said that they have all their boats in use by the ship on that day. If I remember correctly we got less time as well as paying more - C'est La Vie. I think timing was reduced a bit so they could add the other departures to let all who wanted go on the trip, but they were always going for less time than the locally booked one was advertised for anyway.

 

Still, if that means Fred still visit places like that and visit a number of ports, then I am happy to pay. So many cruise lines are pulling out of anywhere that is not the mass tourist venues or never offered them in the first place. I could list a lot of disadvantages with Fred, but we will still book if they go to somewhere that is out of the usual - I wonder if Fred's itinerary organisers are reading this..........

 

Cheers,

 

Barbara

I agree Barbara. We love the itineraries that Fred offer, which is why FO is our favourite cruise line.

Note that if you do go to Greenland the tours will only be offered by the ship and even then there is limited availabiity on most trips. If going to Narsarsuaq, you really do need to do the 'Ice Fjord' trip, (when you are taken on a small boat to see the icebergs close up), and it booked up within a day or so of trips appearing on the website, so it is necessary to keep a lookout for them.

 

The ship did eventually manage to fit in enough trips for all who were on the waitlist, but the departures were at funny times of day. We booked straight away and got an early departure and were also able to walk up a hill in Narsarsuaq for some good views and spend a bit more time ashore as well. It would be a great pity if that port is not included in the itinerary as you really do see a lot of icebergs there.

A good point. I did an iceberg boat trip in Narsaq. All the local boats had been booked by Fred Olsen to do these trips. I noticed in the tourist office that if you booked locally, it was considerably cheaper. Trouble was, there were no boats available.:rolleyes:

It's not a cheap trip but worth every penny.:)

Greenland is totally different to both Norway and Iceland in that it is so remote and the glaciers and icebergs are spectacular.

I guess it's what grabs your interest but we wanted to visit Greenland for both the scenery and culture. It was good to see first hand how the Inuit people live, which again is so very different to the people of Norway and Iceland.

Greenland is quite different to Iceland and Norway as it is so much more remote.

 

It is more like Spitzbergen with regard to being remote, with smaller settlements, but you will see some very large Icebergs in Greenland, which you will not see in any of the other places that I have just mentioned. If you can sail through Prins Cristian sound to the south of Greenland, it is spectacular. I say, 'If you can sail through.....' as the sound and even the ports of Greenland can be obstructed by ice, so navigation is not possible.

Totally agree with you and we were lucky enough to sail through Prins Christiansund. The glaciers and icebergs were spectacular.

Having been to both Norway (though not that far north) and Iceland before, we found Greenland to be a totally different world bithe in scenery and in the people and the Inuit culture.

No chance. I need the money for our next Boudicca cruise round Africa.:)

We recently returned from 27 nights on Boudicca having been to Norway, Iceland and Greenland.

We have done 30 cruises but this one must be the best yet because the itinerary was just amazing.

If you have ever considered doing an Arctic cruise, consider no more- just do it.

If you want to read more and see my photos then look here

http://www.cruisingmates.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=268&t=10553