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chris11256
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We had a super cruise on Braemar, but it was quite a few years ago - 5 I think. The food was better than P&O and so was the buffet. Then 18 months ago, we were on Black Watch and I didn't like it at all. We have sailed on Balmoral a couple of times too, but still prefer P&O

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We had a super cruise on Braemar, but it was quite a few years ago - 5 I think. The food was better than P&O and so was the buffet. Then 18 months ago, we were on Black Watch and I didn't like it at all. We have sailed on Balmoral a couple of times too, but still prefer P&O

 

Like you Jean we prefer the more modern P&O ships but we have also had some really enjoyable cruises with Fred Olsen. They go to much more interesting places than P&O do and can get into smaller ports.

 

I also think that the food in the Mdr and the buffet is far better. Fred do some amazing lunch time buffets with ice carving and a huge choice, the type of fancy things P&O stopped many years ago

 

The age demographic is older but that also depends on where you are sailing to and when. The same could be said on P&O if you go on say Arcadia in November.

 

The big issue with Fred is the high cost of the balcony cabins. I would not pay for it to go to any where that I could get to with a newer ship but will to get to somewhere just that bit different.

 

For me and cruise is what you make of it. All lines have their highs and lows.

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Like you Jean we prefer the more modern P&O ships but we have also had some really enjoyable cruises with Fred Olsen. They go to much more interesting places than P&O do and can get into smaller ports.

 

I also think that the food in the Mdr and the buffet is far better. Fred do some amazing lunch time buffets with ice carving and a huge choice, the type of fancy things P&O stopped many years ago

 

The age demographic is older but that also depends on where you are sailing to and when. The same could be said on P&O if you go on say Arcadia in November.

 

The big issue with Fred is the high cost of the balcony cabins. I would not pay for it to go to any where that I could get to with a newer ship but will to get to somewhere just that bit different.

 

For me and cruise is what you make of it. All lines have their highs and lows.

For us Fred Olsen and Cruise& Maritime have never appealed to us even though the Port of Tyne is only 20 minutes from home and some of their ships sail from there.

Before our 46 real cruises we did a few DFDS from Newcastle to Norway and Sweden and also Amsterdam and the above lines are similar and we don't want to do them.

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For us Fred Olsen and Cruise& Maritime have never appealed to us even though the Port of Tyne is only 20 minutes from home and some of their ships sail from there.

Before our 46 real cruises we did a few DFDS from Newcastle to Norway and Sweden and also Amsterdam and the above lines are similar and we don't want to do them.

 

I don’t know what Cruise and Maritime are like but I can tell you that Fred Olsen is nothing like DFDS. DFDS is a ferry company, I have been on them many times so I can tell you there is no comparison.

 

Try it before you judge it.

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I don’t know what Cruise and Maritime are like but I can tell you that Fred Olsen is nothing like DFDS. DFDS is a ferry company, I have been on them many times so I can tell you there is no comparison.

 

Try it before you judge it.

I tried DFDS Queen of Scandinavia which at 30,000 tons was an ex cruise ship and my late parents tried Fred Olsen and said

Never Again.

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I tried DFDS Queen of Scandinavia which at 30,000 tons was an ex cruise ship and my late parents tried Fred Olsen and said

Never Again.

 

So you have not tried it personally then. As I said, try it before you judge it.

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Frankly I would say don’t waste your money - there is much better out there

 

Yes I would agree that there is much better out there than either Fred or P&O. I know because it have tried many different cruise lines over the years.

 

Each cruise company has a USP all its own, it’s good points and it’s bad.

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Well, personally, there is not much difference between P&O and Fred. The service we have had has always been perfect with cabin stewards and also dining room waiters and staff. I just felt Black Watch was very dated and needed updating. Felt like an old peoples home. However, last Oriana cruise was rather similar and I love Oriana. We both commented on the number of elderly people on board. Mind you that doesn't make any difference to our enjoyment. We had a great table for 8 and a super time. Problem with Fred is the price. Inside cabins are a great deal more than P&O

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So you have not tried it personally then. As I said, try it before you judge it.
Never fancied Fred Olsen and my late parents hated them so that was good enough for me.

We started on Sun Cruises then P&O,NCL, Princess and RCCL.

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Never fancied Fred Olsen and my late parents hated them so that was good enough for me.

We started on Sun Cruises then P&O,NCL, Princess and RCCL.

 

Yes Sun cruises (air tours) were good for their time and handy with direct regional flights. Again they were older ships but still provided a good holiday. I still have a sun cruises fridge magnet on the fridge. They were cruising before Tui / Marella got into the market and did not last too long after that direct competition.

 

You wonder where all these older ships eventually went and how the cruise market exploded to the point that P&O are now ditching their small ships and commissioning the huge behemoths.

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Well, personally, there is not much difference between P&O and Fred. The service we have had has always been perfect with cabin stewards and also dining room waiters and staff. I just felt Black Watch was very dated and needed updating. Felt like an old peoples home. However, last Oriana cruise was rather similar and I love Oriana. We both commented on the number of elderly people on board. Mind you that doesn't make any difference to our enjoyment. We had a great table for 8 and a super time. Problem with Fred is the price. Inside cabins are a great deal more than P&O

 

 

Jean sorry to disagree but I felt there was huge differences between Fred and P&O

Only thing better on Fred was the quality of food

If you think inside cabins are expensive you should see the price of the balconies which are vastly inferior IMHO.

Fred was very much like a care home and was full and dowdy

At least there is more activity and life on P&O

Celebrity still by far my favourite though

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Celebrity ships are too big for my liking. I suppose I agree about Freds ships, although I like the Braemar, I shall stick to Aurora and Arcadia whilst they are still here. Did look at Cruise Maritime, but didn't like the reviews and also our friend who travels with us tried a CM cruise and said the staff were surly, the food was terrible and that was enough for us.

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Yes Sun cruises (air tours) were good for their time and handy with direct regional flights. Again they were older ships but still provided a good holiday. I still have a sun cruises fridge magnet on the fridge. They were cruising before Tui / Marella got into the market and did not last too long after that direct competition.

 

You wonder where all these older ships eventually went and how the cruise market exploded to the point that P&O are now ditching their small ships and commissioning the huge behemoths.

Sunbird went to Thomson's cruises as Thomson Destiny when Airtours pulled out of cruising.
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Celebrity ships are too big for my liking. I suppose I agree about Freds ships, although I like the Braemar, I shall stick to Aurora and Arcadia whilst they are still here. Did look at Cruise Maritime, but didn't like the reviews and also our friend who travels with us tried a CM cruise and said the staff were surly, the food was terrible and that was enough for us.

 

I also prefer medium or small ships but I have now been on 3 Celebrity ships and had no problems. They flow really well, you rarely see a queue and they feel very spacious

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I also prefer medium or small ships but I have now been on 3 Celebrity ships and had no problems. They flow really well, you rarely see a queue and they feel very spacious
We used to prefer Oriana and Aurora and spent many nights in Anderson's bar.

Now we are mainly RC I have been on all their classes of ships except Quantum class and loved them all for different reasons.

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Jean sorry to disagree but I felt there was huge differences between Fred and P&O

Only thing better on Fred was the quality of food

If you think inside cabins are expensive you should see the price of the balconies which are vastly inferior IMHO.

Fred was very much like a care home and was full and dowdy

At least there is more activity and life on P&O

Celebrity still by far my favourite though

I agree with what you say about balcony prices. We've only done one Fred Olsen cruise and only book balconies. I was expecting something more luxurious based on the high cost but was extremely disappointed. Entertainment was poor too in comparison. Never again for us.

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I tried DFDS Queen of Scandinavia which at 30,000 tons was an ex cruise ship and my late parents tried Fred Olsen and said

Never Again.

She was and still is a cruise ferry which is different to a cruise ship as there are car decks, loading doors etc. the idea is the ship goes from A to B and back and offers more facilities than a normal ferry.

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She was and still is a cruise ferry which is different to a cruise ship as there are car decks, loading doors etc. the idea is the ship goes from A to B and back and offers more facilities than a normal ferry.
Some of these ferry's were old Cruise ships and were altered to accommodate cargo.

They had room stewards and the Commodore cabins had mini bars and a segregated section for breakfast.

Last time we went on one was 2002.

My point was Fred Olsen are small ships and not much different from the cruise ferry's and like the Saga ships cater for older people.

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Our first cruise was on Fred Olsen back in 2003, we hadn't known what to expect; it was a special cruise to celebrate our Silver Wedding Anniversary - a fly cruise to the Caribbean on Braemar. We loved it. We had a Balcony Suite which to us, at that time, was lovely, not huge but with a settee and a balcony. We had a fantastic time. Then after that a friend suggested we tried P&O, they had started with FO too and then discovered P&O. So we had another fly cruise on Adonia - the old one, sister to Oceana. We had an aft mini suite. To our amazement we found that the huge aft mini suite was almost the same price as the Balcony Suite on Braemar. We could have put our FO Balcony Suite into the Adonia mini several times. So that was the start of our cruising with P&O and we didn't feel we wanted to go back to Fred Olsen.

 

Last summer we booked another cruise with Fred Olsen, again on Braemar, the same Balcony Suite for a cruise that went round the British Isles. My husband fancied the itinerary and I'll never turn down a cruise. It was a real eye opener for me. The Balcony Suite was tiny compared to what I'd got used to on P&O - and it wasn't cheap either, almost the same as we had been paying for mini suites on P&O. One of the things I really didn't like was the dining arrangements. We have always had Club Dining on P&O on a table of 8 second sitting. So we had the same on Braemar. It was fine in the evening, dining at 8.15. It was breakfast and lunch I didn't like. We tried the buffet for breakfast and, although it was better than P&O the area was understandably smaller and there were people moving around, knocking our chairs getting to the buffet area. So we went to one of the Restaurants, the smaller one of the two on offer. This was better apart from one thing. You can choose whether to order from the menu at breakfast and lunch or you can go to the buffet which is available in both restaurants. One lunch time we were sat on a large table for 8 but it turned out that my husband and I were the only two ordering from the menu. This meant that the others on the table were constantly getting up and going off to the buffet to get their next course. So we tried to get a table for two at breakfast and lunch so we didn't have that problem.

 

Admittedly we were on a Southampton to Southampton cruise so the passengers were likely to be much older than on fly cruises and they were. We are both just 70 and we felt young! It was in the afternoons on a sea day and in the evenings, after dinner that everywhere seemed so quiet. The food was fine, really miss not being able to get something to eat when returning to the ship after a late morning excursion - just have to wait until tea time.

 

At the end of the cruise I felt I could cope with a 7 night cruise on FO if my husband wished - he liked the cruise more than I did - but no longer. We did the 65 night Aurora cruise back in January but there's no way I could do that on a Fred Olsen ship. The staff were, for the most part lovely. However, we often didn't get our cabin made up in the morning until lunch time and on one occasion not until 2.30. It seemed as though the cabin stewardesses - all women - had far too many cabins to do. I felt that as far as value for money is concerned we get much better value from P&O.

 

However, we do like the smaller ships - I mean medium size as far as P&O is concerned - not Britannia and her new larger sister. Fred Olsen's ships are now really showing their age, too small for me now. It doesn't look as if FO are thinking of buying a new ship - and I mean new, not someone else's cast off. So if P&O get rid of Aurora, Oceana and Arcadia, which will come in time, I'm not sure what we'll do. We have been on both Azura and Ventura and can just about cope with them but can't say we especially enjoy them, What we'll do - don't know. We may see if we can get a bargain on Oceania, Seabourn or Regent but they seem to be all fly cruises and I do enjoy going from Southampton. Who knows!

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Yes Sun cruises (air tours) were good for their time and handy with direct regional flights. Again they were older ships but still provided a good holiday. I still have a sun cruises fridge magnet on the fridge. They were cruising before Tui / Marella got into the market and did not last too long after that direct competition.

 

You wonder where all these older ships eventually went and how the cruise market exploded to the point that P&O are now ditching their small ships and commissioning the huge behemoths.

 

Well Airtours Sun Dream is with Tui/Marella !!

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Hi,what happened with your cruise you had booked on Destiny?

Louis cruise line leased the Sun Cruises ships to Airtours before Thomson.

I don't understand the question, my 3 cruises on Destiny were all with Thomson

 

Destiny returned from Thomson to Louis Cruises and that company changed into Celestyal Cruises

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I don't understand the question, my 3 cruises on Destiny were all with Thomson

 

Destiny returned from Thomson to Louis Cruises and that company changed into Celestyal Cruises

When googling what happened to Destiny your name and CC post was mentioned when you were booked on Destiny and I believe they were bringing in Celebration which was 10 years younger and Destiny(Sunbird on Sun Cruises) was being returned to Louis cruises.
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