Boudicca - 18th December 2009 - Anyone going

[Sunnydale]

We have just booked this 4 night mini cruise, first time with Fred Olsen, first time in the north sea, first time during winter.

What can we expect?

[MrsTW]

Not on your cruise but doing a 2 nighter on Balmoral on 19th December. Balmoral and Boudicaa will be in Amsterdam together on 20th! ;)

 

Hoping for calm seas, good weather and a Christmassy touch on the ship and in Amsterdam! :D

[Sunnydale]

Yes, we had considered the Balmoral - strange that the Balmoral arrives back in the UK on the following day whereas the Boudicca takes a day at sea before it returns, I suppose Portsmouth is further to go than Dover.

Not sure about the North Sea in December, but decided to give it a try.

[Parsman]

Not on your cruise but doing a 2 nighter on Balmoral on 19th December. Balmoral and Boudicaa will be in Amsterdam together on 20th! ;)

 

Hoping for calm seas, good weather and a Christmassy touch on the ship and in Amsterdam! :D

 

Look after the ship for I will be boarding at Dover on the 21st. Happy cruising

[Host Sharon]

I'm dithering about this one. I have done a couple of Christmas Market cruises and it's always been pretty calm, except for the bit between Hamburg and Oslo, which this cruise isn't doing. Amsterdam was the least Christmassy place ever though. The main part of their celebration is around 1st December, not the 25th.

[Host Sharon]

Decided to book this one today. First time with FO but delighted to be on a smaller ship again.

[Sunnydale]

Its our first time with Fred Olsen and first time on a small ship, we were on the Independence of the Seas earlier this year so it will be from one extreme to another. Hoping for calm seas as not sure how a smaller ship fares when its rough.

[Host Sharon]

It could be bouncy if it is rough. The smallest I have been on was Vistafjord/Caronia - 26,000 so Boudicca is a little larger. Still, it will only be one day at sea.

[Arachnid]

My wife and I are on this Mini Cruise as well, we did Amsterdam last Christmas on the Black Watch from Southampton and it was very smooth, hardly noticed we were at sea. As someone said before Amsterdam seemed to totally lack the Christmas spirit, but we still had a good time there. Here's hoping that Brugge/Zeebrugge will make up for it. The atmosphere on board Black watch was wonderful, as we joined the ship it had Christmas music playing througout and the Formal Christmas Dinner was brilliant. All in all a great time was had by all, here's hoping this one will be as much fun..;):)

[Host Sharon]

My wife and I are on this Mini Cruise as well, we did Amsterdam last Christmas on the Black Watch from Southampton and it was very smooth, hardly noticed we were at sea. As someone said before Amsterdam seemed to totally lack the Christmas spirit, but we still had a good time there. Here's hoping that Brugge/Zeebrugge will make up for it. The atmosphere on board Black watch was wonderful, as we joined the ship it had Christmas music playing througout and the Formal Christmas Dinner was brilliant. All in all a great time was had by all, here's hoping this one will be as much fun..;):)

 

Bruges had a lovely Christmas Market in the main square as well as a few smaller ones and two very good Christmas shops :D This should be a lovely run-up to Christmas.

[mayted]

The time will fly quick to christmas now. Wee booked a few weeks back, it looked like a good offer and we have heard a lot of good about Fred Olsen. Do anybody know if it is any official transport between Zeebrugge and Bruges, bus or train? The price on the ships tour seems pretty steep to me, £46.oo pp, nothing included and gives us ca.3 1/2 hours in Bruges - if I have not misunderstood it. I wonder too if it will be any formal night on such a short cruise, anybody know?:o

[mayted]

Look after the ship for I will be boarding at Dover on the 21st. Happy cruising

Are you sure about that? We are returning to Portsmouth 22.12?

[Sunnydale]

Yes, we return on the 22nd according to our booking.

We must investigate the ports for public transport and will let you know our findings, there is probably a train.

As for a formal dinner, I presume so but this will be our first mini cruise and first with Fred Olsen, the paperwork they send out beforehand should confirm it.

[Arachnid]

The time will fly quick to christmas now. Wee booked a few weeks back, it looked like a good offer and we have heard a lot of good about Fred Olsen. Do anybody know if it is any official transport between Zeebrugge and Bruges, bus or train? The price on the ships tour seems pretty steep to me, £46.oo pp, nothing included and gives us ca.3 1/2 hours in Bruges - if I have not misunderstood it. I wonder too if it will be any formal night on such a short cruise, anybody know?:o

 

 

My wife checked out a website the other day and the train from Zeebrugge to Brugge cost approx 5 euros return and took 16 minutes each way, it departs at around 30 minutes past the hour, every hour. I will try to get some more details and post them for you. As I said before we did the Amsterdam Mini Cruise on the black watch last year and the Last night was a formal Christmas dinner, which was excellent, I was actually pleasantly surprised at how many DJ's came out for a Mini Cruise.

[MrsTW]

Are you sure about that? We are returning to Portsmouth 22.12?

 

If you read the posts Parsman and I were talking about Balmoral! :D Balmoral and Boudicaa will be in Amsterdam together on 20th December. :)

[mayted]

Arachnid

Many thanks for your information. Will you bring your DJ?

Mayted

[Arachnid]

Arachnid

Many thanks for your information. Will you bring your DJ?

Mayted

 

Most Certainly, living in Portsmouth not worried about the size of the luggage much:D

[Arachnid]

I have just copied the following from the British Isle/Western Europe Forum, originally posted by Lair Bear. So i hope he/she doesn't mind me doing this.

 

In an earlier post I mentioned a nice walking tour of Bruges that starts at the railroad station. http://www.*****.com/Brugge%205.html

 

What I didn’t tell you was how to go from the cruise terminal in Zeebrugge (meaning Sea Brugge) to the city of Bruges (AKA Brugge), a distance of only about 8.5 miles as the crow flies.

 

Here are a few options about how to cover that seemingly short distance:

 

1. Sign up for a cruise ship tour or transport. Our least favorite for this port since it is so easy to see Bruges on your own and all cruise ships charge too much. Oceania, for example, charges $89 per person just to give you a ride on a bus.

 

2. Take a taxi. There are not too many at the dock if you are on a large ship. So, you should make advanced reservations. One company is “Brugse Taxi Service” email info@brugsetaxiservice.be Attn. Koen Keereman.

He charges 45 euros one way, meets you at the dock and will take you back later in the day for another 45 euros. Let him know in advance how many in your group. He can handle up to eight people for the same price. I am also trying to make contact with another taxi service to see if the price is about right and will post that info later.

 

3. Take the train.

Before I go any further, let me mention that public transportation in Europe is fast, safe and very economical. Americans are just not used to it and always shy away from taking a bus or train. Too bad. If you want to be a bit braver, consider the following options:

 

a. From the cruise ship terminal walk to the train station in the little town of Blankenberge. It is a long walk of about 2.5 miles due west along the coastal road “Kustlaan”. From there an eleven minute train ride takes to the starting point of the afore mentioned walking tour in Bruges.

b. If you’d rather not walk that far, take the coastal tram from Zeebrugge to Blankenberge. The tram costs you one euro per person. The train is four euros for seniors and five euros if you are not. So, for six euros or less you can be there and back (round trip).

 

Here are a few more details and schedules for the summer of 2008:

There is a direct train from Blankenberge to Bruges that leaves at 8:10, then 9:10 etc every hour. If you should miss that by a few minutes you can also take a bus right outside the station. Bus 33 goes to almost the same place and leaves at 8:20 for example. I don’t know if the fare is the same.

The tram from Zeebrugge to Blankenberge goes every ten minutes, so you can time yourselves from that. To catch the tram, walk outside the harbor area, go to the main road (Kustlaan) and turn west. In front of the little beach village of Strandwijk is one of the tram stops. It is a couple hundred yards walk. Ask anyone. Then tell the tram conductor that you want to go to the train station in Blankenberg. He will throw you off at the right place.

You might want to get some euros at an ATM in Blankenberge. There are three banks close near the railroad station. You will find that most people speak enough English to show you where to go. (No pun intended).

To go back the same way I suggest you consult the schedules that are posted at the train station. There is one website, but it is in Dutch, and I don’t want to translate all the instructions here.

http://hari.b-holding.be/Hafas/bin/query.exe/nn?OK#focus

 

Every cruise ship has its own schedule and everyone is afraid that they will miss it. However, It is quite doable to go back from the station in Bruges to the ship within an hour. When in doubt, you can still take a cab back if you can find one.

 

Oh, there is one more way to cover the 8.5 miles. You might find a bicycle rental place in Strandwijk and ride along the canal that connects Zeebrugge to Bruges. We have not tried that.

[Sunnydale]

Thank you Arachnid for finding the post for Bruges and sharing it with us - we usually try and visit the ports using public transport and there is a lot of imformation available by searching these forums, its has always worked for us but we make a point of being back on board one hour before the deadline to give time to make alternative arrangements if there are problems with public transport.

 

I gather that with Fred Olsen boarding is deck by deck at a given time, typically mid afternoon, can anyone confirm this, with our previous cruises with Royal Caribbean we always boarded at 11.00am and into lunch for noon and the staterooms were ready for us at 1.00pm

[nanga gaat]

We are new to FO aswell booked for 18th Nov on Atlantic deck and told check in time is 1630 for an 1800 sailing which makes it pretty tight suppose Marina deck is 1700 ish.

Like you we have never been onboard any cruise ship later than 1400 regardless of cabin grade giving plenty of time to settle in before muster stations, sailing and first sitting for dinner .

Can anyone confirm this is FO usual policy

[mayted]

Hi everybody

Not long to go now, less than three weeks. We picked up our tickets yeasterday, and to our big suprise it was an invitation innside to lunch with the Captain on the sailing day. We have to be there at 12.oo noon. That sounds very interresting, anybody else got the same invitation? Hope to get to talk to him since he is Norwegian as I am too.

Arachnid, many thanks for information about how to get in to Brugge, I have printed it.

Nanga gaat, we are not sailing before 20.00pm

How do we meet up and recognise each others when onboard? We went to a meet on Celebrity, everybody was wearing a sticker with their names, but nobody had written their writing name too. Nearly impossible to meet the person behind the names we use here. Whats yours opinion about this?

Mayted

[Sunnydale]

Yes, on the countdown now - our tickets have arrived, no mention of lunch with the captain so it will be sandwiches on the motorway for us.

Unable to board until 4.30pm, it will be dark!

On our previous sailngs with Royal Caribbean you could register for a 'Meet and Mingle' then a time and place was given and light refreshment provided for a get-together (as it was 10.00am on the first sea day it was not well attended and a bit of an non-event)

I think with Fred Olsen we will be left to our own devices.

Perhaps a step in the right direction would be to start a 'who's who'

 

SUNNYDALE

The Hunt family - Malcolm (50's), Carolyn, Rebecca and Joseph, from Rutland. Atlantic deck.

8.30pm dinner. Previous cruises with Royal Caribbean, first time with Fred Olsen.

 

SHIPS CAT

 

ARACHNID

 

MAYTED

 

NANGA GAAT

[mayted]

Mayted:

Maybritt and Ted from Suffolk, Lido deck, 8.30 dinner.

First time on Fred Olsen, have cruised with P&O, Princess, Costa, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity.

 

Hope we can find a way to meet up, the sooner the better:)

My be anyone have been on Boudicca before and can suggest a meeting place and time?

Mayted

[Sunnydale]

15 day forecast - look at the temperature graphs at the bottom of each page....

 

portsmouth http://www.accuweather.com/world-forecast3.asp?partner=forecastfox&traveler=0&locCode=EUR|UK|UK196|Portsmouth&metric=1

bruges http://www.accuweather.com/world-forecast3.asp?partner=forecastfox&traveler=0&locCode=EUR|BE|BE011|BRUGES&metric=1

amsterdam http://www.accuweather.com/world-forecast3.asp?partner=forecastfox&traveler=0&locCode=EUR|NL|NL008|AMSTERDAM&metric=1

 

Perhaps the forecast may change, but I suppose it is billed as a Christmas Cruise.

[mayted]

Hi again.

It dose not look like anybody else will give us their real name, that's a shame.

I think I prefer to forget your weather forcast. If that is right it looks like we are out for a very bumpy ride :(

Well Accu Weather has made mistakes before. We wnt to the Baltic with Artemis and the weather forcast was rain every day, but luckily we did not se any rain at all.

Mayted