Summer 2022 - Brochure Launch

[Adawn47]

6 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Fred is always mega expensive on launch.  It's one reason we stopped using them, plus not keen on their ships, except for Braemar.

Have you been on Balmoral. She looked nice on the ABC port photos  thread. She looked to have a tiered stern or am I mistaken?

[ToxM]

6 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

I didn't know Fred's new itineraries were being released tomorrow, thank you. It's worth a look

Avril

Yeah I am sure I saw that the new itins with the new ships were being released tomorrow. 

 

I always wanted to try Fred, but the mid priced cabins always looked a bit bleak. having followed the Amsterdam on a couple of world cruise blogs I am very curious about her. 

[jeanlyon]

Yes, Balmoral is quite nice, but I do prefer Aurora.  other problem is that we always have an inside cabin and on Balmoral, the beds are in an  L shaped set up.

[Dermotsgirl]

It will be help for people trying to rebook to have more choices available.

 

i hope P&O will continue  to be flexible with cancellations and rebooking.  I have a 55 night cruise on Arcadia in January 2022 which I’m no longer keen on doing, as it now seems to long to be away from home and too far away. If they decide to be flexible, I could consider moving it to a shorter European cruise in summer 2022. In normal times they only allow you to move without penalty to a cruise of higher value.

 

we shall see 

[ToxM]

2 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Yes, Balmoral is quite nice, but I do prefer Aurora.  other problem is that we always have an inside cabin and on Balmoral, the beds are in an  L shaped set up.

 

That’s exactly what put me off FO. 

 

I am also a fan of Aurora. These new Fred ships will pretty much be direct competition for Aurora and Arcadia. I can’t quite work out whether that will be a good or bad thing for their future in the P&O fleet. 

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, ToxM said:

Let’s hope they are paying attention the pricing and offering of Fred now that the have the two larger ships and really are more in direct competition with P&O. 

 

I am certainly looking forward to seeing what Ffed has on offer tomorrow when they release itins. 

 

I also wouldn’t be surprised if the old HAL Amsterdam Ship becomes their new RTW vessel, which will further put stress onto P&O. 

Only Bolette (previously Amsterdam) goes on sale tomorrow - Borealis is on sale 15th September. I am booked on a Bolette cruise next year and in the letter that Fred sent to me, they said prices will be higher for the Bolette release. If this is so, don't expect any bargains...  The itineraries are largely those that had already been released for Boudicca and Black Watch, with a few amendments due to the new ships being larger. Bolette will be based in Dover and Borealis in Liverpool for the bulk of the programme.

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, ToxM said:

 

That’s exactly what put me off FO. 

 

I am also a fan of Aurora. These new Fred ships will pretty much be direct competition for Aurora and Arcadia. I can’t quite work out whether that will be a good or bad thing for their future in the P&O fleet. 

It will depend on whether Fred continues with their current pricing arrangements. As Jean has said, Fred's launch prices always seem rather high, with more unusual itineraries being stratospheric! With P&O generally, launch prices offer the best deal, so my guess is that there will continue to be a market for them both. In terms of style and size, I personally find the two 'new' Fred ships very attractive. 

[DamianG]

2 hours ago, molecrochip said:

I’m now expecting Summer 2022 (possibly up to early November) to go one sale in the next four working weeks.

 

Meeting early next week should decide exactly when.

 

Regardless of if and when cruising will ever return as we know it, I for one am still excited to see the 2022 itineraries. Before anyone says it I know there's a fair chance they'll be disappointing (as the saying goes "same old, same old") but like many others we have an unused deposit FCC to play with so we would be looking to make a booking for the August school holidays.

Kyle has already requested a return to his favourite port Civitavecchia (!!!) so hopefully we can do that for him and bag a new port (or two) for us.

[Britboys]

3 hours ago, molecrochip said:

I’m now expecting Summer 2022 (possibly up to early November) to go one sale in the next four working weeks.

 

Meeting early next week should decide exactly when.

Good to hear that - at least that is before the current cut-off date of November to request any full refunds then...

[jeanlyon]

Not sure what I make of the name Bolette 😞  Just doesn't sound right for a ship somehow.

[ann141]

28 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Not sure what I make of the name Bolette 😞  Just doesn't sound right for a ship somehow.

Apparently the ship has been named after Fred Olsen seniors' great grandmother!

I quite like the look of the 2 'new' ships and the itineraries look interesting. However, like you, Jean we have been on Balmoral twice in an inside cabin and I am not keen on the layout.We probably won't book anything yet but might book last minute for a Fred Olsen cruise next year if the price is reasonable and the itinerary is interesting.I like the fact that the other new ship Borealis will sail mainly from Liverpool but am not keen on having to have fixed dining.

[Britboys]

25 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Not sure what I make of the name Bolette 😞  Just doesn't sound right for a ship somehow.

I don't have a problem with it Jean, which is just as well as I am due to be on her next year 😀. I think it is nice that they keep tradition going. She's named after the wife of one of the three Olsen brothers who started the company and is the great, great grandmother of the current Chairman. The name has been used for previous ships in the Olsen fleet.

Do Azura, Iona and Ventura actually sound like ship names??? 🤔😀

[jeanlyon]

Mmmmm, not sure.  Ventura sort of does.  Bolette just sounds odd.  It's probably me.

[Dermotsgirl]

I'm looking forward to Aurora and Borealis being docked next to each other in a port 

[Adawn47]

5 hours ago, DamianG said:

 

Regardless of if and when cruising will ever return as we know it, I for one am still excited to see the 2022 itineraries. Before anyone says it I know there's a fair chance they'll be disappointing (as the saying goes "same old, same old") but like many others we have an unused deposit FCC to play with so we would be looking to make a booking for the August school holidays.

Kyle has already requested a return to his favourite port Civitavecchia (!!!) so hopefully we can do that for him and bag a new port (or two) for us.

I've been waiting for them as well. We've already sorted 2021 and have been thinking about a Baltic cruise for 2022. Prices permitting🤞

Avril

[No pager thank you]

1 hour ago, jeanlyon said:

Mmmmm, not sure.  Ventura sort of does.  Bolette just sounds odd.  It's probably me.

Bolette just reminds me of Torvill and Dean....🤣

 

Azura sort of makes sense to me being linked to sky blue in Spanish...Ventura yes, Iona no...and I watched the video explaining it!

[Adawn47]

1 hour ago, jeanlyon said:

Mmmmm, not sure.  Ventura sort of does.  Bolette just sounds odd.  It's probably me.

I find it an odd name too. It has a  more 'softer'? sounding name than we're used to hearing. 

Avril

[No pager thank you]

2 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

I find it an odd name too. It has a  more 'softer'? sounding name than we're used to hearing. 

Avril

True Boudica was a woman not to be messed with 😁...😂

[Son of Anarchy]

4 hours ago, No pager thank you said:

True Boudica was a woman not to be messed with 😁...😂

Typical Essex girl 😲😀

[molecrochip]

14 hours ago, No pager thank you said:

An interesting call to launch Summer 2022 without a confirmed restart plan, unless this will also be on its way, let's see!

Today’s new case numbers are going to create some thoughtful minds around the table!
 

Also, won’t be 29th as Cunard are launching some cruises that day.

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, molecrochip said:

Today’s new case numbers are going to create some thoughtful minds around the table!
 

Also, won’t be 29th as Cunard are launching some cruises that day.

The numbers are not surprising given increased testing . More importantly,  the number of CV19 patients requiring hospital admission is reducing rapidly.

As lock down was relaxed, it was obvious that cases would increase, but due to social distancing, the viral loading was dramatically reduced. Hence, more transmission, but at lower viral loads,  leading  to less mortalities. 

[Dermotsgirl]

8 hours ago, wowzz said:

The numbers are not surprising given increased testing . More importantly,  the number of CV19 patients requiring hospital admission is reducing rapidly.

As lock down was relaxed, it was obvious that cases would increase, but due to social distancing, the viral loading was dramatically reduced. Hence, more transmission, but at lower viral loads,  leading  to less mortalities. 

Or, it’s currently younger people who are being infected who are less likely to get seriously ill with COVID19 

[terrierjohn]

8 hours ago, wowzz said:

The numbers are not surprising given increased testing . More importantly,  the number of CV19 patients requiring hospital admission is reducing rapidly.

As lock down was relaxed, it was obvious that cases would increase, but due to social distancing, the viral loading was dramatically reduced. Hence, more transmission, but at lower viral loads,  leading  to less mortalities. 

Be careful wowzz with brilliant insight like that, Boris might be chasing you to front his next round of Covid press conferences.

[jaydee6969]

17 hours ago, Adawn47 said:

I've been waiting for them as well. We've already sorted 2021 and have been thinking about a Baltic cruise for 2022. Prices permitting🤞

Avril

 

Same here, 2021 has been booked since the cruises were released.  We are also looking at a Baltic for 2022, as well as a possible TA on QM2, dates permitting.

Edited September 7, 2020 by jaydee6969
typo

[cruisefan2012]

Hi All

 

Just read on facebook that P&O Cruises will launch the Summer 2022 Brochure this November 

 

 

Cruisefan2012