Dining arrangements

[Heather White]

It's several years since we sailed Fred Olsen. We had a very good cruise but since then have opted for a line where you can dine when you wish and with whom you choose. What are the arrangements these days?

[Britboys]

20 hours ago, Heather White said:

It's several years since we sailed Fred Olsen. We had a very good cruise but since then have opted for a line where you can dine when you wish and with whom you choose. What are the arrangements these days?

I believe it depends on the ship now. Bolette and Borealis will be offering the choice of two set time sittings and also the 'freedom dining' style of just turning up whenever you wish. They both have two-deck high main dining rooms, with one level having fixed seating.

On Balmoral and Braemar I believe that only fixed dining is currently available.

[Heather White]

32 minutes ago, Britboys said:

I believe it depends on the ship now. Bolette and Borealis will be offering the choice of two set time sittings and also the 'freedom dining' style of just turning up whenever you wish. They both have two-deck high main dining rooms, with one level having fixed seating.

On Balmoral and Braemar I believe that only fixed dining is currently available.

 

[Heather White]

That's good to know. Many thanks.

[rkacruiser]

7 hours ago, Britboys said:

They both have two-deck high main dining rooms, with one level having fixed seating.

 

Correct when the ships were in service for HAL.  The upper level was fixed dining; the bottom level was open sitting.  

 

 

[tring]

The plans to introduce a flexible dining option have been withdrawn until the begining of next year.  So not being booked for this year.

 

Another point is that currently, even while Borealis is at least half empty with loads of empty dining tables, Fred is saying everyone has to be in a dining bubble with other people.  Whilst it did mean we met four other very nice people this last week, I do feel it is an unnecessary risk of being told to isolate if a table companion tested positive.  I have managed to get an agreement they will try to alter that for a couple of other cruises we have booked in the near future.

[tring]

On 7/14/2021 at 9:58 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

Correct when the ships were in service for HAL.  The upper level was fixed dining; the bottom level was open sitting.  

 

 

 

I did learn last week that Fred intends to do the opposite, with the upper, smaller restaurant used for open seating from next year.

[besberry]

Just booked the 2024 World Cruise on Borealis and only offered the two standard sittings.

[tring]

1 hour ago, besberry said:

Just booked the 2024 World Cruise on Borealis and only offered the two standard sittings.

 

That is sad news, though I seem to remember when we booked the flexible option for an original cruise this July (now cancelled), we only found out about it by chance and had rang Fred, who changed our dining choice.  Hence if that would be your preference, it may well be worth ringing Fred to ask about it - they tend to be good at altering options, even if you have booked via an agent. 

 

I over heard a future cruise rep on Borealis offering that to a couple who were enquiring about a Canada/US cruise and he had told them, (as well as me later), that they were only booking the flexible option from the beginning of next year (presumably due to COVID protocols).  In fact they were wanting first sitting that was not available on the cruise they were considering, so he had suggested they would be able to dine early with the flexible option.

[rkacruiser]

4 hours ago, besberry said:

Just booked the 2024 World Cruise on Borealis

 

Interesting that Fred. Olsen is choosing to use Borealis on their world cruise.  Borealis has the fastest potential speed of the two new ships.  Borealis, aka Rotterdam VI, has sailed on world cruises during her initial years of service.  Bollete, aka Amsterdam, then was used for world cruises almost exclusively once she entered service.  

[tring]

16 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Interesting that Fred. Olsen is choosing to use Borealis on their world cruise.  Borealis has the fastest potential speed of the two new ships.  Borealis, aka Rotterdam VI, has sailed on world cruises during her initial years of service.  Bollete, aka Amsterdam, then was used for world cruises almost exclusively once she entered service.  

 

Borealis took over the cruises scheduled for Black Watch and Is continuing to do cruises of the same type.  Bolette took over the Boudicca cruises, which for a number of years had included a longer winter trip than the world cruise to certain locations (e.g. Indian Ocean, Far East, Australia) and was available in approx sections of two weeks or more as fly cruises.  The winter 2023 schedule for Bolette was released considerably later than the other ships, but when it did, the cruises were, unusually, from the UK.  I suspect Fred decided that sort of itinerary would not be viable so soon post pandemic, but I would expect them to continue in subsequent years.  I hope so, as that is the sort of itinerary we liked as easy to combine with a land holidays at each end which is what we like to do.  Also can arrange your own flights easily as separately priced and often visited more unusual port locations.

Edited July 31, 2021 by tring

[rkacruiser]

7 hours ago, tring said:

Borealis took over the cruises scheduled for Black Watch and Is continuing to do cruises of the same type.  Bolette took over the Boudicca cruises, which for a number of years had included a longer winter trip than the world cruise to certain locations (e.g. Indian Ocean, Far East, Australia) and was available in approx sections of two weeks or more as fly cruises

 

Thank you for the information.