Advice wanted from experience Olsen cruisers please.

[Peter Lanky]

I have yet to go on a cruise after 3 cancellations, so I have no idea of certain aspects of onboard life. I have been attracted to the possibility of going on an Olsen cruise so that I can sail from Liverpool which is very close to home.

 

I have looked at the online information, particularly for Borealis, as this seems to be the chosen ship for many of the cruises that appeal, and the one thing that stood out was that the two main entertainment venues, namely the Neptune Lounge and Auditorium appear to have very few seats compared with the capacity of the ship. So the question I ask is how easy is it to get seating in one or the other for evening entertainment?

 

I am concerned about this because on a holiday to a couple of hotels prior to covid, people were queueing before opening for the restaurants, so that they could rush through their meal and bag a seat for the entertainment, where they remained all night, so nobody else had a chance to see the show.

 

As I have not cruised before, I've no idea how things work on a ship, but would feel more confident if I knew that the venues were not always full before I even get the chance to get in.

[tring]

2 hours ago, Peter Lanky said:

I have yet to go on a cruise after 3 cancellations, so I have no idea of certain aspects of onboard life. I have been attracted to the possibility of going on an Olsen cruise so that I can sail from Liverpool which is very close to home.

 

I have looked at the online information, particularly for Borealis, as this seems to be the chosen ship for many of the cruises that appeal, and the one thing that stood out was that the two main entertainment venues, namely the Neptune Lounge and Auditorium appear to have very few seats compared with the capacity of the ship. So the question I ask is how easy is it to get seating in one or the other for evening entertainment?

 

I am concerned about this because on a holiday to a couple of hotels prior to covid, people were queueing before opening for the restaurants, so that they could rush through their meal and bag a seat for the entertainment, where they remained all night, so nobody else had a chance to see the show.

 

As I have not cruised before, I've no idea how things work on a ship, but would feel more confident if I knew that the venues were not always full before I even get the chance to get in.

 

Hello,   

 

We live within a 20 mins taxi ride of central Liverpool, so quite understand the advantage of embarkation there, particularly compared to the south coast which means two full days travelling and an overnight hotel stay for us, hence we have used Fred from Liverpool on a number of occasions, including this year.  To clarify, the only ship Fred has scheduled to commence cruises in Liverpool is Borealis and I feel that could well remain the same for the new cruise releases which are due soon as he has normally only used one ship from Liverpool each year.

 

You have misunderstood the Auditorium as a venue.  I do not recall it being used for any purpose in the evenings, though it is possible for films to be screened there so it may have been used at times as a cinema, or possibly will be as passenger numbers increase.  If so I can add that Fred's cinemas have always been pretty poorly attended, so no probs there. It is equipped as a cookery demonstration venue and is a small area which has comfortable tiered seating as you would expect in a theatre, but larger seats.  I have seen the area, but not attended anything there.  It was also used for talks by onboard staff, such as the jewellers and the Spa/gym staff during the daytime, but the main speakers for the cruise were scheduled for The Neptune.  I do not recall anything else in the auditorium, but others may be able to fill you in better regards that.

 

The main theatre venue is indeed The Neptune lounge, which had a audience area on deck four, but also has a balcony, with two sides accessible from deck five, which are largely separated by the technical team area there.  It is possible to walk from one side of the balcony to the other (at the front edge of the balcony), but in practice there are two entrances (port and starboard) and the sections are used independently.  Hence any pictures would only show one of those three sections.  In Borealis virtually all that main seating is tiered with a few extra seating areas at the back, so not exactly a small area.  Also, there are always two 45 minute identical shows in the evenings with the first commencing at 8.45pm and the second about 10.30pm.  At present only fixed sitting is being offered in the MDR, with first sitting at 6.15pm and second at 8.30pm.  The ships have not been sailing full, but neither has all the theatre, (or bar areas), seating been available, as seats are marked as not to be used due to the social distancing on the ship.  In most cases there has been very low occupancy in the theatre when we have been there, though on one occasion we were not able to get into the area we first tried and had to walk to the other balcony entrance.  Overall, first sitting is always more popular, so there will be more people in the first show, yet the later one is always far quieter with a great number of empty seats.  If you do wish to go to the first show, there will be plenty of time to get there a tad early if you want a particular seat location, since early dinner would have finished way before 8.45pm, the opening time will be published so no need to queue.  Fred has had plans to introduce a flexible dining option, though it has been shelved due to the covid restrictions and AFAIK a firm decision of when that may be introduced has not yet been made. 

 

Other entertainment is in various bars/lounges where a selection of musicians play, so you can take your choice of venue/musical preference.  The only bar area that has been getting a tad difficult to find a seat is The Morning Light pub area when the 10.00pm quizz is taking place, though in practice that is only for the time after the first show (when a lot of people move about) until the quizz finishes about 10.20pm.

 

As you have not cruise previously there must be lots of information I could fill you in about, but I would not know where to start.  What I can say though is that there is a daily sheet provided with all the events/activities/entertainment on the ships which will be delivered to you cabin each night, showing details for the next day.  I think (but am not sure) that Fred still offers a new cruisers guided walk of the ship, which is often done soon after embarkation, if so you would likely appreciate that.  There will be one of the daily sheets in your cabin when you embark, so I suggest you make sure you read that straight away in case you miss something you later regret.  Depending on your embarkation time, you will be able to get either lunch or afternoon tea in the self service restaurant (The View) as you embark, but check when that service finishes on your daily sheet - most people dump their hand luggage, put valuables in the safe and head off to eat there on embarkation. 

 

I suggest you read the information on Fred's website and perhaps pop another post on this thread if you want to ask about anything specifically.  One thing that can confuse some new cruisers is that ships do not use normal payment at each purchase, so you are given a card which can be used for any on board payments, but you will be asked on embarkation to register a CC to be debited to settle your account at the end of your cruise, or if you prefer you can leave cash with reception and then collect any not needed at the end of the cruise. 

 

Happy cruising,

 

Barbara

Edited February 23, 2022 by tring

[Peter Lanky]

That's very useful information, and does suggest to me that I'm not likely to encounter any overcrowding. As you suggest, there are many things that I don't yet know that I don't know them, but there's nothing like experience to find out what things are really like.

 

For me, I can take entertainment or leave it, but I must see some in order to find out if it appeals to me. My idea of the perfect evening in reality is sitting in a comfy chair with a glass of wine, and some new people to chat to and share experiences, preferably with a pianist or jazz trio in the background, but maybe I'm pushing my luck there. 😉

 

At some stage then I will have to decide whether to opt for an inside cabin on the grounds that I won't spend much non sleep time in it, or whether I desire something with windows or balcony. Such is the choice that us newbies face.

[tring]

29 minutes ago, Peter Lanky said:

That's very useful information, and does suggest to me that I'm not likely to encounter any overcrowding. As you suggest, there are many things that I don't yet know that I don't know them, but there's nothing like experience to find out what things are really like.

 

For me, I can take entertainment or leave it, but I must see some in order to find out if it appeals to me. My idea of the perfect evening in reality is sitting in a comfy chair with a glass of wine, and some new people to chat to and share experiences, preferably with a pianist or jazz trio in the background, but maybe I'm pushing my luck there. 😉

 

At some stage then I will have to decide whether to opt for an inside cabin on the grounds that I won't spend much non sleep time in it, or whether I desire something with windows or balcony. Such is the choice that us newbies face.

 

We rarely go to the shows, but just pick certain things we feel we will like.  Your choices pretty much align with ours - you will find several venues which can provide that, you will find musicians can play in different venues at different times - again all on the daily sheet.  Conversations with others tend to be more at a distance these days, though hopefully covid restrictions will not last forever, even at sea, though ships will keep restrictions for a while IMO..  If you choose to share a dining table, you will have some new found friends immediately and if you are single, Fred allocates tables of about six for single people, so they can then stay together as a "bubble" at other times, if they wish or go there own way after dinner.  Some people like to make a shared quizz team.

 

We will not pay silly prices for upgraded cabins and are happy with an inside for many itineraries, but I do suggest you are careful with location if you can, since some areas of the ship may suffer from noise from adjacent areas (cabins above, below and to either side is often considered the idea).  If you have a problem with a cabin though, it is worth speaking to reception as soon as you can and they will move you to a different cabin in the same grade, if a better one is available.  Basically it is not worth looking at the very cheapest cabins in each category IMO -  I mean the cheapest inside grade or the cheapest outside grade.   Grade H is generally fine and is the cheapest we would go for, but you need to look at the location of cabins in a certain grade.  Often the higher grade cabins are exactly the same, but in different locations - a higher deck, or more central on the ship.  Mid ship will have less movement in bad seas, though still worth taking some sea sickness tablets with you - just in case.  You are right, in practice few people actually spend much time in their cabins, but all a personal choice.

 

[sleepingcat]

4 hours ago, Peter Lanky said:

At some stage then I will have to decide whether to opt for an inside cabin on the grounds that I won't spend much non sleep time in it, or whether I desire something with windows or balcony. Such is the choice that us newbies face.

Hello PL, we haven't been on the ship you are looking at but have cruised 3 times with Fred, twice on Balmoral (and have posted reviews, have a look). An option that has worked well for us on several ships is to have an outside cabin on the deck immediately above prom deck and near stairs. that way you use the prom deck and its seating as your balcony; carry cups of tea or drinks from the cabin when you want.  Having said that, we are recently back from a Canaries cruise with Saga on an all balcony ship, and in the covid situation, having a private sitting out space was a bonus and much used. Be aware also that Covid protocols mean recent passengers have been required at times to isolate for some days in their cabin, in which case at least a window is a must. 

 

And having a window tells you when to rush out with your camera, I'll never forget the thrill of our first port in the Caribbean on our first cruise.  have a good time whatever you decide. 

 

 

[Peter Lanky]

Hopefully by the time we get round to scheduling another cruise, Covid will be history. We have 3 trips, (including one cruise) in Sept 22, Jan 23 and May 23, so the schedule is quite well filled. 

[tring]

47 minutes ago, sleepingcat said:

 that way you use the prom deck and its seating as your balcony; carry cups of tea or drinks from the cabin when you want.  

 

Very good to have different opinions, but I would like to point out that unlike on the ships which have been sold and presumably Balmoral, there is no public seating on the prom deck of Fred's new acquisitions (Borealis and Bolette).  There are steamer chairs, (which I have tried and personally find very uncomfortable), but the prom decks are relatively narrow,with no space for extra seating.  The steamer chairs in locations where there is a clear view off the ship are reserved for passengers in the old Lanai cabins (what Fred calls terrace cabins), whilst the steamer chairs further forward and to the rear of prom deck are in locations with solid sides to the prom deck, or even completely covered in areas that you could not see from, even if stood up (unless you look out obliquely). 

 

As I understood anyone needing to isolate is moved to an area which has been allocated as a quarantine area (such an area has to be allocated on all ships), so probably not isolating in their own cabin.  I was awarte that after Christmas when a number of cases arose on all ships, including Fred's that some contacts of people who had tested positive had been asked to isolate in their original cabin, so that could have been an issue then.  I know Fred has since said that people will be able to quarantine in balcony cabins if available (so I presume some balconies have been designated for quarantine).  I have also seen a recent comment from someone who has said they were told by a member of staff on a Fred ship that only people who test positive have to isolate now.  I cannot confirm what is actually happening at present, but when on Bolette late March I will be seeing what I can glean from senior staff on board. 

 

The main problem that has been mentioned regards isolation regards covid is that Spain (and I believe Greece) are apparently insisting that anyone with covid are disembarked ashore and have to isolate in an official quarantine hotel - hence the need for good covid insurance to cover the cost of that as well as the return home.  There has been some bad stories about that, but sounds like there may now be more flexibility on the actual hotel used.  Again, I do not know if this is still happening, but is something I will be trying to get information on during our next cruise.  Unlike some cruise lines, we have found Fred's staff fairly open about what is happening if we ask, but none the less remains to be seen if that continues.

 

 

Edited February 23, 2022 by tring

[Coravel]

On 2/23/2022 at 6:58 PM, tring said:

Very good to have different opinions, but I would like to point out that unlike on the ships which have been sold and presumably Balmoral, there is no public seating on the prom deck of Fred's new acquisitions (Borealis and Bolette).  There are steamer chairs, (which I have tried and personally find very uncomfortable), but the prom decks are relatively narrow,with no space for extra seating.  The steamer chairs in locations where there is a clear view off the ship are reserved for passengers in the old Lanai cabins (what Fred calls terrace cabins), whilst the steamer chairs further forward and to the rear of prom deck are in locations with solid sides to the prom deck, or even completely covered in areas that you could not see from, even if stood up (unless you look out obliquely). 

 

It may well be a safety feature but for anyone intent on viewing the night sky, the Bolette is perhaps not the best choice of ship as it's impossible to get to the bow which is the darkest part of the ship.  

[tring]

20 minutes ago, Coravel said:

It may well be a safety feature but for anyone intent on viewing the night sky, the Bolette is perhaps not the best choice of ship as it's impossible to get to the bow which is the darkest part of the ship.  

 

There is an extensive area at the top at the front, above the Crow's Nest.  That was used for viewing the night sky when we have been on board two cruises when there was an Astronomer on Board (for a summer and a  December cruise).  It was certainly dark up there.

 

[Coravel]

That's wonderful news and I'm not sure how I failed to find it.  Possibly the fact that the weather was very unsettled when we were on during November.  But when I sail in June I'll make a point of seeking it out.  Do you remember the name of any of the the astronomers on board?  I know several who enjoy pointing out objects of interest.  I did it myself when we sailed around South America but it became a bit of a chore because people expected me to be at the bow of the ship (Balmoral) every night at 9pm and I didn't like letting them down.  

[tring]

5 minutes ago, Coravel said:

That's wonderful news and I'm not sure how I failed to find it.  Possibly the fact that the weather was very unsettled when we were on during November.  But when I sail in June I'll make a point of seeking it out.  Do you remember the name of any of the the astronomers on board?  I know several who enjoy pointing out objects of interest.  I did it myself when we sailed around South America but it became a bit of a chore because people expected me to be at the bow of the ship (Balmoral) every night at 9pm and I didn't like letting them down.  

 

Cannot remember their names.  There were two different ones, I am talking about as appointed speakers for those cruises, because there were meteor showers at the time.  The December one was a big mistake because there was a full moon at the time, but the astronomer was very good and had a large telescope which he set up before we left the ports, if it was dark enough, so passengers could see close ups of the moon and some planets.  Would not have worked at sea because of the ship's movement.  His talks were good as well.

 

I was not impressed with the other one and the sessions he ran up top was ridiculous because the entertainment staff were roaming round with iPads with some sort of software, but they were very bright screens so it was not possible to see anything in the sky as you could not look away from all of them, yet he just ignored them and stood in one place and kept doing a talk in a monotonous manner.  Allan stayed up there a while and saw some meteors..

 

I would not go up there if there was not an official session, as I do not believe it would be safe, especially if there are any sun beds around as they are easily tripped over.  I very much doubt you would be allowed up there in bad weather.

[Coravel]

The problem with the upper deck is that it has too many lights and with good reason.  As you say, the sunbeds are very hazardous in the dark.  Once when on the Balmoral American Deep South cruise in 2015 there was a spectacular total eclipse of the Moon and the captain was persuaded to turn off all the lights for half an hour so passengers could get a good view.  The ship's bow is quite dark and on most of the FOCL fleet has a panoramic view which is ideal when sailing south. 

A friend of mine, Robin Scagell did a Geminids meteor talk last December but I'm not sure on which ship.  He's a very good speaker and knows the night sky very well.  I could imagine him bringing along a large telescope!  It's good to hear the meteor shower  was visible for you.  Last year was particularly favourable and some were lucky enough to see hundreds.  Living in Wales there are no prizes for guessing how many I saw.  
 

[tring]

On 2/28/2022 at 9:22 PM, Coravel said:

The problem with the upper deck is that it has too many lights and with good reason.  As you say, the sunbeds are very hazardous in the dark.  Once when on the Balmoral American Deep South cruise in 2015 there was a spectacular total eclipse of the Moon and the captain was persuaded to turn off all the lights for half an hour so passengers could get a good view.  The ship's bow is quite dark and on most of the FOCL fleet has a panoramic view which is ideal when sailing south. 

A friend of mine, Robin Scagell did a Geminids meteor talk last December but I'm not sure on which ship.  He's a very good speaker and knows the night sky very well.  I could imagine him bringing along a large telescope!  It's good to hear the meteor shower  was visible for you.  Last year was particularly favourable and some were lucky enough to see hundreds.  Living in Wales there are no prizes for guessing how many I saw.  
 

 

It was in fact pitch black up in that front section, over the Crow’s nest (deck 10) when I went up in August, but I am not sure that anyone would normally go up there at night since there is no lift access to the area.  In fact I felt quite scared as I got to the top of the stairs, even though there were a lot of people further forward on that deck at the time, which was partly because I did find there were a couple of sunbeds that my legs brushed against in the dark and I can become quite unsteady at the best of times.  Most of the sunbeds had been piled up though and there were a good number of the entertainment staff around (with those Ipads, sadly!)  If there are normally any lights up there, they must have been switched off for the viewing.

 

We have come across your friend Robin in March 2015, when we were on Oriana for a solar eclipse and northern lights cruise and have also seen him on TV since then.  He is indeed very good. 

 

I have found some daily sheets from the cruises I mentioned and the chap on Borealis in December was David Martin, who is younger than many speakers and now runs his own business in the field.  The telescope was constantly referred to as “The Borealis Telescope”, so we assume it belonged to Fred.  It was not an easily portable item, but David set it up to look at mountains on the moon, Saturn’s rings and Jupiter’s moons, which was really good.  It was set up on the walkway above the pool deck, at the front end, so it was not that dark there.  He also gave some very interesting talks, including one about telescopes, including the one newly launched into space and gave information of a number of websites which are of use for information – saying which ones are free from charge.  We did not see any meteors then as there was a full moon which coincided with the shower and the only time we would have been able to see anything was something like 4-5am.  I told David about our experiences in August when the entertainment staff had the brightly lit Ipads, that wrecked night vision and he said that system could have actually been used on a red light setting, which would not have affected our eyes – shame it wasn’t.

 

The chap on Borealis in August, (who I did not take to) was Paul Fellows, though Allan’s comment is that he was “OK”.  His talks were more monotonous and as I said, when he was on the top deck (deck 10), he just droned on about different constellations with a huddle of people at the front of that deck, with no intention of dealing with the problems being caused by the entertainment staff.  Allan stayed longer than me and also went up the next night, which TBH did annoy me a lot as it was done from 11pm to midnight when the extremely good, Funky Blue were in the Crow’s nest with a really good dance floor going.  After so long with covid, I felt that was a great loss to our 8 night holiday, especially considering we had seen meteors from our back garden at home previously.  Funky Blue were not on Borealis in December and their replacement band, as well as the one on Bolette, were more into stuff which is of interest to people in their 80’s, which surprised us as Fred’s entertainers nowadays are normally quite suitable for our age group (early 70’s) and below.  Some 50’s stuff like C&W and ballads is fine at times, so all can be accommodated, but that all night was not to our liking at all.

 

Edited March 2, 2022 by tring

[Peter Lanky]

16 minutes ago, tring said:

Funky Blue were not on Borealis in December and their replacement band, as well as the one on Bolette, were more into stuff which is of interest to people in their 80’s, which surprised us as Fred’s entertainers nowadays are normally quite suitable for our age group (early 70’s) and below.  Some 50’s stuff like C&W and ballads is fine at times, so all can be accommodated, but that all night was not to our liking at all.

 

It's interesting as to what organisations consider to be suitable for various age groups and middle of the road seems to often be the easy option. I think people forget that the people who listened to the first Rock 'n' Roll will now be in their 80s and 70 year olds will be quite familiar with the likes of Led Zeppelin and King Crimson. Of course I'm not expecting to hear music of those genres, but hope that entertainment will be better than a singer with a computer doing covers of Ed Sheeran and Amy Winehouse etc, as has been the case of almost every hotel I've visited.

[Coravel]

20 hours ago, tring said:

 

It was in fact pitch black up in that front section, over the Crow’s nest (deck 10) when I went up in August, but I am not sure that anyone would normally go up there at night since there is no lift access to the area.  In fact I felt quite scared as I got to the top of the stairs, even though there were a lot of people further forward on that deck at the time, which was partly because I did find there were a couple of sunbeds that my legs brushed against in the dark and I can become quite unsteady at the best of times.  Most of the sunbeds had been piled up though and there were a good number of the entertainment staff around (with those Ipads, sadly!)  If there are normally any lights up there, they must have been switched off for the viewing.

 

We have come across your friend Robin in March 2015, when we were on Oriana for a solar eclipse and northern lights cruise and have also seen him on TV since then.  He is indeed very good. 

 

I have found some daily sheets from the cruises I mentioned and the chap on Borealis in December was David Martin, who is younger than many speakers and now runs his own business in the field.  The telescope was constantly referred to as “The Borealis Telescope”, so we assume it belonged to Fred.  It was not an easily portable item, but David set it up to look at mountains on the moon, Saturn’s rings and Jupiter’s moons, which was really good.  It was set up on the walkway above the pool deck, at the front end, so it was not that dark there.  He also gave some very interesting talks, including one about telescopes, including the one newly launched into space and gave information of a number of websites which are of use for information – saying which ones are free from charge.  We did not see any meteors then as there was a full moon which coincided with the shower and the only time we would have been able to see anything was something like 4-5am.  I told David about our experiences in August when the entertainment staff had the brightly lit Ipads, that wrecked night vision and he said that system could have actually been used on a red light setting, which would not have affected our eyes – shame it wasn’t.

 

The chap on Borealis in August, (who I did not take to) was Paul Fellows, though Allan’s comment is that he was “OK”.  His talks were more monotonous and as I said, when he was on the top deck (deck 10), he just droned on about different constellations with a huddle of people at the front of that deck, with no intention of dealing with the problems being caused by the entertainment staff.  Allan stayed longer than me and also went up the next night, which TBH did annoy me a lot as it was done from 11pm to midnight when the extremely good, Funky Blue were in the Crow’s nest with a really good dance floor going.  After so long with covid, I felt that was a great loss to our 8 night holiday, especially considering we had seen meteors from our back garden at home previously.  Funky Blue were not on Borealis in December and their replacement band, as well as the one on Bolette, were more into stuff which is of interest to people in their 80’s, which surprised us as Fred’s entertainers nowadays are normally quite suitable for our age group (early 70’s) and below.  Some 50’s stuff like C&W and ballads is fine at times, so all can be accommodated, but that all night was not to our liking at all.

 

 I suspect that the captain turned off the lights for the duration of the demonstration.  I doubt that they would want passengers climbing around in the dark without some sort of supervision.  Thanks very much for taking the trouble to dig out all that information - it's very kind of you. The 2015 eclipse would have been the Faroe Islands. What a miserable day that was! Three Olsen ships sailed up - I think Balmoral, Black Watch and Braemar. We were on the Braemar and failed to see totality because a black cloud appeared and sat over the face of the Sun until totality ended. But passengers on the other two ships, which we could see in the distance had a good view. Their video of the event was played on a loop on our ship as if to rub our noses in it. I hope you managed to see the event but it was such a dismal day with heavy cloud and those who saw it were very lucky. The northern lights are hit and miss but really spectacular. Robin would have been a great asset for both events. I don't know David Martin but I certainly know Paul Fellows who is chairman of Cambridge Astronomical Society. Your comments made me smile because he's definitely not cut out for giving talks.  

[tring]

11 hours ago, Coravel said:

 I suspect that the captain turned off the lights for the duration of the demonstration.  I doubt that they would want passengers climbing around in the dark without some sort of supervision.  Thanks very much for taking the trouble to dig out all that information - it's very kind of you. The 2015 eclipse would have been the Faroe Islands. What a miserable day that was! Three Olsen ships sailed up - I think Balmoral, Black Watch and Braemar. We were on the Braemar and failed to see totality because a black cloud appeared and sat over the face of the Sun until totality ended. But passengers on the other two ships, which we could see in the distance had a good view. Their video of the event was played on a loop on our ship as if to rub our noses in it. I hope you managed to see the event but it was such a dismal day with heavy cloud and those who saw it were very lucky. The northern lights are hit and miss but really spectacular. Robin would have been a great asset for both events. I don't know David Martin but I certainly know Paul Fellows who is chairman of Cambridge Astronomical Society. Your comments made me smile because he's definitely not cut out for giving talks.  

 

Paul Fellows was certainly a conscientious and knowledgeable person and was admittedly pretty well supported on the outside deck, so perhaps I am being a bit mean about him.  As I think you realise perhaps not quite the personable type of speaker who you tend to remember.

 

We did pretty well with our Oriana cruise.  It started as a Northern lights cruise of 12 nights, then at a later stage P&O decided they should offer a cruise to cover the solar eclipse (they had none planned).  So our cruise was made into a 14 night Solar Eclipse and Northern Lights one at no extra cost to us.  That increase of two nights meant we were entitled to more share benefit as well.  It was known the day before the eclipse that the sky would be cloudy over Torshavn (where we should have been docked), so the Captain asked P&O if he could have permission to keep the ship at sea that morning.  P&O wanted their ship, where it was planned to be - an ITV crew were due on board as it happens!  

 

The next day the Captain decided it was too windy to dock, so we stayed out at sea (must admit we did not think it was particularly windy).  There was just the odd glimpse of the sun that morning, so we were not hopeful, but went out on deck with our required safety glasses at the allotted time.  Amazingly the ship, which was moving very slowly, was positioned under one of the small gaps in the cloud as the time approached for the eclipse, so we saw it throughout the time when it went dark and became light again.  The Captain had very skillfully choreographed that in our opinion, as the sky was almost fully covered by cloud.  A day or two later, we were speaking with the cruise director (who was a keen amateur astronomer himself) and mentioned how lucky we had been that it was too windy to dock that morning.  He replied with a "Wasn't it", accompanied by the biggest wink I have ever seen 🙂

 

 

[Coravel]

14 hours ago, tring said:

 

Paul Fellows was certainly a conscientious and knowledgeable person and was admittedly pretty well supported on the outside deck, so perhaps I am being a bit mean about him.  As I think you realise perhaps not quite the personable type of speaker who you tend to remember.

 

We did pretty well with our Oriana cruise.  It started as a Northern lights cruise of 12 nights, then at a later stage P&O decided they should offer a cruise to cover the solar eclipse (they had none planned).  So our cruise was made into a 14 night Solar Eclipse and Northern Lights one at no extra cost to us.  That increase of two nights meant we were entitled to more share benefit as well.  It was known the day before the eclipse that the sky would be cloudy over Torshavn (where we should have been docked), so the Captain asked P&O if he could have permission to keep the ship at sea that morning.  P&O wanted their ship, where it was planned to be - an ITV crew were due on board as it happens!  

 

The next day the Captain decided it was too windy to dock, so we stayed out at sea (must admit we did not think it was particularly windy).  There was just the odd glimpse of the sun that morning, so we were not hopeful, but went out on deck with our required safety glasses at the allotted time.  Amazingly the ship, which was moving very slowly, was positioned under one of the small gaps in the cloud as the time approached for the eclipse, so we saw it throughout the time when it went dark and became light again.  The Captain had very skillfully choreographed that in our opinion, as the sky was almost fully covered by cloud.  A day or two later, we were speaking with the cruise director (who was a keen amateur astronomer himself) and mentioned how lucky we had been that it was too windy to dock that morning.  He replied with a "Wasn't it", accompanied by the biggest wink I have ever seen 🙂

 

 

 

P&O really looked after you on that occasion so I can understand why you are fond of them.  Our neighbours don't travel with anyone else!  The eclipse experts had forecast there would be almost no chance of seeing the apparition on that day from an island in the north Atlantic but they were proved wrong.  I saw all of it through the cloud apart from the all-important totality.  I was disappointed for other passengers as we had successfully seen the 1999 eclipse from France and another from Turkey in 2006.  It's such an exciting event when it all goes to plan and I know lots of "eclipse chasers" who travel all over the world to view them.  

 

Paul is a really nice person and knows what he's talking about but there are others who can stir up the imagination to bring a potentially dry topic to life.  I only know him because I used to help organise an annual astronomical meeting at Cambridge for which Paul's society did  most of the work.   

 

The best speaker I have ever seen on a ship was Peter Cattermole who talked about geology.  He was so charismatic that the Neptune lounge was full to capacity each time he gave a presentation.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

p

[tring]

3 hours ago, Coravel said:

 

P&O really looked after you on that occasion so I can understand why you are fond of them.  Our neighbours don't travel with anyone else!  The eclipse experts had forecast there would be almost no chance of seeing the apparition on that day from an island in the north Atlantic but they were proved wrong.  I saw all of it through the cloud apart from the all-important totality.  I was disappointed for other passengers as we had successfully seen the 1999 eclipse from France and another from Turkey in 2006.  It's such an exciting event when it all goes to plan and I know lots of "eclipse chasers" who travel all over the world to view them.  

 

Paul is a really nice person and knows what he's talking about but there are others who can stir up the imagination to bring a potentially dry topic to life.  I only know him because I used to help organise an annual astronomical meeting at Cambridge for which Paul's society did  most of the work.   

 

The best speaker I have ever seen on a ship was Peter Cattermole who talked about geology.  He was so charismatic that the Neptune lounge was full to capacity each time he gave a presentation.  

 

 

I would not say we were fond of P&O by any means, but they are doing better in The Caribbean, being able to use Q Vic as a quarantine ship and are being better with people who are asked to quarantine or disembark than Fred appear to be doing at present, from what I have read.  Our cruises have always been chosen because of Itinerary and they have done better on some itineraries recently, considering some more out of the way places are not really cruising venues with anyone at present.  Their prices are a lot less than Fred as well, so at least worth trying again, though we have not been on any of their ships since 2019. 

 

I hope you cataract op goes well - we may well meet on a ship sometime, though not at the end of this month as we originally thought we would.  Fred did eventually change that itinerary to Amsterdam first, followed by Hamburg, but took a long time to do so.  We still have similar times in each port though and with restrictions falling away, it looks like it could be a good cruise.

 

Cheers,

 

Barbara

Edited March 4, 2022 by tring

[Coravel]

19 hours ago, tring said:

 

I would not say we were fond of P&O by any means, but they are doing better in The Caribbean, being able to use Q Vic as a quarantine ship and are being better with people who are asked to quarantine or disembark than Fred appear to be doing at present, from what I have read.  Our cruises have always been chosen because of Itinerary and they have done better on some itineraries recently, considering some more out of the way places are not really cruising venues with anyone at present.  Their prices are a lot less than Fred as well, so at least worth trying again, though we have not been on any of their ships since 2019. 

 

I hope you cataract op goes well - we may well meet on a ship sometime, though not at the end of this month as we originally thought we would.  Fred did eventually change that itinerary to Amsterdam first, followed by Hamburg, but took a long time to do so.  We still have similar times in each port though and with restrictions falling away, it looks like it could be a good cruise.

 

Cheers,

 

Barbara

Thanks for the good wishes Barbara.  The cataract operation takes place on Thursday afternoon and hopefully it will go just as well as the first one in 2018.  Have a great time on your European cruise.  Our next is the Balkans on the Bolette in June which calls at some pretty interesting ports.  As you rightly say, it's all about the itinerary.  Everything else that's good is a bonus, anything bad is a mild irritation.