On Bolette 22nd May

[warrington]

Hi, First time sailing with Fred , really looking forward to the cruise but have a few questions for the experienced Fred cruisers if that's O.K?. Are you allowed to take alcohol onboard? What toiletries are provided? Is the British night a casual night? Is there a launderette on Bolette. Thank you in advance. 

[tring]

41 minutes ago, warrington said:

Hi, First time sailing with Fred , really looking forward to the cruise but have a few questions for the experienced Fred cruisers if that's O.K?. Are you allowed to take alcohol onboard? What toiletries are provided? Is the British night a casual night? Is there a launderette on Bolette. Thank you in advance. 

 

No you cannot take alcohol onto the ship.  You will find bar prices fairly decent, but they only have glass bottles of water in the cabins now, which are pricey (something like £2.50 for one litre - but not sure of that price).  Plastic items not now given out on the ship, but no probs taking some 2ltre bottles of water or soft drinks on the ship with you.  Likewise for toiletries - no small bottles now, but there is a large dispenser of hand/body wash and one for shampoo (may be different for suites though).  We take our own, which we prefer.

 

There are launderettes on both Bolette and Borealis now, but I have read recently about a launderette being closed at present and I am not sure which cruise line that was.  Again I have no firm, first hand knowledge of that, so someone else may know better and is something that may change.

 

British night was a casual night (just wear something with red white blue in, though not compulsory).  They have not been doing those since the pandemic, but again I think there may be plans for the Jubilee, so may be one for your cruise.

 

 

Edited May 4, 2022 by tring

[Coravel]

Also, as far as drinking water is concerned, the water that comes out of the bathroom taps is perfectly safe to drink.  This is true for all cruise ships.  Just take a couple of plastic bottles with you and fill them up onboard.  

[warrington]

Thank you both for your information, much appreciated.

[tring]

On 5/4/2022 at 11:28 AM, Coravel said:

Also, as far as drinking water is concerned, the water that comes out of the bathroom taps is perfectly safe to drink.  This is true for all cruise ships.  Just take a couple of plastic bottles with you and fill them up onboard.  

 

Sorry, yes water from the tap is considered safe to drink.  My dislike is the very strong metallic taste of the water in the cabins of the ex HAL ships, so I sm  not happy about the chemical content, but all a personal choice.  On the first cruise we did post covid (on Borealis), I did ask reception about the tap water and was told it was not really a good be idea to drink the tap water at that be time (a lot of plumbing work going on then). 

 

I was also told we could ask our cabin stewardess for a carafe of water, as was provided to everyone pre covid, but after Fred stopped plastic bottles.  That worked, and tasted better (perhaps filtered, but not sure).  If you are on one of the two top cabin decks, in a "suite" with a balcony, those carafes are provided automatically, but the rest of is have to ask and sometimes we have been told to ring room service..

 

When we have been on the drinks package, we have asked for pints of water to take back to the cabin - again that does not have the very strong metallic taste.

 

 

Edited May 5, 2022 by tring

[tring]

12 hours ago, tring said:

 

was told it was not really a good be idea to drink the tap water at that be time (a lot of plumbing work going on then). 

 

 

I do not normally get hung up about any typing errors I have made, but really have to apologise about the wrongly placed "be's" in my quote above from my previous post, since it does sound incredibly bad.  I was using my phone late last night to compose that post and clearly I made other errors as well.  I remember re wording my initial comment, so presume the offending words were left in from that.  

 

The good news is that I normally use our desktop to post on here which is a much easier, (and accurate), option for old folk like me 🙂

 

Sorry, will try to be more careful in future,

 

Barbara

[Coravel]

I didn't know about the availability of carafes of water by ringing room service.  You are a mine of useful information.  

[warrington]

Hi, It's me again with yet another question. Are there slippers and dressing gowns in the cabin? Thank you.

[tring]

1 hour ago, warrington said:

Hi, It's me again with yet another question. Are there slippers and dressing gowns in the cabin? Thank you.

 

Depends on cabin grade.  Dressing gowns supplied in suites, not sure about slippers.

 

You can hire a dressing gown for the cruise if you ask at reception.  Cannot remember the exact cost, but was something like £10 which is non refundable, plus a refundable deposit of about £20.  You need to take them to reception the day before disembarkation.  We find them useful on some cruises.  

 

 

[warrington]

OK. Many thanks for the information