petergoesrock
August 4th, 2008, 08:51 AM
We've all just returned home from a wonderful week on Fred Olsen's Black Watch. It was our son's first cruise and he loved every moment of it.
Special mention has to go to the restaurant staff, our waiters, Api & Yosi and Captain Waiters Robert and Saichol, and the Maitre'd for giving him so much attention, nothing was too much trouble. All of the staff were so friendly to him (and us) the Captain spoke to him every time he saw him, and remembered what they had talked about! The cruise director Alison and her assistants always had a smile and a wave for him. By the end of the week it seemed the staff all knew his name, he even found himself taking a bow with the performers in the crew show! It wasn't just the passenger facing staff that were so friendly, it was all the staff we passed.
We believe there were 20 children onboard, 75% of whom I don't think ever used the children's hosts, with 2 exceptions that included us. We had a children's 'Daily Times' delivered every night detailing the next days activities. We were also advised as to when the main pool was available only to the children (1 hour a day) and exclusively for adults (2 hours a day).
There is a simple children's menu available for dinner, and you can mix and match that with the main dinner menu, or just order from the dinner menu. We found it best to view the dinner menu over breakfast, and if necessary ask for the children's menu and order then or at lunchtime as it saved delays in the evening.
We were delighted to never hear a bad word about any of the children, and that so many of the passengers took time to talk to our son or compliment him on his dinner outfit. The worst we saw all cruise was a couple of pretty unfriendly looks in his direction, interestingly both from middle aged women.
We'd cruised with FO before and knew they weren't a 'family' cruise line, but we always intended to have our son with us most of the time. This cruise, the ship and her wonderful staff has confirmed us as FO fans.
Special mention has to go to the restaurant staff, our waiters, Api & Yosi and Captain Waiters Robert and Saichol, and the Maitre'd for giving him so much attention, nothing was too much trouble. All of the staff were so friendly to him (and us) the Captain spoke to him every time he saw him, and remembered what they had talked about! The cruise director Alison and her assistants always had a smile and a wave for him. By the end of the week it seemed the staff all knew his name, he even found himself taking a bow with the performers in the crew show! It wasn't just the passenger facing staff that were so friendly, it was all the staff we passed.
We believe there were 20 children onboard, 75% of whom I don't think ever used the children's hosts, with 2 exceptions that included us. We had a children's 'Daily Times' delivered every night detailing the next days activities. We were also advised as to when the main pool was available only to the children (1 hour a day) and exclusively for adults (2 hours a day).
There is a simple children's menu available for dinner, and you can mix and match that with the main dinner menu, or just order from the dinner menu. We found it best to view the dinner menu over breakfast, and if necessary ask for the children's menu and order then or at lunchtime as it saved delays in the evening.
We were delighted to never hear a bad word about any of the children, and that so many of the passengers took time to talk to our son or compliment him on his dinner outfit. The worst we saw all cruise was a couple of pretty unfriendly looks in his direction, interestingly both from middle aged women.
We'd cruised with FO before and knew they weren't a 'family' cruise line, but we always intended to have our son with us most of the time. This cruise, the ship and her wonderful staff has confirmed us as FO fans.