Broch

Thank you both for your help

2 hours ago, edinburgher said:

In June last year there were taxis sitting at Inverkeithing train station.

 

Metered cost to the passenger terminal was £10 which included our tip to the driver. Would have been less but for the queue to enter the port and to reach the terminal building as we hit a busy time.

Thanks for the replies. Most helpful

On 2/21/2019 at 6:14 PM, RocketmanRon said:

You could get the train to Inverkeithing then a taxi to the cruise terminal or a bus to Ferrytoll park and ride and a taxi from there.

If you have a bus pass all it will cost you is the taxi fare.

 

You could contact Ferrytoll and ask them about taxis.

 

Fred. Olsen used to run a shuttle from Inverkeithing station, you could also contact them about that.

I don't know how much a taxi would cost as I usually get someone to drive me to the cruise terminal as it is only about 3/4 of an hour from my home.

 

 

Can anybody who has sailed from this port of Rosyth advise on the best way to get to this port either by bus or train from Aberdeen. Thanks for any advice

Alloa, yes you are a long way from Fraserburgh

There's a clue in my username.

 

A famous brewing town of yesteryear.

Ross County perhaps

Did you sing along in a Fraserburgh accent ? :D

Nice one far ar EE fae like ? 😀😀

The British night consists of British Fayre in the dining room and a sing a long of National songs in the main entertainment lounge. I always find it good fun. Some people will dress up in Costume

I am glad that you had a decent rack of lamb in the Avon. I was in the Ballindalloch for the entire cruise for breakfast sometimes lunch and dinner.

My rack of lamb was sliced extremely thin and was overcooked and grey. The soups were indeed tasteless and some of the starters were not as described in the menu' date=' very poor.

 

The palms cafe I consider to be an afternoon tea place or for a quick bite.

 

I am not the only one to have this view, the rest of my table companions said the same.

 

I also travelled with Ports Direct (who I can recommend) and my fellow passengers were of the same view about the food.

 

The other cruise lines I have been with are Celebrity, P and O, 8 Princess, 2 Fred Olsen and a 3rd later this year. I do hope that Fred listens re the food quality otherwise people will go elsewhere.[/quote']

 

I am sorry ro hear of your experience re your meals. I am glad I was not in the ballindalloch then, as I would not have been happy if I had been served overcooked meat. I am glad that I have chosen the Avon restaurant for my next cruise with them, I do feel that the Ballindalloch is very big with a lot of mouths to feed but that is no excuse for serving bad meals. I hope Fred does listen to feedback about the food because I feel they have a good product which suits a certain market of guests. But they do need to address genuine bad comments of the food

Well I put on 6 pounds during the 11nights. I did think that some dishes could have done with a little more seasoning i e salt but then I just put it down to a health diet by not consuming too much salt. This is where the benefit of dining in the GRILL where there is not so many people to cook for, but a lot of people do not think it is worth the supplement. On other ships I know of people who are quite prepared to dine just in Speciality restaurants just to get a better quality of food.

Having seen a menu for The Grill, I would not call it an improvement, with or without an extra cost - it is almost entirely grilled meat which is not my choice of fodder. I would expect a realistic choice for a speciality restaurant.

I think you need to accept that you may have your opinion, but others are entitled to their own opinions. It would also seem that you had no experience of Fred ships from more than 13 months ago, so it seems strange that you keep trying to criticise other peoples views on how Fred's food has changed.

The quote system seems to be doing strange things! I had quoted Broch.

I think you need to go back a few threads and you will read that I invited others opinions on the food on this cruise. Of course I have no experience of Fred over 13 months ago. I was not criticising other people's comments I was merely emphasising that the food on this cruise was to a good standard IN MY OPINION. I will now leave others to debate this issue as I am out

 

.. the food was never so bad in the past that you'd have to consider paying extra for a decent meal...

 

I would agree with that. I didn't say the food was so bad but some people are prepared to pay a supplement to have a PREMIUM QUALITY meal. Sorry if I mislead

We have been on many Fred cruises, including eight in the last two years if you include a couple of back to backs. Until a year or two ago Fred's food was exceptional, always well cooked and tasty. The quality of hot food has definitely gone down over the last year or two and was noticeable on both Braemar and Boudicca recently. Menus do not have the same selection and quality is very variable now, in fact on Boudicca recently I was extremely disappointed with a lot of things as they were often tasteless. I had a piece of salmon that was hard, dry and almost crispy dumped on top of a pasta meal and the soups are nothing like as good as they were, but there were too many problems to mention, compared to what food was like in the past. Even Braemar from late last year to early May had noticeably gone down.

 

Admittedly it depends on the chef on board, but there have been a lack of the British chefs they used to have on board recently in our experience. Also the cost seems to be going on big portions of meat in some meals rather than quality of meals across the board. The cold food is still pretty good though.

 

In the past we have noted Fred was much better than other cruise lines and I note your experience has largely been on other cruise lines and I cannot comment on any other lines over this last year.

 

If you go for, (what is now sometimes only one), plain meat option, like the examples you give, you may not notice it as much, but they used to have more than one option like that and their hot fish was good as well, but is now not so well prepared. I am not a big meat eater, so it has been very noticeable to me.[/

 

Well I put on 6 pounds during the 11nights. I did think that some dishes could have done with a little more seasoning i e salt but then I just put it down to a health diet by not consuming too much salt. This is where the benefit of dining in the GRILL where there is not so many people to cook for, but a lot of people do not think it is worth the supplement. On other ships I know of people who are quite prepared to dine just in Speciality restaurants just to get a better quality of food.

The Iceland cruise was beautiful' date=' ships tours very good to blue lagoon and national park golden circle tour.

 

However after being on the boudicca last year and several other cruise lines recently I found the food on Balmoral to be rather poor in comparison. We do know that companies have to make cost cutting exercises in various areas but on the Balmoral it was very noticeable.[/quote']

 

OMG where were you eating your meals at. We were in the Avon and the meals were way above standard on other ships we have been on. You will see from My signature that we have been on 14 cruises to date. Many people we spoke to also found the food to be good this trip. I know that food can be very subjective to ones palet but the steak Black and White was cooked perfect to order. My Rack of Lamb was to die for. I for one is not easily pleased when it comes to food but I can honestly say their was only two nights which were a little below par with the other 9 nights.

 

This is only my opinon and it would be good to hear other peoples view of the food. We only dined at the Palms buffet one night and possibly I would say that the buffet was not as good as the dining room but still very acceptable.

Glad you had a good time. Nice to hear a positive review of the Balmoral.

Seems just recently on here that the Balmoral has taken over from Boudica as the "bad boy of the fleet".

We are on the Balmoral in Septembervand looking forward to it.

Yes I know I was very apprehensive about going on the ship but I really did have a great cruise. The captain repeatedly emphasised the need for hand washing to minimise the risk of infection and hopefully guests will heed his request. I could not fault the food either. It also helped that the Itinerary and the weather in Iceland was very good. I hope things go well for you and you also have a great cruise

Having just returned today from a cruise on the Balmoral I have to give a small account of our cruise.

Firstly embarkation at Newcastle went smoothly. In my opinion everything I encountered on the ship was to my satisfaction.

The shows in the Neptune lounge exceeded my expectation of a cruise showtime company. They in my opinion were brilliant. Now my expectations are high. Disembarkation went very smoothly and was well organised.

I look forward to meeting Jen ( Excellent cruise director ) and her staff when we return on our booked cruise next year

Yes we left the ship in Newcastle on Thursday having also been on the ill-fated "bug" cruise to Norway last May. No problems this time I'm pleased to say plus good weather helped make it a very enjoyable experience. Spoke to quite a few first timers who all seemed quite impressed. Embarkation at Newcastle was we found the fastest ever; arrived about 30 minutes before the appointed hour, parked car, cases taken, checked in, through security, short transfer bus, all within 45 minutes. OK we are Oceans Gold but never managed this at Southampton or Dover, certainly not recently.

We were also on that cruise last year which makes us very apprehensive about going on board this Tuesday. However thanks to your post we are feeling a bit better. Thanks for posting. Do you happen to know if the Premier inn at the ferry terminal is an easy walk to the Terminal

Sounded like a good itinerary, so hope it was enjoyed as well. So let us know how it went - would love to hear, if only a few brief comments.

 

Barbara

Would definately want to know as we board on Tuesday

We did Iceland last year on Black Watch from Liverpool. No problems on ship.

You will love it.

 

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Thank you that's encouraging

I reckon Balmoral had a free night on Friday whist moving from Southampton to Newcastle, so hopefully a deep clean would be done during this time.

We are due to board on 26th.

Let's hope so. I hope we have better luck this year than last year. With less passengers using Newcastle than Southampton maybe less chance of someone taking it onboard. Just a theory with no substance but here's hoping.

I shall be the cleanest I have ever been, I can see that, LOL!

Nice one. I can see the funny side. You have to haven't you. I sincerely hope you enjoy your cruise. We leave for Iceland on the 31st May for 11 nights so hopefully we will all have a virus free cruise. Will post when we get home

I am reading online now that the hand gels are ineffective against norovirus. Only bleach will kill it...!

I agree a lot of gels are a waste of money and vigorous washing of hands can be just as good but the boots anti viral is a foam and does not contain alcohol it is more effective against Noro virus but it is a very hard virus to get rid of. But I do not fancy rubbing on undiluted bleach on my hand but rather as you say avoid the public toilets but carry a foam anti viral and wash well before going to bed

Thanks for replying Broch.

 

Crosssing fingers and hoping for the best, we booked the fjord trip to see if we liked cruising, so I hope it all goes without a hitch.

 

What's the best thing to do, wash hands regularly throughout the day and evening?

Yes vigorous washing of hands. As we experienced many people with the virus last year we are far more vigilant this year and we are taking Clinell germ wipes as the ones they use in hospitals for pushing lift buttons or on hand rails, get them from Amazon and also Boots Anti Viral foam buy one get one half price from boots. Another thing we do is sign all drinks receipts with your own pen as the waiters pens hav been in countless hands. Drastic I know but but better to be safe than sorry. BTW we really did like the ship all the staff and the cruise to Norwegian fjords last year on Balmoral. Just hoping for a better experience this barring unforeseen circumstances

I was on the cruise last year when our cruise was cut short by a day and we missed a very scenic part of the cruise. You can look at this two ways. Learn from it as you have been made aware that Norovirus can be very prevalent on cruise ships, not only the Balmoral and take extra care by washing hands like we are going to do in two weeks. Or cancel and then be mad because the ship travelled virus free. I hope you have a pleasant and virus free cruise

thankfully i have not had norovirus myself but i know someone who has and she suffered excrutiatingly painful stomach pains and extreme vomiting and diaorrhea. Of course, the effects vary from person to person as with any virus but not pleasant by anyone's standard. Add to this being cooped up in your cabin and the possibility of missing a port i think you are taking it far too lightly.

ditto

On reflection, I wonder if we are making too much of this? How serious is norovirus? I might have misunderstood, but not many seem to be rushed off to hospital for emergency treatment. Are you just sick for 24/36 hours?

 

In which case it doesn't seem to be worth making such a fuss about - just take what precautions you personally are comfortable with. After all, I've had much worse things befall me in Egypt .... Delhi ..... Mombasa ..... even Weston-super-Mare if I remember right.

 

Staying in my cabin and nodding off on the bed for a day doesn't really seem so much different from nodding off in the lounge, and at least I'm not taking up a seat!

Very interested to hear what people think of your comments.