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Balconies


Priya2
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There are proper balconies as well, but be aware that some have an obstructed view due to life boats and all non terrace balconies can be used for smoking, so smoke can drift onto balconies nearby. Check Fred's cabin pictures as well, as beds can be very badly placed in the smaller balcony cabins.

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We had a balcony on Black Watch and didn't like it at all. The cabin was narrow like a corridor and there wasn't even enough space to have the fixed single beds side by side. The balcony jutted out onto the Promenade deck so we had no privacy at all and our view was obstructed by two inflatable life rafts

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Thank you for your replies. It sounds like FO ships are not for us then. Shame as we live in the North of England, but I’m used to Celebrity and will be on our first Azamara cruise in January. All of the other cruise lines have been buying and/or are planning new ships. I think it’s long over due that FO do the same.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Thank you for your replies. It sounds like FO ships are not for us then. Shame as we live in the North of England, but I’m used to Celebrity and will be on our first Azamara cruise in January. All of the other cruise lines have been buying and/or are planning new ships. I think it’s long over due that FO do the same.

 

 

Not really some people like Fred because they are not like all the other ships/lines.

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We had a balcony on Boudicca for our first Fred Olsen cruise. It was expensive compared to an ordinary cabin or a balcony on another cruise line. It was a proper balcony and unobstructed but because the cabin was quite small it made the layout of the cabin awkward. The balcony door got in the way and we never really felt comfortable in the cabin. Also if we came out of the cabin it was one deck down the nearest stairs and we were outside on the promenade deck. I think balconies are perhaps more important on big modern ships that lack easy access to a promenade deck.

 

Two years later we booked the same cruise for well under half the price in an outside cabin. The cabin location and arrangement suited us better. I did miss the balcony occasionally but not significantly. We enjoyed both cruises.

 

 

 

 

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Thank you for your replies. It sounds like FO ships are not for us then. Shame as we live in the North of England, but I’m used to Celebrity and will be on our first Azamara cruise in January. All of the other cruise lines have been buying and/or are planning new ships. I think it’s long over due that FO do the same.

 

 

Fred did go through a period of expansion several years back. They bought more old ships and lengthened existing ships. In more recent years they have upgraded the facilities on the sips too.

 

They are all getting very old and will have to be replaced. They could could buy old but newer ships. Perhaps from Saga, Azamara, Oceana or P and O. I don’t know how profitable the cruise business is for Fred Olsen. They could just call it a day. I would guess they struggle to be competitive out of Southampton. From the regional ports they have Cruise and Maritime Voyages expanding. Thomson are also getting newer ships and must compete on fly cruises and a few UK cruises.

 

I like the Fred Olsen cruise experience and hope I can continue to cruise with them for many years.

 

 

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Fred did go through a period of expansion several years back. They bought more old ships and lengthened existing ships. In more recent years they have upgraded the facilities on the sips too.

 

They are all getting very old and will have to be replaced. They could could buy old but newer ships. Perhaps from Saga, Azamara, Oceana or P and O. I don’t know how profitable the cruise business is for Fred Olsen. They could just call it a day. I would guess they struggle to be competitive out of Southampton. From the regional ports they have Cruise and Maritime Voyages expanding. Thomson are also getting newer ships and must compete on fly cruises and a few UK cruises.

 

I like the Fred Olsen cruise experience and hope I can continue to cruise with them for many years.

 

 

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It would be a shame for them to fold. Surely they only struggle to be competitive against the other lines because of the out-of-date ships.
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It would be a shame for them to fold. Surely they only struggle to be competitive against the other lines because of the out-of-date ships.

 

 

I have no knowledge of the Fred Olsen company so I am only guessing. Everybody apart from the very luxurious lines seems to be going for newer bigger ships. Two thousand passengers is now small. Obviously these big new ships have to be paid for but the economies of scale and revenue generating options they bring must be worth it for the owners.

 

Many passengers will see new ships with many balconies, extra tariff restaurants and diversity of activities/entertainment, and book on those ships. Superficially they look better than the Fred ships. Hopefully enough people will still see the attraction of the different approach Fred Olsen takes and will keep them going for many years.

 

Best wishes, Stephen.

 

 

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Lots of line keep, and in some cases are increasing the number of, smaller ships (e.g. Azamara). It’s the the size of the ship, so much as the standard of rooms, balconies etc, that can be provided on the vessel.

 

As an aside, apparently, the huge ships are highly profitable. The more bodies on a ship, the higher the profit. Hence, I think why it’s always that bit more expensive to cruise on a smaller ship.

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All of FO ships are getting a refit (except Blackwatch as she already has), so they won't be looking as old. I am cruising on Bouddica in August in a Terrace Suite Balcony, a need grade for me and should be fun. I normally prefer the bigger ships but the ports of call are a priority for us and FO still visits ports other cruise lines don't travel to.

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I cruised on Black Watch just before her refit and I thought that inside she was in very good condition. I had just come back of Pullmantur Sovereign where most of the soft furnishings were in a poor condition. On Black Watch carpets, curtains and seat covers looked almost new. Outside the top deck was in need of some care. I was really surprised by both the interior and open decks but for different reasons. I am sure she is now looking wonderful. I really like those old Royal Viking ships.

 

 

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Regarding previous comments about the future of FOCL. We were on a Fred cruise in recent months and discussed this with someone who I would expect to be a very reliable source of knowledge.

 

I had asked about the possibility of a new ship being introduced, as was mentioned by Fred Junior early last year. The reply was that Fred's sister would get rid of the cruise company as it does not make enough money. I was then told that a new ship would cost £lots of (cannot remember the figure given), and that it would be very difficult to recoup that sort of expenditure. To put that in perspective, Fred Jnr is chair of FOCL, which is 2% of the FO group business in total. Fred's sister is chair of the total group business of the Fred Olsen company. I was also told that arguments had been put forward that FOCL has a good PR role for the business as a whole, which appears to have been a useful argument at this stage.

 

Whilst we are also getting very fed up with Fred's old boats, I do agree that he has a very useful part to play in still visiting the more unusual ports, or indeed unusual parts of the world. I do hope that the future is secured, but it may well mean that they would need to find customers who are prepared to pay more than they have been doing in the past or new customers. On the plus side we have experienced and seen reports of many other "new to Fred" passengers, probably because of the factors just mentioned and the lack of reasonably priced alternatives for that now (fall of All Leisure last year, increased prices of lines such as Azamara etc.) , so they may be able to fill that niche. Then again their old ships are not actually accepted so well by the new passengers, who have been used to sailing on much newer ships without the problems of noise/vibration, and poor A/C in some areas of the ships for instance.

 

A difficult one for Fred and also those of us who want to see more of the world in smaller ships. The profits have certainly been reduced because of competition from the larger cruise ships with economies of scale and the fall in the £. The future remains to be seen obviously. Must admit land holidays are playing a more prominent role in our holiday plans at present along with river cruises that are much more competitively priced and to more interesting venues, than Fred's river cruise debut. We would still like to use Fred sometimes, though and wish they would return to The White Sea and the Gulf of Finland, both of which were on our "to do" list, but seem to have disappeared in recent years. Departures from the north of Britain is attractive to us as well.

Edited by tring
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Tring,

 

I too am getting fed up with Fred's old boats but have yet to find an alternative cruise line that suits both myself and my other half. We tried Viking Star in 2016 and although the ship in itself was wonderful, the overall experience was somewhat disappointing. We are booked on Braemar for our golden wedding cruise but have chosen Cunard for our 2019 cruise, having been unable to book a suitable cabin on Braemar for the cruise we wished to take. I was once a loyal FOCL customer, but not any more.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Thank you for your replies. It sounds like FO ships are not for us then. Shame as we live in the North of England, but I’m used to Celebrity and will be on our first Azamara cruise in January. All of the other cruise lines have been buying and/or are planning new ships. I think it’s long over due that FO do the same.

 

 

 

Lots of suites on Balmoral deck ten have lovely large balconies. Two sun loungers and round table with four chairs. Have a look at 1019, it’s enormous.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
Lots of suites on Balmoral deck ten have lovely large balconies. Two sun loungers and round table with four chairs. Have a look at 1019, it’s enormous.

 

 

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I agree We were in Suite 1005 on Balmoral in September/October. The suite was enormous, and the balcony was more like having our own deck! We had a large round dining table as well as chairs and sun loungers on the balcony....as well as sofa/chairs for 4, and dining table and 4 chairs in the suite.

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I agree We were in Suite 1005 on Balmoral in September/October. The suite was enormous, and the balcony was more like having our own deck! We had a large round dining table as well as chairs and sun loungers on the balcony....as well as sofa/chairs for 4, and dining table and 4 chairs in the suite.

 

 

 

I was in 1005 Christmas and New Year.

 

 

 

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Just back from cruising on the Braemar , suite 7027, balcony is the largest on the ship, 27ft long! Due to be next to a flight of stairs, which were hardly ever used, the balcony has room for a table and two chairs, 2 longers, and that did not fill half the available deck space, We docked opposite the huge Disney ship, their balcony's , four could have sat on ours,

This is not th normal size of a Fred Olsen balcony, but I studied the deck plans before booking and this one stood out. ,

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Just back from cruising on the Braemar , suite 7027, balcony is the largest on the ship, 27ft long! Due to be next to a flight of stairs, which were hardly ever used, the balcony has room for a table and two chairs, 2 longers, and that did not fill half the available deck space, We docked opposite the huge Disney ship, their balcony's , four could have sat on ours,

This is not th normal size of a Fred Olsen balcony, but I studied the deck plans before booking and this one stood out. ,

Thanks DivingBrit, that’s really helpful.
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Just back from cruising on the Braemar , suite 7027, balcony is the largest on the ship, 27ft long! Due to be next to a flight of stairs, which were hardly ever used, the balcony has room for a table and two chairs, 2 longers, and that did not fill half the available deck space, We docked opposite the huge Disney ship, their balcony's , four could have sat on ours,

This is not th normal size of a Fred Olsen balcony, but I studied the deck plans before booking and this one stood out. ,

 

This is our favourite cabin. A fellow passenger told us about this cabin while we were on a cruise some years ago and we always book early in order to secure this cabin or 7032 our second favourite. We will be back in cabin 7027 at the end of august for our golden wedding anniversary cruise. Unfortunately we couldn't book either 7027 or 7032 for our 2019 cruise so we have jumped ship and booked with Cunard.

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Odd shape, but we loved it, is Medreith always the cabin girl, as she is a star and what a voice !

I can never remember the cabin stewards as they usually go about their duties while we are out of the cabin so we very rarely see them.That doesn't mean we don't appreciate the hard work the do keeping the cabin serviced properly and we always ensure that we leave them a tip over and above that which is recommended.

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