Tuesday 9th July BBC2 8.00

[jeanlyon]

Yes you sound like us. We always go for second sitting for the same reason.

 

I met a single lady on board last year and she has become a firm friend and has visited us once already. The three of us are on the Balmoral in January. so nice when you make a really good friend.

[Julessmiles]

Hi Julie, what are you doing on here? :D:D

 

I can assure you that Fred is not half as bad as depicted :rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

 

 

Hello Linda :)

 

I'm sure it isn't really that bad - I just feel sorry for FO that they had no say in this & it's pretty obvious they hadn't seen a preview before it went out; just don't think it's done many favours for them. Surely though, as with a lot of docusoaps, they should have foreseen that something like this might happen.....

[gstewart]

Hi gstewart, I see you are going to the fiords on the Crown. Is that on the August or September cruise?

 

Hi there. We are off on the August 10th cruise. Can't wait.

 

 

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[CRUISIN LINDA]

Hi there. We are off on the August 10th cruise. Can't wait.

 

 

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Have a great time, hope you will do a review of the cruise when you get back :)

[gstewart]

Have a great time, hope you will do a review of the cruise when you get back :)

 

I'll certainly try my best on both counts.

 

Thanks.

 

 

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[Mark_T]

Just got back to the UK and watched the first episode.

 

I really do think that Fred Olsen should have said no to this one.

 

If I'd never cruised on Fred before I certainly never would have cruised on Fred after watching that program ...

 

Fortunately I know that what was shown is not properly representative of life on board, but this series is surely going to be doing more damage with every episode aired unless it changes tack in the remaining episodes ...

[gstewart]

Just got back to the UK and watched the first episode.

 

I really do think that Fred Olsen should have said no to this one.

 

If I'd never cruised on Fred before I certainly never would have cruised on Fred after watching that program ...

 

Fortunately I know that what was shown is not properly representative of life on board, but this series is surely going to be doing more damage with every episode aired unless it changes tack in the remaining episodes ...

 

Perhaps tonight's episode will show off FO in a different light.

 

 

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[anyoldname]

...and is not a promotional broadcast for Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, nor the ship nor its guests and crew (the BBC could possibly have been clearer about this in its promotion of the series).

 

You can say that again!! The BBC have managed to turn a fun holiday on board a lovely ship into a boring and depressing series (so far) that to my mind does not reflect the happy atmosphere and diverse activities on board.

 

Could be a PR disaster!

[Esprit]

We watched last night's episode. Oh dear!

 

The highlight was the equator crossing. It seemed to be more for the benefit of the crew than the passengers who appeared to look on with incredulity.

 

The interior of the ship looked so dated. More like a community centre than a plush cruise ship.

 

Can't wait for next week's instalment

[gstewart]

We watched last night's episode. Oh dear!

 

The highlight was the equator crossing. It seemed to be more for the benefit of the crew than the passengers who appeared to look on with incredulity.

 

The interior of the ship looked so dated. More like a community centre than a plush cruise ship.

 

Can't wait for next week's instalment

 

I think last night's episode was better than episode 1. I would still avoid FO based on this programme though.

 

 

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[Langtoncouple]

I was hoping that this series would have showed us more about the running of a ship, behind the scenes, life of the crew rather than devoting on half a dozen passengers. Makes for dull viewing. I would still sail with FO though.

[hab60]

This programme is so unbelievably awful that in fact it is wonderful, in the way that one is fascinated by 'car crash' TV.

 

As a regular cruiser my wife and I watched in astonishment at the series. If I ever found myself on a ship like that I would certainly throw myself over the side (if that were the only means of escape}

 

Where on earth did they find such people? Poor old Fred Olsen, how they must have regretted this! I never liked the look of them anyway and this confirmed it. Are there really cabins like this on cruise ships? ;)

 

Unmissable from now on and I will be glued to it each week.

 

Thankfully I am going on the Celebrity Eclipse in a couple of weeks' time

which should just about remove the memory of this programme.

[amajaa]

I am embarrassed that friends who know we love cruising might have watched this and think this is what we are raving about. I told my husband to email his old boss and tell him the ships we have been on are nothing like this.

 

Embarrassed Cruiser.

[Mark_T]

I tend to agree, this is actually causing us embarrassment as we have also previously told people that Fred was a good line to go with, now they are watching the series and are reacting as though we must be mad.

 

We are telling people it really isn't like that on board, but I'm not at all sure they believe us :(

 

A truly appalling decision to ever have allowed this to take place without input to the editorial aspects of the presentation.

[jeanlyon]

Well of course some ships do have pax like these. I watch with incredulity as people play mini golf inside the ship and bingo, BUT that is a small minority. The rest are enjoying themselves in other ways. We like the port lectures, the entertainment in the evening. During the day I am always out on deck with my Kindle or my MP3 player. Early evening we like to sit on the Prom Deck and watch the sea go by.

 

Around 7 it's up to the Crows Nest for drinks, dinner at 8.30, followed by a show. None of this has been shown at all! Even the dining room is only showing the Vicar's table :-(

 

We had lots of much younger people on our West African cruise with Fred on the Braemar. I must say the decor on the Braemar was better than I have seen so far on the Balmoral but I will find out on our sector of a worldie in January. Just hope it's better than I've seen

[dancourt]

I can't believe people are still going on about this programme as if it was an

advert for Fred Olsen cruises.....it's not.

 

It is all about the vicar and his pastoral duties on a cruise ship so you wont get to see the bigger picture of cruising.

 

I am sure a lot of the people who are moaning have never been on a FO cruise and never had intentions to do so.

 

I have done 4 cruises with FO and 1 was on the Balmoral and she is a lovely ship, and wouldn't hesitate to cruise on her again.

 

Happy cruising, whichever company you choose.

 

Susan

[Lanky Lad]

I have not yet been on a Fred Olsen cruise (I am booked for March 2015) so far there have been nothing to give me second thoughts.

[Mark_T]

It is all about the vicar and his pastoral duties on a cruise ship so you wont get to see the bigger picture of cruising.

 

Unfortunately the BBC didn't exactly bill it as a 'follow the Chaplain' series, they described it as:

 

'Documentary following the passengers and crew of the Cruise Liner Balmoral on a journey around the world, and their chaplain for the journey, the Reverend Colin Still.'

 

The reverse is clearly true, it is about the Chaplain first and foremost and would have been better billed as such.

 

I think those of us most concerned are the ones who most certainly have traveled on Fred Olsen cruises before, it isn't going to affect our future cruise choice, but it is certainly making a few of our friends question our sanity :)

[Esprit]

Last night's episode was much better than the previous two.

 

It's confirmed that a world cruise isn't for me. I'd prefer to be on a ship with a wider demographic once I become a coffin dodger myself.

[onlyonetrevorfrancis]

I have to say that the series ended considerably better than it started.

 

I really enjoyed the last three episodes, good to see more of the places visited and the staff working on the ship.

 

I'll quite miss watching it on Tuesday nights.

[ovccruiser]

We were on a section of this cruise, Sydney to Bangkok and can say without doubt it was one of if not the best cruise I have been on and seeing myself for 3 seconds in episode 3 was a great reminder of how good the cruise was. I think it was quite brave of some of the people to tell their innermost thoughts to a TV camera. Given the opportunity, I would go again.

[jeanlyon]

We are on the first sector of Balmoral's World cruise in January 2014 and I'm glad to say there is a choir at sea. Just found that out from Fred Olsen Cruiselines. I have no problems going on another Fred cruise, but I do think the programme was misnamed.