Mid sized cruise ships

[Dairbear01]

We have recently had our first cruise on the Fred Olsen Bolette, sailing from Newcastle , which was brilliant, but now we are wondering about looking at another cruise later in the year.

Bolette is changing from Newcastle to Southampton in a few months, so that takes her out of the equation for the time being.

So we either look at her sister ships, or try a different cruise line.

 

Any recommendations on similar sized cruise lines approx 1300 guests max, sailing from either northern England or Scotland.

 

Would rather not have to travel south to Southampton if we can 

 

[wowzz]

3 hours ago, Dairbear01 said:

We have recently had our first cruise on the Fred Olsen Bolette, sailing from Newcastle , which was brilliant, but now we are wondering about looking at another cruise later in the year.

Bolette is changing from Newcastle to Southampton in a few months, so that takes her out of the equation for the time being.

So we either look at her sister ships, or try a different cruise line.

 

Any recommendations on similar sized cruise lines approx 1300 guests max, sailing from either northern England or Scotland.

 

Would rather not have to travel south to Southampton if we can 

 

I think you'll struggle. There are very few ships of that size operating out of the UK, let alone Scotland or Northern England. Fred is really the only one sailing from that area.

Leaving geography aside,  the obvious alternative would be Saga, but you would need to get to the South coast.

[Essiesmom]

Suggest consulting cruisetimetables.com choosing departure ports.  Some ports seem to attract only one cruise line, so you may have to wander a bit.  EM

[Sarnia 432]

Try looking at Ambassador 

https://www.ambassadorcruiseline.com

[SteveH2508]

Ambassador cruise line (the phoenix risen from CMV) have their second ship, Ambition starting to sail in a few weeks. They are sailing from other UK ports, e.g. Newcastle and Dundee in OP's neck of the woods.

 

https://www.ambassadorcruiseline.com/

[Dairbear01]

Thank you will check them out 

[wineoclock]

Friends have just been on Ambassador her first cruise so nothing to compare to but loved it. 
 

 

[SteveH2508]

1 hour ago, wineoclock said:

Friends have just been on Ambassador her first cruise so nothing to compare to but loved it. 
 

 

We did 24 days on P&O Aurora last September and 22 days B2B on Ambassador at Easter. TBH, Ambassador is beating P&O hands down at the moment. Value for money, Ambassador is way better, food is better, entertainment is better, staff are generally better. They do still have a few maintenance issues with Ambience (particularly lifts and some air-con).

[wineoclock]

I’ll bear them in mind. We usually cruise celebrity but not a fan of IV & suites are getting too expensive! But we like not having to dress up in black tie… 

[SteveH2508]

10 hours ago, wineoclock said:

I’ll bear them in mind. We usually cruise celebrity but not a fan of IV & suites are getting too expensive! But we like not having to dress up in black tie… 

Ambassador do have formal nights and nearly everyone seems to comply with the dress code more or less (quite similar to P&O). The average age on Ambassador is ancient BTW.

[DarrenM]

On 4/28/2023 at 10:53 AM, Dairbear01 said:

We have recently had our first cruise on the Fred Olsen Bolette, sailing from Newcastle , which was brilliant, but now we are wondering about looking at another cruise later in the year.

Bolette is changing from Newcastle to Southampton in a few months, so that takes her out of the equation for the time being.

So we either look at her sister ships, or try a different cruise line.

 

Any recommendations on similar sized cruise lines approx 1300 guests max, sailing from either northern England or Scotland.

 

Would rather not have to travel south to Southampton if we can 

 

DFDS do a short cruise from North Shields to Amsterdam.

 

I wouldnt recommend it though.

[SteveH2508]

31 minutes ago, DarrenM said:

DFDS do a short cruise from North Shields to Amsterdam.

 

I wouldnt recommend it though.

If they are anything like the cross channel DFDS ferries, I would almost rather swim. The food was worse than anything the Army ever served me up - the only saving grace was it being complimentary, due to delays at Dover.

[ontheweb]

6 hours ago, SteveH2508 said:

If they are anything like the cross channel DFDS ferries, I would almost rather swim. The food was worse than anything the Army ever served me up - the only saving grace was it being complimentary, due to delays at Dover.

That reminds me of an old Borscht Belt joke--the food was terrible, and you could not even get seconds.

 

Bringing this back to mid size ships, I would bet the definition of what is a mid size ship has become much larger over the years.

[cruisemom42]

25 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Bringing this back to mid size ships, I would bet the definition of what is a mid size ship has become much larger over the years.

 

Not to reasonable people. I just classify anything over 3,000 passengers as Jumbo: Avoid  

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Not to reasonable people. I just classify anything over 3,000 passengers as Jumbo: Avoid  

And my point was ships over 2000 were once the large ships. They are now mid sized. And even the 3000+ are "small" compared to the ships being built today.

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

And my point was ships over 2000 were once the large ships. They are now mid sized. And even the 3000+ are "small" compared to the ships being built today.

 

Only if you change your perspective. I haven't. 

 

Small is < 1,000 pax.  Medium is 1k to 2k.  Large: 2k to 3k.  Jumbo anything above that.