Priya2 Posted July 10 #1 Share Posted July 10 I’m quite excited having just booked the first FO cruise for hubby and me. We’re dipping our toes in with a 5 night Springtime Norwegian Fjords May ‘25 from our local terminal (Newcastle). The idea of cruising 20 minutes from home is fabulous. We’ve booked a terrace cabin (on Borialis). I know some love these and some hate them. We think we’ll really like it, but if we don’t, it’s only 5 nights. We have cruised on Celebrity and Azamara in the past, though not cruised at all since 2016. After which we took longer land holidays to some of the places we visited on cruises. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Eglesbrech Posted July 11 #2 Share Posted July 11 I’m sure you will enjoy your cruise. While Fred ships are nothing like as plush and lack the facilities you will have enjoyed on Celebrity and Azamara they do have small ship charm. They also offer some interesting guest speakers, more daytime activities etc. unfortunately you won’t find Celebriy,s fabulous ice martini bars 😀 We have done a few cruises on Fred and one of the joys is being so much closer to home when sailing from Rosyth (or even Newcastle). No 9 hour drive home from Southampton. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priya2 Posted July 11 Author #3 Share Posted July 11 Thank you Eglesbrech. The FO board here is very quiet 🤫 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Eglesbrech Posted July 11 #4 Share Posted July 11 2 hours ago, Priya2 said: Thank you Eglesbrech. The FO board here is very quiet 🤫 It used to be busier but there are now apparently several chat groups on other platforms and I think people tend to go there. Fred ships as smaller to start with so fewer people anyway. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsmt47471015 Posted July 11 #5 Share Posted July 11 We too have booked our first fred cruise out of Newcastle after years of procrastinating, our dealings with them up to now have been a pleasure and the reviews of the ship ( Balmoral) are mostly positive , we always approach a new line with an open mind and it will be interesting how we feel after it , also greatly looking forward to the two hour journey to Newcastle as opposed to the long drag to Southampton😃 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Eglesbrech Posted July 11 #6 Share Posted July 11 @gsmt47471015 there are so many of us in Scotland and North England who get fed up with the long journey South. You would think that one of the big cruise lines would look at that market and try to capture it, as the South is now saturated. The only northern choices there seem to be are Fred and Ambassador, both small lines with older ships. I hope you enjoy your first cruise with Fred. There are things you perhaps won’t like as much depending on who you have cruised with before but there will also be lots that you will hopefully really enjoy. An open mind is a good start. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsmt47471015 Posted July 12 #7 Share Posted July 12 12 hours ago, Eglesbrech said: @gsmt47471015 there are so many of us in Scotland and North England who get fed up with the long journey South. You would think that one of the big cruise lines would look at that market and try to capture it, as the South is now saturated. The only northern choices there seem to be are Fred and Ambassador, both small lines with older ships. I hope you enjoy your first cruise with Fred. There are things you perhaps won’t like as much depending on who you have cruised with before but there will also be lots that you will hopefully really enjoy. An open mind is a good start. Thank you ,really looking forward to trying Fred after listening to so many other cruisers opinions of them ,which were nearly all positive. We have sailed with various other lines ,both big and small .old and new, have no problem with older ships as they do have character ,as long as they are maintained to a decent standard. Totally agree about the North/South issue, there must be quite a large untapped market to be captured with the right destinations other than Northern Europe and Great Britain . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
July morning Posted July 13 #8 Share Posted July 13 We were on Balmoral at the end of May and really enjoyed the ship. I did a report if you are interested 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mymarina Bay Posted July 14 #9 Share Posted July 14 Also booked our first cruise with Fred sailing on Bolette out of Liverpool in October. Clocked up 3k+ points with P&O over the past 24 years as well as Celebrity and Princess. Looking forward to a short train journey (or taxi) to port and sailing on a smaller ship although dont think the original Arcadia was that big. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepingcat Posted July 15 #10 Share Posted July 15 On 7/10/2024 at 9:39 PM, Priya2 said: We’ve booked a terrace cabin (on Borialis). I know some love these and some hate them. We have been on Fred several times but not recently (2019 last time) on these newer ships with the terrace cabins. Looking at photos, it looks as though they would be rather dark inside? and how about not being able to sleep with window/door open? I will be really interested in your report back. have a good cruise. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redabby Posted July 31 #11 Share Posted July 31 I booked my first Fred cruise a couple of years ago, Up to that point I had only gone with P @ O . I really enjoyed it and was impressed with Fred especially the food. We booked another cruise with them for the following year and again very enjoyable. So I am sure you will be fine. In fact yesterday I booked another Fred cruise, The only downside for me personally is some of the ports they use are inconvenient for me to use. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacey m Posted July 31 #12 Share Posted July 31 I went on my first cruise with Fred in May It was also my first solo cruise. I had a fantastic time everyone was very friendly and I made lots of friends. I have booked again for November and can't wait 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsmt47471015 Posted August 4 #13 Share Posted August 4 One theme running here is that Fred appears to be attracting customers from P and O, as a top tier passenger with P and O I can fully understand why 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Eglesbrech Posted August 5 #14 Share Posted August 5 23 hours ago, gsmt47471015 said: One theme running here is that Fred appears to be attracting customers from P and O, as a top tier passenger with P and O I can fully understand why I would agree. P&O used to be one of our go to lines but they have cut back so much imo. The food is the biggest differential, the food on Fred was much better. Add to that the local departures for those of us in the north. Both lines have strengths but on balance for me, Fred offers more. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsmt47471015 Posted August 5 #15 Share Posted August 5 Really looking forward to trying Fred, we have two pre booked cruises with P and O on their adults only ships but suspect they will be our last, the cutbacks have now reached epidemic proportions and we are desperate to move away from the "stack them high sell them cheap" model, heard so many good things about Fred, only dealt with their customer service so far but it blows P and O out of the water, if the rest of their service is as good we will be booking again 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mymarina Bay Posted August 10 #16 Share Posted August 10 On 8/5/2024 at 8:11 PM, gsmt47471015 said: Really looking forward to trying Fred, we have two pre booked cruises with P and O on their adults only ships but suspect they will be our last, the cutbacks have now reached epidemic proportions and we are desperate to move away from the "stack them high sell them cheap" model, heard so many good things about Fred, only dealt with their customer service so far but it blows P and O out of the water, if the rest of their service is as good we will be booking again We booked Fred for similar reasons and found customer services excellent so far. (It seems a long time ago when we last had a printed excursion brochure from P&O.) We have two future cruises booked with PO, one next year the other in 2026 but if we enjoy our first cruise in October like you we will be booking again. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindy028 Posted August 16 #17 Share Posted August 16 On 7/10/2024 at 9:39 PM, Priya2 said: I’m quite excited having just booked the first FO cruise for hubby and me. We’re dipping our toes in with a 5 night Springtime Norwegian Fjords May ‘25 from our local terminal (Newcastle). The idea of cruising 20 minutes from home is fabulous. We’ve booked a terrace cabin (on Borialis). I know some love these and some hate them. We think we’ll really like it, but if we don’t, it’s only 5 nights. We have cruised on Celebrity and Azamara in the past, though not cruised at all since 2016. After which we took longer land holidays to some of the places we visited on cruises. We have only been on Fred once, it was on Borealis in a terrace cabin. When we booked it was called a balcony cabin, which we thought was stretching things a bit, but notice they are now calling them terrace cabins! We found it fine but missed having a private balcony which we have always booked, but will not book a balcony on Fred due to the smoking issue! We didn’t find it dark, it does take a bit of getting used to being able to see out but nobody can see in. I’m sure you will find it perfectly fine. We loved that if the weather was a bit iffy they could close the roof over the pool deck, even if there was only a little sunshine, it was very pleasant under the roof. Enjoy your cruise, I’m sure you will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priya2 Posted August 16 Author #18 Share Posted August 16 1 hour ago, Lindy028 said: We have only been on Fred once, it was on Borealis in a terrace cabin. When we booked it was called a balcony cabin, which we thought was stretching things a bit, but notice they are now calling them terrace cabins! We found it fine but missed having a private balcony which we have always booked, but will not book a balcony on Fred due to the smoking issue! We didn’t find it dark, it does take a bit of getting used to being able to see out but nobody can see in. I’m sure you will find it perfectly fine. We loved that if the weather was a bit iffy they could close the roof over the pool deck, even if there was only a little sunshine, it was very pleasant under the roof. Enjoy your cruise, I’m sure you will. Hi Lindy, thank you for sharing your experience. Happily, FO banned smoking on balconies last April 💪 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindy028 Posted August 16 #19 Share Posted August 16 2 hours ago, Priya2 said: Hi Lindy, thank you for sharing your experience. Happily, FO banned smoking on balconies last April 💪 Sadly Fred bowed to pressure and smoking will now be banned from April’25. I too thought it was April ‘24 but emailed them before I booked a suite just to make sure, sadly they confirmed it had been delayed until April ‘25. They are so behind the curve on smoking on balconies, we just could not countenance spending over £7000 and unable to use balcony because of chain smokers as has been reported numerous times! At least you will not have that problem, which was why we booked it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priya2 Posted August 16 Author #20 Share Posted August 16 15 minutes ago, Lindy028 said: Sadly Fred bowed to pressure and smoking will now be banned from April’25. I too thought it was April ‘24 but emailed them before I booked a suite just to make sure, sadly they confirmed it had been delayed until April ‘25. They are so behind the curve on smoking on balconies, we just could not countenance spending over £7000 and unable to use balcony because of chain smokers as has been reported numerous times! At least you will not have that problem, which was why we booked it. Oh, I didn’t know that. As you say, at least it will be implimented soon. We had a balcony suite on lovely Azamara Cruise through Antartica. Smoking was of course banned on the balconies. Unfortunately, it didn’t stop someone beside us. We complained, they were spoken to about it. The frequency reduced, but they still did it sometimes 😡 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindy028 Posted August 18 #21 Share Posted August 18 On 8/16/2024 at 6:51 PM, Priya2 said: Oh, I didn’t know that. As you say, at least it will be implimented soon. We had a balcony suite on lovely Azamara Cruise through Antartica. Smoking was of course banned on the balconies. Unfortunately, it didn’t stop someone beside us. We complained, they were spoken to about it. The frequency reduced, but they still did it sometimes 😡 Azamara is probably our favourite cruise line along with Oceania, we have never experienced anyone smoking on their balcony, so I do commiserate, it is so thoughtless. Due to health concerns we are avoiding airports at the moment, so Fred or even Ambassador are our options. Cruising out of Liverpool is so easy, half hour in the car, bliss! Just wish there were more options! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priya2 Posted August 18 Author #22 Share Posted August 18 We are cautious too Lindy. With Fred, we can sail from a 20 minute car ride from home. How do you find Ambassador? The reviews put me off them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindy028 Posted August 27 #23 Share Posted August 27 On 8/18/2024 at 2:07 PM, Priya2 said: We are cautious too Lindy. With Fred, we can sail from a 20 minute car ride from home. How do you find Ambassador? The reviews put me off them! We only did a 5 night, we found it fine, don’t know if we would do much longer but we did enjoy it. We had one of the top suites, purely because that was all that was available, it was huge! We booked on the Monday, sailed on the following Saturday, the joy of no flights to consider. The drinks package is more expensive than Fred’s, but much better selection. Entertainment was very good and we are not ones for evening entertainment normally. My DH thought the food in the main dining room was better than what we had on Fred, but there wasn’t enough! Overall we will look out for similar cruises on them for next year, but I think 7 nights would be our limit. One thing which we found a bit strange was when we ordered our starter and main we also had to order our dessert, not a problem just different. At least they don’t allow smoking on balconies! If you see one you fancy and the price is right, I’d give them ago. We’re glad we did! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosemary54 Posted September 4 #24 Share Posted September 4 Hi, we are considering a Fred cruise after a disappointing P&O one but just wondering about the average age of passengers. I was always under the impression it is mostly an elderly clientele who sails with FO. We are early 60s but are young and fit for our age so like a good mix of ages. Thanks in advance for any advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Eglesbrech Posted September 4 #25 Share Posted September 4 8 minutes ago, Rosemary54 said: Hi, we are considering a Fred cruise after a disappointing P&O one but just wondering about the average age of passengers. I was always under the impression it is mostly an elderly clientele who sails with FO. We are early 60s but are young and fit for our age so like a good mix of ages. Thanks in advance for any advice. Older passengers are definitely in the majority, most folks are minimum 50 plus with a small younger element. For example on our last cruise there were a few groups of 40 something parents with teenagers. Like you many are young at heart, fairly fit and speed walk around the promenade deck but there are also those with zimmers and wheelchairs. We were on Aurora in April and to be honest there were no more “old” people on Fred than the adults only P&O. If you want a mix of children / teens/ 20 / 30 / 40 etc then probably not for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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