Fred Olsen Cruise Lines

The Beginning
Fred Olsen Cruise lines have been established for over 100 years, offering amazing quality from as long ago as the mid nineteenth century aboard their first vessels, the two Schooners, "Johanne Christine" and "Elizabeth" in 1848.

Fred Olsen havent just done cruises in their past, they have offered a wide range of other multi-purpose vessels, from oil tankers to freight ships to cruise liners.
...Where do they go?
Fred Olsen operate all round the world, from Scandanavia to the Baltic, from the carribean to Iberia. Just about anywhere you want to go around the world the cater for, you just have to have the time (and the money) to go.


Pricing Aboard Ship
Aboard each vessel their is a duty free shop, where you can buy booze, jewellery and other items such as camera's for a reduced price. The price of drinks ... more

The Beginning
Fred Olsen Cruise lines have been established for over 100 years, offering amazing quality from as long ago as the mid nineteenth century aboard their first vessels, the two Schooners, "Johanne Christine" and "Elizabeth" in 1848.

Fred Olsen havent just done cruises in their past, they have offered a wide range of other multi-purpose vessels, from oil tankers to freight ships to cruise liners.

The Fleet
At present the company has 3 Cruise Ships,
The Black Prince
The Black Watch (the one that i went on)
The Braemar

The Braemar being the most high-tech of the fleet, as its the latest addition and being double the size of the Black Prince, but a little smaller than the luxurious Black Watch.

The Medical Facilities
Each ship is equipped with its own well stocked medical centres which have a doctor and trained nurse in permanent attendance for any eventuality on board. If you are feeling under the weather, you can have a cabin visit, but a visit from the doctor is expensive, costing approx £30 if i remember rightly.

Where do they go?
Fred Olsen operate all round the world, from Scandanavia to the Baltic, from the carribean to Iberia. Just about anywhere you want to go around the world the cater for, you just have to have the time (and the money) to go.

Pricing Aboard Ship
Aboard each vessel their is a duty free shop, where you can buy booze, jewellery and other items such as camera's for a reduced price. The price of drinks on board in the bars are not cheap, it costs about £2.50 for a pint if i remember rightly, not weatherspoons prices, more a night out in town prices.

GYM/Health Facities
Well aboard the ship there was a gym, where aside from the pool i spent most of my time, which was relatively small, having approx 3 exercise bikes, 3 treadmills and 2 rowing machines with a selection of free weights (dumbells etc). The GYM also housed an exercise area where you could partake in the exercise classes they offered, sheding those pounds off while enjoying it, with their inhouse instructor running the well attended sessions. The ship also had well furnished health suite, where you could partake in the sauna/steam room, or 'pay' for a massage from one of their masseurs, that was an experience i'll never forget.

My Experience
I went on the Black Watch during 1998 visiting the Fjords of Norway, it was what i would call an amazing experience. On board the ship you couldnt have asked for more helpful staff, at the time i was about 14, and at that age you cannot buy alcohol, well not from the bar and to prevent that you have a card, which you use to buy things, if it has a hole in then you are a child, quite simple.

You use your card to buy items on board the ship, from booking excursions out to buying a cocktail, the card is your main form of currency on board. The ship offers a vast range of activities for all ages, there was a teenagers club for my age range, organised by the team onboard, to kids clubs. The Black Watch had two swimming pools, i love swimming so it was ideal and both are heated, which when i was the only person in the pool during the rain, it didnt bother me too much.

My first memory of the ship, was the mandatory emergency procedure instructions, where you had to report on deck with your life-belt, and the procedure was relayed on the tannoy system.

When aboard the ship, for the formal dinners you need formal wear, such as dinner jackets etc, the full monty. You have about 5 different occasions during the day to eat, from breakfast, brunch, dinner, lunch and supper, the selection available is wide and varied, but not reccomended for someone on weight watchers as the sight of the food is amazing. You couldnt have wanted more, they even carve their own ice scupltures on board, prepare and cook all food on board so everythings fresh.

During the night, the activities allowed you to stay awake and party the night away in the disco, with the resident D.J. aboard, it was great, i stayed partying till the early hours of the morning with friends i had met on board.

The sights of Norway were breathtaking, seeing the Fjords, breathing in the fresh, unadulterated air was just amazing. Thats the one thing i did notice about Norway, the quality of the air was so amazing, it is a different world away from Liverpool, a busy commerical city.

My Worst Moment Aboard
When i saw them throwing the food over board at the end of the night, i mean, the do this for safety reasons to avoid food poisoning, but seeing works of art destroyed lol.

Im now getting sick of saying the word 'onboard', so now i will leave you and let you decide whether this cruise is right for you.

Many thanks for reading.

© James D 2003
 

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