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Sailing to the Midnight Sun after a bad 2009
 
Reviewed By: Dickson, The Village on 2nd Sep 2010
Cruise Line: Fred. Olsen Cruises Times cruised before: 0
Cruise Ship: Black Prince Sailed: July, 2010
Destination: Northern Europe Age: 65+
Cabin: Suite
My wife and I had booked a cruise on Fred Olsen for September 2009 to celebrate our Golden Wedding Anniversary. Unfortunately we had to cancel due to life threatening medical problems for both of us, from which we both recovered. We therefore decided to celebrate by going on a cruise to The Midnight Sun for 14 nights on The Black Watch.

We decided to travel by car from York to Southampton as, besides normal luggage, I needed to take my electric scooter for use on the shore excursions. To make life easier we used Holiday Extras Ltd (www.holidayextras.co.uk). They arranged for us to stay at the Holiday Inn in Eastleigh (excluding meals), the next morning we were taken to Southampton Docks at a time which suited us and on return a taxi back to the hotel where we had left our car. The total cost was £170 which we thought was very reasonable and which took the hassle out of the initial part of our holiday.

We were invited to lunch as we boarded which was very pleasant. After this we made our way to our cabin on deck 9 whick we found very pleasant and large. The main cabin was very large with with a seperate bathroom and large balcony about 12 x 4 feet. The bathroom was in two parts with a dividing door. The first part had a toilet and wash basin and the second a bath with shower and washbasin.

We found that the activities and entertainment were very good with more activities when we spent a day at sea. There were 2 - 3 pianists every day and evening. There were two sittings for dinner. We chose the second which was the most popular. After each sitting there was a live show lasting about an hour which we found was very good. The dress code was advertised each day. We had 3 formal night for which most people wore evening dress for man and evening dress or cocktail for ladies. There were a number of day for non-formal where jacket or tie was required for men and cocktail dress or evening trousers for ladies. For casual dress smart casual was required.. We liked the various dress codes, but we realise that some passengers prefer more casual - although we did not hear this from any of the other passengers.

We found that the food was very good with plenty of variety. Breakfast was a choice of hot or cold from the buffet and from the menu you could order eggs as you like them, porridge and kippers amongst others. Lunch was either from the limited menu or a good choice of hot or cold dishes from the buffet. The evening meal was from the menu only with a good choice of soups, starters, main course, and deserts. Coffee was also served at the table although you could abtain coffee or tea from a number of outlets during the day and evening. There was also a late supper in the Garden Room from 1100 - 2359, but we did not try this. Breakfast, lunch and dinner could be taken in the Garden Room although we preferred the main restaurant. You could also have lunch on the two pool decks when the Garden Room would be closed. This would be subject to the weather, but was not well advertised. Breakfast could be taken in the cabin (cold only) and there was a menu for other cabin meals which we did not try.

The shore tours were well organised with a variety of three or more tours for each port of call. These tours could be booked before boarding and the information given was very good, particularly how much walking was required which was very useful for all but particularly for those passengers with walking problems of one sort or another.

We both had a very relaxing time and were glad that we had a large cabin with balcony as it allowed us to spend sometime relaxing in the cabin (after all we are in our mid 70's. We would normally be more than happy to book another cruise with Fred Olsen, except that if you wanted to take a scooter/wheelchair for use onbaord you would need to book at least 18 months ahead. We tried to book in July for cruise in October 2011 (15 months ahead) was we would not beable to use a scooter onboard, although we could have booked any type of cabin we wanted.

We found all the staff excellent particularly Seth and Richard our table stewards and Jessa our cabin stewardess. We very much enjoyed the floor show the ships staff put on for us on the penultimate evening. We chose a table for six and enjoyed the company of table companions.
Quality of Food4
Entertainment4
Shore Excursions3
Staff5
Children's Facilitiesn/a
Onboard Activities3
Cabins5
Overall Rating4
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Question by Beecham, Worle (05 Sep 10 10:04) about this REVIEW
I have not been on any of the Fred Olsen cruises, or indeed any other cruise. I note that you said you chose a table for six for dining. Due to partial deafness I find it distressing to eat with strangers and my husband and I would always want to dine at a table for just the 2 of us. Is it possible to choose and be guaranteed a table for 2?
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Answer by Dickson, York (06 Sep 10 14:33) to a QUESTION by Beecham (05 Sep 10 10:04)
Dear Mrs Beecham. If I remember correctly passengers could guarantee a sitting but not the table.. However if you explain to your agent or Fred Olsen they would take your request into consideration. Peter Dickson
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Opinion: Agree Comment by Greenhalgh, Nottingham (03 Sep 10 13:26) about this REVIEW
A useful review from your perspective and your needs. I think you were actually fortunate to avoid the Black Prince and whilst the Black Watch is not my favourite cruise ship she is an improvement on BP. What I found was amazingly wrong was that FO needed 18 months to process a booking with a scooter request. Surely this needs to be based on capacity. I would have thought six months maximum booking time would have been more than adequate unless capacity had been met. Happy cruising for the future to you both.
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Comment by Dickson, York (04 Sep 10 17:40) about a COMMENT by Greenhalgh (03 Sep 10 13:26)
Ref. comments by Greenhalgh and Castle. Castle is not quite correct, although the Black Prince has, as you said 4 disabled cabins, they take 6 wheelchair/scooters. The disabled cabins are for the unfortunate disabled who I assume are unable to walk at all. Fred Olsen have told me that each wheelchair user requires 2 ships staff per 8 hour shift i.e. 6 over a 24 hour period. They quoted Safety of Life at Sea regulations. I do not doubt the regulations, but I query their interpretation of them. If the ship was sinking and "abandon ship" was called it would not take very long to get a disabled passenger up to their lifeboat station. In fact when we had the lifeboat exercise I was able to get to my station under my own steam, although with some difficulty.
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Comment by Castle, Penryn (03 Sep 10 22:58) about a COMMENT by Greenhalgh (03 Sep 10 13:26)
In reply, Black Watch has only 4 disabled cabins which you must take if you use a wheelchair/scooter for ship/shore. Hence reason booking well in advance as these cabin as we well know are booked very quickly. The downside is that you can very rarely book a late deal and consequently pay a a lot more for the cabin.
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