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FRED OLSEN CRUISING |
| Reviewed By: Ramage, Kirkcudbright on 11th May 2008 |
| Cruise Line: Fred Olsen Cruises |
Times cruised before: 10+ |
| Cruise Ship: Black Prince |
Sailed:
April,
2008 |
| Destination: Canaries |
Age: 65+ |
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Black Prince/Canaries 13th to 26th April 2008 by Ramage, Kirkcudbright.
Cruising is not everyone's cup of tea but everyone should give it a go at least once, preconceived ideas can be very misleading. I vividly recall making my first cruise with my wife 16 years ago on P&Os Canberra (no longer in existance). My wife is very apprehensive about anything to do with the sea so it was with some intrepidation that she agreed to go but on one condition that I book an inside cabin. The cruise was magical from Los Angeles to Aukland and from then on we were hooked. We have been on 14 cruises since then and my wife now insists that we have an outside cabin with at least a picture window or better still a balcony if possible. We felt that nothing could beat the Canberra however had it been our 14th and not our 1st cruise we could be quite critical about some aspects.
We have been on several large ships so we chose the Black Prince in April to experience one at the other end of the scale, ofcourse leaving from Scotland with no flying involved also influenced us.
A good friend was pleased to join us so we booked 8 months in advance. My wife and I had an ouside cabin with as large a window as possible and our friend happy to have a single inside cabin for economical reasons.
The first point I want to make is that I will never again book so far in advance as recommended by the Travel Agents. We discovered later that we could have made the bookings about 8 weeks before the cruise with larger onboard spending per cabin and a saving of about £300 mainly on the inside cabin, ofcourse no deposits required until then.
Being an old small ship we were quite prepared for some limitations regarding facilities etc. The cabins were very basic with no phones, safes or fridges and I have to add that the miniscule shower space in the cramped single cabin was quite frankly unacceptable. I also have to add that the noise when the ship was berthing was extremely disturbing particularly in the early hours of the morning. Our friend also complained of other noises and had to wear ear plugs provided onboard.
It's also a pity that it does not have a prominade deck where passengers can walk or run completely round the ship at one level.
Being small it was very friendly and chatty onboard (much better than larger ships) and it had many pluses. The amusing captain, Jan Thommessen could be seen regularly around the decks chatting to passengers, he was also a talented trumpet player and joined the band occasionally. His crew were great and those we had direct contact with were first class ie. our cabin stewardesses and waiters. The food was was generally excellent and we thought that the entertainers worked extremely hard to produce very enjoyable shows. They were mainly in the Neptune Lounge which ofcourse does not have a tiered floor as theatres do in larger ships. To ensure you had a good view it was important to try and be seated as near the stage as possible. The young classical pianist, Barbara Karaskiewicz of Polish decent was simply superb who performed 4 concerts in the Aquinine Lounge.
It is unlikely that we will sail again on the Black Prince, quite frankly the single cabin was not value for money and I have every sympathy for those who have to pay through the nose for a such cabin. I should say however that my wife and I have sailed on the Braemar and are quite keen to experience other Fred Olsen ships in future.
May I conclude that when docked at Madeira there were two other enormous ships in the harbour. I understand that when a wag on our ship went ashore he met American passengers from one of those ships who pointed rather amusingly at the tiny Black Prince and asked is that your ship ---- oh no no he replied that's just our tender!
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| Quality of Food |  |
| Breakfast and lunch --- Royal Garter. Soup was delicious
Dinner --- Fleur de Lys. More delicious soup | | Entertainment | |
| The concert pianist Barbara Karaskiewicz was superb. | | Shore Excursions |  |
| We went on three organised excursions at Oporto, Agadir and Dublin.
We think that the best were at Oporto and Dublin. Parts of the Agadir excursion was interesting but we were a bit apprehensive at the agressiveness of sellers at various places. | | Staff | |
| The waiters, but don't want to choose anyone specifically. | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities |  |
| Yes | | Cabins |  |
| We can't complain as we expected the cabins to be rather cramped and very basic. The shower space in the single cabin was unacceptable. | | Overall Rating | |
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