Don’t Believe The Press!

We all know how much the papers and online news agencies love to exaggerate and sensationalise stpries especially when it comes to cruises

Fred Olsen’s recent 11 night Mystery Cruise hit the headlines with stories of a near mutiny on board by unhappy passengers disappointed with Mystery ports including Great Yarmouth,  Dunkirk close to where 1,000 migrants were being evicted from a makeshift camp and a port in Holland was ‘like being on a council estate, with cheap shops like Poundland’ claiming that fuming passengers mutinied after splashing out on a luxury mystery cruise which stopped at uninteresting locations

I was shocked to read this as I had passengers on board and was quick to call them when they returned home

Mrs B had truly entered into the spirit of the Mystery Cruise, she booked a year earlier. unlike a typical cruise she and her husband had been unable to plan and pack for the cruise ports and could only guess where they might be heading to

She said due to unforeseen circumstances they were late departing from Newcastle and after a few hours docked in the lovely port in Great Yarmouth where they were greeted by the Major, they had a stroll along the prom and ate ice cream and took selfies to send back home

In Dunkirk the ship did not dock near a migrant camp and they took a trip to the museums and enjoyed the history and culture of the area

The ship did not dock in Amsterdam but in the coastal town of Ijmuiden -unlike the news stories she said they docked in which was not a run down Industrial town but had a lovely beach although she was slightly disappointed that they did not have enough time to visit Amsterdam

Mrs B and her husband made bets on board with fellow passengers who also entered in the spirit of the cruise, betting a penny a night each to see who could guess what port or country the would visit the next day

She said there were a handful of passengers on board that were not happy with the ports and had expected to visit ports in Spain but in her words – if they had wanted to go to Spain why book a Mystery cruise!  WIth an itinerary of 9 ports in 11 days it was obvious that they would not be heading further south

She said they guessed the last port wrong as they had predicted they would be docking in Germany but instead landed in Poland and visited a lovely unspoilt little port with beautiful cafes and restaurants and boutiques , the weather was perfect for a day on the coast and this really was a hidden gem

So all in all Mrs B had a great cruise and was not disappointed at all, I asked her if she would book another Mystery cruise and she yes with no hesitation!