Cruising with Fred

I've seen a number of cruises leave Liverpool on the Fred Olsen Line sisters Black Watch and Boudicca and thought they wouldn't appeal to me as they are quite old and small ships and obviously gear their offer towards the more mature, traditional market.  However I have always liked these ships since they were originally in service with Royal Viking Line from 1973 to 1991, in their day they were two of the most luxurious cruise ships in service (a third sister now sails for Phoenix Reisen as Albatros).

A repositioning voyage from Liverpool to Southampton, with a day in Dublin gave me the opportunity to recently try the Boudicca (formally the Royal Viking Sky) for 3 nights.  I'd been informed before boarding that the ship would only be carrying 400 passengers, half of her normal compliment so it would be a quiet few days.

I arrived at Liverpool Cruise Terminal and was welcomed by my colleagues on the Cruise Ambassadors Team into an empty passenger lounge as most of the guests had already boarded and within 10 minutes I was on board too.

My first impression was how clean Boudicca was, and obviously well maintained, not an easy feat for a 44 year old ship.  I quickly found my twin outside cabin on Deck 4 and unpacked before heading off around the ship to explore.

She very much fits the "Country House" tag which the company advertise, with lots of comfortable armchairs and sofas in a variety of small bars and lounges.  Her outside decks were spotless with a large heated swimming pool and steaming jacuzzis on the Lido Deck.  Although clean, her age shows on the outside decks with different levels with steps between them and high sills on the doorways.

 

After the lifeboat/safety drill was carried out, and we'd been welcomed on board by the Captain it was time to head out on deck to watch our sailaway into a cold, but flat calm River Mersey and out into Liverpool Bay and the Irish Sea. 

Dinner was taken in the Four Seasons Restaurant where I was on a table with 5 other single passengers, 4 of us were from Liverpool, along with another two ladies from North Wales and Scotland.  The menu on all three nights was disappointing to me, with traditional British meals, i.e. Shepherds Pie or Lamb Shanks, and on one night I had to choose the "always available" grilled Chicken Brest as there was nothing I liked on the menu.  Vegetables were of the standard carrots, broccoli and cauliflower variety and served well done.  The food I likened to 'going to your nan's house for tea', nothing adventurous at all, but it was decent quality, served hot and seemed to be  appreciated by the core passenger clientele of Fred Olsen Lines.

One reason for the company's high repeat passenger rate was readily apparent though, and that was the personal service offered to the passengers, for instance one of the guests on my table, a senior lady who is a frequent passenger, was recognised by one of the waiters on the other side of the restaurant who without prompting let our waiters know what she liked and didn't like so they were able to recommend items on the menu, the waiter also remembered that she suffered from low potassium levels and again without prompting a plate of small bananas were given to her as she left the restaurant each evening to take back to her cabin. 

We arrived into Dublin the next morning onto a wet and unwelcoming commercial quayside in Alexandra Basin, and had to wait in the lounges onboard until called to a waiting shuttle bus for the 20 minute drive to the city centre.  There was nothing at the port in the way of facilities, and no welcome from the local tourist office.  No maps were available at the berth nor on the shuttle bus.  The famous Irish "Cead Mile Failte" (a Hundred Thousand Welcomes) was completely absent. 

Luckily I know Dublin well and ignoring the rain I had a quick walk around the centre of the city to see what changes had taken place since my last visit 9 years ago before catching the Dart train down to Dun Laoghaire as I wanted to visit the Maritime Museum, the rain had stopped when I got down there so I had a pleasant walk around the harbour too.  Dun Laoghaire would make a much better cruise arrival experience than the more industrial Dublin Port and boasts a Dart station opposite the old ferry terminal pier allowing easy access to the capital too.  I don't know how Dublin is going to accommodate turnaround facilities especially for the large Celebrity Eclipse scheduled to be based at the Irish port in 2018 unless they build something this year.  Our returning shuttle bus was stopped for 10 minutes as a container train was moved through the docks, if that happened during check in for a 3,000 passenger ship it could cause chaos.

After visiting the small but interesting Maritime Museum I returned to Dublin on the Dart and after a bit of shopping headed back to the ship.  We sailed at 6pm so I was able to get some photos of the Irish Sea ferries that had arrived in late afternoon.

Another calm night was spent sailing down the Irish Sea towards Lands End and the Isle of Scilly, and then the following afternoon we followed the south coast of England heading towards Southampton, again the sea was flat calm and with an unseasonal outside temperature of 16c the pool and Lido Deck saw plenty of use, especially with the younger families on board.

On arrival the following day in a foggy Southampton the lower passenger numbers allowed for a quick disembarkation after breakfast and 4 coaches left at 08:30 to head back north, quiet roads meant we arrived back at Liverpool just 5 hours later, including a half hour stop on the M6 Toll Services.  A very efficient transfer.

In summary Fred Olsen was exactly what I expected, a traditional product, aimed at a more mature audience with food and entertainment to match. Would I go again?  If an interesting itinerary came up and a decent offer on the fare was available I'd consider it, but I won't be rushing back.