Overall the cruise was very good.
As always Fred Olson crew did all they could to make sure everyone had a great experience.
We selected our cabin on booking, unfortunately the cabin turned out to be very noisy with gearbox or prop shaft noises that were very loud.
I told guest services within 1 hour of the ship sailing.
They took 27hours to relocate us to a quite cabin.
The first choice was very near to the front of the ship & the double bed right up to the wall.
The second cabin was acceptable.
It was a shame because the original cabin had been refurbished, the replacement one had not.
That would have not caused me to rate Fred Olson as 3 star.
But, their new policy from 1 January NOT to allow small folding mobility scooters in standard cabins is not acceptable.
It would be fairer to treat each traveller on a case by case restriction.
This global restriction is unfair as it does not allow a passenger to travel who ONLY needs the scooter for OFF ship use rather than ON ship use.
I took the time to measure our cabins on this trip & the scooter would have easily fit in the cabin without any obstruction or additional work for the cabin stewardess.
The argument about safety is a false one as Fred Olson could easily specify rules around battery storage & charging.
There are products on the market now that are certified ‘air safe’ batteries in sealed carriers with sealed charging connection.
This policy denies people with restricted movement a chance of a cruise holiday like the rest of us.
I know that disabled cabins can be pre booked, but they sell out well within 1 hour of the holiday launch as there are so few available and even then you have to look at 2 years ahead for booking.
It is such a shame as we have travelled 3 times with Fred Olson, but there new policy means that customers like my wife are denied a cruise with this company.
I would even go as far as suggesting their policy may breach UK Discrimination regulations.
