Smooth Sailing with Fred. Olsen

Having never sailed with Fred Olsen before I was a little apprehensive for a few reasons. I was concerned that there may not be much to keep the kids entertained & that the passengers may also have been a bit put out by having kids onboard. I also thought that the shows would be quite low key and perhaps tailored towards the generation that Freds draws in.

My impressions did a total 360 degree flip!! The passengers onboard were (in the main) lovely to the children, made a fuss of them and kept telling me to stop worrying about them running around. The swimming pool was fantastic, heated up which meant that even on a blustery crossing across the bay of Biscay they were happily splashing about, with the added on bonus of the ships movement creating a ‘wave machine’ effect and throwing them from one end of the pool to the other – much to their delight!

The staff on the ship completely made this sailing for me, they were attentive, friendly and with the ship carrying just over 900 passengers it felt a lot more personal than the larger ships. The staff knew our names, were ready with our ‘normal’ drinks and chatted like friends.

We had a 4 berth inside cabin forward on deck 4. The cabin was basic but comfortable. There was ample hanging storage but little In the way of drawers! Being only 3 of us in there for the duration we coped- it would have been a bit tight if there had been 4. The cabin stewardess was very efficient but we didn’t see/speak to her very often she seemed to keep herself to herself. The kids did comment on the position of the TV which was over the headboard of the beds making it awkward to watch but as we didn’t really use it, this was never an issue for us.

I cannot fault the entertainment at all – every show was engaging and well performed!

We were allocated 6.15pm dining in the Thistle restaurant. Usually we make more use of the buffet restaurants onboard but on this occasion we found the main restaurant menu offerings much more suited to our tastes. The staff were faultless, always friendly and welcoming and made a great fuss of my son in particular. Pretty sure he high fived every staff member on the ship!
We used room service for breakfast most mornings and found the selection to be great. We particularly enjoyed the baskets of baked breads and pastries each morning!