Fred Olsen Black Watch, Fred. Olsen

My partner and I have just returned from a 31 night cruise on Black Watch, flying to Dubai and cruising back to Southampton. The first thing to say is that the cruise represented excellent value, and any criticisms need to be considered with this in mind. The itinerary was also very good and adventurous. I had looked at a similar cruise on Queen Victoria, but that did not stop at nearly as many different ports of call. Black Watch is an old ship, and does show its age. I did not find this a problem except on deck, where the sun-loungers are uncomfortable and could do with replacing and there is a problem with smuts from the funnel. The food was very good and plentiful; meals are well presented and there was always an extensive choice. Service in the bars and restaurant was good and drink prices fairly reasonable. The cabin was acceptable, particularly having regard to the price paid, and the service good. The entertainment was a bit disappointing overall. The in house troupe were generally good (one singer, James, was excellent) and the classical artistes giving daytime recitals were also very good. However, the evening entertainers were rather poor until the last leg of the cruise when we were joined by a group called the Rockafellas, who performed songs of the 50s and 60s, and who were really great - they certainly got the audiences going! The ship had been doing a round Africa cruise before calling in at Dubai, so some passengers had already been on board for 50 days when we joined. Unfortunately, some of these "all-rounders" seemed to think that put them in a class above those who joined in Dubai and there were a lot of snobbish remarks being made about the newcomers by a vocal minority. One comment overheard was that "the riff-raff got on board in Dubai" - rude and uncalled for. This did lead to bit of an atmosphere between groups of passengers. Quite frankly, Black Watch is not a ship to be snobbish about. Would I go on Black Watch again? Yes, but I probably would not want to join a cruise midway through because of the above. The itinerary, the food and the value for money are all compelling arguments to cruise again on this vessel.

We have just returned from a cruise on Black Watch sailing around Africa, the Indian Ocean, Red Sea, Suez Canal and the Med. before disembarking in Southampton. We were on Black Watch 10 years ago and have been on other Fred Olsen ships, our favourite being Balmoral. Black Watch is a very old lady - the public areas are spacious and well furnished and well maintained. The lifts are rather slow. There were lots of passengers who were not happy with their cabins, and even passengers on deck 8 were compaining of noise and brown water coming through the taps. Some complained that their cabins were unsuitable for 2 passengers and they were clearly unhappy as they had paid a premium price for cabins on that deck. On lower decks some passengers complained of noisy cabins so it is worth checking out in detail before booking the cruise or clearly request for quiet cabins. We were lucky to have a cabin mid-ship for the first sector we did and it was perfect and though it was an inside we were happy with it and had peaceful nights. For the next sector we had to change cabins and the one allocated to us looked as though it was due for a refit - luckily we managed to change to a quieter one. Otherwise, the crew members throughout the ship seemed happy doing their work and this reflected on their positive attitude. We were lucky to have super Dining Room waiters and our cabin stewardesses were great. Some passengers said they had never seen their cabin stewardesses. The entertainment in general was good but the Theatre layout is not too good - so some people would not be able to see well from their seats. There were lecturers on board and so were other activites like art and crafts and bridge. All seemed to be popular. There are two self-service launderettes and they are a big plus point when you are on long cruises. One pays a nominal fee for their use. Foodwise I would say it to be fair - they did their best to cater for special requests. There were theme nights and also themed dining in the Buffet restaurant. Local entertainers were brought on board on several occasions - I suppose this being part of the world cruise, it was a plus point. We did sail through the "pirate" zone and precautions were taken accordingly. This brought some entertainment and something to talk about. One thing to bear in mind is on several ports we had to pay for shuttle buses and at one port even though we were not allowed to walk at all in the port, it was compulsory to pay for that service. The plus point is for Gold Members who have the perk of free shuttle service. All in all it was an enjoyable cruise with like-minded fellow passengers - and there was plenty to do on sea days. One big point that is lacking is entertainment on TV is very limited.