Black Watch Reviews
View Cruise DealsMost enjoyable with wonderful staff, excellent food, accommodation and entertainment. Iglu staff arranged everything perfectly for us.
It was excellent; everything we wanted and more.
Nice ship very clean with good activities. I enjoyed the ballroom dancing tuition but an hour is needed because it is rushed. The breakfast ordered into the cabin always arrived far too early so why have a half hour slot if its not kept to? The guest services staff are not very helpful.
Chose this cruise because the itinery seemed to meet our rquirements. Unfortunately the captain took the decision not to go to Shetland due to bad weather. While we accept his decision we felt more could be done to make up for this. All the people we spoke to said this was the port of call they were looking forward to the most. Instead we had 2 nights rather than one at Invergordon (NOT a holiday desination) Two buses were laid on at nearly £30 a time to go into Inverness (perhaps to offer this free would have been a nice gesture?) We took the local bus for about £11. Any other attraction was a long trip and expensive. Other things we were not happy with - Firstly , the car park in Liverpool was hard to find. Inadequate map and sat nav took you to a building site (not Fred Olson rsponsibility) - cabin - Lots of stoarge space and a bathroom that was larger than some. Single beds which are not our preference but they were comfortable. A fridge was provided but barely got cold. The biggest problem was the terrible vibration from the engines and a constant rattling of the cabin walls and ceiling which did not contribute to a good nights sleep. This is an old ship - modern ones have overcome this problem with new technology. Not sure what could be done here other than sound damping. - Buffet area quite small, not always able to get a table at busy times - While the ship was well maintained there was no main staircase or reception area and the entertainment was mediocre . - many of the staff had a poor grasp of English which could be a problem, particularly at guest services - WiFi expensive - Timing given in port were misleading for example 'late p.m actually meant about 3.30 in the afternoon. - Tours were very expensive, there were 4 of us so it made more sense to book a private taxi to take us to the places we wanted to see, which worked out fine. - Passengers were mostly quite elderly and infirm so activities were geared up for this. I did sometimes feel I was sitting in the common room of an old peoples home rather than a cruise ship! - Finally the disembarkation process was not a happy experience, but mostly this was due to the facilites at Liverpool cruise terminal Good points, main dining room was nice and our waiters were freindly and helpful and there was a very good wine list at reasonable prices plus the food was excellent. Would not go with Fred Olson again
Our first cruise, we enjoyed the experience immensely. Liked the smaller size of the ship, not glitzy! The food and service in the restaurant was exceptional. Al staff consistently pleasant and helpful. Will do it again.
Good food, cabin ,entertainment and great staff.
All Good
Excellent cruise, well pleased with ship, food, service and places visited. The only criticism being the early departure time from some of the destinations. In a number of cases, this prevented me seeing/doing all I'd hoped to.
From the minute we embarked in Liverpool everything went well. The cabin was excellent and even though it was towards the rear it wasn't too noisy. As it was a Mystery cruise we didn't know where we were going but we visited Honfleur, Caen , Bilbao, Santander and Bordeaux. The weather was very good until we reached the bay of Biscay on the way home and the sea was rough all the way back to the Irish sea. The entertainment was good as usual and there was plenty to do. The food was amazing and we made lots of friends. We always feel that we can trust Fred Olsen and are looking forward to booking another cruise with them
We had a fantastic cruise . The Black Watch is a very beautiful ship with wonderful delicious cuisine. Entertainment we really enjoyed. The Captain of the vessel was very approachable and very kind to passengers and crew. We unfortunately encountered very rough seas and could not pull in to Ullapool and Tobermorey, as it have been to dangerous, we visited Belfast instead, which proved to be very interesting. We were served by very nice and cheery waiters. Are cabin was beautiful very cosy, we had a lovely cabin stewardess. We loved being able to board the shop in Liverpool handling staff.were amazing out luggage was whisked from our car and arrived outside our cabin before we arrived. All in all a wonderful holiday