Fred Olsen Boudicca Reviews

We had a lovely cruise with Fred Olsen around Iberia. The weather was not much good and as we had taken our grandchildren with us we were a bit worried that they would get bored, but they had a great time and cant wait for the next one staff are the best i have sailed with, friendly and great with the kids. The waiters were brilliant with the children even got them up to play and sing to passengers for birthdays etc . I've sailed many times with Fred Olsen and hope to sail many more. The staff at iglu were very helpful and I have already enquired about another cruise. 

We had a really enjoyable cruise on the Iberian nights cruise. The food and entertainment were excellent, and very friendly people on board, but the weather did let us down a bit. However bearing in mind the long winter we have had this year, we are not surprised and this would be a lovely cruise in the summer months. We would definitely choose Fred Olsen cruises again.

This was the first cruise I have been on so I cannot compare to others, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. The ship was nice. The entertainment was excellent. The food was good and all you can eat! The staff was very helpful especially our room attendant, Jose. He left clean towels every time we left our room. Our room was cleaned daily and our beds were made for us! We had a great experience on ship... there was a lot to do and see. However, I sometimes felt a little underdressed because I did not know what to expect. Most people dressed very nice especially in the evenings. I would definately choose to go with this cruise line again! When arriving at the ports it is very helpful to pre-book tours and excursions. In my opinion, this is the only way to go. When we got to Rome, we were just going to walk around and explore on our own. Big mistake. We spent the first 2 hours walking around in circles it seemed and didn't know where to go or what to do. We then broke down and got on a hop on hop off bus tour. Best decision we made! The bus takes you to all the attractions and you can get off if you want or stay on and go to the next one and it really wasn't that expensive. I was so thankful we got on or we would have missed the opportunity to see all the cool things Rome has to offer. Plus I got tons of great pics sitting on top of the bus! We only had 5 hours to spend there before we had to head back to the ship.

We boarded on Dec 20th 2012 for a 16 night canaries cruise. We had a good cruise wonderful New Years Eve in maderia, thanks to all involved enough Champagne to bathe in. The only bad comment we have was the food was hit and miss chef needs to invest in a recipe book as some dishes were disappointing, ie strogonoff and goulash, sardines should have been scaled prior to serving and cling film should have been removed from the fish before it was battered, fried and served. The staff were excellent especially the secret garden bar!! Overall a good cruise but let down by the food.

We have just returned from a 13 night Canary Island cruise from Greenock. We booked this cruise because it was sailing from Greenock, Scotland, which meant that we didn't need to book a flight. There are only a few ships that leave from Scotland. We also liked that fact that we hadn't been to any of the places. The cruise was brilliant and the two words that we would use to sum it up would be "intimate" and "authentic". The cabin was clean and our maid was friendly. The food was good and there was a big selection. The ship was very good because there was things to do, considering it was smaller than other ships today. Also we really enjoyed the places it went to, especially Maderia and Vigo. We would recomend this cruise.

A most enjoyable cruise round the UK and Dublin. Check-in went very smoothly, the ship was spotlessly clean and the food was excellent. The staff were very friendly and efficient. The drinks prices were reasonable, unlike some other cruise lines. We were kept up-to-date very well by the Captain which was particularly important one day when the weather was bad and we had a change of plan in connection with the ports we were due to visit. We were very impressed with the Cruise Director who was much better than those we had met on cruises with other lines. 

We went on the Boudicca around the British Isles back in Sepember this year. It was our first cruise with Fred Olsen and we weren't disappointed with the cruise at all. We did get the cruise at what we thought was a bargain price. We set sail from Rosyth and arrived in the Orkneys the following day. We enjoyed this very much as we have never been that far north before. The next two stops were Belfast and Dublin. They were particulary good as we went on a tour around the area where all the troubles had been in Belfast. Then in Dublin we again did a city tour and stopped off at the Guinness store.We made it to the top floor and enjoyed a lovely glass of Guiness that everyone claims tastes better than the stuff you buy in a pub. Our next port of call should have been Milford Haven but as bad weather was predicted we stayed an extra night in Dublin. We then sailed to St. Peter Port in Guernsey which was a pretty place. Finally our last port of call was Portsmouth, then back to Rosyth in Scotland. Our cabin was adequate and the food on board was good. On the whole the entertainment was very good. The theatre could be better as it is all on one level so unless you are at the front it can be difficult to see. We went to a couple of lectures which we found very interesting. We would certainly consider another Fred Olsen cruise if the right itinery came up and also the price.

This was only our second cruise experience which turned out to be a very pleasant experience with a comfortable cabin and very friendly and helpful staff. The experiences offered by the ship when at sea were diverse and excellent as were the evening entertainment packages. Even the feelings brought by Force 10 gales were memorable and part of luck of the cruise, even if we did miss our visit to Sweden. On the other hand we were fortuitous with the weather on some of the port visits. Oslo, Turku, St Petersburg and Copenhagen. What was frustrating was that we seemed to be visiting ports on the wrong days. E.G. Turku on Sunday when very little was open; Helsinki on Monday when ALL museums were closed. St. Petersburg was beautiful but the visit to the Hermitage was slightly disappointing as we were restricted to artworks only of which very little was Russian. This seemed to be due to the fact that the scripts read by our guides was limited to those areas when we would also have liked to have seen artefacts from a broader spectrum. We returned home very relaxed after our 12 days having thoroughly enjoyed our holiday.

Booked a Round Britain Cruise having been attracted by a competitive price. Have cruised some twenty times previosly found the cabin as the usual standard. Entertainment came up to and exceeded expectations unlike many non-British based cruise lines who fail due to language problems. Restaurant cuisine above average with promt waiter service with attractively served meals. Trips (as is the norm) quite expensive so we booked a taxi to take us to the Giants Causeway sharing a 7 seater for 4 of us at about half the price and extra places thrown in. Weather in the Irish sea interupted the schedule but she ship although small by many comparisons dealt with the conditions admirably. There needs a complete review of boarding at Rosyth as the queuing wasnot acceptable. We queued outside the building, then in the queue inside standing then forward a few feet for over an hour. Fortunately the ship mellowed us having found the bar. On the same ship again 26/11/11 so it can't be bad.