Black Watch review

Just back from the Black Watch 10 day cruise to Hamburg, Copenhagen and Oslo. We had wonderful weather which was rather unexpected. So calm seas and lots of sunshine. We were overnight in each port.

Embarkation was terrible. Queuing for 45 minutes in a long snake because they only had 4 checkin desks open. I've boarded in half the time on a much bigger ship.

Food was excellent everywhere, as of course was the service.

The ship is old and tired and they have added these terrible balconies to the cabins on the Prom deck, thus losing half the Prom Deck and people standing on their balconies in their nightgear!! Also, if they are sitting out there, then people are walking by all the time.

I would not choose to sail on her again. Entertainment definitely geared to those who like bingo and quizzes.

Just back from the Black Watch 10 day cruise to Hamburg, Copenhagen and Oslo. We had wonderful weather which was rather unexpected. So calm seas and lots of sunshine. We were overnight in each port.

 

Embarkation was terrible. Queuing for 45 minutes in a long snake because they only had 4 checkin desks open. I've boarded in half the time on a much bigger ship.

 

Food was excellent everywhere, as of course was the service.

 

The ship is old and tired and they have added these terrible balconies to the cabins on the Prom deck, thus losing half the Prom Deck and people standing on their balconies in their nightgear!! Also, if they are sitting out there, then people are walking by all the time.

 

I would not choose to sail on her again. Entertainment definitely geared to those who like bingo and quizzes.

Have been on BW a few times and would choose it again, but I agree about the Prom deck 'balconies'.

wft

We sailed on Black Watch last year for the first and last time. It was the only ship of Fred's that we had not travelled on and it is definitely the worst in our opinion.

We had splashed out on a superior outside cabin midship, (behind the shops), and the vibration was really bad. It was irregular so impossible to sleep. The guest relations lady visited our cabin, sat on a bed and immediately said that it was unacceptable. They had no cabins further forward, but we were moved to one on the other side of the ship and just one cabin further forward. That was slightly better, but we were then under the self service which has ceramic tiles on the floor so we had noise from there whenever it was open and when they were preparing and clearing away the food as well. At least we were able to get some sleep between mid night and 6am after that move.

I agree with everything said by the OP and would add that the Lido lounge was really claustrophobic as the bar went out cutting off most of the seating area from the access point to the lounge and there was a barrier running across the middle of the floor to add to the movement restrictions.

Our balcony cabin mid ship on deck 8 was pleasant, with a good view down onto the terrace balcony, on the promenade deck below! I wouldn't want one of those terrace balconies with people wondering by or stopping.

I thought the ship was looking rather tired. We found the vibrations a bit of a problem. We found it mostly a problem when the ship was travelling slowly. The vibration node would run up and down the bed depending on the speed. So, it was lovely to sleep well on the three nights at a berth. The other thing that struck me was the way that some of the public space didn't really work very well. The flow in the garden room (buffet area) was poor, get more than a handful of people at the buffet station and it was very congested. The morning light pub was essentially a wide corridor. I found the Neptune lounge a bit of a disappointment too, very little rake on the seating area and all a bit packed in. We were on the shortened Fjord cruise last May on Balmoral, so used our compensatory discount for this cruise. So, I am comparing the public space on Black Watch to those on Balmoral, not quite a direct comparison because of the size difference.

The one public space that we did really like was the observatory bar up on deck 9. It was a warm, inviting intimate space with a good view. We spent a lot of cruising time there. On Balmoral we found it a cold cavernous area with a panoramic view of the grey roof of the bridge deck below.

In our cabin we had a pair of power sockets on the fascia behind the vanity unit - one European style round pin and the other a more modern UK square pin one. However, the square pin socket had obviously been put in place of a round pin one and was so close to the vanity unit that any plug with a thick flex or a strain relief on the flex coming out of the bottom would not have fitted. This socket is almost but not quite useless.

All in all we had a lovely cruise, everything that last years was not. The ports of call were wonderful and spending a night in each port meant we didn't have to worry about getting back on time.

Our balcony cabin mid ship on deck 8 was pleasant, with a good view down onto the terrace balcony, on the promenade deck below! I wouldn't want one of those terrace balconies with people wondering by or stopping.

 

I thought the ship was looking rather tired. We found the vibrations a bit of a problem. We found it mostly a problem when the ship was travelling slowly. The vibration node would run up and down the bed depending on the speed. So, it was lovely to sleep well on the three nights at a berth. The other thing that struck me was the way that some of the public space didn't really work very well. The flow in the garden room (buffet area) was poor, get more than a handful of people at the buffet station and it was very congested. The morning light pub was essentially a wide corridor. I found the Neptune lounge a bit of a disappointment too, very little rake on the seating area and all a bit packed in. We were on the shortened Fjord cruise last May on Balmoral, so used our compensatory discount for this cruise. So, I am comparing the public space on Black Watch to those on Balmoral, not quite a direct comparison because of the size difference.

 

The one public space that we did really like was the observatory bar up on deck 9. It was a warm, inviting intimate space with a good view. We spent a lot of cruising time there. On Balmoral we found it a cold cavernous area with a panoramic view of the grey roof of the bridge deck below.

 

In our cabin we had a pair of power sockets on the fascia behind the vanity unit - one European style round pin and the other a more modern UK square pin one. However, the square pin socket had obviously been put in place of a round pin one and was so close to the vanity unit that any plug with a thick flex or a strain relief on the flex coming out of the bottom would not have fitted. This socket is almost but not quite useless.

 

All in all we had a lovely cruise, everything that last years was not. The ports of call were wonderful and spending a night in each port meant we didn't have to worry about getting back on time.

Thanks for some very specific information on this review as I will be sailing for the first time on the Black Watch in July. I need to plug in a respiratory machine at night and it's plug unit is quite large. I'm wondering what issues I'm going to encounter. I will be sure to bring an round pin adapter and hope that will fit.

I'm not looking forward to this vibration issue I keep reading about. We are on for 27 days and only one overnight.

Thanks for some very specific information on this review as I will be sailing for the first time on the Black Watch in July. I need to plug in a respiratory machine at night and it's plug unit is quite large. I'm wondering what issues I'm going to encounter. I will be sure to bring an round pin adapter and hope that will fit.

 

I'm not looking forward to this vibration issue I keep reading about. We are on for 27 days and only one overnight.

My husband tends to take a short extension lead to help with inaccessible sockets. Not sure if that is strictly allowed on board though for safety reasons, but we do not use it unless we are in the cabin. Also, if you can use a continental two pin socket, (with an adaptor), then plugs can be inserted upside down.

The best precaution though, in view of your needs, is to ring Fred's customer service as they should be able to find out about electrical sockets in your specific cabin. We find each cabin tends to have fittings in slightly different positions on Fred's ships. On Braemar recently we found two sockets low down by the end of a bed and under the work surface below the mirror - so looking carefully may reveal other sockets that are not easily seen.

The vibration is less bad to the front of the ship, (we were midship, but still in the back half), and too be fair, the immediate location of our first cabin had particular problems, so it was probably due to some sort of unit on the ship. I would not want to be too near the front though, in case of rough seas. In our cabin(s) the vibration was worse when all four engines were running at high speed. The customer relations lady did say it will be worse during the first 2-3 days of our trans Atlantic crossings as they tend to get some distance covered, then turn off one of the engines.

If you do have trouble with vibration, I suggest you complain asap. We lived with it for 2-3 nights before saying anything and there were no cabins left further forward by then. There seemed to be a lot of people moving cabins, so I got the impression that people were moved just a bit further forward, so they all had a better experience than in their original cabin and felt grateful for the move!

Hope you enjoy your cruise - looking at the brochure, you appear to be on the Artic cruise. Fred is a really good option for those sort of areas, because of the itineraries and the scenic cruising that is regularly done by his ships.

Cheers,

Barbara

We were in outside cabins on Marina Deck just forward of midships and felt no vibration at all.

The best precaution though, in view of your needs, is to ring Fred's customer service as they should be able to find out about electrical sockets in your specific cabin. We find each cabin tends to have fittings in slightly different positions on Fred's ships. On Braemar recently we found two sockets low down by the end of a bed and under the work surface below the mirror - so looking carefully may reveal other sockets that are not easily seen.

Yes, phone up and speak to someone at Fred, they will know what is what and you can discuss your needs with them - first hand. They should be in a position to advise you directly. It may be that a specific cabin is more suitable than some other.

Enjoy the elegant Black Watch.

I'm in 4107, one of the solo inside cabins--all of which are aft except one (4052) for which I'm waitlisted. I've discovered FO seems not to want to talk or email directly with Americans unfortunately. I have to go through my local TA who then has to go through FO's representative agency Borton Overseas here in the U.S.

They did send me some photos of the actual cabin a while back and I just enlarged one of them and I can see only one two-pin plug just above the vanity and below the mirror. It does look like there is room for a larger plug though.

Why not bring a short extension lead or buy one over here. I have taken one before. This should overcome your problem.

I've discovered FO seems not to want to talk or email directly with Americans unfortunately. I have to go through my local TA who then has to go through FO's representative agency Borton Overseas here in the U.S.

 

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We have had that with another cruise company when we have used an agent - it is extremely annoying as any notifications have to get sent through the agent and then sent on from there. We tend to book direct with Fred, so not sure what their policy is on that over here.

 

It may still be worth asking your agent to pass on an email. I can see leaving a request that is not in writing can get it's meaning lost if passed on between other people. At least you have time on your side.

 

Good luck.

I've discovered FO seems not to want to talk or email directly with Americans unfortunately. I have to go through my local TA who then has to go through FO's representative agency Borton Overseas here in the U.S.

 

/QUOTE]

 

We have had that with another cruise company when we have used an agent - it is extremely annoying as any notifications have to get sent through the agent and then sent on from there. We tend to book direct with Fred, so not sure what their policy is on that over here.

 

Good luck.

 

FO won't book directly with Americans. I tried that a couple of years ago. I don't know why.