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Black Watch Refit


dancourt
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We have just returned from a 26 night cruise on the Black Watch, which I have to say, we thoroughly enjoyed.

 

Whilst on board we were told by many of the staff that the Black Watch will be going into dry dock on the 19th November for a total refit.

 

This is great news as she does look very worn and tired apart from the fire of last month.

 

We are booked on her again for next year so I will look forward to seeing what they have done.

 

Susan

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We have just returned from a 26 night cruise on the Black Watch, which I have to say, we thoroughly enjoyed.

 

Whilst on board we were told by many of the staff that the Black Watch will be going into dry dock on the 19th November for a total refit.

 

This is great news as she does look very worn and tired apart from the fire of last month.

 

We are booked on her again for next year so I will look forward to seeing what they have done.

 

Susan

 

She was always scheduled for dry docking the first fortnight in December. It now looks as if W1622 Spain, Portugal and the Canary Islands scheduled to sail on the 18 November has also been cancelled to extend the time in dry dock.

 

We are due to go on the following two cruises, German & Danish Christmas Markets and Tinsel & Hogmanay. Hope that Black Watch is back in time for the first of these [and that Fred don't mess around with the itinerary like they've done with the Christmas cruise and ruin it.]

 

Will make sure that we leave her in good condition for you next year!

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Hi Berkshire Boy

 

Yes they have extended the refit, there must be a lot more to do than they had originally planned.

 

From what the crew were telling us it does sound like it will be a total change in some areas, for e.g.. the Lido Bar, which I have never felt comfortable sitting in.

 

I hope they don't mess around with your scheduled cruises, as it would be a great disappointment, so fingers crossed.

 

Susan

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  • 1 month later...
She was always scheduled for dry docking the first fortnight in December. It now looks as if W1622 Spain, Portugal and the Canary Islands scheduled to sail on the 18 November has also been cancelled to extend the time in dry dock.

 

We are due to go on the following two cruises, German & Danish Christmas Markets and Tinsel & Hogmanay. Hope that Black Watch is back in time for the first of these [and that Fred don't mess around with the itinerary like they've done with the Christmas cruise and ruin it.]

 

Will make sure that we leave her in good condition for you next year!

 

Hi, as we are considering a Christmas cruise on Fred, could you possibly elaborate on what were the changes to the itinerary? Thanks

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  • 2 weeks later...
Hi, as we are considering a Christmas cruise on Fred, could you possibly elaborate on what were the changes to the itinerary? Thanks

 

Sorry for the late reply - just back from a cruise. :)

 

We are booked on the Tinsel & Hogmanay Black Watch Christmas cruise. The first change we were notified of was an early departure from Falmouth, due to the time of the tide that day! [Don't they check this when planning the cruise?] Then the original itinerary was Dublin, 26 December & Liverpool, 27 December. Then Fred said that they had been informed by their agents that nothing would open in Dublin on Boxing Day so not a good day to visit. As a result Fred cancelled Liverpool and switched Dublin to the 27th. On the 26th we are now visiting Cobh which, according to Fred, will have many tourist opportunities available! [Not according to the tourist office in Cobh when we visited a couple of weeks ago on our Azamara cruise. They said that there would be no trains or any form of public transport that day and that, in any case, Cork itself would be just as dead as Dublin. As far as they knew the only attraction that might be open would be the Titanic exhibition which many will have seen before. They thought that even the Tourist Information office would be closed that day!]

 

Fred then cancelled the day in Kirkwall on the 30th December replacing it with a further half day in Leith. We are now in Leith from early afternoon on the Friday to early Sunday morning. The entire cruise is now Falmouth, Cobh, Dublin, Belfast and Leith. We have booked the cruise as a bb with the Christmas markets cruise to Denmark and Germany, which fortunately hasn't changed.

 

When we found out about the changes to the itinerary it was too late to change our own plans so will have to live with it. However, we are not booking any Fred cruises in 2017 as a result. If Fred want people to book early at the full price they shouldn't subsequently chop and change the cruises to suit their own requirements.

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Sorry for the late reply - just back from a cruise. :)

 

We are booked on the Tinsel & Hogmanay Black Watch Christmas cruise. The first change we were notified of was an early departure from Falmouth, due to the time of the tide that day! [Don't they check this when planning the cruise?] Then the original itinerary was Dublin, 26 December & Liverpool, 27 December. Then Fred said that they had been informed by their agents that nothing would open in Dublin on Boxing Day so not a good day to visit. As a result Fred cancelled Liverpool and switched Dublin to the 27th. On the 26th we are now visiting Cobh which, according to Fred, will have many tourist opportunities available! [Not according to the tourist office in Cobh when we visited a couple of weeks ago on our Azamara cruise. They said that there would be no trains or any form of public transport that day and that, in any case, Cork itself would be just as dead as Dublin. As far as they knew the only attraction that might be open would be the Titanic exhibition which many will have seen before. They thought that even the Tourist Information office would be closed that day!]

 

Fred then cancelled the day in Kirkwall on the 30th December replacing it with a further half day in Leith. We are now in Leith from early afternoon on the Friday to early Sunday morning. The entire cruise is now Falmouth, Cobh, Dublin, Belfast and Leith. We have booked the cruise as a bb with the Christmas markets cruise to Denmark and Germany, which fortunately hasn't changed.

 

When we found out about the changes to the itinerary it was too late to change our own plans so will have to live with it. However, we are not booking any Fred cruises in 2017 as a result. If Fred want people to book early at the full price they shouldn't subsequently chop and change the cruises to suit their own requirements.

 

Perhaps the "many tourist opportunities" that Fred sees in Cobh is along the lines of spending opportunities to buy Fred's tours! In our experience Fred seem to have done a lot of changes over the last year and the ones we have experienced were known about long before they told the prospective passengers. Sorry to hear about your experiences though and hope the cruise is not too bad.

 

I am feeling quite insecure about a cruise in November as there have been no changes to the itinerary announced as yet!

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Perhaps the "many tourist opportunities" that Fred sees in Cobh is along the lines of spending opportunities to buy Fred's tours! In our experience Fred seem to have done a lot of changes over the last year and the ones we have experienced were known about long before they told the prospective passengers. Sorry to hear about your experiences though and hope the cruise is not too bad.

 

I am feeling quite insecure about a cruise in November as there have been no changes to the itinerary announced as yet!

 

Thank both for your answers. Frustrating when itineraries change like that. I also heard that the ship will go for a refit in November 2016 so wondering what might change, although I have read some comments on posts here

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Hi Berkshire Boy

 

Yes they have extended the refit, there must be a lot more to do than they had originally planned.

 

From what the crew were telling us it does sound like it will be a total change in some areas, for e.g.. the Lido Bar, which I have never felt comfortable sitting in.

 

I hope they don't mess around with your scheduled cruises, as it would be a great disappointment, so fingers crossed.

 

Susan

 

Hi,

 

As I am booked for a cruise in December I am curious about the refit but could not find anything published so far. So I am also hoping that it does not affect my sailing. I still recall the original Royal Viking Star so wondering what else could be changed internally

 

Thanks

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There are some details of the refit in the new FO Closer magazine, which is available online from their website. It seems cabins will be refurbished, a new restaurant created, a refurb of the existing one, and some changes to the Lido lounge.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Susan, Carol had an email from FOCL about the refit. It seems that apart from refurbishing and updating the decor etc, they are turning the Garden Cafeteria and the overflow bit outside into restaurants (not sure if that means there will be nowhere to go to miss formal nights). and redoing the cabins with new interactive TV. There are other minor things like swapping the Braemar lounge with the Pub, but keeping the bar in the pub for the new lounge. All in, quite a job. We'll keep you posted on how it works out.

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We are due to go on ... German & Danish Christmas Markets ....

 

So are we, we just booked it today. Is there a roll call? I haven't found it yet.

 

Hope that Black Watch is back in time !
Yes we are worried. We had problems on our last one (after the fire and patch up). The web site and hot line kept saying that "all cruises on schedule" but we could see that ship was still docked at Dover. They bussed us from Tilbury to Dover, but didn't think to tell anyone. Those who had just come from Kent were not amused as Dover is much easier to get to than Tilbury.

 

Just so long as we don't have to fly to Hamburg.

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I'm quite dismayed about the loss of the Garden Café in the refit. I ate almost all my meals there as I prefer to serve myself (just what I want and in the amount I want) AND not to have to dress for dinner. Without a buffet at dinner time there will be no place for me to go in the evenings.

 

I loved my first cruise on this ship this past summer and was hoping for more in the future. Not sure what I'll do now.

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I'm quite dismayed about the loss of the Garden Café in the refit. I ate almost all my meals there as I prefer to serve myself (just what I want and in the amount I want) AND not to have to dress for dinner. Without a buffet at dinner time there will be no place for me to go in the evenings.

 

I loved my first cruise on this ship this past summer and was hoping for more in the future. Not sure what I'll do now.

 

I was also confused about the post saying the Garden cafe is to go, especially as Fred's Closer magazine article, (link provided by someone earlier in this thread if you do not have one to hand), clearly says it is "The Courtyard" that is to be made into a speciality restaurant. That is a central area on the ship, which allows overflow from the Garden Cafe at times (possibly just afternoon tea time), and has a piano for entertainment later in the evening. There may be alterations in the Garden Cafe (or poss being moved), but I do not think Fred would dare to get rid of a self service outlet. Main entrance to the self service is from by the lifts.

 

My thoughts are that Fred's magazine is correct and there has been some confusion by someone along the line about the self service - sounds like that post was made by the spouse of the person who had received the written communication. I would also not be surprised if someone in Fred's head office has made an error, considering several errors admin have made regarding our forthcoming cruise.

Edited by tring
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sounds like that post was made by the spouse of the person who had received the written communication.

 

Yes, Carol got the communication. She is asleep at the moment, but when she wakes up I'll get a copy and post an extract. As I remember, both are to be turned into restaurants, one seating 54 and the other a similar, but different number, and they had slightly different biases. We will be able to clear up any confusion after our December cruise (fingers crossed). We too hope that there is some arrangement for informal eating. They are doing something to the grill on the Lido deck.

Edited by jgw321
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clearly says it is "The Courtyard" that is to be made into a speciality restaurant.

 

Actually Adam's link in post http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=51394450&postcount=16 has it all clearly stated. The courtyard becomes a steak restaurant and the cafe becomes "a new 54-seat restaurant, Brigadoon, which will feature new décor and offer a stylish, intimate dining experience".

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If the intention is to get rid of the self service, it would seem incredible. That is the only option to have an informal meal if you do not make your fixed meal time, perhaps because late back on board or want a quick bite if going into port on a late sailing, as well as the loss of a casual dress base! Definitely put their ships out of our interest range and I think it would put a lot of others off as well.

 

I wonder of they are planning a casual snack/burger type "restaurant" in the evenings (main restaurants are used as part self serve for Breakfast and lunch of course) - still would not be our sort of thing. Or perhaps they are deliberately putting unclear info out to see what sort of response they get on social media etc. before making final decision on how to use the new arrangements!

 

I have put a question regards a self service on their FB page, but no response as yet!

Edited by tring
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Good morning everyone :)

 

We are happy to inform you all that the Brigadoon restaurant will be the new buffet dining venue on board Black Watch, replacing the Braemar Garden Cafe.

 

The Bridgadoon will offer the same dishes and dining options as the Braemar Garden Cafe, but in a new, more contemporary setting. We will of course continue to host our ever popular themed-nights here too.

 

If you have any other questions or queries regarding the Black Watch refit, please don't hesitate to contact us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/fredolsencruiselines), Twitter (twitter.com/FredOlsenCruise) or directly via email at internet@fredolsen.co.uk

 

We hope this helps.

 

Regards,

F.OCL.

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