Which ship?

we have just had a mini cruise on Braemar - our first with Fred and thoroughly enjoyed it. Can anyone give me their thoughts on the 3 other ships please - how different are they from Braemar? Thank you

we have just had a mini cruise on Braemar - our first with Fred and thoroughly enjoyed it. Can anyone give me their thoughts on the 3 other ships please - how different are they from Braemar? Thank you

Braemar is the only ship we haven't (yet) sailed on. Of the others, Boudicca and Black Watch are of a similar size (around 800 passengers) and Balmoral is larger (around 1300 passengers). Balmoral is probably our favourite but we would go on any one of them.

BW tends to be used on longer cruises/world cruises. Balmoral also used to do these but not so much now, possibly because of the cost of the Panama Canal transit.

wft

We've sailed on them all except Black Watch, but will be rectifying that at Christmas.

I agree with wft - Balmoral is marginally my favourite, with dear old Boudicca coming in a close second. We've been on Braemar twice - the first time was fine, but the second time we had a rough crossing of the Bay of Biscay and found she didn't manage the weather at all well, had a strange rolling motion. We are good sailors, rough seas normally don't bother us a bit, but we both felt queasy on Braemar. So, she's not on our repeat list any longer.

Also on Braemar, we found the sight lines in the show lounge were atrocious - too many pillars in the way, and only one exit from what was usually a crowded room made it quite claustrophobic.

I have taken more than 30 cruises with Fred. Olsen and sailed on all their ships. All have good points. My first choice is the "Balmoral". It is more spacious, has a better choice of restaurants and an alternative show lounge. Second choice would be the "Black Watch". It has a good lay out, a cinema and a very specific atmosphere on board. Next would the "Boudicca" which is, of course, a sister ship of the "Black Watch" bur doesn't have a cinema and has a rather odd system of public rooms. I am least attracted by the "Braemar" . It is smaller than both the "Black Watch" and "Boudicca" but carries more passengers. Also the show lounge has an odd configuration.

All the ships have excellent, friendly crew and staff.

It's all a matter of personal choice.