Boudicca Norway 11th Sept.

Just returned today from Fjords. This was our second cruise on Boudicca, being on all Fred's ships a number of times. Norway is a beautiful country and the scenery amazing. We had mixed weather but nothing too bad to spoil anything. Captain was amazing in negotiating the narrow fjords taking us to see wonderful sights. The food was good, as we know and expect from Fred. The waiters as usual very friendly and obliging. We had a very quiet cabin which was cleaned well by our cabin stewardess. The only disappointment was the entertainment. The show team were very amateurish, costumes shoddy, certainly not up to Fred's normal standard. To say they hadn't been together long, it appears they arrived the beginning of August, which to me is long enough to gel. Apart from that, they are a professional group and should be able to perform like one. I understand Fred has changed Agents and I do hope this group do not represent what is to come on other ships as the quality of entertainment is an important factor of a cruise. We did enjoy our cruise and met some lovely people as is the norm on Fred, but felt badly let down by the entertainment.

Just returned today from Fjords. This was our second cruise on Boudicca, being on all Fred's ships a number of times. Norway is a beautiful country and the scenery amazing. We had mixed weather but nothing too bad to spoil anything. Captain was amazing in negotiating the narrow fjords taking us to see wonderful sights. The food was good, as we know and expect from Fred. The waiters as usual very friendly and obliging. We had a very quiet cabin which was cleaned well by our cabin stewardess. The only disappointment was the entertainment. The show team were very amateurish, costumes shoddy, certainly not up to Fred's normal standard. To say they hadn't been together long, it appears they arrived the beginning of August, which to me is long enough to gel. Apart from that, they are a professional group and should be able to perform like one. I understand Fred has changed Agents and I do hope this group do not represent what is to come on other ships as the quality of entertainment is an important factor of a cruise. We did enjoy our cruise and met some lovely people as is the norm on Fred, but felt badly let down by the entertainment.

We were on the Baltic cruise before yours, and I fully agree with your comments.

However, the Showteam had just arrived on 29th August and I think they did well to say they had had only 6 weeks rehearsals before arriving. This was my first Fred Olsen cruise so cannot compare with previous Fred cruises but thought they were fine compared to 9 Thomson cruise show teams I have seen. My main disappointment was in the content of the shows as they seemed to be all song and dance from the 50s, 60s and 70s and little, or none, from film or theatre.

The resident band was excellent especially when they played at the two Sailaway deck parties. It was a shame that they didn't play more in the Neptune lounge.

I understand Fred has changed Agents and I do hope this group do not represent what is to come on other ships as the quality of entertainment is an important factor of a cruise.

Sadly I think what you saw is going to be typical of the other groups from the new Agent. The ones we had on Balmoral last month were not much better.

Not even close to the standard we've seen on Fred in the past.

Sadly I think what you saw is going to be typical of the other groups from the new Agent. The ones we had on Balmoral last month were not much better.

 

Not even close to the standard we've seen on Fred in the past.

The ones on the Black Watch last weekend were very good...... I actually felt the Showteam on the Balmoral in early August (just new to the ship) were good. I felt some of the material they had to work with ie 1930's, Elvis etc was too dated however. The more modern shows were superb!

Sadly I think what you saw is going to be typical of the other groups from the new Agent. The ones we had on Balmoral last month were not much better.

 

Not even close to the standard we've seen on Fred in the past.

Sorry to hear they were poor on balmoral, we are on Balmoral for 46 nights in January and I would not like to watch such a low standard show team for such a length of time. The singing was not good and the dancing was poor, needed a good choreographer, it looked like a team that had been put together with the "leftovers" . Certainly not what we have come to expect from Fred.

We were on the Baltic cruise before yours, and I fully agree with your comments.

 

However, the Showteam had just arrived on 29th August and I think they did well to say they had had only 6 weeks rehearsals before arriving. This was my first Fred Olsen cruise so cannot compare with previous Fred cruises but thought they were fine compared to 9 Thomson cruise show teams I have seen. My main disappointment was in the content of the shows as they seemed to be all song and dance from the 50s, 60s and 70s and little, or none, from film or theatre.

 

The resident band was excellent especially when they played at the two Sailaway deck parties. It was a shame that they didn't play more in the Neptune lounge.

I agree with you with regard to content, on previous Fred cruises we have seen some wonderful excerpts from theatre. We were on Braemar four weeks in February/March and looked forward every evening to the first class shows. Don't know why Fred has changed agents. Very disappointed. The Boudicca orchestra were good.

I agree with you with regard to content, on previous Fred cruises we have seen some wonderful excerpts from theatre. We were on Braemar four weeks in February/March and looked forward every evening to the first class shows. Don't know why Fred has changed agents. Very disappointed. The Boudicca orchestra were good.

I understand that Fred used Peel for the Balmoral who are excellent but now use Mirage. Who did they used to use for the other ships?

I understand that Fred used Peel for the Balmoral who are excellent but now use Mirage. Who did they used to use for the other ships?

It was Mirage on Boudicca, Julie. The Mirage people were on board including the comedian Barnaby who is married to one of the Mirage people.

I agree with you with regard to content, on previous Fred cruises we have seen some wonderful excerpts from theatre. We were on Braemar four weeks in February/March and looked forward every evening to the first class shows. Don't know why Fred has changed agents. Very disappointed. The Boudicca orchestra were good.

Do you remember who were the agents on your Feb/March Braemar cruise?

It was Mirage on Boudicca, Julie. The Mirage people were on board including the comedian Barnaby who is married to one of the Mirage people.

I wondered who they used to use if others are saying that the Agents are new Jackie - I know Peel are not being used for Balmoral anymore but I don't think they were used on the other ships either.

Do you remember who were the agents on your Feb/March Braemar cruise?

The agents on Braemar were Explosive Theatre agents. I asked the members of the team because they were outstanding and wanted to tell their boss now good they were. The singers and dancers were first class and the costumes fitted well and were good quality. To be honest I thought Fred would use the same agent for all ships. It was only because they were so poor last week I asked if the Agent had changed. One of the singers told me they were going to be taking over all the ships and my heart sank. Hopefully Mirage have some better artists in their company.

I understand that Fred used Peel for the Balmoral who are excellent but now use Mirage. Who did they used to use for the other ships?

I assumed the ships used the same agent. I didn't really think about it as it was unusual to see a team that weren't good. The entertainment in the Lido was also poor, we have seen some first class acts in the Lido in the past, which brings me to think if using another Agent we can't expect to see them again.

I assumed the ships used the same agent. I didn't really think about it as it was unusual to see a team that weren't good. The entertainment in the Lido was also poor, we have seen some first class acts in the Lido in the past, which brings me to think if using another Agent we can't expect to see them again.

The male/female duo in the Lido were dire, I agree, but the piano player/singer was quite good. Definitely not as good as Thomson entertainment but I understand that Thomson take some beating. We lasted only one race of the Dolphin racing.....:eek:

We had the outstanding Michael Christian Durrant a classical guitarist, who played to packed out audiences on sea day afternoons. Think he was only on for the Baltic cruise though.

I assumed the ships used the same agent. I didn't really think about it as it was unusual to see a team that weren't good. The entertainment in the Lido was also poor, we have seen some first class acts in the Lido in the past, which brings me to think if using another Agent we can't expect to see them again.

There was some poor Lido Entertainment & Observatory Entertainment when we were on the Balmoral in August too - 2 of the 'Acts' had no life whatsoever - I have seen better visiting entertainment in the Nursing Home where I work! Some of the Acts were good however and as I said earlier so were the Showteam. As for one of the Comedians, well he should have retired years ago!!

The male/female duo in the Lido were dire, I agree, but the piano player/singer was quite good. Definitely not as good as Thomson entertainment but I understand that Thomson take some beating. We lasted only one race of the Dolphin racing.....:eek:

 

We had the outstanding Michael Christian Durrant a classical guitarist, who played to packed out audiences on sea day afternoons. Think he was only on for the Baltic cruise though.

We have only been on Thomson celebration once, last year, and thought the entertainment outstanding. We had been told by previous cruisers it was first class and we were not disappointed. We are sailing on her 1st October for 2 weeks hope to see the same standard. Fred's faithful clients, like us, are going to be looking elsewhere.

There was some poor Lido Entertainment & Observatory Entertainment when we were on the Balmoral in August too - 2 of the 'Acts' had no life whatsoever - I have seen better visiting entertainment in the Nursing Home where I work! Some of the Acts were good however and as I said earlier so were the Showteam. As for one of the Comedians, well he should have retired years ago!!

Who was entertaining in the Lido? The duo on Boudicca were dreadful, shabbily dressed and the male had more tattoos than "skin". Gave them a second chance one evening but left early.

Who was entertaining in the Lido? The duo on Boudicca were dreadful, shabbily dressed and the male had more tattoos than "skin". Gave them a second chance one evening but left early.

There was a band called 4th Dimension who were good but could have done with playing a bit more up to date music. There was also a solo act - I don't really like to name him but he played guitar & sang along to his IPod. He just did not have the personality to work on a cruise ship - I actually felt sorry for him as a lot of the audience kept getting up & walking off when he came on!

The entertainer in the Observatory again although a good pianist, never had any audience interaction & didn't sing at all when we saw him - needed some life injected into him!

We have only been on Thomson celebration once, last year, and thought the entertainment outstanding. We had been told by previous cruisers it was first class and we were not disappointed. We are sailing on her 1st October for 2 weeks hope to see the same standard. Fred's faithful clients, like us, are going to be looking elsewhere.

We have been on the Celebration several times - love the ship & like you say the entertainment is superb! We are the opposite & have kind of defected to Fred as the food is better, you can't fault the service & we prefer the fixed dining!

We have only been on Thomson celebration once, last year, and thought the entertainment outstanding. We had been told by previous cruisers it was first class and we were not disappointed. We are sailing on her 1st October for 2 weeks hope to see the same standard. Fred's faithful clients, like us, are going to be looking elsewhere.

I was on Celebration in June this year and loved it. You are in for a treat. We didn't go to all the Broadway shows as we had seen some before and some didn't appeal but the ones we did see were very good. Not excellent, but the show team had just recently come on board. We tended to make for the Hemingway bar to get a seat to see the excellent singer, Ben Moss. What a lovely young man. Juliesmiles loves him too ;). We only went to Liberties once and it was packed out and we couldn't get a seat...so very popular. The Peakles were playing in there in June. I missed a band like the Peakles on Boudicca.

We have been on the Celebration several times - love the ship & like you say the entertainment is superb! We are the opposite & have kind of defected to Fred as the food is better, you can't fault the service & we prefer the fixed dining!

Agree Julie, just need to combine the best of both and then it would be excellent all round. :)

Who was entertaining in the Lido? The duo on Boudicca were dreadful, shabbily dressed and the male had more tattoos than "skin". Gave them a second chance one evening but left early.

The advantage to having this duo for us was that you could always get a good seat near the end of their "spot".

Who was entertaining in the Lido? The duo on Boudicca were dreadful, shabbily dressed and the male had more tattoos than "skin". Gave them a second chance one evening but left early.

In my humble opinion, the duo "Soul Food" were the best entertainment on the cruise. A pleasent change from Fred's usual 60's timewarp.

As for the show group, the male singers were awful, the Beatles "tribute" was more of an embarrassment than a tribute.

Never had the urge to be "inked" myself, but I did notice that quite a few of the lady guests on board had succumbed, a naval tradition presumably !!