Popsey Wopsey

Yes although not on your cruise,I have traveled many times with Fred., and quite a few other lines,Fred., has certainly gone downhill but has a very loyal following of a certain age.Toiletries were the norm,quality food the norm,maintenance of small things eg. plugs don,t seem to be priority anymore

His ships are well maintained for ships of that age.I,ve been on worse and far younger ships.

My last cruise with Fred., was this year a reposition cruise on Braemar,lovely ship ,layout ,good if not quality food,many things need replacing,staff 1st, class ,cabin lady ,didn,t see her once ,so didn,t know who to tip, complained 3 times about the toilet overflowing ,rusty sink chain off, etc.nothing done, so presumed new vacuum system needed.

I have sailed on ALL Freds.,ships, Boudicca my favorite for stability,Braemar light and spacious,Black Watch,Black Prince and Balmoral ,yes all have their good and bad points ,have do all ships ,people go back to Fred., because they feel comfortable with their fellow cruisers.

Try him again ,perhaps a week on Balmoral may change your mind.I think the line deserves a second chance.:)

I did a cruise a couple of years ago on Waverley,lovely old ship.:)

Is that Waverley in the foreground.?:)

Hi Bill, no they are not on Sagas website and evidently FOCL don,t want to comment on it either. Shame really,because although I do like cruising with both lines ,Saga is superior to FOCL but of course in many circumstances far more expensive.

I,ve always found both companies charge exorbitant prices for solo cruisers but heyho,after being offered great single deals last winter by both Cunard and P&O ,if the deals are there again this winter ,its FOCL and Sagas loss.

I like the door2door pickup,living in the wilds of North Shropshire its very useful,however I can get a return train fair to Southampton from my local station ,with my train card ,for approx., £21 ,faster and more comfortable than mini bus or coach.:)

Now Fred., has become partners with Saga,perhaps Nathan Philpot could come onto this forum and tell Saga and Freds., customers what benefit ,if any, it will be to passengers.

Will FOCL ships be less crowded,will we have more food choice,will there be a selection of toiletries in the shower room,will we have bathrobes and fruit in cabins as standard and lastly of course will prices rocket.

One of the main reasons people sail with FOCL ,they give good value for money.

Saga are very good but rather pricey for many passengers.Singles especially.

I have sailed with both FOCL and Saga ,both are great names to sail with.

Titan ,also an arm of Saga ,sail with FOCL ,and have done for a number of years ,they also sail with C&M.

Book with them and you pay far more than you would just booking FOCL. on their own.

So come on Nathan, give us passengers the "gen" and lets know what are the benefits.:confused:

A possibly silly question, but then I'm new to Fred.

 

Are there any special offers for laundry on Fred's ships and if so what are they? I've made use of such offers with other lines, and it would be good to know before we start planning the packing.

 

Thanks in advance.

They don,t have a service as on HAL,stuff the bag .My advice take as much non iron clothes as possible because half the time the ships irons don,t work.:rolleyes:

I travelled as a solo in this outside cabin,for the whole cruise the toilet didn,t work properly ,even after twice informing reception,It either wouldn,t flush properly or had no vacuum or flooded the shower floor.Got up one night ,foot straight in it,good job it was clean water,:eek:

The basin plug was off as was the rusty chain,told them about that,no joy ,still not fixed when I left the ship.

Otherwise the cabin was light and very nice,the next cruise from Harwich was selling at £299 for a week in Norway. Book on board.

When the sea conditions are right this is a lovely ship to cruise on ,however if not ,its an absolute pig of a crate.

Would I cruise on her again ,yes .Good job I,m a seasoned cruiser,some weren,t and spent a lot of time lying down in their cabins.:D

Having visited there,the Russian Black Sea Fleet are already in the harbour.Wouldn,t take to much notice of the DM saber rattling.:eek:

Don,t know why people say it was a "freak" wave,in weather like that all waves at that hight are"freak".:eek:

Did that cruise couple of years ago on Boudicca, it was fantastic ,lots of Icebergs and Icefields with Seals on them,can be very foggy and you will see nothing or very hot and wear shorts,we had wonderful weather and the ship took the bad weather between the Faroes and Greenland in her stride,although we did walk for a while with one leg shorter than the other:).

Enjoy.:)

Old ships are like old hospitals, virus lives on in the walls etc..:eek:

If you walk down the corridor ,you will notice a hump in the floor ,thats the new section,the walls are extremely thin and as you say all can be heard from next door cabin. :eek:

I do notice Olsen have some of these as singles,haven,t got a brochure at the moment otherwise I would tell you were they start.:)

I don,t think Freds., tours are any more expensive than other cruise lines or travel companies. Of course its mostly cheaper to "do it yourself".:)