Indecisive! Braemar v Black Watch

[Alibobs]

Have now thought the Black Watch date (29 October) may be better for us than the Braemar (4 Oct)....I notice it is a bit cheaper too......any thoughts?

[petergoesrock]

Have now thought the Black Watch date (29 October) may be better for us than the Braemar (4 Oct)....I notice it is a bit cheaper too......any thoughts?

 

We love the Black Watch. She's an older ship than the Braemar but don't count that against her. BW now has the lowest number of passengers in Fred Olsen's fleet.

 

Our favourite parts of BW are the observatory bar and having the main pool at the back of the ship.

 

Would sailing on the BW change your depature port from Dover to Southampton? For us that does have a bearing on our choice of cruises.

 

But we've never been on Braemar…

[Gelbel]

Do you mean 5th Oct for the Braemar?

 

We did this itinery (not with Fred) as our very first cruise. We knew, and liked, the destinations so we used this as an excuse to see if we would like cruising. Oh boy - we did and have the bank balance to prove it.;)

 

The later one is cheaper as all holidays are cheaper later in the season and it does not stop at Lisbon - mainland Europe charges so much more for docking and port fees so that is passed on to you.

 

Consider the trip down and back in late October - it can be very rough in the Bay of Biscay at that time of year. We had it bad 2 years ago doing a transatlantic repositioning - not bad enough to put us off - roll on 26 October when we do it again!

 

Braemar is small in this day and age but Black Watch is really tiny. That can influence your decision - also think size in potentially bad seas - yet more factors to think about.

[Alibobs]

Thank you both - we live in the South of England so either departure is ok - hadn't thought about the potential weather implications later - so much to take on board if you'll excuse the pun!

[petergoesrock]

Braemar is small in this day and age but Black Watch is really tiny. That can influence your decision - also think size in potentially bad seas - yet more factors to think about.

 

Sorry Gelbel, I have to disagree about the size difference.:) While Braemar does carry more passengers (about 100+ extra) in tonnage, beam, length and speed she is smaller/slower than the Black Watch.

 

I had read that in rough seas the Black Watch was more stable than Braemar, due to being designed for world wide cruising, whereas the Braemar was designed with the Carribean more in mind.

 

Which ever is choosen, I'm sure a great time will be had!

[Jammy Bun]

We're on Braemar on 5th October - but don't let that put you off! :p

[Alibobs]

Jammy, I have been reading your previous posts - I think we could cope with you!

[Marius]

We have only sailed on BW and love it!

Having said that, we recently had a very rough crossing in Bay of Biscay and our Captain told us in cofidence that Braemar would handle it better as she cuts through more than BW due to being slimmer.

[Alibobs]

Thank you Marius.....still deliberating