We've done a few cruises, with CMV (as was), Thomson, Marella and Fred Olsen. The main attraction of these lines being the departure from Northern UK ports, although we have flown out to a few also. Since Marella has abandoned the UK and Fred has hikes his prices we've been a bit stuck, and decided to give Ambassador a shot. We'd read mixed reviews, but it's all about management of expectations ...
We have recently come back from a 5 day cruise travelling to and around the Norwegian Fjords with stops at Bergen and Flåm. It surpassed our expectations in every way!
It was our first time on a cruise. The reason we chose it is because we both love an all inclusive holiday but get bored in one location. 5 days was a good amount of time to see if it was something we would want to do again and ...
As first time cruisers we wanted a relatively short cruise to try it out and equally we wanted a 'ship' not a floating tower block and as such to be able to go where larger vessels could not, nor swamp destinations with thousands of passengers.
One benefit of this was that leaving and returning to the ship when visiting ports was a nice simple affair. Similarly joining the ship in Newcastle was ...
This was our 3rd Fred Olsen cruise. First time on Bolette but from experience of the other 2 ships we knew what to expect. We’ve sailed all sizes of ships from the massive to small and really do prefer these small to midsized ships.
From parking up in Newcastle, we were onboard and at our cabin in under half an hour and went for a delicious lunch as the poolside café before departure. What can ...
First holiday after lockdown !
Online check in etc was very good and easy to use.
Good website and on board app.
Embarkation including testing was excellent - fast and efficient.
All inclusive holiday with a great selection of drinks .
Adults only !!! Very important for us.
Excellent friendly service all round.
About 1/2 full ship so lots of room , easy to get served and ...
Just returned from two week Baltic cruise on Marella Explorer (10 th Aug19).
Never having cruised before, we were unsure what to expect, but the itinerary was exactly what we wanted. Apologies in advance for the length of this review, I know it's going to be a long one
We sailed from Newcastle, so no flights involved for us which was a huge bonus, mainly as no luggage restrictions ( so long ...
We picked this cruise for a number of reasons. The dates fitted in with dates I had booked well in advance (without knowing what we were going to do in the summer) to please my work, the itinerary, and by reading several reviews that the line was good for families and kids. 14 days is a long time for a 10 year old to be onboard so it had to be fun for him too, which I am happy to report it ...
We chose this cruise for the itinerary and we weren't disappointed. The countries visited were all so interesting but all different too. Due to my lack of mobility we chose to go on an excursion on nearly all the ports of call and I have to say they were the best we've ever done. All the tour guides were informative, interesting and fun, yes even in Russia!!
We chose to have a balcony and had ...
We always choose cruises based on the itinerary and this completely fitted the bill!
Our second cruise on this ship and once again it excelled itself. We had a large balcony cabin (9135) which is well placed midships and well looked after and cleaned by the cabin stewards.
Food as always was excellent in both Latitude 53 and Vista, as well as the lunches in The Market Place.
The ...
Always wanted to see the Fjords and this ship seemed like a good size to experience this .We has a good midship cabin near to lifts etc . the dining onboard we could not fault exceptional . The shows were all very good the service of bar staff and restaurant staff again excellent . The only complaint we had that our drinks package which we paid for did not include Sherry yet its cheaper to buy ...