Fred Olsen. The Braemar in the Caribbean by Nick Belger

Spending the early winter months in the Caribbean is an ideal way to prepare you for the depths of the British Winter, and what better way to do it than on the beautiful Braemar, sailing out of Barbados.

We chose to use our own flights rather than Fred Olsen., which allowed us to tailor make our cruise/fly package, even though Fred Olsen. offered charter flights direct from Manchester to Barbados.

The earlier departure allowed us to enjoy Barbados a little more and acclimatise before making our way to our ship, which also stayed overnight in Barbados.

Luckily we had booked ourselves a Balcony Suite on the Braemar, and it was well worth it for the extras you get, first there was the welcome bottle of sparkling wine, as well as the fruit basket, and the flowers. We also had our bathrobes and slippers!

Then we had pre dinner canapés delivered every evening, and the free formal wear press, all included in the price, not only all this but a suite on deck seven, Bridge deck, so perfectly positioned.

In all cabins and suites, you have your own safe and on the TV set you can continually check your on board account, as well as pre ordering your wine each evening, and any excursions you wish to pre book. Whilst most people, understandably, lodge a credit card for their own account, we decided to pay it as we went along, so there was no need to lodge a card, which is great for more ‘controlled’ spending!

The ship itself was surprisingly spacious and we felt, well proportioned and suited us, although some may want the bigger ships that offer more activities on board, but we were quite happy with what was on offer.

Our restaurant of choice was our pre booked Grampain, although there were other choices the main Thistle and the informal buffet style Palms Café, which is were you can find the fabulous afternoon teas and the midnight buffets. We were given the later sitting in the Grampain was the smallest and most intimate of all the restaurants, but again suited us, with the Maitre Dee and our wine and food waiter giving us extra attention we well looked after, and chose this for breakfast and lunch too!!

The ports of call were varying and gave a wide variety of experiences, Trindad, Tobago, Jamaica, Tortola, St Kitts, Antigua, St Lucia, to name but a few, but the highlight in the Caribbean after a full day of exploration is always sailing away from the pier, when the sun is going down, standing on the cascading decks at the stern of the ship, whilst the steel drums are playing, add to that the cocktail of the day in your hand, and you can appreciate how mellow and lucky you feel.

The other great thing is the cost of drinks on board, in £’s too, look out for the cocktail of the day, well worth a try and the choice of wine in excellent as well.

The bars and entertainment and shows gave a varied choice too, from the Observatory Lounge, were because of my suite 7007, I was referred to as Mr Bond all week, which obviously left an impression, and yes I know they call everybody that week in week out, but it does make you feel special, so there for pre dinner drinks, to the Neptune theatre after dinner for a show, before a night cap and start all over at a different Caribbean island tomorrow, I could go on and on!

Fred.Olsen Cruise Lines Balmoral by Richard Cross

I was lucky enough to enjoy five nights on board Fred. Olsen’s Balmoral Cruise ship last year visiting some great ports of call in France, Ireland and the Channel Islands.

Balmoral is Fred.Olsen’s largest vessel afloat, it carries around 1300 passengers and her name comes from the Scottish home of the Royal Family. Although the ship maybe smaller, when compared to other cruise lines, it is still big enough to offer all the facilities and entertainment that other cruise ships offer. This also means that the ship is able to get closer into ports of call then other larger ships.

There are a variety of cabins and suite accommodation on board, I can highly recommend the Balcony Cabins on Bridge Deck. The balconies have superb sea views and watching the sun set on the horizon from the comfort of your own balcony is a relaxing end to a perfect day on the ocean.

There are a number of restaurants on board, the main being the Ballindalloch restaurant which I dined every evening. Whilst on board, a member of our group had a birthday celebration and the staffs on board were excellent, all waiters sang round the table during our meal. The food on board is superb, there was a wide variety of choice and speciality requests were catered for. We also sampled the other restaurants on board Spey, Avon (both on Highlight Deck 10) and Palms Café (on Lounge Deck 7). Palms Café served an excellent buffet style selection every evening after the review shows, an alternative from the main restaurants. Breakfast was served in all restaurants, we ate in the Spey & Avon restaurants which provided excellent sea views. The Morning Light pub was a new addition to the ship in 2008, we took part in the daily quiz on the days we were at sea (although never won!). A fresh and light pub, named after a earlier ship from the Fred. Olsen fleet.

In the daytime, there were lots of activities to do on board. There was an Internet Room to keep in touch with emails and news from back home, plus a card room and a well stocked Library. In the Lido Lounge we also joined in the fun of the Daily Bingo, with a prize of £500 on offer…(I was very close to winning!!!) On deck there were two pools and a number of smaller Jacuzzis. Plenty of seating on deck was also available, sitting on deck in the blazing sunshine, topping up the tan, whilst we were in the middle of the ocean was fantastic…I didn’t want to come home! The gym and fitness centres were also available and provided good sea views whilst getting fit!

The nightlife on board excellent, after our evening meal, we would go to the Neptune Lounge and take in a review show or enjoy a musical. One of the nights was a themed night whilst another night we enjoyed a magical illusion show! The staff in the Balmoral Theatre Company were great and all spoke to us after the show. After the show, we would either go to Palms Café for our midnight snack or slope off to the Observatory Lounge for the Disco into the small hours of the night!!

It was sad to get off Balmoral, as I would of gladly stayed on board for another two weeks to sample to delights this fantastic vessel has to offer.