We are avid cruises and have done many cruises in the past however we have never cruised with Fred Olsen before. We really didn’t know what to expect as Fred Olsen is traditionally a cruise line for older passengers (not a problem, we love the older generation, however my worry was more surrounding the entertainment we might get). We were traveling with my parents (both in their 70s, Fred Olsen silver members and avid fans of the cruise line).

Our voyage started from Liverpool on 15th August. We normally fly cruise so driving the hour and half or so to the terminal, having our cases offloaded by the incredibly friendly and helpful port staff and not seeing them again until we were on board was a real luxury. The embarkation process was smooth and within 2 hours from our house we were on board having our first cocktail!

Our room was spacious, clean and we had a lovely cabin maid called Jacqui who introduced herself when we arrived. Our beds were made into two singles (we aren’t married so our names on the booking are different) but within minutes this was changed. We had paid for an outside cabin, only for the reason we need light to be able to wake up in the morning after all of those evening cocktails! The cabin had a small table and 2 chairs, a dressing area and ample storage. It was incredibly quiet (which considering we were on deck 1 was amazing). We heard nothing from the cabins either side of us for the whole trip which means unusually for cruise ships, the sound deadening was great.

The food was excellent. It was high quality, warm and lots of choice. Even the always available section had enough variety to sustain you for the full cruise! We normally ate in the restaurant in the evenings and at the poolside café for lunch, the later serving one of the best burgers I have ever had at sea. We are used to having an open dining sitting on our cruises, however Fred Olsen allocate you a table at either 1st or 2nd sitting. Although I still prefer open dining, this didn’t bother me as much as I expected it to, and actually having your table ready and not having to a queue was a bonus. Our servers were both lovely and could not do enough for you. I never felt frustrated during meal times during this cruise (which trust me for me is a miracle!), the timing of the food, and quality were excellent.

Our first 2 days were sea days. I’ll be honest i was dreading these as I’ve never been good on sea days previously due to feeling claustrophobic and cramped. This cruise had 4 so this would be a real test. I needn’t have worried. The boat never felt cramped and we could always find somewhere to sit. The boat had lots of lovely quirky little rooms, such as the garden room with its little greenhouses and the earth room with a big tribute to David Attenborough. I could have looked at the artwork for days. I have previously sailed with Marella and the sea days were a completely different story on there being cramped and overwhelming (I will be doing a full comparison later of these two lines). I really enjoyed these days, and I never thought in a million years I would say that. Evenings were spent in the beautiful observatory with the fabulous band funky blue drinking cocktails, lazy mornings were spent reading and looking out for wildlife over the sea (I’m a bit of a bird nerd) and afternoons were for sitting and chatting, and getting ready for the formal nights (which for those of you are worried about getting dressed up in dicky bows and cummerbunds needn’t worry, a jacket is fine).

Our first stop was beautiful Olden. Unfortunately weather wasn’t on our side here (it rained solidly for a good 5 hours), however it didn’t ruin our experience. We visited the Briksdal glacier on a troll car (a golf buggy with roll bars). A word of warning here, we expected it to take you much closer to the glacier than it did, and my parents struggled with the walk at the end which is steep and uneven, however it was worth it. Seeing a glacier should be on everyone’s bucket list!

The second stop was Alesund. A bigger city in comparison to the other stops we would be doing. Here we had no excursions booked and instead opted to do the trolley train. This was great value for money and took you all the way to the top of the view point. It cost roughly 20 pounds each and included commentary. Another beautiful destination with lots to do and see.

Our third destination was Andalsnes. A much smaller place and one where i would definitely recommend an excursion. The famous Rauma railway departs from here which we considered doing but the cost of the excursion put us off so instead we took the cable car to a view point (about 40 pounds each) which was stunning. It is expensive for what is around a 10 minute trip and it isn’t one we would do again however the views from the top are stunning.

Our final port was Gerainger. Here we had a coach excursion to visit the two view points over the town. I’ll be honest it was an expensive excursion for what it was (60 plus pounds each) and i would definitely do this on my own next time i visit. Saying this our coach driver was amazing and traversed the Eagle road with ease! The views were stunning although my stomach did struggle with the tight turns. In the evening we had a stunning cruise along the Fjord past the seven sisters waterfall. This was incredible. You could see snow topped mountains and waterfalls everywhere you looked.

Gerainger was our final stop, and we headed back to Liverpool. Unfortunately we hit a storm which meant very rough seas on our first sea day (4m waves and gale force winds). Stugeron tablets are a must. Although we felt a little weird and off balance we never felt sick unlike some of our sea mates! the next day was much calmer and he views of the western isles of Scotland stunning.

Final thoughts, would I cruise with Fred Olsen again? Absolutely. In fact while we were on board we booked next years cruise to Iceland and Greenland. Would I cruise from Liverpool again? Definitely. Will it be difficult to go back to fly cruising. Certainly.

The staff, food and ship were fabulous. Little touches like the captain saying goodbye to us getting off the ship, hot chocolate served on returning to the boat on the cold rainy days, a little leaflet with a summary of our cruise at the end of the trip are all little touches that make Fred such an appealing line to cruise with. Thank you for the most amazing trip.