Fred. Olsen is pleased to announce that Dick Strawbridge MBE, who iscurrently a contestant on Celebrity Masterchef, will be a special guest speaker aboard Boudicca’s Coastal Britain Around UK cruise (D1022) of nine nights, departing Newcastle on 26th September 2010.

Dick Strawbridge is the perfect host on such a cruise, having appeared as a guest presenter on the enormously popular series, Coast. Dick spent over 20 years in the Army, rising to Lieutenant Colonel, and also took a degree in Electrical Engineering. He was awarded the MBE in 1993 for his distinguished service in Northern Ireland, and left the Army in 2001.While he was still in the Army, his family persuaded him to audition for C4’s Scrapheap Challenge, and his ebullient personality and technical know-how revealed him to be an ideal TV presenter. 

He has since hosted many series of Scrapheap Challenge and Junkyard Wars, as well as numerous other popular TV programmes. More recently, his family was filmed for It’s Not Easy Being Green. Dick has appeared as a guest presenter on both The One Show and Coast. Since then, Dick has become very much part of the Coast team, filming on a large number of episodes, mainly using his engineering and military history experience. His specialist knowledge and great gifts as a speaker will make him a very popular addition
to this Around UK cruise.

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has just announced that Dick Strawbridge MBE will be a special guest speaker aboard Boudicca’s Coastal Britain Around UK cruise (D1022) of nine nights, departing Newcastle on 26th September 2010. There is no better way to see the best of the British coastline than from a ship – and a smaller cruise ship can reach little islands and picturesque ports inaccessible to larger vessels. Dick Strawbridge is the perfect host on such a cruise, having appeared as a guest presenter on the enormously popular series, Coast.

Born in County Antrim in 1959, Dick was the third of seven children and, from an early age, displayed a fascination for machines, and loved taking things to pieces.   He spent over 20 years in the Army, rising to Lieutenant Colonel, and also took a degree in Electrical Engineering. He was awarded the MBE in 1993 for his distinguished service in Northern Ireland, and left the Army in 2001.

While he was still in the Army, his family persuaded him to audition for C4’s Scrapheap Challenge, and his ebullient personality and technical know-how revealed him to be an ideal TV presenter. He has since hosted many series of Scrapheap Challenge and Junkyard Wars, as well as numerous other popular TV programmes. More recently, his family was filmed for It’s Not Easy Being Green, showing life on their smallholding in Cornwall, where they try to live an environmentally friendly lifestyle. Dick has appeared as a guest presenter on both The One Show and Coast. He originally appeared on Coast as a one-off presenter, explaining the workings of the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge. Since then, Dick has become very much part of the Coast team, filming on a large number of episodes, mainly using his engineering and military history experience. His specialist knowledge and great gifts as a speaker will make him a very popular addition to this lovely Around UK cruise.

The itinerary begins from Newcastle (Port of Tyne), and then Boudicca heads south, visiting first Portland on the Dorset coast, then across to the Channel Islands, where she visits St. Peter Port, the bustling port that is Guernsey’s capital. Great tax free shopping, as well as picturesque cobbled streets, make this a delightful port of call. The cruise then takes a Celtic turn, with Milford Haven in Wales the next stop, followed by Dublin, one of the most vibrant and welcoming cities in Europe and home to the famous Irish “craic”. Travelling northwards up the east coast, Boudicca docks at Tobermory on the tiny Isle of Mull, with its pretty pastel coloured buildings, busy harbour and backdrop of rolling hills. The opportunities for spotting wildlife are wonderful, with otters, seals and dolphins frequent visitors to these waters.

A cruise of the Hebrides and northern coast of Scotland offers some stunning scenery, best enjoyed from the decks of the ship, until Boudicca reaches her last port – Invergordon – before travelling back to Newcastle. 

Prices for this cruise start from just £726 per person, based on two adults sharing an inside twin cabin. This represents excellent value for money, when you consider that it includes comfortable en-suite accommodation, all meals and entertainment on board, as well as port taxes, and use of a whole host of great facilities – plus, of course, talks from Dick Strawbridge.

To book or for more information please contact your local ACE Travel Agent.

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has launched its new season of Music and Laughter variety shows with a brochure promoting the programme. Great bands, comedians and solo artists are all featured, providing star-studded entertainment on board.

Covering cruises from autumn 2010 through to spring 2011, the programme is offered across all four ships in the fleet – Balmoral, Braemar, Black Watch and Boudicca – and the acts aboard offer a wide range of entertainment styles, from rock and pop, swing, jazz and soul to top-rate comedy.

Performers include the chart-topping Opera Babes; the Divas of Motown performing some of the best-loved Tamla Motown hits from the sixties; Colin Bryant and his Hot Rhythm Orchestra, rocking the ship with swing and jazz numbers; and the evergreen sixties band still delighting audiences everywhere - The Merseybeats.   Tribute is paid to some of the great names from entertainment such as Elvis – the king of rock and roll, along with Abba.   There are also popular acts from the world of comedy with Jim Bowen, Don Reid, and Jimmy Tamley.

Sample cruises:-

Black Watch Western Mediterranean, W1018.

This 14-night cruise departs from Southampton on 15th October 2010, and features the sensational Opera Babes. This opera-singing duo are big stars on both sides of the Atlantic, with their first album reaching number one in the UK Classical Charts and number four in the USA. They will be entertaining guests aboard this autumn cruise, that visits Gibraltar, Menorca, Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Ibiza and Almeria, combining some great European cities with picturesque landscapes and warm, balmy weather. Prices for this cruise start from £999 per person

Boudicca Eastern Mediterranean D1024

This 23-night cruise departs from Newcastle on 19th October 2010. Two great acts will be keeping guests entertained during the cruise – The Grumbleweeds and The Merseybeats. The Merseybeats are the original sixties Liverpool band, still going strong from their early days in the famous Cavern Club, where they played alongside The Beatles.   A very different kind of entertainment is provided by the Grumbleweeds, whose unique blend of music, comedy and impersonations have gained them a huge following.

The cruise visits a host of historic ports, including Portugal’s elegant capital, Lisbon, Malta’s capital Valletta, Piraeus (for Athens), La Goulette (for Tunis), as well as ever-popular Gibraltar, and returns to Liverpool (with coach transfers between ports include in the price.)

Prices for this long and fascinating cruise start from £1,659 per person.

Black Watch Caribbean W1020

A relaxed way to visit the Caribbean with no flying, this 28-night cruise departs from Southampton on 12th November 2010 and sails, via Tenerife, across the Atlantic to reach Barbados, its first Caribbean port of call. A cornucopia of delightful islands follows – Grenada, St Lucia, St Kitts, Tortola, Antigua and St Maarten, before the return Atlantic crossing via The Azores to Southampton,.

Delighting audiences during this cruise are The Divas of Motown. This talented trio relive the great days of Tamla Motown, recreating the sounds of The Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas, Gladys Knight and many other Motown greats. Also entertaining guests aboard will be The Upbeat Beatles, one of the finest Beatles tribute bands around. An additional attraction is speaker Steve Simone, a soul-singer and songwriter, who will be speaking on the History of Motown.

Prices for this cruise start from £2,299 per person.

Lol Nichols, general sales manager for Fred. Olsen, said: “We are delighted to be bringing entertainers of this calibre on board our ships; the itineraries are superb and the cruise experience can only be enhanced by entertainment of this quality – and it is all included in the price. Agents should make sure their customers know about all this great free entertainment – it could just be the added extra that secures the booking.”

All prices quoted are per person, based on two sharing an inside twin cabin and include all meals and entertainment on board, as well as port taxes.

Find out more at www.fredolsencruises.co.uk  Agents can book online via F.OCAL or AmadeusCruise, or by calling Reservations on 01473 742424.

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has launched its brochure of worldwide cruises for 2011/12, with a new, more user-friendly design. The new format includes a useful gazetteer of ports of call, listed alphabetically, so it is easier than ever to research each destination on a selected cruise. Individual cruise pages now also feature a series of highlights relevant to each cruise, making selection easier.

There is no better way to see the best of the British coastline than from a ship – and a smaller cruise ship can reach little islands and picturesque ports inaccessible to larger vessels. A round Britain cruise involves no flying, so is not subject to problems from volcanic ash, strikes, or other annoying delays.

Fred. Olsen’s Boudicca, which carries only 856 passengers, sets sail from Newcastle (Port of Tyne) on 26th September for a glorious nine night autumn cruise (D1022). She heads south, visiting first Portland on the Dorset coast, then across to the Channel islands where she visits St Peter Port, the bustling port that is Guernsey’s capital. Great tax free shopping, as well as picturesque cobbled streets make this a delightful port of call. The cruise then takes a Celtic turn, with Milford Haven in Wales the next stop, followed by Dublin, one of the most vibrant and welcoming cities in Europe and home to the famous Irish “craic”. Travelling northwards up the east coast, Boudicca docks at Tobermory on the tiny Isle of Mull, with its pretty pastel coloured buildings, busy harbour and backdrop of rolling hills. The opportunities for spotting wildlife are wonderful, with otters, seals and dolphins frequent visitors to these waters.

A cruise of the Hebrides and northern cost of Scotland offers some stunning scenery, best enjoyed from the decks of the ship, until Boudicca reaches her last port – Invergordon – before travelling back to Newcastle.

Prices for this cruise start from just £726 per person based on two sharing an inside twin cabin. This represents excellent value for money, when you consider that it includes comfortable en-suite accommodation, all meals and entertainment on onboard as well as port taxes, and use of a whole host of great facilities including swimming pools, gym, lounges, library, card room and much more.

To find out more about Fred. Olsen’s Round Britain cruises, visit www.fredolsencruises.co.uk Agents can book online via F.OCAL or AmadeusCruise. Alternatively, call Reservations on 01473 742424.
 

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution – RNLI – in recognition of the cruise lines’ 40 years of fundraising for the Lifeboat charity. The award was presented to Fred. Olsen managing Director, Mike Rodwell, by HRH Prince Michael of Kent at the charity’s annual presentation, held at the Barbican Centre on Thursday 27th May.

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has long associations with the port of Greenock, with the Black Prince cruise ship a regular visitor in the past, carrying many passengers to destinations worldwide from this Scottish port.

Following Black Prince’s retirement in October 2009, her place has been taken by her slightly larger sister Boudicca and the first sailing from Greenock Ocean Terminal aboard this elegant ship will be on Sunday 6th June, when she embarks on a cruise of fourteen nights to the Canary Islands. This cruise – D1011 – visits Leixos (for Oporto), Lanzarote, Tenerife, La Gomera, La Palma, Madeira and Vigo in Spain, before returning to Greenock. Prices start from £1,171 per person based on two sharing an inside twin cabin, and the price includes all meals and entertainment on board and port taxes. (This cruise has very limited availability, so customers are advised to call for latest status before booking.)

Greenock will be Boudicca’s homeport for three cruises – after returning from the Canaries she has a 16-night cruise to Italy, followed by a seven-night voyage to the Norwegian fjords, before repositioning to another Scottish port – Rosyth – until mid-August.

Nigel Lingard. Fred. Olsen’s sales and marketing director said: “It has long been our policy to offer a comprehensive choice of cruises from regional ports around the UK, and in the past many of these ports were served by Black Prince. We are happy to maintain this tradition with Boudicca – as well as sailing from Greenock and Rosyth in summer, she has cruises form Liverpool and Newcastle, so there is plenty of choice from northern ports.”

Although larger than the diminutive Black Prince, Boudicca is still modestly sized, carrying 856 passengers in a selection of well appointed cabins and suites. This traditional, elegant vessel, with plentiful deck space, spacious and airy public rooms and a good range of facilities is a very popular choice today, with those who prefer the more intimate experience of smaller ships with a friendly and relaxed on-board style.

For details of all Boudicca’s northern departures, visit www.fredolsencruises.co.uk To book a cruise call Reservations on 01473 742424, book online or see your local ACE travel agent.
 

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has launched a brochure dedicated to its programme of departures from Dover this year on its ships Balmoral and Braemar.    Destinations for the 16 sailings featured in the brochure are as diverse as the Arctic, Spitsbergen, Norwegian fjords, Canary Islands, Iberia, Mediterranean and the Adriatic, with cruise lengths from seven nights to 21-nights.

Cruising from Dover is so simple, with its excellent road and rail connections, two comfy terminal buildings, and surely what has to be one of the most beautiful views from any harbour – the magnificent Dover Castle high up above the famous white cliffs standing guard over this important south-eastern corner of England.

Steam locomotive enthusiasts who cruise with Fred. Olsen on Black Watch’s ‘Around the UK’ cruise in August, will be in for a rare treat as one of the founders of  the ‘Tornado’ project will be on board as a guest lecturer.    Roger Aves will be on board, equipped with full footage and pictures – and a good selection of stories as well – to take his audience through the project which, over the space of nineteen years went from an idea to the reality of the locomotive moving under its own power.

‘Tornado’ came about as a result of a group of people getting together who shared an extraordinary ambition which was to construct a brand new Peppercorn A1 Pacific locomotive.   This dream became reality when the locomotive made her first run on 29th July, 2008.

 Balmoral L1003 Canary Islands from Dover 3rd May 2010

Both experienced and novice players can take part, with Paul Hackett giving talks and commenting on each day’s play.  This is a unique opportunity to combine some serious bridge playing with a wonderful, warm-weather itinerary to the Canaries, as they bask in Spring sunshine.  The presence of a player of Paul Hackett’s calibre - a Gold Medal winner in the World Senior Championship – will enhance the cruise for all participants.

Black Prince Cruise Ltd., a sister company to Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, has completed on the sale of its ship, Black Prince, to the Venezuelan company Servicios Acuaticos de Venezuela Saveca C.A. (known as Saveca). The ship was handed over to its new owners on 4rd November, 2009, in Southampton having completed the decommissioning process.

Black Prince was built for Fred. Olsen in 1966 as a combined ferry/cruise ship, and since 1987 has operated as a full-time cruise ship. Carrying 412 passengers, itineraries have covered destinations far and wide including all the popular European destinations, Atlantic Islands, fjords and Arctic, and the Caribbean. Although her cruise career began originally in the south coast ports of Southampton and Dover, in recent years the ship opened up the UK regional market with cruises leaving from Newcastle, Leith, Greenock and Liverpool. Most recently, she operated out of the west coast ports of Greenock and Liverpool only.

Managing Director, Mike Rodwell, said: “Black Prince has served us well over her 43 year life, and has certainly contributed to expanding our market of British cruise passengers; her small size, friendly staff, and convenient regional departure programme have all made her a firm favourite for cruising from the UK. Although she will be missed, the regional departure programme, which was so popular with our passengers, will be taken over by the 856 passenger Boudcca. ”

- ends –

Jill Channing/Edward Meadows Wendy Hooper-Greenhill
Bugsgang & Associates Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines
Tel: 01795 518200 Tel: 01473 292200
Email: jill.channing@bugsgang.co.uk 06 November 2009

Black Prince Cruise Ltd., a sister company to Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, has completed on the sale of its ship, Black Prince, to the Venezuelan company Servicios Acuaticos de Venezuela Saveca C.A. (known as Saveca). The ship was handed over to its new owners on 4rd November, 2009, in Southampton having completed the decommissioning process.

Black Prince was built for Fred. Olsen in 1966 as a combined ferry/cruise ship, and since 1987 has operated as a full-time cruise ship.    Carrying 412 passengers, itineraries have covered destinations far and wide including all the popular European destinations, Atlantic Islands, fjords and Arctic, and the Caribbean.     Although her cruise career began originally in the south coast ports of Southampton and Dover, in recent years the ship opened up the UK regional market with cruises leaving from Newcastle, Leith, Greenock and Liverpool.     Most recently, she operated out of the west coast ports of Greenock and Liverpool only.

Managing Director, Mike Rodwell, said:  “Black Prince has served us well over her 43 year life, and has certainly contributed to expanding our market of British cruise passengers;  her small size, friendly staff, and convenient regional departure programme have all made her a firm favourite for cruising from the UK.   Although she will be missed, the regional departure programme, which was so popular with our passengers, will be taken over by the 856 passenger Boudcca. ”

A new casual buffet dining area is being created on Fred Olsen Cruise Lines' Black Watch during a two-week dry-dock refurbishment next month.

To be called the Braemar Garden, it replaces the Braemar Lounge and Garden Café in the middle of the ship on deck six. It will seat 120 people - 40 more than can currently be accommodated in the Garden Café. One section will be screened off, creating a 40-seat room that can be used for private dining.

During the dry-dock, at the Blohm and Voss shipyard in Hamburg starting on December 2, soft furnishings in public areas will also be changed and many bathrooms will be refitted.

On the technical side, the last three open lifeboats will be replaced by two covered boats.

Fred Olsen marketing director Nigel Lingard said the refurbishment will improve and enhance the facilities on board. "The new casual dining area will be fresher and more contemporary, and will offer a more spacious alternative dining option."

Black Watch will be back in service on December 14, departing Southampton on a five-day European Christmas Markets mini-cruise.
 

Source: Travel Weekly

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has just launched another of its popular photography competitions, aimed at customers past and present. Details of the competition and how to enter can be found at www.fredolsenphotocompetition.co.uk
 

The site includes examples of good and bad photography, and tips on how to take a really good picture, along with some entries from previous competitions. Entrants are invited to submit pictures featuring Fred. Olsen ships, destinations, or both, and the competition is open until 31st December 2009. First prize is a Casio Camera, second prize a Casio watch, and third prize is an on board spend of £75.00 for the winner to use on a Fred. Olsen cruise.

Shona Michell, who runs the Fred. Olsen website, said: “We know that many of our customers are keen photographers and some are very talented, so we are really looking forward to seeing this year’s entries. Who knows, your latest holiday snaps could be prize-winners!”

NB: - Entrants should note that by submitting their photographs they are giving Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines copyright to those images.
 

A new microsite has just been launched by Fred. Olsen to promoteThe ArtsClub, the programme of special interest theme cruises which is available on selected itineraries on all five ships in the fleet.   The ArtsClub encompasses a wide range of subjects on popular hobbies and pastimes, and is available to all passengers at no additional cost (with the exception of a small charge for wine tasting and materials for water-colour painting).

Find out more by visiting www.fredolsencruises-artsclub.co.uk