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Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines Preferred Cruiseline

Available Cruise Lines

As a family-run cruise line, Fred. Olsen really take your experience personally. While the cruise industry has gone for bigger ships, brimming with more and more people, they have always believed that smaller is better. They treat passengers as guests, they dock at smaller ports in more interesting places and they avoid overcrowding both aboard and ashore. At capacity, their smaller ships will only ever sail with between 900 and 1,400 guests.

They have a small team of specialist itinerary planners. They take great pride in handcrafting each journey, to ensure they show you hidden gems as well as highlights on each of their sailings. It is a passion that has won them the Cruise Critic award for Best Itineraries for five consecutive years.

With Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, you can cruise from seven regional UK ports to hundreds of destinations worldwide in the classic style and comfort aboard their smaller-sized ships.

Effective for all cruises departing from 1st January 2026, all of the following will be included in Fred Olsen’s Freedom Fares:

New additional inclusions from 1st Jan 2026:
- House beer, wine and draught soft drinks with lunch and dinner onboard^
- Shuttle buses when the port is more than one mile from the ship
- Guided walks in port (weather dependent)
- Fitness classes
- Gratuities
^Inclusive drinks will be available in the main dining rooms, buffet and speciality restaurants during lunch and dinner only. This does not include The Poolside (on Bolette and Borealis), snack venues, afternoon tea or supper club.

Currently Included:
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner, buffet afternoon tea and late-night buffet
- Self-service tea and coffee available in selected venues, and in-cabin dining and snacks
- All evening entertainment, including cabaret shows, dancing and live music
- Enrichment lectures and talks including local experts on all cruises longer than 14 nights
- Use of on board leisure facilities, including swimming pools, Jacuzzis and gym whilst cruising
- A wide choice of on board activities, talks and demonstrations throughout the day
- Luggage porterage between your cabin and the drop-off/pick-up point
- Formal welcome and/or Captain`s Drinks Party and Gala Buffet
- Port taxes

For all departures from 1st January 2026, Borealis will be exclusively an adults only ship.

Satisfaction Guarantee:
Everything Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines do is carefully considered to ensure their guests have the most wonderful cruise experience possible. They are so confident you will enjoy the way they cruise, that they make you a satisfaction guarantee. If after a couple of days on board you find that it is not right for you, they will fly you back to the UK at their expense from the next available port and your cruise fare will be refunded in full. Conditions apply*

(*Satisfaction Guarantee (formerly The Olsen Way Promise) excludes Party Nights and cruises for 4 or less nights.  The promise only applies to Bookings made for departures more than 12 weeks ahead. Satisfaction Guarantee only applies to Passengers who have contracted with FOCL and excludes cruises on vessels operated by FOCL but booked through third Party operators. Should you wish to invoke the Satisfaction Guarantee, you will need to inform Guest Relations within 48 hours of the Vessel's departure from the original port of embarkation at the latest. FOCL will arrange and pay for a flight and/or transport back to the UK.  FOCL will refund the cruise cost only but will not refund other costs.)

Ships

Dining to suit every taste...

Enjoy a taste of our superb food, made the way you like it, at every meal you take on board one of our cruise ships.

One of the highlights of a Fred. Olsen cruise is the food. Expert chefs lovingly produce great dishes night after night. Every day menus are something special, with appetisers like herb-marinated salmon or crab cocktail and indulgent main courses like sirloin steak with a choice of sauces, pan seared red snapper with scallops, slow roast duckling confit or balsamic braised lamb shank.

Of course there are vegetarian dishes and healthy choices too, with an emphasis on fish dishes inspired by our Norwegian heritage; so even if you’re watching your diet, you’re in for a treat!

The desserts are every bit as tasty (think white chocolate parfait or mango apple tart) and the sugar free option means no-one has to miss out.

The Maitre d’ on board allocates your dining table arrangements. You can request first sitting (6.30pm) or second sitting (8.30pm) at time of booking. When you arrive on board you will find a Restaurant Seating Card in your cabin, which will advise you of your table number and dining time. This will be your allocated table for the duration of the cruise.

The main restaurants are:

Black Watch Glentanar Restaurant

Boudicca Four Seasons and Tintagel Restaurants

Braemar Thistle and Grampian Restaurants

Balmoral Ballindalloch, Avon and Spey Restaurants.
Ballindalloch is the main restaurant on Deck 6, whilst the Avon and Spey are more
intimate restaurants on Deck 10. Menu and service are identical.

Mealtimes are as flexible as possible – after all you are on holiday. Breakfast is normally served between 7.15 and 10.00am and lunch between 12.00 and 2.00pm in the main restaurants. A buffet breakfast and lunch will also be served in the Palms Cafe on both Braemar and Balmoral, and weather permitting, in the Poolside Cafe and Marquee Pool Bar on Black Watch.

‘Open Sitting’ evening dining is offered as an informal option in the Garden Cafe on Black Watch, The Secret Garden on Boudicca, and in the Palms Cafe on both Braemar and Balmoral. These informal restaurants operate on a self service basis, but a bar service is available.

Dress Code
Generally speaking, the style is informal, with gentlemen wearing jacket and tie (lounge suit or sports jacket is fine) and ladies smartly dressed. On ‘Formal’ evenings, gentlemen will prefer to wear ‘black tie’ with ladies elegantly dressed in cocktail or evening dress. As a guideline there are usually four formal nights on a two-week cruise. Details will be supplied with your travel documents.

Dining times

Meal Normal Sitting Late Sitting
Breakfast 7.15am - 9.30am 7.30am - 10.00am
Lunch 12.00pm - 2.00pm
Dinner 6.30pm - 8.30pm 8.30pm - 10.30pm

What is your procedure for tipping on board ?

Gratuities are not included in the cost of your holiday. However, we pride ourselves on the service offered to our guests, and are confident that you’ll wish to reward staff on board for this service, although tipping is entirely at your discretion.

As a general rule, gratuities are charged at £5.00 per person, per day for guests aged 12 and over on our ocean cruise ships and £8.00 per person, per day for guests aged 12 and over on our river ship Brabant. This is split between your stewardess and restaurant waiter, and will be automatically added to your on board account. Please remember that our gratuities, while very much appreciated, are voluntary and therefore can be adjusted or removed completely at Guest Services on board the ship if you wish.

For your convenience, you are also able to pay gratuities before your cruise. At the time of booking you will be asked if you’d like to pay prior to travel. If so, you’ll pay 15% of the charge as part of your deposit, and pay the rest when the final balance of your cruise is collected.

If you do not pre-pay at the time of booking, but wish to pay your gratuities before you join the ship, simply call our reservations department at least 5 days before departure and the team will be happy to help.

Do You Cater for Children ?

On peak holiday cruises, we will arrange a variety of family orientated childrens activities. These activities will include arts and crafts, disco’s, treasure hunts and similar events, which will be advertised in the Daily Times on board. Separate family pool times will also be advertised.

Whereas these activities will be run by our team of hosts and hostesses, they will not be supervised and will require the parent/guardian to be in attendance at all times. These activities are designed to promote family fun, and whilst the target age is 5-11 years, all family members are welcome.

Babysitting
Unfortunately no baby-sitting services are available on any of the Fred Olsen Cruise Line ships.