George’s Toilet Talk – Part One Boudicca

So, in the last few months working for cruise.co.uk I have been lucky enough to have experienced a few different ships for both ocean and river cruises, and I have taken a lot of information from them that I can pass on to the customers I speak with.  One thing that I have come to notice, something that we as consultants don’t often take in but is often of valuable information to our customers, are the bathrooms on board the ships.  Quite often we take the information on the actual cabins, but why not the bathrooms as well?  For many people, the bathroom is of equal importance to the sleeping area, and whilst on the ships I have visited, I have come to notice a very varied degree of standards from ship to ship.

It is for this reason, I have come with the idea of providing open and honest reviews of the bathrooms on the cruise ships that I visit going forward.  I will bring you the good, the bad and the down and dirty points of each, giving you information you won’t get elsewhere.  Please feel free to contact or comment on my blogs if there are any pieces of information you would like me to add for future reviews.

So come and join me as we start talking toilets!

The first bathroom I would like to review is from the Fred Olsen Boudicca.  As you will have seen in a previous blog, I have recently returned from the cruise.co.uk annual conference on board where I stayed in a category D oceanview cabin (Cabin 4111), and whilst there, I thoroughly put the bathroom through its paces.

My first impression of the bathroom, was a very pleasant surprise.  Walking in to expecting the usual shower cubicle often crossed with a wet room, to find a bath with over handing shower was rather pleasing.  And to give Fred Olsen credit, with the ship being of a smaller size, the bathroom was larger in size than I was expecting as well. So points there to Fred.

Now, with having a bath on a cruise ship and me being a bath lover, it was just natural that I would take a bath whilst crossing the Irish Sea from Liverpool (something for me to tell the grandkids when I’m older).  And if you look below I have included a lovely picture of me scrubbing behind my ears whilst washing, for you all to see.

Now I am a tall guy (6ft3), so as much as I enjoy a bath, it is often a little difficult for someone of my height to lie flat whilst enjoying a soak.  Well tall people of the world, I say to get yourselves on a Fred Olsen cruise as I was practically doing lengths in my bath.  There was plenty of room for me in there, which did get me thinking if a smaller person may get lost in there from time to time.  And again, I have put a lovely photo below of my feet for you all to enjoy.

One thing I will say that let the bathroom down was the shower curtain.  I must admit to not being a fan of shower curtains at home for various reasons, and must admit the thought of a ‘public’ shower curtain, that other people have been exposed to (no pun intended) doesn’t make for a nice thought for me.  I do think, that in a glass panel is much more hygienic and sterile over a curtain, and if Fred is listening this is where I would say things need to change.

And now to take the conversation to the toilet, I do feel necessary to point out that the Fred Olsen toilet paper wasn’t the most tushy friendly that I can say I have ever experienced.  Now I am no Hyacinth Bucket expecting extra soft velvet coated scented paper, but something of a bit more substance with a slightly softer feel than sandpaper wouldn’t go a miss Fred Olsen if you please.  The little things make all the difference.  I do think if you were on a longer voyage, you might be tempted to purchase one or two rolls when off on shore for your use on the ship.

A lot of cruise lines these days have put a lot in to their toiletries, with many having their own brands or investing heavily in luxury brands to try and add that extra comfort for their guests.   I will say that for the Fred Olsen customer this isn’t something that they would normally come to expect so I was rather surprised to be presented with Cole and Lewis hand wash as well as their body wash in the shower.  Although I tend to take my own, for research purposed I did test them out and would say the quality was of similar standard to Molton Brown.  Points there again to Fred.  I would like to point out that these were in large bottles secured to the wall and the kleptomaniac in me that loves to ‘collect’ the free sample bottles that you often get on cruises and hotels, was severely disappointed.  But you can’t win them all.

Overall, I think I would give the Fred Olsen Bathroom a 7 out of 10.  I think having the bath in the cabin (I know these are not in all cabins) really swung this in their favour for me.  I often get customers requesting a bath, with not many modern ships having them, this can be a disappointment for them.  As I have mentioned, I think their toilet paper quality could do with some work, especially for those with a sensitive nature, but you will be surprised and smell rather pleasant after using their toiletries on board and I will certainly be highlighting some of these points it the customers I speak with going forward.

Join me again for the next edition of George’s Toilet Talk, as I tackle the cruise industry one toilet at a time.

To be continued…..