Fred Olsen – fantastic food and service!
Well almost a week after returning from our cruise Louise and I are still waxing lyrical about Fred Olsen, and I think we have every right to sing their praises. When it comes to service they knock spots off their larger rivals, and having been on a variety of ships this year I feel I’m qualified to make that bold statement. Even before we boarded the Balmoral on the 29th November we were given a warm welcome by the staff at the cruise terminal.
As we boarded the ship we were greeted with warm smiles and shown to our Suite, and within minutes our cabin stewardess, Riza, came to introduce herself and tell us that if we needed anything at all during our cruise she wouldn’t be far away – “Just pop your head out of your door and call Riza and I will be there!” As she was speaking to us our luggage arrived so we were all unpacked and sorted out well before lifeboat drill. Can you imagine my excitement when I discovered that our Muster Station was The Palms Cafe – if the ship was going to go down I could grab a snack on my way to the lifeboat – Heaven!
At dinner that evening (only shortly after afternoon tea – hurrah!) we met our waiters for the first time – Thonam and Lakhorn, or Tom and Kim as we called them. What a delight they were. Not only was their service swift and efficient throughout the cruise they were very entertaining, infact, I really feel that Tom had missed his true vocation as a comedian! He also fancied himself as a bit of a James Bond. None of this easy banter that we positively encouraged with them ever detracted from their service though. They were a great source of amusement for my three teenagers too, who had suspected that this Formal Dining arrangement was going to be a bit of a trial – couldn’t have been more wrong! The photo above is the two waiters dressed up on Country and Western night with my youngest Tom. Other waiters who seved us at breakfast and lunch were also delightful. A special mention to the utterly gorgeous Richie, Captain Waiter, just for being eye candy really!
Now the food, where do I start? Anyone who knows me will know that I am a real foodie – proper food, non of this junk stuff. And proper food it was on Freds, and plenty of it let, me tell you. The selection was as good as I have seen on any ship and it was served HOT, unlike most ships who can only seem to manage lukewarm at best – that includes Cunard and NCL from my experience! For the first time ever I had proper English bacon on a ship too – fantastic! If anyone has any suggestions as to how I can lose the four stones before Chrsitmas please get in touch as a matter of urgency. Well, after all the trouble they had taken to prepare such good food it would have been rude not to eat it all!
The rest of the staff on the ship – Guest Relations, Hosts, Bar Waiters, Cabin Stewardesses, they were all so friendly, nothing was too much trouble. A real highlight was the ‘Crew Show’ on the penultimate night. These were not the proffessional entertainers, these were just engine room staff, deck hands, cabin stewards etc, and they bought the house down. Bear in mind that these people work almost every waking hour, and yet they still find time to rehearse this wonderful show that they put on so proudly.
A special mention also for Jamie Clarke, Host, who made our stay so memorable in so many ways – even making a simple game of Bingo great fun.
I have so much more to share about this cruise………… I’ll save that for another post, another day!
One Comment on “Fred Olsen – fantastic food and service!”
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I've been a Cruise Consultant for a number of years now and I can honestly say that it is just the best job ever. No two days are the same. I have got to know some fantastic people through the course of my job, both in the industry and clients,…
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It was nice to meet you on the cruise, and I can only agree with every word you have said (I was the chap on the floor playing 4 bingo cards) The food is amazing compared to higher star rated ships (HAL & RCCL) and they really do have the best staff and entertainment at sea, unless you want to spend 10 times more going for a 6 star experience, I would give good old fred my vote any day. And talking of weight gain, I put on 6 KG on that short cruise, and I thought I was eating sensibly, must have been the alcahol, they seemed to hand it out free on many an occassion.