All About Cruises

Category: Fred. Olson

  • Introducing the New Beatles-Themed World Cruise from Fred. Olsen

    Introducing the New Beatles-Themed World Cruise from Fred. Olsen

    Fred. Olsen is prepping a new and very unique world cruise. It’s a themed cruise based entirely around the music of the Beatles! Set to sail in 2024, this itinerary is a must for anyone who loves music and traveling the world. And in case you were curious, yes, there will be an actual yellow submarine that you can hop aboard. This is the real deal!

    While this is a world cruise in the sense that it lasts for months and traverses multiple continents, the destinations aren’t the ones that you may be used to. Rather than choosing their ports based on nearby UNESCO sites or popular tourist areas, this cruise instead aims to follow the same path forged by the Beatles on their legendary 1964 world tour. That means that it’s a round trip from Liverpool with stops throughout Europe, Asia, Oceania, and North America.

    The theme of the cruise makes sense considering Fred. Olsen’s long standing reputation as one of the U.K.’s premier cruise lines. The company also noted that the sailing is a “celebration of Fred. Olsen’s long-standing links to Liverpool.” Peter Deer, the managing director for the company, added, “The Beatles are one of the many icons that have helped to put Liverpool on the map as a city of culture, and this cruise is the perfect way for us to celebrate our long-standing relationship and our sailings from the city.”

    Beatles fans will be able to enjoy the traditional cruise experience in addition to curated experiences based on the Beatles’ discography and iconography. The Cavern Club will be a dedicated area to listen and dance to songs by the famous quartet, and Cruise Industry News reports that there will be “a special “hill” out on deck – built from Norwegian wood – where guests can sit and enjoy the views and sunsets.”

    The most exciting addition of all, though, is the Fred. Olsen submarine which will be on the ship. It will allow guests to glimpse the Australian Great Barrier Reef up close. Dubbed the SS Penny Lane, it will be painted yellow just for this itinerary.

    In total, the Magical Music of the Beatles cruise is planned for 118 nights. It will be on the Fred. Olsen Borealis, a ship that entered into service for the cruise line in 2020. It departs on May 30th, 2024.

    That’s not the only Fred. Olsen news. According to the cruise line, they will be releasing their schedule for the 2023/2024 season at the end of April. Keep your eyes peeled for that!

  • New 2021 Itineraries from Royal Caribbean and Fred. Olsen

    New 2021 Itineraries from Royal Caribbean and Fred. Olsen

    Both Royal Caribbean and Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines have announced some brand new 2021 itineraries. This comes at a time when we are mostly hearing about cruise lines cancelling itineraries, so needless to say these are both exciting announcements! Royal’s itineraries are mostly going to be taking place in summer 2021 while Fred. Olsen’s will be throughout the entire year. Let’s take a look at some of the coolest itineraries for both cruise lines!

    Fred. Olsen

    Fred. Olsen announced a total of eight new itineraries that will be launched in 2021. They will all be taking place on Balmoral, a Fred. Olsen ship with a max occupancy of 1325 guests and 510 crew. One of the first of the new itineraries will be a 14-night cruise that departs from Southampton on February 2nd, 2021. From England, the ship will stop at port cities like Lisbon, Portugal and Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. Guests can look forward to seven total port stops before returning to Southampton. Another excellent looking option is the 13-night Arctic Norway and Northern Lights cruise. This itinerary departs from Portsmouth on November 4th, 2021 and heads directly north. All of the port cities are in Norway, including Molde, Narvik, Alta, and more. This sailing promises the chance to view amazing polar wildlife. If you’re interested in the Arctic Norway and Northern Lights cruise, it’s best to act fast. The cruise line has a special deal that gives free drinks to anyone who books one of these cruises before November 2021.

    Royal Caribbean

    There were a number of itinerary changes announced for Royal. This mainly comes as a result of existing sailings being moved around and ships being given redeployments. The existing sailings that are affected are between April and October 2021. Adventure of the Seas will now be sailing a series of shorter itineraries from Barcelona throughout the Mediterranean area rather than its original schedule of Scandinavian cruises. It is essentially switching spots with Jewel of the Seas, which will now be sailing week-long itineraries in Scandinavia rather than in the Mediterreanean. Independence of the Seas will move from Ft. Lauderdale to Miami to sail the Caribbean in summer, leaving Brilliance of the Seas able to stay in Tampa. Finally, Vision of the Seas will no longer sail from Barcelona and will instead sail from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

    Royal has said that affected customers will be notified in the coming weeks about the changes, so keep an eye on your inbox if you had a Royal cruise booked for this summer. Otherwise, just look forward to more options from Fred. Olsen and Royal in 2021!

  • Fred. Olsen: Out with Boudicca and Black Watch, In with Bolette and Borealis!

    Fred. Olsen: Out with Boudicca and Black Watch, In with Bolette and Borealis!

    It seems that regulars to the Fred. Olsen cruise line should get ready for some major changes to their fleet. It was announced just a bit ago that they would be receiving two new ships that they purchased from Holland America, and they will be retiring two older ships to make room for these vessels. Let’s check out which ships are on their way out, as well as the ships that will be replacing them.

    Retiring two ships

    Because there are two ships coming in, two ships have to go out. These two are the Boudicca and the Black Watch. These ships were, in terms of modern cruising, pretty old, as they were both built in 1972. The Black Watch was the ship that had been in Fred. Olsen’s fleet the longest, as it had been sailing with them since 1996, giving it a 24-year career with the company. Boudicca, on the other hand, had a shorter career, starting in 2005 and lasting 15 years. Both were far smaller than the ships that are replacing them, clocking in at around 28,000 tons whereas the new ships are both over 60,000 tons. It isn’t clear whether Fred. Olsen is planning to sell these ships or simply scrap them, but it’s likely that it would be relatively hard to find a buyer for old, small ships. Guests who were booked on either of these two ships will have their bookings transferred to one of the two new ships.

    The new ships

    The two new ships that will be replacing the Boudicca and the Black Watch will be the Bolette (formerly known as the Holland America Rotterdam) and the Borealis (formerly known as the Holland America Amsterdam). Neither of them are brand new ships, but they are younger than most of Fred. Olsen’s fleet, with the Borealis being built in 1997 and the Bolette being built in 2000. They will definitely be giving Fred. Olsen a more modern feel, and they will also be the largest ships in their fleet by far. When the cruise line accepts the vessels, their fleet will be five-strong, including one river ship.

    Virtual goodbye

    TThe two cruise ships that are leaving the Fred. Olsen fleet both have very long histories with the cruise line, so it makes sense that saying goodbye will be a bittersweet moment for both Fred. Olsen and their guests. With this in mind, Fred. Olsen will be hosting a virtual farewell ceremony on their online cruise hub.

    If you have any thoughts or pictures you’d like to share, head over to The Bridge and celebrate the careers of the Black Watch and the Boudicca!

  • Coronavirus Cases on Paul Gauguin and Hurtigruten Cruises

    Coronavirus Cases on Paul Gauguin and Hurtigruten Cruises

    Ever since the cruise industry ground to a painful halt, we haven’t heard about too many different instances of coronavirus outbreaks on cruise ships. This is a good thing, and it means that we are avoiding potentially dangerous infections breaking out on packed cruise ships. However, with some cruise lines beginning to resume operations, we are already seeing the coronavirus cases occur again. This time, two different cruise lines have confirmed infections on their ships: Paul Gauguin and Hurtigruten.

    Paul Gauguin

    Paul Gauguin, a smaller cruise line that is based out of Washington, has confirmed as of August 2nd that it has a coronavirus case on its ship that has been docked in Papeete, the capital city of French Polynesia. While we don’t know whether it was a passenger or a crew member, we do know that this voyage has been cancelled due to it. This was only Paul Gauguin’s second sailing since they had restarted their operations last month. It should also be noted that Paul Gauguin has had some relatively strict health measures aboard this ship, yet this infection was still able to happen. It is unclear whether the case was contracted on the ship or simply brought onto the ship from someone who got infected while on land.

    Hurtigruten

    While Paul Gauguin has only confirmed the presence of one case on their ship, Hurtigruten is dealing with an entire outbreak on their vessel Roald Amundsen. Apparently 33 crew members have currently tested positive. There were sailings aboard Roald Amundsen on both July 17th and July 24th, so all guests who could have possibly come into contact with an infected crew member have been notified, and are being told to move into self-quarantine, as per Norwegian health rules.

    What does this mean for these companies?

    While neither Paul Gauguin nor Hurtigruten have released statements about what their next moves are, this is not a good sign. Both cruise lines had only just begun sailing again, and the fact that coronavirus was able to be transmitted this quickly just means that they were not prepared to offer a completely safe experience for their guests. We can only guess, but we expect to see both companies either cancel future sailings or enforce even stricter health measures than before.

    Hurtigruten has already cancelled one sailing on Roald Amundsen that was supposed to leave on August 7th, with Paul Gauguin not yet announcing more cancellations.

  • Fred. Olsen Reports Positively on Their Virtual Cruise Hub

    Fred. Olsen Reports Positively on Their Virtual Cruise Hub

    A while back, we covered an innovative new venture from Fred. Olsen: their virtual cruise hub (you can read that over here). We loved the idea of offering travelers a way to connect with the cruise line from the safety and comfort of their homes. It seemed like it would foster a sense of community within those who used the site, which is something desperately needed in times like now. We also imagined that it could drive up bookings or increase consumer engagement with Fred. Olsen, making it a very smart move on their part.

    The verdict is in

    It turns out our hypothesis was correct! According to Fred. Olsen, their virtual cruise hub has resulted in a number of different successes. The most important thing to note is that they are seeing an 11% increase in bookings for 2021 as compared to this year. This is especially important considering how bookings are, in general, quite low right now in light of the coronavirus. To think that their site resulted in such an increase makes it a huge triumph.

    Increased engagement

    It’s hard to directly pinpoint the virtual cruise hub as the direct cause of this increase. Still, it’s hard to deny that it seems to have made a significant positive impact on the overall engagement the public has with the company. Their website traffic has risen by 250% since the first digital sailing occurred on April 9th. To look at it even more specifically, visits to the site from Facebook have increased by 252%, suggesting that people who normally wouldn’t have just navigated their way to the Fred. Olsen website now find an intriguing reason to do so, being enticed by the virtual cruise hub which they are finding via Facebook. With such a large increase in engagement on the site, it’s not too difficult to extrapolate that it likely played a big role in the bookings increase.

    Should more companies follow Fred. Olsen’s lead?

    Well, we already made our opinion known about this over here, but this report from Fred. Olsen really just solidifies the potential benefits of building an online cruise community. We still have a while until cruises can really start up again, so there’s more than enough time for cruise lines to invest in digital experiences like this. Fred. Olsen has proven there’s a real economic benefit to be found, and it’s one that isn’t likely to completely disappear once coronavirus is no longer an issue. An online cruise hub makes way more sense as a form of social media for cruise lines than Instagram or Facebook, as it provides that real sense of interaction and exploration that cruises are known for. Cruise lines, we say go for it!

  • More Companies Should Create Digital Cruise Experiences

    More Companies Should Create Digital Cruise Experiences

    Look, these are strange times. We’re all stuck in our houses eating the same meal over and over (probably), we haven’t seen most of our friends in weeks (most likely), and we are all going a tiny bit crazy (definitely). Before the pandemic struck, lots of us used to beat cabin fever and any other general crazinesses by traveling, and cruising was just perfect. But now that cruise lines are shut down for the foreseeable future, what are we to do to recapture that feeling?

    A few forward-thinking companies out there have come up with solutions. Cruise lines like Fred. Olsen and Lindblad have developed online, digital cruise experiences. While moving cruises onto our computers for the time being may sound a bit weird, it makes more sense than it seems at first glance. Cruises are less of a singular experience and more of a collection of different experiences that cater to different audiences. Sure, some people just want to lounge in the sun, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But others go cruising for the interesting cuisine they can sample, the local histories they can learn or the eye-opening expert lectures they can listen to. Creating a website that combines all of these things together – alongside a focus on vessels and exotic locales – really does justice to the experience of cruises.

    The world of digital cruises also offers another very important thing during this time: a sense of community. Letting users not only connect with the company but also with each other kills off some of the loneliness that many of us are feeling. Additionally, it mimics the communal feeling of cruising, where travel is a group activity that also allows for individual experiences. These sites have managed to do this through allowing users to contribute content to different sections, which feels more meaningful than simple discussion boards or comment sections.

    Of course, cruise lines can’t be expected to only be motivated to create great experiences for their customers, and we aren’t suggesting that. Creating these digital experiences is crucial for the companies themselves, too. If consumers are frequently checking in to a certain cruise line’s website throughout their quarantine, they are bound to develop a higher sense of brand loyalty. This is the type of loyalty that will really influence who they’re bound to book a cruise with after the pandemic dies down. It’s easy to not have travel on our minds at all during this time; these digital experiences ensure that travelers don’t forget about cruises, and more importantly, specific cruise lines.

    These communities that are being fostered by cruise lines like Fred. Olsen and Lindblad are great examples of what should be done by companies right now. While it’s not an investment that will immediately pay out, it will help contribute to a company’s ability to bounce back once they’re able to hit the sea again. Plus, really, we just need more things to do while we’re stuck at home. So get on it, cruise industry!

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