I thought the ship was clean and well presented. However, it was VERY small. Hardly any room to move. As both me AND my boyfriend are clusterphobic we were very upset. The ship was packed with wrinkly hairy grannies and grandads.. aka.. OLD PEOPLE! It smelt alot and I was absolutely repulsed-Dont take your children there. I thought the food was quite nice suprisingly. I put on 5 kg and spend like 3 weeks in the gym just burning all the food I ate off. By the way, theres no gym on board so if you're a fattie I'd recommend losing weight and THEN going on your cruise. Or you could sue macdonalds. The staff were very friendly and supportive although none of them were really buff :( oh well.. . I didnt really enjoy the on board entertainment as it was mostly aimed at people from the stoneage who love bingo and im like only 17. In general I didnt really enjoy it and would never sail on that ship again. I recommend the MSC Lirica. The boys in the entertainment team are bare buff and theres like 200 restraunts. Lots of space, 12 decks, not expensive and its great!

This was the first time we have travelled with Fred Olsen and what a delightful experience.

On arrived at the Southampton terminal we were greeted with a warm welcome, the booking-in was quick and bording efficiently addressed.

Braemar is the smallest cruise liner we have sailed on and although cabins are small it offers spacious external public areas, comfortable lounges, an interesting glass walled atrium, smart restaurants, an excellent theatre, well equipped gym, small casino, library and top deck disco.

At all times the ship and facilities were immaculately presented and staff always friendly and smiling with nothing being too much trouble.

The ship has two restaurants, the Palms Cafe which is buffet at all times and the Thistle Restaurant which offers buffet or served breakfast and lunches, and served evening meals. Food in both was interesting at all times of the highest quality. There is also an excellent wine list with a wide variety of wines from around the world. Coffee and tea is also available throughout the day at no charge.

For those with exceptional appetities there are mid morning and afternoon cakes plus late night buffets.

There is a wide variety of daily activities and presentations to suit all ages and interests, the library is well stocked with reading material and a daily published news bulletin.

As well as the evening entertainment in the theatre, live music in the Coral Bar and piano entertainment in the Braemar room there was day time music from the ship's orchestra and classical music recitals from a guest singer, plus a recording of the daily BBC radio programme The Archers.

During our cruise we visited Lisbon, Cadiz, Mahon, Toulon, Barcelona, Gibraltar and La Coruna and met many interesting people on board making it possibly the most satisfying cruise we have been on todate.

Our only regret is it took us so long to discover Fred Olsen

First time on a Fred Olsen Cruise however not imprest sailed with previous cruises which I rated far superior at less cost. The ship was very clean and hygeine was very important to the staff. However the food in the Palms Cafe was cold no matter what we tried it was very bland and disappointing. The Fistle Restaurant was slightly better but portions were small you would need the five courses to fill yourself up or empty the bread basket. Could not fault ship staff but entertainment was a bit of a let down. On sailing back a full day at sea there was very little provided and it made it a long boring day and at that point we felt we were ready to get off a few more days would have drove us mad.

The first time we had been cruising, we travelled to Norway, inc. North Cape. We thought it was excellent, and good value for money.
The ship was constantly being hosed down, and painted outside, and was spotless.
The food in both restaurants was very good, but we had anticipated a wider choice for dinner.
The crew, from the Captain down, were always very friendly and helpful. The on board entertainment was good, but amateurish, probably a reflection of a smaller cruise ship.
We are likely to cruise the Baltic with her in future.

The ship was very clean and we had an excellent cabin although we did pay extra we met a couple who had an inside cabin and she cried when she saw the difference in ours. The staff were friendly and the catering staff excellent, being a diabetic they catered for me excellently. The best entertainment was from Charlie Brockett - excellent!!! The downside was the majority of people were over 80 years old and some were quite inconsiderate to other passengers. When afternoon tea was served I am sure they had all been to Lourdes and had miracle cures - no sticks anymore. By the way I have great difficult with my mobility so I understand.

we have been with fred olson now 4 times and were very pleased with our latest cruise.the only disappointmet was the so called magician.possibly on a13 night cruise there could have been some extra entertainment.i would also liked to visited gibralter for longer than half aday.

but all in all we think FRED OLSON ARE GREAT......

Just returned from a Baltic cruise with parents and husband. Victoria travel had chartered the Braemar from Fred Olsen for a 11 night cruise from Dover to Amsterdam,through the Kiel canal, Karlskrona, Stockholm, Talinn, St. Petersburg and Copenhagen then back to Dover.The ports were very interesting, especially Talinn and St. Petersburg where we visited the ballet[ Swan Lake] and the Hermitage.Went on three trips in St. Petersburg as to travel independently you need a visa. Too much hassle to obtain and you miss out on the guides who are very knowledgeable.In the other ports we just wandered around on our own.The ship was smaller than the Black Watch but the food and staff were excellent. We were sometimes wondering what to do in the daytime when at sea as there isn't a lot on if you don't like quizzes or Bingo. The port talks were very informative but I think they were from Victoria travel not Fred Olsen so I don't know if you'd get them normally. We had some guest speakers from Antiques roadshow and Gardeners World and they were very entertaining. I would sail on this ship again but preferably to the Med so I could sunbathe in between port visits.

We had two weeks in the Carribean flying from Manchester to join the ship in Barbados. The Braemar attracts older travellers but is excellent on all counts. Going to the Carribean is an ideal way to get some winter sun. Some of the islands we called at did not have a great deal to recommend them, and I would not want to go to the Carribean again (plenty more places to see). But I would sail on the Braemar again.

We found the Bremar a very friendly little ship. Nice for older people, hardly any children on board. Embarking and Debarking was very well organised and ran very smoothly Ship staff were very friendly and the food was very good. Our cabin which was an inside was very small, but adequate. We only really use our cabin to sleep and change clothes. I would certainly use the Bremar again.