Braemar

We needed to spend one more night on a Fred Olsen Cruise before we became Oceans Club Gold members, and decided to book a Caribbean cruise on Braemar. We have cruised on Braemar several times before but this was the first since the 'extension'. We were glad to see that it had lost none of its old charm, and was just as inviting and friendly as always. After the long 10 hour flight to Montego Bay in Jamaica, the transfer to the ship was relatively easy, but the time it took to get our luggage delivered to our cabin was disappointing, especially as we were hot and tired, and needed to shower and have a change of clothes. We found we had no hot water and had to endure a cold shower, but in the light of the heat, it was not too unpleasant!! Our cabin steward Grace was absolutely charming. She managed to get this sorted for us that night, and once she arranged the cabin to our request, we found it very comfortable and quiet, and we enjoyed excellent nights sleep. The new Grampian Restaurant at the top of the ship was a very welcome relaxing place to enjoy a buffet lunch, but most of our meals at night and breakfast, were taken in the Palms Restaurant where there was always a good choice on offer. Our favourite entertainment was provided by Hubert Greaves who played the steel drums out on the aft deck in the evening - very relaxing, although there was plenty of other choices on offer and the shows were particularly good. We booked shore excursions at most ports, and having been to all the islands before, we found plenty of choice, but we thought some of them were a bit overpriced and not worth the money, especially the Botanical Gardens of Nevis from St Kitts, and the descriptions in the brochure were a little misleading on some of them. Two that were certainly worth doing were the catamaran trip around Antigua and the Rhum Runner in Grenada. Both were full of fun with plenty of limbo dancing and drinking - and madness- with a friendly welcoming atmosphere! How could anyone not enjoy it? For cricket enthusiasts, an individual tour to the Cricket Legends Museum and Kensington Oval in Barbados is a must. Despite the local taxi drivers plying their trade to take us there, it is only about a 15 minute walk from the cruise terminal. We only had 2 sea days out of 15, which meant it was very tiring, and although there is plenty of deck space to sunbathe, since the alterations, there is now nowhere to sit in the shade for people who cannot sit in the full sun. Overall, the holiday was most enjoyable, and the crew and fellow passengers very friendly. It is my favourite of all the Fred Olsen ships, and we hope to travel on her many times again.

It was with alot of excitement we boarded Braemar as we had booked ourselves a Deluxe Balcony cabin, cabin number 8010. Expecting my first child I wanted to make sure that we had plenty of space and a private balcony to rest as and when I needed to, the tierdness I experienced was terrible. I can tell you that 2 weeks onboard Braemar was just what the doctor ordered!

Our cabin was fantastic, plenty of space and storage, a balcony with 2 sunloungers, 2 chairs and a table, a flat screen TV and a spacious bathroom. The location of the cabin was very handy for my morning swim too the pool was just a minutes walk away (once we had passed the Bay of Biscay of course). All settled in we headed off to find our way around the ship, deck plan in hand.

Most days we took ourselves off to the Palms Cafe for breakfast and lunch, here the buffet offers an array of dishes to choose from. There is also a Hot Drinks station where you can grab yourself a brew whenever you fancy. In the evening we had been assigned seats on a Table for 8 in the Thistle restaurant - this is a lovely way to meet new people and our dinner guests were entertaining. It was fun to catch up on one anothers day, listening to everyone's tales. My husband found the Wine list to have an excellent selection and was good value for money - Fred Olsen are happy to cork a bottle for you and save any left for the following evening.

The entertainment onboard varied from cabaret shows, A magician, An Evening with, resident singers with a Live band.... all of a very good standard. My favourite was the magician who did an additional afternoon show of close up magic - Yes I volunteered to be an assistant....... God knows how he made one sponge duck turn into 6 little ones, when I had it held tightly in my hand.

As a treat I booked myself a Pedicure / Manicure... the spa area was small but was very relaxing and offered a large range of treatments - a number of times we received special offers in our Cruise news on the Treatment of the Day!

Our balcony was an added advantage when it came to arriving and departing from our ports of calls.... one of the most memorable was Mahon, Menorca...standing on our balcony cruising along gave us fantastic views of the coastlines and photo opportunities!


We had a wonderful 2 weeks onboard Braemar the staff are second to none, a sepcial mention to Ali in the Skylark Club who always had a cool beer and an OJ ready for us when we called for an after dinner drink.

With a little one running around now I'm sure it is time for us to rebook!!!

With this being my first cruise I was a little unsure of what to expect and I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised.

We had a 4 berth inside cabin on deck 4 which was extremely spacious and had plenty of wardrobe space for us all (1 each in fact) The food was fantastic and had plenty of choice for eveyone. We ate most evenings in the Grampian Restaurant again the service was faultless, we also sampled the Palms Cafe (buffet restaurant) a couple of times which again was very good.

The itinerary round the Canaries was lovely and would definately visit these places again, although the weather was rough going out you have to consider the Braemar is a smaller ship which doesnt help, however coming back it was totally the opposite and crossing the Bay Biscay felt like we were still.

I would have no hesitation in recommending this ship to anyone and would definately consider travelling on Braemar again.

Just returned from a Braemar cruise to the Canaries.
I just love Braemar! Shes small, friendly and a joy to cruise on. Just be mindful that it can be rough in the Bay of Biscay in a smaller ship.

This si the second time we've cruised on Braemar - the first time was in 2006 before she was lengthened - it makes a difference now she is a bit bigger.

A waiter in the Palms Cafe remembered us from our first visit 4 years ago - better memory than I had!

Sailing from Dover is so much pretier than Southampton - maybe P&O should move a ship to Dover ??