By
Michele Witthaus |
Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines announced its 2017-2018 itineraries at an event in London on Tuesday 8 March 2016. The line’s fleet of four ships – Balmoral, Braemar, Boudicca and Black Watch – will be visiting 220 destinations in 70 countries in 118 areas of scenic cruising. The new itineraries will go on general sale from 18 March.
Fred. Olsen managing director Mike Rodwell said that the release of the full itinerary brochure was taking place earlier than ever before, allowing the company to take advantage of positive market sentiments. “The economy has recovered and we hope that the price of oil will stay low for some time,” said Rodwell. “It has put us in a good place as a business. Operating revenues improved 26% last year and EBITDA was 50% higher.” He added that the recent wave season had seen “fantastic bookings”.
During the 2017-2018 season, Fred. Olsen Cruise lines will be sailing from a total of 10 UK departure ports: Southampton, Dover, Harwich, Tilbury, Falmouth, Liverpool, Newcastle, Rosyth (for Edinburgh), Greenock (for Glasgow) and Belfast. One of the cruises offered will be a circumnavigation of Great Britain on Braemar’s 10-night ‘The Braemar Highland Games’ sailing.
Nathan Philpot, sales and marketing director for the company, said: “At Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, we have a very clear vision for our 2017-2018 cruise season: It’s all about the experience! We are renowned for giving our guests a very different kind of cruise holiday, tailoring our itineraries to celebrate great events and festivals, providing authentic shore tours and creating memories that last a lifetime.’ He added that guests would have the chance to experience the cruise line’s concept of ‘Set jetting’, which entails visiting film settings featured in movies and TV series, including James Bond’s Skyfall, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Braveheart, Game of Thrones, Broadchurch and Poldark.
The new cruise programme will include nine maiden calls: to Lipari, Italy; Heligoland, Germany; Amalfi, Italy; Lajes das Flores, Azores; Southwold, England; Ghent, Belgium; Olbia, on the island of Sardinia, Italy; Sorrento, Italy; and Pula, Croatia.
The UK port of Newcastle has already proved such a success for the line that it will offer a record 13 departures between May and September 2017 on the 1,350-guest flagship Balmoral. The ‘Lochs of Scotland’ cruise, introduced last year, is another UK-based option and is currently the line’s second most popular cruise. Fred. Olsen will offer 12 departures from Scotland: three from Greenock and nine from Rosyth. Philpot explained that Iceland is just one of the destinations more convenient for Scottish departures than for those from ports further south.
Black Watch and Balmoral will undertake two ‘Grand Voyages’ in January 2018, visiting a total of 46 ports in 35 countries between them. Black Watch’s 108-night ‘Wonders of the World’ cruise allows guests to experience five of the seven ‘New Wonders of the World’ – Chichén Itzá, the Colosseum, the ‘Lost City’ of Petra, Machu Picchu, and the Taj Mahal – plus the only surviving ‘Ancient Wonder’, the Great Pyramid of Giza. Meanwhile, Balmoral will take in the Rio Carnival on a 46-night cruise.
Fred. Olsen will continue to specialise in fjord and scenic cruises in 2017-2018, adding to its traditional Norwegian fjord cruises with a Swedish fjord journey for the first time.