Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has a combination of Norwegian heritage and seamanship, British social style and international hospitality. This blends to create a familiar ambience quite unique in cruising. A reassuring feature of Fred. Olsen cruise ships are the company's long serving staff.
The ships' officers and crew make you feel relaxed and comfortable from the moment you step onboard; It's the little things which make all the difference like when a crew member remembers your name and a barman remembers your favourite drink - it's an attitude which reflects the pride in being a family managed company.
The Fred. Olsen Cruise Line company originated in Hvitsten, a small town on the Oslofjord in Norway, in 1848 when three Olsen brothers - Fredrik Christian, Petter and Andreas bought their first ships and began an international shipping company.
Now into the fifth generation of the family, they operate companies skilled in various aspects of the cruise and passenger shipping trade as well as aviation, ships crewing, shipbuilding and offshore industries.
Aside from the transportation industries, the Fred. Olsen group also has interests in the luxury hotel sector, estate management, property development, and electronics companies.
A Welcome Aboard
If you really want to treat the one you love our Welcome Aboard package is the perfect start to any cruise to show how much you care.
A floral bouquet will be placed in the cabin, together with delicious chocolates, a generous fruit basket and champagne and canapés. A card will be placed in the cabin to say whom the gift is from, or if you would like to forward your own message instead we'll be happy to ensure it is place in the cabin.
Atlantis Salon
Atlantis Salon offers a full range of beauty treatments and services, performed by trained therapists, performed for both ladies and gentlemen.
There is a good range of facials and messages to choose from, in addition to hairdressing, manicures and pedicures. A dedicated booklet is available - listing the services they offer.
The choice is yours
We appreciate that it is not always appropriate to organise a large celebration gift and that sometimes, a smaller gesture is more in keeping. With a host of treats and packages available, to mark a special event, why not spoil the one you love, or treat yourself!
Fred Olsen's Distinction
Welcome to the Fred Olsen fellowship. As a family-operated company, they are justly proud of their fleet of smaller, more intimate ships as such as their successful art of cruising. They understand their passengers like a more personalised experience, one that is unashamedly British.
Their personable and long-serving crew are well-versed in ensuring your relax the moment you step aboard. For many passengers, it is the happy blend of agreeable companions that is their distinction, a point wholly endorsed by one of their loyal Oceans club members below. Wherever you choose to cruise with out you will soon feel part of the Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines fraternity and enjoy a friendly home-away-from-home camaraderie.
Testimonials from Fred. Olsen Customers:
Reassuringly there every time
Many cruise ships visit the same or similar places, so why do we always choose Fred Olsen? You might as well as ask me why I married my wife! It is all about emotions. You expect quality on a good ship, but Fred. Olsen knows from very long experience, and from listening to their customers, what makes a special cruise; one that it a real emotional experience, and one that leaves them wanting more.
They are never processed; everyone is an individual. The staff have a real interest in their passenger, their likes and their dislikes, and have an amazing desire to please. They know that the home they leave at the end of each cruise will be the home they enter next time they board. Can one ask for anything more?
At home the world over
The staff are themselves a very happily family, but we become part of their family and we become part of theirs. The chemistry between staff and passengers creates a sense of belonging, a genuine feeling or warmth. Everyone on board has their part to play and everyone joins in.
And they know they will always be welcomed back as friends, not just as passengers. I remember they once stood in Main Street, Gibraltar and the rain was tipping down. They looked at each other and said "Oh lets go home" and they meant the ship. You don't believe me? Home is where the heart is!
Golf - Great courses the world over
The relaxing yet invigorating pursuit of golf is the perfect complement to cruising. What better way to play renowned courses than when your Captain calls at ports where 18 landscaped holes are but a short putt away? On all their ships they have tee times at a host of challenging courses at many destinations worldwide.
Links, parkland and heathfield courses, some designed by Jack Nicklaus and Robert Fream, offer tight fairways that lead past heavy rough to signature holes, Braemar's Caribbean golf programme offers championship play on several Robert Trent Jones designed courses where water hazards and manicured greens are aplenty.
A happy medium
During rounds ashore, their resident PGNA Pro will play with you, offering advice and course management tips. they appreciate that the make-up of the playing group is important to players enjoyment and they strive to ensure a happy medium is made - sometimes good players are grouped together, other times the social element of playing with new found friends is more important.
cSwing
By way of a special they are delighted to offer video lessons with the aid of their easy to use advanced video swing analysis system - cSwing. For a small additional charge these half-hour lesson provide immediate visual feedback that hopefully will result in lower scores for you!
Golfing regions
Mediterranean
It is hard to imagine a more agreeable region in which to play golf than in the Mediterranean. Helped by an extremely pleasant climate, an attractive diversity of landscapes and a great range of on-course facilities, the Med brings together the many elements that golfers look for. The courses included will generate a number of golfing stories - those monster drives, birdie chances and hopefully not too many missed putts!
Canaries
The ideal setting of golf - warm sun weather year-round and some of the most breathtaking scenery anywhere in the world. The Canary Islands are a long establish golfing destination, hosting several PGA events each year.
The Caribbean
The Caribbean serves up year-round golf with generous helpings of sun, sand, wind and water, plus the skill of the top architects with most courses being on the coast of the Caribbean islands, a links feels extend to many with the associated challenges - although perhaps with more consistent weather! No two courses or islands are alike. There are mountains, volcanoes, rainforests, coral cliffs, sandy beaches, marshland and even desert-like terrain.
The Baltics
The up-and-coming golfing destination in the golfing world! In recent years, the vision of talented course architects has been successfully employed to attract visitors who want to sample something more avant-garde than the longer- established golfing destinations. Warm weather and long, light evenings mean condition for playing golf are excellent. Some courses are still young and developing, yet the natural terrain makers for beautifully landscaped challenges for players of all levels.
The Flagship Golf packages include:
* 4 rounds of golf including Green Fees and transportation for /from each course
* A welcome party for golfers and partners
* Free practice facilities on board
* Up to five sessions of tuitions with their resident PGA Pro (time and conditions permitting)
* On-board lectures on a variety of golf subjects
* Fun competitions on-board, and on the course
* End of cruise prize-giving
Caribbean Fly Cruises. A valid handicap certificate is required, as is relevant golf insurance.
Golfers are responsible for the payment of all the golf course fees, including club hire, buggy hire, caddies etc. These items need not be booked in advance and can be ordered at the course on the day of play. Golfing in the Baltic, the Canary Island, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean may often be much warmer than in the United Kingdom. It is always advisable to carry some bottled water, although some golf courses do provide a roving drinks buggy!
Life on Board
The civilised way to travel. Your holiday begins the moment you embark; you unpack only once and in no time, an array of destinations are almost delivered to your cabin door. As the cruise progresses you choose whether to relax or on board or head off in search of new experiences.
No one insists you make an acquaintance with ports that lie at the bottom of the gangway, the choice is entirely yours; there is no compulsion to indulge in organised activities, you make your own schedule; you need not dress up every night, as there are no strict regimes. What there is is the best, most relaxing holiday at sea, on the ultimate touring resort.
Variety, the spice of life
Life at Fred. Olsen is colonial in the true sense, and as you ply the world's oceans you soon unwind and learn to take life less seriously, more sedately. Relax around the swimming pool; read a best-seller borrowed from the library; stay in touch with friends at the Internet Centre; enjoy a classical concert; improve your golf or bridge technique under the guidance of their experts, pamper yourself in the beauty salon, keep fit at their fitness classes; or perhaps some shopping? By day and by night, when their ships are at sea, this special time is devoted to you.
Come sundown
As the sun dips towards the horizon and the afternoon dissolves slowly into dusk, the shipboard mood changes as their programme begins to focus on the pleasures of the evening ahead. Every night on board their ships is an occasion: whether it be cocktails with new-found friends in your favourite bar; a sumptuous five-courses a la carte dinner in their formal restaurants; lively and diverse entertainment in the revue show; traditional dancing to the accompaniment of their band; an amble around the open decks under a star-kissed sky - they make it a night to remember. Its like having a night on the town - every night.
Make the most of your cruise with Arts Club
On each ArtsClub cruise you can look forward to travelling with their team of chosen experts, selected for their world-renown; and, in keeping with the Fred. Olsen philosophy, for their personal touch. Each is a celebrated master in their own field, yet they have a passion for sharing their knowledge in an informative, yet informal way.
Something that they know you will also have in common with them is that they too love cruising! You will enjoy a fine balance of performances and lectures, discussions, practice sessions and social get-together, and arrangements are never intrusive, so your travelling companions are free to enjoy the cruise as suites them best.
Best of the both worlds
More than anything else, a Fred. Olsen cruise is about friendship and companionship. But it is also about choice. Their Artsclub cruises combine the very best of both holiday worlds - indulging a special interest close to your heart with a supremely relaxing cruise, offering all the traditional pleasures of shipboard life.
Equally, enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts alike can savour a relaxing break together, without compromise on your part!
Typical ArtsClub Programmes
Our ArtsClub programmes operate mainly during days at sea. Programmes vary depending on the subject and the number of artists involved. For example, ArtsClub Antiques cruises include lectures and presentations, practical hints and tips sessions on how and where to buy antiques, and also occasionally, their own All-at-Sea Antiques Roadshow - a nautical version of the popular antiques TV programme.
ArtsClub Music cruises enable you to listen and learn from classical performers through a programme of concerts and recitals, open rehearsals, Desert Island Discs interview sessions, music quizzes and the increasingly popular passenger choir. Selected themes lend themselves to shore tours when it is hoped their experts will escort visits ashore.
Overall the programmes are diverse, and offer a great deal of choice - however far you decide to participate.
Wine & Dine - Superb cuisine and attentive service
Offering a range of dining choices is their speciality. Start the day with a full English breakfast in the conviviality of their main restaurants - water served, of course; or perhaps a continental selection in the privacy for your cabin. Lunch can be a casual, al fresco affair at the poolside Lido, or in the brasserie style Cafés, but the restaurants are always open, awaiting your pleasure.
Come night time the mood assumes an air of dignity, especially in the tastefully-appointed restaurants. From the lavish affairs that are the Captains dinners, to the less formal options, the award-winning Fred. Olsen chefs have a feast in store.
Simply the best food
Unlike many other cruise lines, Fred. Olsen appreciate the British palate. By using only high quality provisions their celebrated chefs prepare menus that are as varied as they are delicious. Dine in grand style in their formal restaurants; indulge in an array of Oriental and Indian themed treats in their less formal, but nonetheless refined Cafés; then push then push the boat out and savour their late-night feasts. Catering to your whims, their chefs will ensure everything is cooked to your liking; you only have to ask. When it comes to gala occasions, their speciality nights and celebrity menus are second to none.
Enjoying your wine
In response to passenger requests Fred. Olsen now have a celebrated and commended wine list which offers a comprehensive range of eminently-drinkable vintages. This list includes a selection of high-quality wines from the New World as well as classic Old World favourites. What better opportunity to indulge in the juice of the grape from differing countries than when you are cruising?
In additional there are several Champagnes for that special occasion; and a section of ports as the perfect digestif. And the list is reasonably priced for your drinking pleasure at every meal; not just on gala nights. Many people now take advantage of their pre-order service each day, to ensure the wines are served in optimum condition!"
Search all Fred. Olsen Cruises
