The concept of freestyle and informal cruising was alien to most guests 7 or 8 years ago - "it will never last" and "its not cruising" was comments that i regularly heard at the time, but just look at what has happened in that short space of time - most cruise lines have adopted this concept - and its working!
More and more guests must have the freedom dining option on their cruise as they can not accept being told what time they must go to dinner and then have to rush back on the ship - it puts the guest in control of their cruise holiday which has been a winner as the number of British passengers cruising is going up and up and up year on year.
So What Does This All Mean For Fred Olsen?
Well.....I have to pose the question - Are Fred Olsen being left behind?
Would they benefit from a shake up on board which includes giving guests more flexibility when it comes to their evening meal - are guests being put off because the cruises seems too traditional and stuck in their ways?
Or are they doing the right thing by staying traditional in the midst of so many others "selling out"?
How about letting 1 of the 4 ships adopt the freestyle cruising style?
We are in a age of cruising now where you have to wander what will happen next - I'm going to make a fun prediction now and say that in the not too distant future - a cruise line will allow a guest to pre book a certain table number in the dining room for their cruise - before they get on board.
Let me finish by saying that I do love Fred Olsen cruises, I have travelled on them many years and enjoyed all of their ships - what they do they do well.
Having used Fred Olsen for all the cruises we have taken we always opt for the first sitting as we do not like to eat late in the evening. We have used the same ship for the last three cruises and were able to see the Maitre'D before leaving the ship to ask if we could have a particular table in the Dining Room and on both occasions we did get the table we wanted.
ReplyDeleteOlsen should definitely offer freestyle as well as fixed dining. We've been caught out a few times by first sitting being full, so the only option (apart from eating very late) was self-sevice cafe. Not much of a cruise experience!
ReplyDeleteNo they should not !! Fred Olsen are a traditional cruise line and as such have higher standards, and FO also have a loyal following of customers who prefer those higher traditional standards of dinning and dress.
ReplyDeleteOnce standards are relaxed in certain areas, what I call sloppiness or a marked drop in standards in other areas inevitably follows, and having sailed on a freestyle American ship where some passengers did not even know what a jacket and tie was, I was not impressed at what they loosely termed cruising, and even in a quality hotel ashore, one would never go to dinner without a jacket and tie.
Quote by anonymous: Olsen should definitely offer freestyle as well as fixed dining. We've been caught out a few times by first sitting being full, so the only option (apart from eating very late) was self-service cafe.
Everyone has the opportunity to book early, and if you book early enough you can request an early sitting, which is what I do.
Fred’s ships are far to small to cater for anytime dining which would lead to queues at peak times and have a knock on effect
There is now more than one cruise brand that have the freestyle or holiday village atmosphere which pointedly cater for cruisers who do not care to dress for formal evenings, so why try to change a traditional cruise line that does what it does, so well.
Our First cruise was this year with Fred and we particularly liked the way the ship was run and the dining style. If people want freestyle then there are so many other cruise lines offering this, please leave Fred alone and let his company do what they do best. We will stick with Fred. There is no problem with finding somewhere to sit to eat, and when we were back late from a trip lunch had been held over to cater for those who were on the trip. Well done Fred and his wonderful crew
ReplyDeleteafter 2 fred olsen cruises within a few weeks it would be nice to see then updating their cruises before most of their present clientele die, we loved the ships and the staff but there was such a high percentage of oap's we wouldnt go again everything was geared to the over 55 market they need to modernise and bring a younger market in as well. We are a very young forty'ish couple who love to party the night away, not easily done on Fred Olsen as most are in bed by midnight
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