Fred Olsen Cruise Lines excels in cruising on board smaller, traditional-style cruise ships providing the feel of a country house hotel.
The emphasis is on a traditional cruise experience, typically for passengers aged 50 and above, in an atmosphere of informal, friendly relaxation.
Rosyth near Edinburgh is a new departure point for next summer.
Boudicca, one of the company’s four ships following the retirement of Black Prince this autumn, will run a series of cruises in July 2010 to Spitsbergen, the Baltic and Norway from the Scottish port.
There are also voyages from Dover, Southampton, Liverpool, Newcastle and Greenock (Glasgow) in line with the company’s policy of using regional departure ports,
Destinations include the Eastern and Western Mediterranean, Canary Islands, Adriatic, Norway, the Baltic, the North Cape, Iceland and Round Britain, as well as a number of mini cruises.
The ships Balmoral and Braemar will operate summer cruises next year from Dover, while Black Watch is to sail from Southampton.
Boudicca will sail from northern ports, starting from Liverpool in late March, with cruises to the Canaries, Mediterranean, Norway and the Baltic.
The ship will operate from Greenock to the Canaries, Italy and Norway in June before moving on to Rosyth and then Newcastle (Port of Tyne) in August for cruises to the North Cape and Scandinavia, Baltic, Norway and Round Britain, before retuning to Southampton in October.
The line’s Civilisations cultural add-on packages with guest lecturers covering a range of topics are included on Braemar’s 16-night Italy cruise departing on September 6, which has a theme of “Imperial Rome”, and Black Watch’s Baltic cruise on June 8 for 14 nights with a theme of “Baltic Monarchies”.
A number of cruises also feature Flagship Golf packages which combine four rounds of golf ashore with onboard professional tuition, practice sessions and social activities.
The company’s oldest and smallest ship Black Prince retires in October 2009 after running a series of four farewell cruises.
The 441-passenger vessel, built in 1966, leaves the fleet following the special departures from both Liverpool and Southampton.