Fred Olsen reveals 2008 cruises with fleet of five ships
As well as established regional cruises from Leith, Liverpool and Greenock, more destinations and fly/cruises

With the introduction of Balmoral in January 2008, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines will, for the first time, offer a fleet of five ships. Coupled with the lengthening of both Balmoral and Braemar, this will mean a greater capacity than ever before for the cruise line and the opportunity to offer a wider choice of cruise destinations and departure ports.

Highlights of the new brochure include:-

 Two epic long voyages – Black Watch’s 97-night world cruise and Balmoral’s 104-night world voyage

 Mediterranean fly/cruises, based in Civitavecchia (Rome) – both Balmoral and Braemar will operate a season from this port

 Caribbean fly/cruises based in Miami – Balmoral will operate this programme in March and April 2008 and Braemar from mid-November 2008 to April 2009

 Boudicca’s first regional cruise programme, with cruises from Leith and Newcastle in summer 2008

 Boudicca’s Caribbean fly/cruise season based in Barbados from November 2008 to April 2009

 Balmoral’s cruise in autumn 2008 to Canada and New England, and two cruises from New York.

This will be the first time Fred. Olsen has offered Caribbean fly/cruises from two different homeports – Barbados and Miami – and the number of regional airports included in the fly/cruise programme has also been extended to 21. In addition to Gatwick and Manchester, customers can now fly to a Fred. Olsen Caribbean cruise from Belfast, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cardiff, Doncaster/Sheffield, Dublin, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Humberside, Leeds Bradford, Liverpool, Newcastle, Newquay, Norwich, Stansted and Teeside.

The use of regional UK departure ports continues to be an important part of the overall programme, and in 2008-9 Black Prince will operate a programme of cruises exclusively from the regional ports of Liverpool and Greenock.

The extensive 2008-9 cruise programme also offers the greatest ever number of ports of call at 306 in 116 different countries, with around 21 ports new to Fred. Olsen. Included in these are:

CHINA: Shanghai, Tianjin and Xingang
JAPAN: Yokahama and Kagoshima
USA: San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle, Seward, Skagway, Ketchikan
CANADA: Vancouver
RUSSIA: Petropavlovsk
INDIA: Chennai
SOUTH KOREA: Incheon

Brochure prices start from just £94 per person for Black Prince 2 night mini cruises in November 2008 and April 2009.

Lol Nichols, general sales manager for Fred. Olsen said:- “The extension of our fleet has allowed us much more scope for innovative cruises and itineraries. We can offer more long cruises and a host of new ports of call with the increased capacity at our disposal. These, plus the increased list of regional airports in our fly/cruise programme make our 2008/09 brochure the most exciting ever.”

Information on all Fred. Olsen’s cruises can be found at www.fredolsencruises.co.uk.