Rising air fares and the onerous cost of Air Passenger Duty (APD) are being blamed by Fred Olsen Cruise Lines for the withdrawal of Braemar from cruising in the Caribbean – which has done each winter since joining the fleet in 2001.
After April next year the 927-passenger ship will cruise exclusively from UK ports, and the only fly-cruises in Olsen’s brochure will be sectors of world voyages and other long itineraries.
General sales manager Lol Nichols says: “This was not an easy decision to make, as our Caribbean fly-cruises have always been popular.
“The wide choice of ex-UK ports that we feature gives greater convenience to guests from all over the British Isles, and the addition of Braemar to the year-round ex-UK programme will allow for a greater variety of cruises, as well as allowing those loyal Braemar fans to cruise on the ship all-year-round from the UK.”
Olsen’s fly-cruise programme has shrunk to a fairly small part of the line’s overall programme. Its main focus has, for some time, been on cruising from a wide range of ports around the UK, including Southampton, Dover, Portsmouth, Liverpool, Newcastle, Rosyth and Greenock.
The end of the fly-cruise programme will not, however, mean an end to Caribbean cruising with Fred Olsen – it will just take longer to get there. The cruise line will continue ex-UK cruises to the region, as well as other longer cruises which may visit the region.
Nichols is determined to see Braemar leave the Caribbean on a high. “We would encourage those of our guests who love fly-cruising with us to make sure they book their places on Braemar’s final season in winter 2011/12 as soon as possible, as we are expecting these cruises to prove especially attractive.”
Braemar’s final departure from Bridgetown, Barbados (where she is seen in my picture) will be on March 29, 2012. The last Caribbean cruise this season before she sets out to return to Dover begins in Montego Bay, Jamaica on March 31, when the lowest fare is £1,208. She will be back in Bridgetown on November 24, for a 14-night cruise; minimum fare currently on the Fred Olsen website is £1,619 with flights, or £1,544 cruise-only.
About the Author: John Honeywell
John Honeywell is a travel writer specialising in cruise ships and cruise travel. Winner of CLIA UK's Contribution to Cruise award 2017.
I hope they are not proposing to use Braemar for cruises to the Caribbean from the UK as it really isn’t suited for long sea crossings. It bounces around and was originally designed for US short Caribbean cruising.
I think it’s a daft decision.
Cruising out of the UK in the Winter is not on my list of wants and I’ll wager that they don’t get the level of repeat cruise bookings that they’ve had with the caribbean cutomers.
In addition, I and I guess many others will not take kindly to spending 4 weeks on board Braemar much of which will be mid ocean.
Think again Fred.