In December 2019 we spent a night aboard a cruise ship. Regular readers will not be surprised to hear this. Casual or even first-time visitors will probably not be overly surprised either as the word “Cruises” features quite heavily in this site’s title and meta tags. We are fond of cruising and spending time on cruise ships so why am I even mentioning the fact that we spent a night on one? This was a unique experience for us, that’s why. This was the first time – and at time of writing and for the foreseeable future, the only time – we’ve spent a night on a cruise ship that didn’t go anywhere. Fred Olsen‘s ship Black Watch was docked in Southampton overnight after a short refit and ahead of a new cruising season, and – something it does a few times during the year – was hosting a Party Night. It was for all intents and purposes simply a floating hotel for one night only. With this taking place in Southampton so easy to drive to, occurring on a Saturday so using up no holiday allowance (not that we had any), and with us never having cruised on any Fred Olsen ship before this gave us an opportunity to see what we thought about the ship and the cruise line with an eye towards potential future bookings.
This post, therefore, is a combination of an account of what to expect on a party night aboard a Fred Olsen cruise ship as well as a general look at the lounges and bars and dining options on Black Watch, speciality dining on Black Watch, and our overall feelings about Fred Olsen in general as a line with which to make a booking. There’s an allowance to be made in all of this for where we slot Fred Olsen in with other cruise lines. They’re a more traditional line with smaller ships than we would ever really spend a lot of time on, far more comparable to CMV who we’ve cruised with once before than any of the other lines with more modern, far larger ships.
The Dancing Man Brewery, Southampton
One of the things we had to make a decision on was how we were planning to get to and from Southampton port for this party night. Normally, we’d be off on a cruise so we’d drive and park our car but that seemed like overkill initially for a single night with us living in Portsmouth. We looked at taking the train. Easy enough to get there but the return journey on a Sunday was a mess of indirect routing and changing trains and a ridiculous length of time involved. We looked at a coach option. Ultimately rejected because of where and when the pick-up points were. We looked at parking near the port but this wasn’t as easy to work out as we’d hoped. Eventually, we opted to drive anyway and park in the NCP in Southampton which allowed overnight parking for a decent price. Once we started looking at the times we’d want to leave by to return and the time we could turn up we then realised we’d have the opportunity prior to boarding the ship to visit the Dancing Man Brewery on the walk to the dock. We are big supporters of local breweries and with boarding Black Watch not commencing until the middle of the afternoon we’d have a chance to engage in some pre-cocktail-imbibing-food-soakage too which is very sensible and a worrying turn of events in and of itself.
The Dancing Man Brewery is a fantastic venue. This place gets a very big thumbs up from us and if you’re in Southampton and it’s open, whether that’s prior to a cruise or at the end of one or just because the lure of the city’s only useful feature, Ikea, is too much to withstand, then we’d definitely recommend popping in for a drink and possibly something to eat. It looks gorgeous, as you can clearly see in the photos below. Not only that, the beer was just sublime. With so many breweries leaning heavily towards the paler, hoppier ales it was so nice to not only find a wide range of ales including maltier rubies and darks being brewed but also to discover they suited my palate perfectly. Hit their website, check their drinks out; if you like ales, ciders, spirits, and supporting local businesses then you won’t be disappointed. I liked the brewery, in case any of that was a little vague.
Booking a night aboard a cruise ship for the weekend before Christmas as a way to enjoy the spirit of the season while also researching new cruise lines sounds like a good idea and, because it’s one I had, that’s a cast-iron guarantee that it is a good idea too.
Party Night Check-In
There’s not much to say about the check-in process. It was a little small-scale and mildly chaotic if you’re used to embarking at a terminal for a Celebrity or P&O or Princess ship but that’s to be expected. The only thing of note is that even though the ship wasn’t sailing anywhere, passports were still needed. The information pre-cruise had indicated as much so that wasn’t a problem for most people but I did hear one person near us at the check-in desk saying they didn’t have theirs. Whether they still got on I can’t say but this apparent need did seem odd; you don’t need a passport to stay in a hotel or hop on the ferry to the Isle of Wight; perhaps it’s just too much hassle to change the checking-in process for the staff and easier to treat it as if it were a real cruise. I remember that our CMV cruise of the year before had also indicated passports were necessary despite it being a closed loop trip although, as it turned out, they were never checked.
One observation about the cruise card issued was that it included the cabin number on it. From a security perspective I didn’t like that feature and would urge Fred Olsen to change that policy if I were a cruise-line-urging sort of person. But I’m not.
Black Watch Cabin 4044
Our room assignment was 4044. This was a room with two single beds in an L-shape configuration and with a couple of porthole windows with an obstructed view. With this being a single night on Black Watch we thought this would be perfectly fine. When I’d booked I’d actually asked for “The cheapest, inside, whatever, it’s one night, the view’s not important room” which isn’t an actual class of cabin but fortunately the nice woman on the phone knew what I meant.
The positives about this room include tea-making facilities if that’s your thing, quite a nice bathroom in general when compared to more modern cruise ships, and a decent range of plug sockets (UK, Euro, and USB). The big issue for us – and one that would almost certainly prevent us cruising in a room like that on any trip in the future – was that L-shape bed configuration. It actually made the room look quite spacious but the impracticality of it completely negated that perceived benefit. Let’s skip past the Victorian ideals of not wanting to spend sleeping time next to your partner and look at what it really means.
You have two choices when it comes to picking a bed: option A is the one against the farthest wall from the door; option B is the one backing onto the bathroom. If you choose option B then you’ve got nothing next to you on which to sit a book, a glass of water, your phone, etc. These are things frequently next to me on ships and in hotels and at home. If you choose option A then you do have some space at the head on which to put some items which is why my wife took this bed so she could put her pills and remember to take them in the morning. Great, except this bed has a direct line of sight to the door to the cabin which, it turns out, has abysmal protection from light spilling in around its edges. My wife mentioned in the morning that the light was quite blinding and would flicker when anyone walked past so led to an interrupted sleep.
What we’d love to have seen here is the desk shifted to where the nearest bed was, the removal of that shelf space at the head of the far bed, and the two beds placed together in a standard double or two singles configuration instead with a smaller, square table by each side. There wouldn’t have been a lot of space at the foot of the bed to get around but the head positions could have been protected from light-spill into the room by the bathroom wall. It would have made the room look a little smaller but who exactly is using that patch of carpet in the middle of the room right now and for what? That’s not a question to which I’m really seeking an answer, by the way.
Black Watch Bars, Lounges, And Restaurants
Bag unpacked, we took a quick walk around the ship to snap some pictures before the all-important eating and drinking elements of the night could commence.
The Neptune Lounge towards the rear of Deck 6 is the largest lounge and the main entertainments location for the ship in normal cruising conditions. I don’t actually know whether anything took place in this venue on the ship overnight because other than a wander through it early on we then didn’t hit it for the remainder of the night. The layout and number of seats looked very good for a room of this size.
Beyond the Neptune Lounge and out on the open deck was the swimming pool and, with the December chill in the air and likelihood of lots of drinking to take place by guests aboard, very sensibly emptied of its contents. I liked the look of the depth of it and the two sets of steps to get into and out of the pool.
Back inside and heading towards the front of the ship we passed through the Oriental Room, a light, airy, elegant space. We would end up having a drink in here later in the evening so more on that and this lounge’s very special cocktail offerings a bit further on.
We next found ourselves in the Morning Light Pub. Finding ourselves in pubs is not something with which we’re unfamiliar. You are shocked to the core but I’m pleased to see you’ve managed to avoid fainting at this news. This had a nice, cosy feel to it and we ended up pausing our photographic walk through Black Watch’s corridors and lounges to avail ourselves of a cocktail offered at the door. It had been a tiring four or five minutes walk from our room through the Neptune Lounge, past the swimming pool and Oriental Room at this point so the rest and liquid refreshment was for recuperation purposes and I will fight anyone who claims otherwise.
The most-forward location on this deck was adjacent to the pub and was the main restaurant, the Glentanar. If you’re thinking “Glentanar? What on Earth is a glentanar when it’s at home?” then so was I. If you’re not taking a break to find out and are hoping that I’ve done the tricky work of typing my thoughts into a search engine so that I can explain then you’re in luck. It’s a glen called Tanar. Maybe. You’re welcome.
On prominent display near the entrance to the restaurant was a very attractive, festive gingerbread scene.
The dinner included in the price of the night aboard Black Watch would be eaten in the Glentanar or the side room just off it, The Orchid Room. We stepped in to see where our table was as we’d requested a table for two and been assigned one on paperwork in our cabin. We’d been considering paying the surcharge to see what the speciality dining would be like instead and as our table would have been very close to where the food was taken out of the kitchens this made our minds up for us.
Leaving the restaurant we stopped at the entrance to the Black Watch Room speciality dining venue, also off the pub, and reserved a table for two in there instead.
The remaining location on this deck was The Brigadoon, the compact self-service buffet area for those who wanted more relaxed evening dining options and in which we’d also be grabbing breakfast in the morning. I wandered in briefly to record some video.
Up a deck to Deck 7 we were first drawn to the Flower Shop because of the gorgeous aroma of fresh flowers flowing out from it. And also because we’d never seen a flower shop on a cruise ship before. I don’t know that I’d ever use its services but I love that it’s there and must be used enough to warrant remaining.
Heading aft brought us into the Bookmark Café which also included a Library area and a small spot set aside with some Casino gaming tables.
Well, I’m sure that the seats in the café are very nice and I’m sure it’s a lovely library with a great selection of books and I’m sure that if you like to have a little flutter then the gambling options will suffice but all we could concentrate on was the selection of chocolates and cakes on offer near the entrance to the venue. The chocolates looked stunning. The cakes looked stunning. The chocolates and the cakes looked stunning. We were quite stunned on account of all the stunning taking place. Did we place an order for a selection of chocolates to take away in a presentation box to savour with great pleasure over the course of several nights at the conclusion of this cruise ship party night experience? Yes. Yes we did. Did I forget to take any photos of them? Yes. Yes I did. Did my wife remark that she’d consider booking a short cruise on Black Watch just to order more chocolates? Yes. Yes she did.
They’re very, very good chocolates.
Nothing was happening farther back from the café at this time of the early evening so I made do with a few photos of some of the decor as we decided to make our way to somewhere for a drink.
On Deck 9 towards the front of the ship we found the Observatory with its panoramic setting that would have made for some spectacular views had this not been after dark in Southampton. Actually, Southampton looks better in the dark so that was a good thing. We found a place where we could sample some drinks so we sampled one or two or three pre-dinner cocktails for research purposes. Included below are some photos of the Black Watch drinks menu so you can see the decent range and pricing aboard the ship too.
We headed back to the room to get out of our casual clothing and into something more fitting for the party night following showers, then popped back out to grab one more drink ahead of dinner. Finding the Oriental Room staffed but devoid of any other passengers we selected that spot.
A glance at the drinks menu indicated that the room specialised in teas which didn’t interest us but it also specialised in tea-based cocktails. Which did. Oh my. Well, we had to try some. Oh yes. Absolutely gorgeous. I’ve already mentioned that I’m not a cruise-line-urging person but if, hypothetically, I were a cruise-line-urging person then I’d be busy right about now urging more cruise lines to adopt some of these tea cocktails. Serious levels of yum.
Speciality Dining In The Black Watch Room
It was time for dinner. We headed to the Black Watch Room where we had reserved our speciality option. It became abundantly clear very quickly that not many people had chosen to upgrade their meal and we ended up in the room with just two other couples for company. That made for a quiet atmosphere with just the gentle tinkling of the piano in the pub outside creeping in but didn’t affect the quality or enjoyment of the food we were served.
My choice for starters was the Duck Rillette and Spiced Onion Crispy Rolls while my wife opted for Lobster Bisque which was served initially as sautéed scallop and lobster on which the bisque was then poured at the table.
For the main course and dessert we picked the same things which is a rarity for us in a land-based restaurant but more common practice when we’re in speciality venues on ships, especially when they specialise in one particular type of food. The Black Watch Room had a decent variety of food options but we wanted to see how Fred Olsen managed a filet mignon in order to compare it with Princess (who we cruise with regularly and who do it very well), Marella (who we’d cruised with a month before this party night and who weren’t quite as good), and Celebrity (who we’d tried out earlier in the year and who were bloody awful). We both then also went for the Passion Fruit Chocolate Cylinder to finish because in case it’s not clear already, we like chocolate. An assortment of sweets was offered at the conclusion of the meal.
Our review of the speciality dining on Black Watch in comparison to other cruise lines on which we’ve dined then is that we had no complaints with anything we ate. Our rare filet mignon was actually rare so that was good. Nothing was spectacular (I really liked the bread but I’m half-Irish and I’ve never found a bread I didn’t really like anyway) and I’d say that the quality wasn’t quite to the Princess or P&O standards but better than our experiences on Celebrity and Marella; value-for-money placed it either second or third in that mini league table too. Overall, definitely worth doing if you’re cruising on Black Watch would be our recommendation.
Late Night Drinking And Entertainment On Black Watch
We had another drink after dinner, this taking place in the Morning Light Pub next to the pianist (who I persuaded to treat us to a little bit of Pink Floyd; you can catch some of that in the video at the end of this post). We then decided to see how much longer we could stay up and add to our bill.
To the Observatory first where we enjoyed some lovely cocktails while waiting for the trivia to start.
Then the trivia. It was quite a good one as these things go and we didn’t think we’d done too well by the end but as the scores were added up and returned to people it transpired we had tied for first place. This was something the quiz host hadn’t prepared for so he started rummaging around for ideas as to what the tie-breaker could be.
“Give us both prizes!” I shouted. Well, said loudly enough for him to hear as he was close by. I’m not really a shouter.
“No, I can’t give you both prizes. I’m sure I’ve got a question somewhere around here.”
“But it’s nearly Christmas!” Me again.
“Oh… Oh… Whatever. Yes, fine then, you can both have prizes.”
We don’t do badly in cruise ship trivia games.
The final stop on Black Watch for the night was the Lido Lounge where the disco into the early hours was due to commence. We tried to time our arrival for just before it as the karaoke was scheduled then and we’re not fans of that particular form of entertainment. It was overrunning, though, so we softened the blow to our eardrums with some more drinks while the last of the party night’s guests who’d decided strangers simply had to hear just how close they could get to some of the notes of popular music finished up.
The disco was generally a good affair, only let down by the DJ who nodded when he heard phrases like “Do you have Rapper’s Delight?” but didn’t hear the implied “Well, could you actually play it at some point instead of just nodding and smiling and putting your thumb up?” Twice I went up to ask for tracks and twice they got a quick scan down the computer with a smile and an acknowledgement and twice nothing happened while other people heading up afterwards received the same treatment but minutes later were bounding out of their seats to strut their stuff on the dance floor, seemingly having had their wishes granted. A minor gripe.
This video shows a little bit of the pianist aboard Black Watch treating us to Comfortably Numb plus a special gift for people who do like karaoke, a group rendition of It’s Raining Men.
Final Opinion About Fred Olsen’s Black Watch
The positives regarding this party night on Black Watch were very positive: service was fantastic, the staff we talked to were extremely friendly and professional, the food was very good, drinks were excellent, and who can forget those chocolates!? Facilities aboard Black Watch were better and more varied than I’d expected from a ship of its age and size and the general layout worked nicely.
There are no negative elements in relation to the party night itself – it was organised well and was good value for money for what was effectively a break at around Christmas time in a fancy hotel with meal and entertainment thrown in – but the ship still wouldn’t be one we’d likely cruise on without a considerable upgrade to a better room with a better bed arrangement. That would come with a steep price increase that most likely would push any cruises out of consideration despite their interesting itineraries.
Fred Olsen are a little like CMV in that we enjoyed the short time aboard, especially the human aspect of it where service was nearly faultless, but we can’t see ourselves choosing them over other lines unless something spectacular comes along. It’s easy to see why some people return to those lines over and over, especially older cruisers who likely started with those lines or on similar ships. It’s going to be very similar to us where we started cruising on Grand-class ships with Princess so that’s our baseline for cruises and where our heart lies. Just as many Fred Olsen regulars might not like the idea of bigger vessels such as our first love, Diamond Princess, we also don’t really have a fondness for Fred’s smaller ships or the megaships that many cruise lines are churning out these days.
We’d possibly do a short trip or another party night on a ship like Black Watch again for the right price and so that we could stock up on chocolates from the Bookmark Café. She was a very nice ship with a great crew and staff and probably the perfect fit for some people, but just not quite to our taste.