Fred Olsen new cruises

Despite talk of financial uncertainty and a contracting economy, Fred Olsen Cruise Lines has extended its cruise programme for the next two years, by adding Portsmouth departures. Boudicca will offer autumn cruises around the Adriatic, Western Mediterranean, Iberia and Cape Verde in 2009, and there are also nineteen regional airports from which you can fly/cruise, including Aberdeen. The Fred Olsen future programme contains 160 cruises, and when Braemar returns to service in the autumn of this year she will have a 977 passenger capacity compared to 727 before her refurbishment. New features for Braemar will include a traditional British pub, a second swimming pool, some new balcony suites, and an Observatory Lounge. A spokesman for Fred Olsen said the line was confident that despite the economic tightening it was right to increase capacity because the line, ‘… appeals directly to the mature "Middle England" market … a market still growing strongly as us baby-boomers all come to retirement, with ever-lengthening life spans ahead of us.’ Click on story headline to see image