Fred Olsen Winter Sun cruises

Fred Olsen Cruise Lines runs a winter Caribbean fly-cruise programme from October to April. Sailing on Braemar, which holds 929 passengers, most of the cruises start from Barbados which allows easy access to both eastern and western sailing Caribbean itineraries.

Usually the cruises last fifteen nights, so they allow plenty of time to soak up some sunshine, and they can be reach by flights that usually depart from Gatwick and Manchester, although some cruises also allow you to fly from regional airports like Birmingham. Because the flights are on aircraft dedicated to Fred Olsen passengers, there's no need to travel through immigration or customs on arrival at Barbados, transfers go straight from plane to ship.

Braemar has an advantage over large cruise ships touring the region as she can visit some of the smaller and more unspoilt ports and islands that are denied to the mega-liners. Notable visits of this type include Bequia in the Grenadine islands and because Braemar generally travels from port to port though the night, passengers can find themselves visiting nine or ten ports during their fifteen night cruise. But there are sea days too, when travellers have the chance to explore the calm and very British facilities and activities on offer on the ship, as well as relaxing on deck in the winter sun.