Boudicca Fred. Olsen has recently transformed the Grand Latino into the Boudicca, complete with a brand new engines, gear boxes and propulsion system. Additionally, each public room, lounge and restaurant has been re-designed and balcony suites have been added. The Boudicca is the forth ship in the Fred. Olsen fleet and is now a world class cruise ship with elegant décor and a warm welcome from the moment you embark. Sheila, Anita and Andrea visited the Boudicca before she set sail on her inaugural cruise. Read their report to find out more, or call our cruise specialists on 0845 086 9710 or 0121 250 2200 to book your cruise on the Boudicca.
Restaurants On arrival, we took lunch in one of the main restaurants, The Four Seasons. The existing restaurant has been adapted into three separate restaurants; The Four Seasons, The Tintagel and the Heligan. There is a central Rotunda Servery which will cater for each of these. The Four Seasons restaurant decorated in creams and browns with dark wood furniture. By contrast the Tintagel restaurant was very bright, with the upholstery in vibrant pinks. The smaller Heligan restaurant is situated just behind the Tintagel. Also on this deck is the Secret Garden Café which caters for the more informal dining and the speciality evenings. It is also an ideal place to enjoy a cocktail before dinner.
The food in the Four Seasons was excellent. We enjoyed Cream of Green Asparagus Soup Flavoured with Champagne and garnished with Salmon Quenelles for our starter, followed by a choice of salad, an assorted cold seafood buffet, a superb hot buffet with Roast Duck, Lamb Tenderloin Skewers, Chicken Fricassee, Medallions of Poached Salmon, Vegetarian Penne Bolognaise and a selection of carvings. Dessert was a choice of Norwegian Marzipan cake with Cloudberries, White and Dark Chocolate Mousse, Assorted Mini Fruit Tarts, Strawberry Charlotte Royal, Costa Rican Crème Caramel, poached Pears in port Wine Jelly or Warm Apple Crumble. This was followed by cheese and wine.
The separation of the main restaurant into three separate ones is quite novel but I think perhaps it loses a bit of impact and may not quite have that ‘special occasion’ feel for evening dining. Public Areas We took a quick tour of the public rooms after lunch. There is a very nice library and good size card room as well as a small casino. A lot of attention has been given to colour and design of soft furnishing and carpets. For example the card room has a carpet designed with spades, hearts, clubs etc. There are some very bright colours and some areas more muted but the overall effect is warm and quite intimate. Furnishings are quite modern in design but not cold or minimalistic. Pool and Sundeck We did venture outside to see the pool area and the sun deck but there was a lot of work still to be completed so it was difficult to get an idea of what it would be like.
Cabins The 450 cabins on the Boudicca are promised to be generously roomy for her scale of ship and we were not disappointed when we looked at all the different grades of cabins. The first deck we visited was Deck 9, The Marquee Deck, which has three different grades of suites and the Marquee Pool Bar and the Observatory.
On Deck 8, The Bridge Deck, there are two grades of balcony suites, a standard balcony cabin and two grades of single cabins with a balcony. Most of the cabins on this deck have an obstructive view. We also had the chance to view a Superior Suite which is classed as a four-berth cabin, but had four single beds which would be ideal if four adults were sharing the cabin.
Deck 7, The Lido Deck, is home to the Card Room, The Library, The Internet Cabin, The Casino & The Lido Lounge and four grades of cabins.
Deck 6 is where you will find the children’s play room, the launderette, photo shop and gallery, the shore excursion office, future cruise sales office, shops and the reception. There are also five different grades of cabin on this deck; two grades of suites, two grades of outside superior cabins and single cabins.
The junior suites and superior cabins seemed more spacious than we have seen on other ships. Some of the suites had separate toilet with washbasin as well as fully equipped bathrooms. There were many different colour schemes and designs, all very pleasant.
On Main deck there were a large number of cabins which were two interlinking cabins, each with their own door but with a small communal lobby and door onto the main corridor. These would be ideal for families. Single cabins were quite a good size and disabled cabins were really very spacious. The ship also has two disabled public toilets.
Summary The Boudicca has a homely and friendly feel. The attention to detail in the décor and layout makes it a perfect ship to explore new itineraries. If you love the Fred. Olsen cruise experience, you will love the new addition of the Boudicca.
