Friday 12 April 2013

Fred Olsen Cruise on M S Braemar: Tagamet nights

25th March to 8th April
Just imagine being sent somewhere where you given access to food five times a day without limit. Good attractively presented food, significant quantities, but not always as hot as it could be. That is cruising British style, a contemporary industry that has taken over from holiday camps. Fred is one of a number of mainline cruise lines that service the British traveler. Most of the passengers are British, the currency is pounds, drinks in the bars are at pub prices, and the only thing that tells you, you are not in Britain is the service. The service is excellent, largely fronted by Phillipino and  other Asian staff who are well trained and seem to take everything in their stride. Mostly food is geared up to British tastes, and apart from a couple of designated opportunities, the fare is familiar: in fact on each dinner there is a nominated British dish.
In the served restaurants, the temperature of food is largely acceptable usually between a 7.5 and 8 on the scale. Freshly cooked fish and chips actually rate a 10. There was only one occasion when a so called freshly-prepared omelette was rejected for being too cold to eat: it had presumably lost its turn in the waitering cycle.
The buffet restaurant serving less formal meals is a different matter. Despite steam rising from the baigne maries, buffet food was disappointingly not hot. The only solution was to wait until a change of tray and get in there quick, which was usually difficult. By the end of two weeks, I had become tolerant of the temperatures as there was nothing that could be done about it except eating freshly served when possible. Here are a few examples:
Lobster Thermidore: possibly one of the highlights
Liver and Onions: a designated British Dish of the day
Beef Wellington: a definite success
Typical Buffet selection, but can't remember what

One of the conventions of cruising is the Chef's gala buffet. This is food for looking at rather than eating. It typically comes late at night, towards the end of the cruise, and most people are two stuffed to do it justice. Given that the return trip crossed the Bay of Biscay, there was also a fair chance that passengers might have been out of action. After half an hour of viewing and foodstagramming, the gannets are let loose.

You get the idea.
Temperature aside, I am pretty easy to please when it comes to choosing food, and will always find something. One thing that I think, but could not prove is that they appeared to carry all their food with them. I did not see re-provisioning at any of the ports. All the milk is UHT, and I can only guess they have methods of keeping fruit and vegetables sufficiently fresh. They have a baker and pastry cook on board so that side of things is well taken care of. I would have a minor grip that apart from one designated Spanish Tapas night, there were only four kinds of cheese ever seen and these came out at each meal. There is lack of variety of staples and I am guessing that local produce from ports is never seen. This may be a good thing as there are paranoid efforts to minimize the risk of Norovirus (which this trip seemed to be free of). Fred makes claims to be the best for food, but whilst I have no complaints about quality and quantity, I have to say that Saga probably has the edge - I'm going on one of theirs next month so will report back. Value for money, Fred falls into the excellent category. I would definitely go with them again and have no hesitation in recommending them



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