Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines breaks advance registration record

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has reported taking the highest-ever number of advance registrations for its inspirational new 2014/15 cruise programme. The cruise line is attributing the upsurge in advance registrations to the exciting new range of itineraries – to hundreds of amazing and exotic destinations worldwide, from an even greater choice of convenient regional UK ports than ever before – that it launched in London last week.

Nathan Philpot, Sales and Marketing Director for Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, said: “We have received over 800 advance registrations for our 2014/15 cruise programme, which is an unprecedented level of demand.  

“The itineraries of many of these advance registration bookings are for cruises that are themed, or planned to coincide with world-famous events, such as the Cannes Film Festival, the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix, or the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Other pre-booking favourites include a ‘Mystery Cruise’ on Black Watch and a series of ‘Norway Winter’ departures to view the ‘Northern Lights’. We are particularly grateful for the support that our loyal agents have given us in promoting these cruises to their clients.”

Fred. Olsen will be visiting no fewer than 246 destinations in 2014/15 – even more than in the previous cruise season – in 85 countries around the globe. The 2014/15 cruise programme will also see the addition of two new regional UK departure ports – Avonmouth and Tilbury.

Awareness amongst travel agents of Fred. Olsen as the ‘local, global cruise line’, with departures from 10 regional UK ports – Southampton, Dover, Tilbury, Harwich, Avonmouth, Liverpool, Newcastle, Greenock (for Glasgow), Rosyth (for Edinburgh) and Belfast in 2014/15 – is thought to be playing an important part in helping to boost sales.

Fred. Olsen’s 2014/15 cruise programme will see its fleet of four modestly-sized ships –Balmoral, Braemar, Boudicca and Black Watch – taking guests even closer to the heart of destinations worldwide. The cruise line will be making even more overnight stops in spectacular international cities, in response to guests’ desire to spend more time ashore in the ports that they visit. Fred. Olsen will also be working with destinations to create a greater link between its cruises and local events, such as the 'Baltic Festivals' of ‘Kieler Woche’ in Kiel, Germany and the world-renowned ‘Jazz Festival’ in Copenhagen, Denmark.

One major product innovation for Fred. Olsen in 2014/15 is the ‘Triple-City Cruise Break’, which allows guests to discover destinations, with overnight stays in each city, and is a far more cost-effective option than flying and taking a hotel to each one. For instance, Braemar’s 13-night M1425 ‘Baltic Capitals City Break’ in August 2014 combines the beauty of the Baltic with three spectacular overnight stays in this region’s most historic – and often, most expensive – cities; St. Petersburg (Russia), Tallinn (Estonia) and Copenhagen (Denmark) – all within the extremely reasonable cost of a Fred. Olsen cruise. 

The new Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ 2014/15 worldwide cruise programme is now on sale.