 | | Black Watch off the coast of Sardinia | | Sister ship to Boudicca, and the third Fred. Olsen ship of this name (the first was built in 1938), Black Watch is sleek and elegant, with the intimacy and sophistication for which all cruise ships used to be known. The massive and impersonal vessels that make so up many modern cruise fleets cannot hope to offer this traditional feeling, but at just over 28,000 tonnes and carrying around 750 passengers, Black Watch is a perfect size in which to enjoy the stylish service for which Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines is famed. The ship’s main restaurant, Glentanar, with the smaller Orchid Room leading off it, are used for formal dining with evening meals served in two seatings, as on all of the company’s ships. For those who want more informal dining, there’s the Garden Café on Lounge Deck, complete with the sound of an occasional frog croaking from the water feature at the end of the room. At the stern on Marquee Deck a bar adjoins the pool and jacuzzis, and on the same deck, but at the other end of the ship, the Observatory provides a relaxing place for a pre-dinner drink with views out to sea. From its home port of Southampton, Black Watch will cruise to a wide range of destinations during 2010⁄2011, including the fjords of Norway, the capitals of the Baltic, and the cradle of European civilization in the eastern Mediterranean. As well as a sumptuous 77-night voyage around South America at the start of 2011, prior to which Black Watch will take in a short cruise to the Christmas markets of northern Europe.
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