Fred Olsen Cruises

We enjoyed a 13-night cruise to French river estuaries and Bilbao in Northern Spain in 2025. From 2026, however, Fred. Olsen are insisting that all passengers bringing wheelchairs or mobility scooters on board must book adapted cabins, the numbers of which are very small eg 9 on Balmoral out of 710. In effect, this will reduce the numbers of passengers with accessibility needs dramatically. We used a larger suite (600 sq ft) and a folding scooter on the cruise, but now we would (a) need to secure one of the few adapted cabins, and (b) accept a much smaller cabin (160-240 sq ft). We didn't use the scooter to get around the ship, so we don't understand why Fred. Olsen can't do what Saga do, which is store passengers' wheelchairs or scooters for onshore use.