One of the cruise ships not having returned from the Pandemic is Fred Olsen’s Braemar. Built in 1993 from Crown Cruise Line as Crown Dynasty she joined Cunard under a marketing agreement. In 1997 she joined Majesty Cruise Line but this didn’t last very long as Majesty was acquired by Norwegian Cruise Line which named her Norwegian Dynasty. In 1999 she was transferred back to her original owners, Commodore Cruise Line – the parent company of Crown Cruise Line and regained her original name.

This did not last long however as Commodore collapsed into bankruptcy in January 2001, and in April 2001 Crown Dynasty was sold to Fred Olsen. Lengthened in 2008, the ship was also fully refurbished in 2017. She benefits from two swimming pools, a five-deck atrium and numerous balcony cabins. Additionally, she also has 40 single-person cabins, which I think is brilliant.

Braemar has had a very stable 22 years at Fred Olsen and became a popular member of the fleet. However, the pandemic saw Fred Olsen refresh its fleet and adopt a new more premium strategy, leaving Braemar the outsider.

I have given some thought to who could acquire Braemar –

Ambassador Cruise Lines – The new British upstart has already two cruise ships, Ambience and Ambition. Braemar is in the right size category for the company and would offer a loyal clientele from the UK. But it is probably for this reason that Fred Olsen would not sell to the cruise line, they broadly compete for the same market.

Celestyal Cruises – Having recently added Celestyal Journey and previously operated sister ship Gemini, Celestyal is likely to continue its fleet renewal and Braemar would be an interesting addition to the fleet. Celestyal has publicly commented on how it wishes to provide more balcony cabins which Braemar does have.

CFC – The new French cruise line has recently added Renaissance the former Maasdam. France continues to be a small cruise market compared to Germany and the UK.

Do you have any ideas for who Braemar would make a great addition to? or any memories to share of this popular cruise ship.

Thanks,

Liam 🙂