I just got back from a week long cruise around Ireland as a guest speaker on board the Fred Olsen ship Bolette. It was an amazing experience and I felt it was a good idea to write about the cruise and record some thoughts and observations about the experience.

How did this come about?

I’ve never been on a cruise before but some family and friends have been on board them as passengers. I also know a few other genealogists who have experience of being on board cruise ships as speakers, but often these tend to be specialist cruises with a focus on genealogy and ancestral travel. It sounded interesting but I wasn’t aware of similar opportunities here.

However, in late 2023 I was contacted by an agent working on behalf of a cruise company that were looking to hire a speaker with an expertise in Irish history. We chatted over Zoom but as the months went past I never heard from him again. But it did make me curious about whether similar opportunities existed. Fortunately, I came across Nigel J. Hetherington and his company, Past Preservers, on social media. They work with a number of cruise companies to hire guest speakers with an expertise in history and archaeology. It’s all very straightforward.

Past Preservers maintain a database with details on upcoming speaker opportunities and the topics each cruise is looking for. Typically they are looking for someone who can speak on topics related to the local culture at that destination, including it’s history and traditions. You do not apply to the cruise company directly. You register in Past Preservers guest speaker database, go through the database of available cruises and then complete an application form listing the cruises you are interested in, with a list of talks you can give. Details of current opportunities are available here. I should stress that there is no fee for joining their database and that they don’t sell your information onto other parties.

It took a few weeks before I received word that I had been chosen to speak on board the Fred Olsen cruise ‘Exploring the Iconic Coastline of the Emerald Isle’ from June 6th 2025 to June 13th 2025, and that they wanted me to deliver two lectures from those I had submitted. One on Irish folklore and the other on Irish genealogy. The itinerary included stops in Dun Laoghaire (Dublin), Belfast, Galway, Cobh (Cork) and then a return to Liverpool. I didn’t receive more detailed instructions until a few weeks before the cruise, including my contract and my check in time.

On shorter cruises guest speakers aren’t paid but you do get a free cruise and are given £25 ship’s credit per day. Food is already free but the credit goes towards other purchases on board, such as alcohol, goodies from the various cafes, anything you buy from the various shops on the ship, excursions at the various ports and some onboard activities such as whiskey tasting, afternoon tea or a Martini experience. WiFi is optional and deducted from the credit. It should also be noted that WiFi is relatively basic and there are restrictions on what sites you can access, no streaming for example. There is also a £2 gratuity which goes towards the cleaning and serving staff on board. A debit or credit card is registered with the ship at the time of check in and any purchases that exceed the ship’s credit are charged to your personal card at the end of the cruise. You are also allowed bring a plus one with you on the cruise for free.

Life on board the Bolette

The Bolette was departing from Liverpool in the early evening of Friday 6th June but understandably I needed to be on board earlier. With no direct flights from Cork to Liverpool on that day, I had to fly to Manchester and take a bus to Liverpool. Fortunately both cities are close together and it’s a relatively short bus journey. I missed my original check in time (my own fault for trusting Ryanair to be punctual) but fortunately I was still able to board once I arrived. I would assume the purpose of the check in times is to stagger embarkation so as to avoid congestion. You are meant to receive luggage tags in advance, although mine didn’t arrive on time because of international postage. The staff had luggage tags anyway so it wasn’t a big deal. Any luggage you have with you is tagged and checked in, similar to an airline, going through a scanner. The luggage will then be delivered on board and deposited outside your cabin.

My cabin was relatively basic and not particularly spacious but I’m not the sort of traveller who demands luxury. For a cruise lasting only a week it was comfortable and suited to my needs, especially since I was travelling solo.

When I arrived at my cabin there was a document waiting for me, which had contact details for the important crew members on board and had a provisional timetable for the various lectures and workshops. There was an informal meeting with the Cruise Director in the card room, along with some of the crew working under her. While in theory, the Cruise Director was going to be our main point of contact, the person I dealt with most often in terms of scheduling my two lectures and sorting out technical requirements was the Admin Hostess. This is understandable because the Cruise Director has a lot of other responsibilities on board, including managing the in-house entertainment team on the ship. The lectures were scheduled for our two days at sea, on Monday 9th June and Thursday 12th June.

Along with myself, there was another guest speaker on the cruise. Richard Lovelock is a professional photographer and delivered two lecturers on the secrets of smartphone photography. His wife Laura, was on board to deliver the origami workshops but also gave a surprise lecture on the Titanic and it’s connections to some of our ports of call. Aside from guest speakers, there were also a number of other guest entertainers, including a bridge tutor, a pianist and some dance teachers. Many of these are regulars on board various cruises.

I took some time to explore ship after the meeting. The Bolette is one of the biggest cruise ships and the flagship of Fred Olsen’s fleet. There are ten decks, although a good portion of that is made up of passenger cabins. There are also a number of lounges, bars, cafes, restaurants, an auditorium, a library and the Neptune Lounge, where most of the entertainment (including guest speakers) took place.

On Shore Excursions

After exploring, one of the first things I did was to call on the Destinations Desk, who arrange the various excursions. I mentioned already that excursions are deducted from the ship’s credit. However, there is an option to allow you to go on the excursions for free. This involves arranging with the team at the Destinations Desk to act as an escort. An escort simply brings up the rear on the tour, keeping track of everyone and acting as a representative of the ship and of the passengers on the tour. The evening before the excursion you are given a sheet which you will use to keep track of various details on the outing, such as how many participated, the name of the guide and any issues those on the tour might have encountered. You also carry a bag with the first aid kit and a paddle you see on tour groups, just in case someone on the tour has trouble finding their way back. You are also asked to take some photos of the excursion and send them to the Destinations Manager. It should be emphasised that the paying passengers get priority on these excursions. If a certain excursion is booked out then you will have to choose another for that port. On one occasion an excursion I chose was cancelled because of a lack of bookings.

During the cruise I had the opportunity to visit the Jameson Whiskey Distillery in Dublin, the Giant’s Causeway in County Antrim, a walking tour of Galway City and a visit to Blarney Castle here in Cork. Usually the process is to meet the guide on shore and they will have a list of passengers going on the excursion. A member of the destinations team is usually waiting on shore to coordinate everyone. Depending on the port and how they are set up to handle cruise ships, it might be necessary to take a tender back and forth from the ship.

Lectures

All the lecturers by guest speakers such as myself took place in the Neptune Lounge, on the fourth and fifth decks of the ship.

As I mentioned already, I had sent a list of my requirements to the Admin Hostess in advance and she had kept me up to date with any issues around scheduling. Sometimes it was necessary to move a lecture around in order to avoid a conflict with another event taking place at the same time. A cruise is a busy place with a lot of different activities happening daily, especially on those days at sea. A short newsletter, the Daily Times, was distributed to each cabin every evening with details on events happening onboard the following day, including the lectures.

I had brought my own laptop but was instructed to arrive at the Neptune Lounge roughly twenty minutes in advance. This was so everything could get set up. The technical staff are very good at their jobs. My laptop was plugged in and the display ready. I also had to get a microphone attached. While all that was happening, passengers started wandering in. I felt that I got a good attendance on both days. I would hope that’s because my topics were interesting and not because there was nothing else for people to do. The one thing to be careful of is your time. Each lecture is scheduled for 45 minutes and it’s important that you stick to that. Often there will be another event scheduled in the lounge directly afterwards and that requires setting up. This also means there’s no time for audience questions. If someone has a question then they can approach you directly after the talk or later during the cruise.

Dining on Board

One of the great things about a cruise is the food and this is true of the Bolette. There were multiple dining options. Most of the fancier restaurants required a reservation and had a dress code. For example, there were two formal nights on the ship, where guests were required to dress in black tie formal wear for some of the restaurants. For those who wanted less fuss and avoiding having to make a reservation, there was a buffet restaurant on deck eight, the View. This was ideal for those days when you didn’t feel like dressing up or were in a hurry.

I did eat in the main formal restaurant, the Bloomsbury, twice. The first occasion was the evening of our visit to Galway for the second formal night. Guest speakers were politely asked not to make any reservations for the Bloomsbury until after the first formal night, so that paying passengers would get priority. This is perfectly understandable. This wasn’t a problem for me because I prefer the less formal dining experience anyway. But it was worth putting on a tuxedo and bow tie to try it out. There was also a guest speaker lunch experience that passengers pay to have a private lunch with the speakers. This gives them an opportunity to have one to one conversations with the guest speakers. There wasn’t a huge turn out for the one on our cruise. But it was a nice experience to meet with some of the passengers on a more personal level.

The food in all the restaurants I dined in was great. Even the buffet restaurant had a wide variety and it was good quality. I didn’t avail of any of the alcohol on board because I’m not much of a drinker and wasn’t sure it was a good idea to be tipsy on board a ship.

The only other place I dined on the ship was at the Bookmark Cafe. This was a cafe in the librarian section that served a variety of teas, coffee and cakes. Even though there was tea in my cabin, sometimes it was just nice to be around other people while reading and enjoying some tea and cake.

Disembarkation

The one part of the cruise I hadn’t been prepared for was disembarkation on the final day. Details on this will usually be provided the day before and there will be several announcements. For our cruise, we arrived back into Liverpool early on the morning of the final day. If we wanted, we could leave our luggage outside our cabins the night before and it would be waiting for us in the cruise terminal. We were given a sheet with instructions on when disembarkation would begin. Some passengers were booked on a shuttle bus to the train station or had cars in the car park. Those were the usually the first ones to disembark. The rest of us were called by our luggage tag colour. Regardless of when we were disembarking we still had to be out of our cabins by 8am and that meant a bit of waiting around while waiting for our group to be called. Thankfully the restaurants were open for breakfast on the morning of departure and there was no problem sitting in one of the lounges while waiting.

Final Thoughts

One of the things I expected of a cruise was that the average age would veer towards the elderly. And while that was mostly the case, there were some younger people on board, including a few families with kids. However, I don’t know if there was much for young kids to do. When preparing your talks, keep in mind who the likely audience will be.

The crew were fantastic. Speaking to some of them, it was evident how well trained and professional they are. From the cabin stewardesses who clean the cabins, to the servers in the restaurants and the crew in destinations and entertainment. All of them take their jobs seriously and put looking after passengers at the heart of it. At any time of the day or night you will find some of the crew hard at work, especially when it comes to maintaining the functioning of the ship. Cleanliness and hygiene was also taken seriously. While it should go without saying, be sure to be courteous and respectful to any crew you interact with. You’re all going to be at sea together for at least a week, if not longer.

The entertainment on board was good, if very English in nature. There was a stand up comedian on two of the nights, Danny Posthill. He did some great impressions. The ship also has it’s own on board theatre company who put on some dance performances and performed songs from well known West End musicals. There were usually performances in some of the lounges most nights. All in all the atmosphere on board was sedate and calming.

What about those travelling solo? At first it can seem a bit lonely, especially the first day or two. But you will eventually get to know people, especially from going on excursions or taking part in other activities. There also specific meetups for solo travellers throughout the cruise.

I already mentioned that WiFi is limited on board. You won’t be able to stream or download media. I would recommend downloading any favourite shows or podcasts before the cruise. If you need to take any online meetings or do specific work that requires a strong internet connection then bringing along a mobile hotspot is probably the best idea.

Travel insurance and health insurance are mandatory and they will require you to provide your insurance details before travelling. There is a health centre on board in case of illness and plenty of ways of keeping fit, including a gym, swimming pools and jacuzzi’s.

Overall it was a great experience and I hope to try it again in the future. I’ve already applied for some more Fred Olsen cruises visiting Ireland next summer. It was a unique way to experience my own country. I might eventually also look into guest speaker roles with other cruise lines.