August was busy. I needed to get in front as I was going on holiday with my wife and our youngest son and by eck we needed one. We haven't been on holiday since our honeymoon, so when our son decided to treat us to a cruise around the Scottish Isles, we couldn't say no. The only problem I had was deciding which cameras to take. As it turned out, it wasn't such a problem after all.
I wanted to take my Nikon D610 DSLR which made my choice of film camera very easy, my F801S. I also took my Nikkor AF-S 24-120 D, 35-70mm D and my Tamron 70-300mm. Two cameras, three lenses, one of which would in my bag and not on a camera. I enjoyed using my Nikon D700 and F801 with these lenses during lockdown so a week aboard a ship cruising the Hebrides with my D610, which is much lighter than my D700, was going to be well covered.
Film was exclusively Black and White but what should I take? I'm spoiled for choice! I checked my stash and had a few rolls of Kentmere 400 and Agent Shadow 400, so I took those. I also took a few rolls of Type 517 Cine Film to use in my Kodak Retina 1a for my contribution to the Frugal Film Project. My phone camera was going to be used a lot during our cruise too. To put it mildly, I was well stocked and we were only away for a week.
We got to Liverpool in plenty of time to get checked in and we're soon aboard the M.S. Bolette, flagship of Fred Olsen Cruise Lines. Film had to go through the x-ray, but the chap was very helpful and couldn't have been nicer about it. He also had the Kodak leaflet to hand so I can't complain, even though it was Harman/Ilford film. Our cabin was cosy, but no sea view. We couldn't really afford the posh cabins, but even so, it had all we needed and our Cabin Stewardess, Joy, helped us get settled in before seeing to her guests in our section of Deck 2, Coral Deck.
M.S. Bolette is a decent sized ship built in 2000 and underwent an extensive refit in 2023. Bolette has 645 crew members who couldn't be more helpful and made our time aboard ship as easy as possible. The cruise felt like it was fully booked given the number of passengers we encountered, but with plenty of room for everyone and we were able to get settled in quickly and enjoy the band on the aft Lido Deck playing pop covers as we set sail from Liverpool.
My wife and son quickly found the smoking area and got comfy for a bit until it was time for our evening meal in the Bloomsbury Restaurant for our first fine dining experience. Oh My Goddess! How the hell did the Chefs make a humble Fish Cake taste like manna from heaven? That was just the starter! The standard remained high and our Waiter, Socrates and his assistant, Jeansley guided us through the menu, kept us supplied with tea and coffee and gave us plenty of time to enjoy our food, which we appreciated a lot.
After dinner we headed back to the designated smoking area. You will see me mention "smokers corner" a lot as I talk about our cruise. My dear wife smokes and happily talks to anyone who says hello. We soon got to know a few of our fellow passengers as we enjoyed the rest of our first evening aboard the ship. Some, like us, were experiencing their first cruise whilst others were experienced travellers and spoke about their adventures. Wifey built quite a cosy community during our time at sea and we joked about her "Holding Court" like a Queen.
Our first full day was taken up with a leisurely cruise north, between the inner and outer Hebrides. we spent the day getting acquainted with the layout of the ship and what it had to offer, either as a part of our cruise package, or an optional extra we could purchase. Prices for a massage, a Spa and Sauna and various other ways to get pampered weren't too expensive and my wife booked herself in for a head and neck treatment, which she thoroughly enjoyed.
Whilst my wife was getting some well earned massage therapy, I went exploring the ship and began my quest to shoot several rolls of film and see if I could max out an SD card in my D610. There was plenty of islands to see and wildlife to study as well as a lot of details on the ship that I found interesting.
Our first full day was capped off with a Formal Dinner and *drum roll* I wore a suit! Yep, the multi function black suit, white shirt and black tie got an airing. I wasn't alone as my wife and son also made the effort and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The food was once again high standard and we all tried things we wouldn't normally have at home. We even had our photo taken by the ships photographer, who was also a Nikon user. Nice! Our first full day ended back at smokers corner where we chatted away for an hour or two before retiring to bed, thoroughly impressed with our holiday thus far.
There's so much more I want to say about our Cruise so for now I shall end part one here. Next time I will talk about visiting Kirkwall on the Orkney Isles and Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, capturing both on my August roll of Type 517 Cine Film for the Frugal Film Project 2025. Here's a few photos taken with my Nokia G42 phone camera from the first part of our cruise around the Scottish Isles. I hope you enjoy them.
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