With effect from April 2014, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines will be working with Wigan-based Eavesway Travel Ltd., which has been established for over 70 years, as its preferred supplier of coach services for cruise guests. Route details and fares will be featured in Fred. Olsen’s ‘Worldwide Cruises 2014/15’ brochure, due to be launched in mid-September 2013.

Mike Eaves, Managing Director of Eavesway Travel Ltd, said:

“We were delighted to be contacted by Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines and are even more thrilled at the prospect of our new partnership, commencing in April 2014, which we feel endorses our reputation as the leading supplier of cruise passenger home-to-port transfers in the UK. Needless to say, we will be working tirelessly to provide the best possible service to all Fred. Olsen cruise passengers travelling on our dedicated ‘Cruiselink’-specification coaches, both to Southampton and on the new services to Dover and Tilbury.”

Nathan Philpot, Sales and Marketing Director for Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, said:

“We aim to make our cruise guests’ holiday experience the very best that we can, from the moment that they leave their homes to when they arrive with us, which is why it is so important to us that we are affiliated with excellent third party suppliers. Eavesway Travel has an enviable reputation, and we are confident that Fred. Olsen customers will be very happy with the coaching service that they provide.”

With effect from April 2014, Eavesway Travel will offer the following routes for Fred. Olsen cruise guests:

Scotland and North West – to and from Southampton, Dover and Tilbury
North East and Yorkshire – to and from Southampton, Dover and Tilbury
North Wales – to and from Southampton, Dover and Tilbury
South Wales – to and from Southampton
Norfolk and London – to and from Southampton
South Wales and London – to and from Dover and Tilbury
East Anglia and Essex – to and from Dover and Tilbury

In addition to the above services, Eavesway Travel will be operating airport transfers – to and from the port to the airport – at the beginning and end of the cruise line’s fly-cruise programmes.

Eavesway Travel operates a fleet of 29 ‘Executive’ coaches, as part of its dedicated ‘Cruiselink’ service. These high-quality coaches have all the facilities to transport cruise guests in style and comfort to their departure port, and feature reclining seats with seat belts, air conditioning, tinted double glazing, curtains to windows, rear floor-mounted toilet and washroom, PA system, audio system and DVD player, ample under-floor luggage storage and overhead storage, hot drinks facility and a refrigerator.

Eavesway Travel is the only UK coach operator to be able to offer a fleet which is almost entirely disabled access-friendly; all but three of its current fleet of 34 coaches can take a disabled passenger with wheelchair access, offering the ability to remain in the wheelchair, or transfer to a passenger seat. With the arrival of its three new coaches in early 2014, this capability will increase to 100% of its fleet – a programme started in 2007, at a total investment cost of over £8.5 million.