Balmoral Reviews
View Cruise DealsI'm about to go on my fifth Fred. Olsen cruise in two years and three months. One reason is that I'm single but Fred. does not usually charge single supplements. My first Fred. cruise was on 'Balmoral' in August 2014 when I went to the amazing Norwegian fjords. My seven days on board 'Balmoral' were superb, I had a smallish but comfortable cabin, excellent food and drink, I ate with agreeable single people and enjoyed the tours. This summer I went to the fjords again on 'Black Watch'. My second cruise on 'Balmoral' was to major cities of southern Scandinavia during 2015. It was as enjoyable as the earlier one. When I join 'Boudicca' next week I will have cruised on all of Freds. Olsen four ships.
Just returned from 46 night cruise on our favourite ship Balmoral. As ever staff remembered us from previous cruises and gave us a very warm welcome, the cruise itself was very good, the Brazilian ports were definitely not, most were working industrial ports and meant we had to get a shuttle bus to get to a shuttle bus at the port gates. The Balmoral cruise company were more than excellent, shows worthy of West End. Phantom was amazing, I have special dietary requirements and could not fault the attention not only by galley staff but also waiters, we have 2 more cruises booked on Balmoral and can't wait to meet our phillipino and Thai friends again,
Just done an 8 day cruise to the fiords on Balmoral on the 3rd of July 2015 We were late leaving Southampton as there seemed to be a problem with the out break of the dreaded virus on board from earlier sailngs. From the time we stepped on gang way we were sprayed with a saniatisation fluid from the time we got up to the time we went to bed. I can understand why this needs to be done to keep the ship clean, but I think the line must be drawn when we you used the toilets around the ship a member of staff would be in there watching your every move and making sure you washed your hands in the manner as described by the captain on his daily updates over the tannoy. This did not go down well with a lot of the guests as you can imagine. The cruise its self was good, the food was top class as was our cabin, and the staff were the best. The first port of call was Stavanger why arrive at a very pretty place like that on a Sunday to find the place is shut. A day at sea on a Sunday would have been better. I only did the cruise to go to Flam which was great and glad I made my own way rather than pay Fred Olsen the price they were asking. The ship was a good size which made it very friendly, but we will not go on this cruise line again something was missing but we cannot put our finger on it, perhaps being sprayed to death did not help.
We have stayed on the Balmoral before and it is the largest of the Fred Olsen ships I believe. We had a very comfortable outside cabin which was extremely quiet. The food was excellent and I personally think it was better than on the P and O and Cunard ships we have stayed on. Staff were pleasant, cheerful and helpful and the entertainment seemed to be more varied and even better than before. I think the young cruise show team could bring their contributions a bit more up to date and introduce their acts rather than frantically pile through them non-stop. I was with my family who ranged from 14 to 72 and we all thoroughly enjoyed our trip.
Enjoyed a lovely week on the Balmoral, brilliant crew and the food was excellent, will book again in future.
I joined The Balmoral at Dubai on 27th January. Travelling by myself can be daunting. For anyone wishing to travel alone, don't hold back there are absolutely no problems with Fred Olsen cruises. I opted to do The Golden Triangle trip. Very well organised and staying in first class hotels. I booked trips at all the ports. Again well organised and interesting. I found all the staff work extremely hard, kind and helpful. I have been fortunate to travel on the Queen Mary, I would choose The Balmoral in preference. Why, well the food was just as good. The cruise ship could enter smaller ports. The excursions were much better. Agreed the larger ship's ambience was much more in keeping with a five star cruise ship, and of course the cost was far greater. Isn't it better to do more cruises per year than just one very expensive one. The choice is yours.
The ship is one of the largest in Fred. Olsen fleet and the facilities are excellent. We joined the ship at Kuala Lumpur to Tokyo on it's world cruise out of Southampton. The food onboard is certainly 5 star at every meal and the choice of dishes unbelievable. The inside cabin that we had on the 8th deck was just a little small but more than adequate considering that most of the time was spent outside on deck. The daily and evening entertainment provided was quite enjoyable so there was always something to occupy ones time on sea days. In contrast to earlier cruises that we have taken, everything now is chargeable to your account on board and the prices are quite high. A bottle of house wine at dinner will set you back ÂŁ18, a cocktail or beer will be around ÂŁ5. There is no complimentary sail away bubbly, nor complimentary first cocktail at various times now. All this has past and gone. The tours booked pre boarding cost in excess of ÂŁ600 and proved poor value for money with one or two downright disgusting and a bit of a rip off. Many people made their own arrangements with taxis etc at each port. Our mistake. Be wary of using the WI-FI on board if you have an I-Pad. It costs ÂŁ5 for 30 minutes and logging in and out is rather complicated for all but the very IT proficient. In addition it is only operative in certain hot spots on the ship and is extremely slow connecting whilst using up your precious minutes. We actually bought two lots of 30 minutes and only succeeded in sending two short emails.
The cruise element with Fred O was excellent as usual, only downside was not being able to get off the ship at Galle by tender due to sea conditions( not Freds fault !! Additionally a very good word for Riviera Hotel Dubai, Ms Digna Mora-Salenga in particular on the reservation desk, during and post cruise, when in conjunction with her counterpart Din Din on the Balmoral desk, they firstly retrieved,held, and have now arranged the returning to the UK an item of clothing left behind by us in the Cafe/Lounge of the Riviera when we joined Balmoral on 28 Jan.15. It is right that you and their employers should be made aware of the way above average efforts of both, the item a scarf, being of particular significance for Mrs Chapman. We enjoyed our stays at both the Riviera and the Fraser Place KL pre and post cruise,so thanks very much to whoever in Iglu for that too.Â
This would have been an enjoyable two night mini break from Southampton to Le Havre. As usual the standard of the crew and staff were excellent as was the food and entertainment. Sadly, we have very few good words to say about the ship itself. In our opinion, the Balmoral is now a rather tired and worn out ship which has seen better days. We were allocated a cabin aft of the ship on deck 4 (4168). During the two nights at sea we were subjected to the most horrendous noises from the engines/engine room which meant that sleep was virtually impossible for any reasonable length of time. We spoke to a crew member after the first night and explained what we had experienced,receiving his assurance that the matter would be brought to the notice of the appropriate person(s) for immediate attention. We received no further contact from anyone and spent a second largely sleepless night as a result. Whilst we intend to go on further cruises in the future, regretfully, they are unlikely to be with Fred Olsen.
First class food and service on this mini cruise to France.