Balmoral Reviews

Our first cruise and traveled around South East Asia. Allocated a room on 3rd deck with just one wardrobe and did not find out that other cabins had 2 until the last few days. Entertainment seems to be pitched for an older age group than ourselves albeit in our 60s. Main entertainment room - Neptune Lounge given over to mainly single elderly women dancing with mail staff dancers which cause the majority of people to leave the room. Mixed views about some of the excursions for example arrived in Bangkok after 12 hour flight and went to see Grand Palace the following day but not aware it involved a 7 hour return trip. Generally the speakers were poor. The ship is small and we liked this the food was excellent but service in the main restaurant the Ballindaloch? was not good with poor attitude from waiters. The Spey and Avon restaurants were much better with good staff. Overall we have mixed views in respect of our first cruise but would book with Fred Olsen again.

This was our second cruise with Fred Olsen, it was just as good as three years ago, there were staff that reconised us and they were all so friendly and helpful, we hope to go again some time in the future.

We booked through Iglu for a weeks cruise in November 2011 on the Balmoral. We were travelling with an elderly relative who had restricted walking and the staff were amazingly helpful getting him on/off the ship. He was thoroughly looked after and we couldn't have asked for more. As it was quite a late booking single cabins usually get booked quickly but there was availability for an inside cabin, which turned out to be really spacious. The food onboard is very good quality, and plenty of it. Drinks are reasonably priced. Entertainment was varied and the on board entertainments crew where excellent, I have to say on this trip the show team were not the best I've seen in a long time. Overall we had a great trip to Germany and Belguim. We are just looking for other cruises on this ship and leaving from Southampton.

We have just returned from a seven day Germany and Belgium cruise on Balmoral. We had a wonderful price deal on this cruise, but the standard of ship and food was excellent. Tables always laid in immaculate clothes, no queues and very pleasant staff with nothing too much trouble. I have cruised many times on various ships, but this equalled most and bettered some. The entertainment was good with a fabulous Polish violinist. I would say that the ship theatre crew were not the best. There was plenty to do around the ship. We will travel with this line again and look forward to the experience

This was my 2nd Fred Olsen cruise - the first on Braemar being faultless. However my review of this cruise is mixed. Restaurant staff were excellent - nothing being too much trouble for them & the food was to a very high standard. Cabin staff also excellent. Evening entertainment was also very good & varied. Top quality comedian, magician & violinist gave plenty of variety. However there were too many late arrivals at ports which was extremely disappointing. Very late arrivals in Dubrovnik & Lisbon meant time was very limited in these 2 ports. Disembarking the ship in Dubrovnik was chaotic, some people having no time to get to the old city. I got the impression that the itinerary was unworkable, as we struggled to arrive at a number of ports on time. We als spent a Sunday morning in Ibiza when nearly everything was shut. Although I was very happy with staff, food & entertainment, the late arrival problems mean I will look very closely at the itinerary in future. The poor planning of the cruise detracted to the very pleasant & friendly atmosphere on the ship.

My wife, daughter and I took a mini cruise on the Balmoral to Holland, Belguim and France. As it was our first time, I pestered the poor staff at Iglu with so many stupid questions, all of which they answered with great professionalism and patience! The Balmoral was an amazing ship. We felt as if we were dreaming! The entertainment was fantastic and the staff were always so kind, courteous and friendly. We loved every minute of our cruise and never wanted it to end. The people and the destinations were fabulous and now our only thought is when we can go again....

We have travelled twice on this ship and also on two of Fred Olsen smaller ships. We like this ship because it has all the amenities, restaurants, fitness suits and swimming pools that you would expect to get on a much larger ship. The ship is a small cruise ship in comparison to most but we like that fact that you are able to visit smaller ports and less crowded places, including the Kiel Canal. The service, food and cleanliness are excellent and the cheerfulness and courtesy of the crew has been second to none, nothing is too much trouble. I would thoroughly recommend Fred Olsen cruises. I would also like to add that Iglu also is excellent and gave sound advice and had good knowledge of the company.

We arrived at the ship in Southampton in the most awful weather imaginable. By the time we got on to the ship we were soaked and our luggage was wet. However, once we set sail we had a fantastic time. Our accommodation was good. The food was outstanding and the entertainment was most enjoyable. We were travelling toward St. Petersburg and this was a great destination. We went on the organised tours here and enjoyed them very much. The other stops we had we went off on our own. Can't wait to an my next cruise.

Small, intimate ship, very good for single travelers as they have more single cabins than other cruise lines. The food was brilliant.

I took the Cities of Norway cruise from Southampton, sailing on May 3rd, with my son. It was our first cruise and I can see how they can become addictive.  I could definitely get used to being waited on, having no housework to do and lovely food available. Giles would have stayed on. We usually holiday in our small motorcaravan so the cruise was quite a contrast and I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy it. However, it was the easiest way to see the Fjords, which we had wanted to do for sometime, given the ferry from Newcastle has been discontinued.  I knew that we wouldn't have as long in each stop as I would like, despite choosing a cruise with 4 reasonably full days and 3 half days, so I can't complain when I would have preferred longer. I would particularly have liked longer in Stavanger, which was interesting in it's own right and there was a local boat that takes 3 hour trips along the Lysefjord. Unfortunately, when we were there it went at 12 noon and the Balmoral sailed at 2.30 so we couldn't go. Look out for the National costume shop in the streets towards the Petroleum Museum, beautiful hand embroidery.  Some Fjord cruises have much shorter time ashore which will give longer cruising the Fjords in the day. I hadn't thought this through as we were going along the Fjords when most people were asleep or eating. Fortunately we were on the second sitting for dinner which gave us time to stay on deck. One morning I woke at 5.30, looked out of the window to see snow capped mountains magically tinged with pink from the sunrise. I intended only to take a photo from the deck above our cabin. 2 hours later I was still there. The Fjord had so many twists and turns I had to see what was round the next corner and the light was fantastic. There were 3 other passengers awake and several crew inevitably cleaning. We returned along the fjord at sunset.  We had amazing weather, it rained in Bergen and very low cloud when we took the Norway in a Nutshell trip from Flam, which only added the the atmosphere, the rest of the time it was warm and brilliant sunshine. The trips were very expensive, Norway in a Nutshell cost £125 each, with only 30mins free to look around Voss, after a sumptuous buffet which wasn't really necessary. This was a very popular trip with 5 or 6 coachloads of people, not my ideal but it was worth it to see the views. Other passengers just did the return train ride from Flam to Myrdal for £40 through spectacular scenery, but missed out on Voss and the coach to waterfalls, past a frozen lake and the stop high up with views over a spectacular valley. It was the only organised trip we paid for.  At Bergen we walked to the funicular railway & bought our own tickets for about £5. The easy walks in woodland to a small lake and a lovely tarn were one of the highlights of the holiday for me, despite the rain. We saw a red squirrel, one of the few signs of wildlife in the whole trip. (We did see eider duck and kittiwakes at Alesund but no seals or whales and not many seabirds).  The boat was spotless, the friendly crew were cleaning all the time. The food was great with plenty of choice. The chef was particularly good as I have an intolerance to onion in any form, so long as I informed the head waiter by 2pm what I would like from the evening menu they would ensure there was no onion in it. So on occasion they made me a separate sauce, or cooked meat on it's own. Special mention must go to our waiter, Emerson, who usually brought me the next day's menu as we finished our meal and took the next day's order.  The passengers were, on the whole, very friendly. Most of entertainment wasn't to our taste, but others seemed to enjoy it and we usually went along for something to do, although we didn't give the comedian a second chance. Laughing at his own, not very good jokes, was annoying.  Ricky, the deputy cruise director, was much more entertaining compering Who Wants to be a Millionaire and the ice sculpture demonstration. The Crew Show was extremely good, with Philippino and Thai dancers and comedy turns from the engine crew. It was much the best evening entertainment. We enjoyed the quizes but there wasn't a great deal more we felt inclined to take part in. I gather some of the larger ships put on a more varied programme.  I would now like to visit Norway in order to explore more, but it is very expensive. We spent very little of our Kronas. Look in the little markets for something to take home.  Of the itinery several passengers I spoke to wondered, as I did, why we stopped for so long at the first stop, Farsund. It ws a pretty fishing village with lots of islands, but wouldn't have been so pleasant had it rained. There wasn't a great deal to see or do and it certainly didn't have the mountains we were expecting of Norway.  Flam & Olden were small towns but at the end of fabulous Fjords and the start of some of the trips. The description of a 'waterfall' at Olden is a misnomer, more like small rapids. If it's very hot take the little train round a lake. The churches are worth a visit in most places and usually have toilets.  We are already looking at some of the offers for another cruise and fighting off the temptation to go. For this cruise I took a late booking, as we only decided to go a few weeks before sailing. A bargain.