Baltic Sea Balmoral Baltic Sea Cruise Reviews

Booked this cruise over a year ago to go in search of the northern lights. Relocation cruise prior to ours was cancelled due to an outbreak of gastrointestinal cases. This meant some hygiene restrictions were still in place for first few days. This did lead to some inconvenience and slow service. Some toilets were closed. After three days the restrictions were lifted and everything got back to ...

For our first cruise, there were positive experiences, including the (expensive) onshore excursions to the stunning Norwegian scenery, the good choice of on board food and dining, the lovely flowers and gifts from Fred Olsen Cruises for our silver wedding anniversary, and the high standard of housekeeping in our room by our cabin stewardess. Unfortunately there were many negative experiences ...

We only booked this cruise six weeks before sailing. This was our second cruise with Fred and it won’t be our last. Sailing from Rosyth was very easy, check in was quick, parking at the Dock makes it simple. Disembarking was just as easy. We chose an Inside Cabin for the simple reason that going to the Midnight Sun was going to be 24 hours of daylight and we both like darkness to sleep in. Our ...

This was our first post-Covid holiday abroad and, after seeing chaos at airports over the last couple of years, we were delighted to find that we could sail from Rosyth, just over an hour's drive from home. The itinerary took us up the coast of Norway before heading well into the Arctic Circle, to Svalbard. This was only our second cruise and our first with Fred Olsen but we had heard good ...

This was our fifth cruise with Fred Olsen - our first since the pandemic. At the outset of the cruise were delayed by two hours while the ship underwent a "deep clean" as there had been a severe outbreak of Norovirus on the previous cruise. Needless to say by day three of the cruise my husband and many other passengers were confined to cabin as the virus had once again taken hold. By day ...

We love the Balmoral because of the traditional raked stern that allows you to sit out on the balconies, either for lunch on Deck 10, or for drinks in the evening on Deck 8. You can then watch the landscape drift past, for example in the fjords or the Kiel Canal on this cruise. This time we moved our Dining to the Avon restaurant on Deck 10 instead of being in the main Balindalloch. As it was ...

We chose this cruise for Havana, Antarctic and Iguazu falls. Havana was scheduled as an evening in port followed by a full day. It was cancelled at the last minute and a half day in Nassau substituted. Not a like for like change. The tendered port of Ushuaia was a shambles, overcrowded and long queues for tenders in torrential rain. Iguazu falls was cancelled at the airport in Rio due to technical ...

We are seasoned cruisers and have been on 30 plus cruises over the past 15 -20 years, however this was our first experience of Fred Olsen. This is the only time I have felt the need, or rather obligation to go into print to warn others. We fancied a Christmas market cruise and had previously done the Rhine/Danube etc and loved it so fancied going further afield. Olsen cruises advertised this ...

We stayed in the Travelodge, Cobalt Business Park before our embarkation from Newcastle, which was a fairly new hotel. It was really good with the room, hotel and staff being excellent, so I would definitely recommend that as somewhere to stay pre-cruise. We stayed three nights, taking the opportunity to go on a boat ride to The Farne Isles one day with Serenity, which again I would recommend as ...

There were lots of good things about this cruise. Embarkation and disembarkation were wonderfully swift and painless. there was no pressured up-selling, such as we'd experienced on other, more high-profile cruise lines. The food was good, even for a vegetarian like me; the drink prices on the Balmoral are far cheaper than on other cruise lines; the coffee bar is superb, with prices much cheaper ...