Fred. Olsen Balmoral Cruise Reviews for Senior Cruises to Europe - Western Mediterranean from Southampton

Mystery cruise was great fun ,no idea where we were going until we entered port .very well organised and the crew kept the secrets well .Fellow passengers were annoying in their determination to tell you they knew where we were going . I did not want to know and told them so .Way to many passengers were doing cruise price paid comparisons which I never understand , if you booked you must have been ...

Having cruised on P & O and enjoyed the experience, we thought that Fred Olsen with its smaller ships stopping at ports unavailable to larger ships would be better. There are many positive things to say about this cruise including the very friendly atmosphere. The accommodation was fine, the staff were fantastic, with nothing being too much trouble. The entertainment was exceptionally good ...

Some things on the cruise were terrific. The waiting staff were. The food generally was of a high standard, at times excellent. Nothing was too much trouble and in that respect the cruise was 5 star plus. When I needed my trousers repaired, the tailor appeared in moments, disappeared briefly, and reappeared with the trousers totally repaired. A lot of the staff were actually incredibly nice. In ...

The price for two cabins were over priced as we were given cabins on the front of ship with port holes only. Cabins 5003 5001 Two Adults and three children. Cabins very dark . We were advised of children's club when booking only to find upon our arrival on the ship that they had indeed a kids club but the children had to be accompanied by an adult at all times. Rather defeated the whole object ...

We have just returned from a great cruise to the Azores & Maderia. Thoroughly enjoyed visiting some of the islands in the Azores and spending time in Maderia Cabin was very clean and comfortable even if it was an inside, not my choice but booked at the last minute (our fault) much prefer an outside. There was problems on the ship due to the Novovirus which was still evident from the previous ...

Embarkation was from Southampton, following a long coach journey with Portlink (which was quite pleasant). Not an entirely smooth embarkation, passengers sat around for sometime until called by batch numbers, 20 a time. Initial impressions of passenger mix - mainly UK & older clientele. Although we are in our early 60s, we felt a little young - although, to be fair, many were in 60s & 70s fit & ...

Departed on 23 April 2011 from Southampton, having stayed on the previous night at the Dolphin Hotel. For anyone cruising from Southampton, this is a cheap and cheerful option due to it's location and car-parking deal, but not it's breakfast on the day we were there. Our cabin on deck 8 was lovely and much larger than we expected - after paying half- price upgrade in January. No bath, but the ...