Fred. Olsen Balmoral Cruise Reviews

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 ...

Sail Date November 2019

Martyn 33

1 Review Written

25 Helpful Votes

First and last cruise with Fred Olsen

Cruise L1917 Isles of Scotland 1.8.2019 This was our first ever cruise and we had expected much better considering the cost. The M.S. Balmoral had its last refit some 10/11 years ago and it is looking very tired. ...

Sail Date August 2019

JCN51

1 Review Written

4 Helpful Votes

Wonderful staff, great food, excellent trip!

Fred Olsen were recommended by family members. The fact that Balmoral sailed from Rosyth (near Edinburgh) was so handy for us and saved us a flight to Southampton. Our cruise to Norway far exceeded our ...

Sail Date July 2019

Caroline27

1 Review Written

13 Helpful Votes

Worst service and food ever

Baltic Sea

Restaurant and staff in outside bar are offish and service for drinks slow Restaurant staff. You catch their eye and they immediately walk away Yet rush you when eating to Move you on as quickly as they can ...

Sail Date June 2019

Ceilidh8

2 Reviews Written

8 Helpful Votes

Improvement

Delighted to say that on this cruise the regular afternoon teas were a huge improvement on last years which were a disaster. Someone must have read my last report.Still an unacceptable waiting time for orders taken ...

Sail Date June 2019

WendyJ4444

1 Review Written

6 Helpful Votes

First cruise experience

I enjoyed my visit to Iceland first cruise with Fred Olsen Balmoral. The Balmoral is a nice country feel ship. I liked that it has just over 1000 passengers and not thousands and thousands of people. Saying this I ...

Sail Date June 2019

kennivw48

1 Review Written

6 Helpful Votes

Excellent Cruise on the Balmoral

Baltic Sea

Having just returned from our 5th Fred Olsen cruise, this time 11 nights from Rosyth to Iceland on the Balmoral, I can say without reservation the experience was excellent in all respects, having given some "room ...

Sail Date June 2019

henderj26

1 Review Written

2 Helpful Votes

Wonderful, well worth every penny!

Sailed from Rosyth, local for Edinburgh Short cruise, just right for a first cruise, staff all charming and nothing was too much trouble. Food was great, ship was very clean, entertainment excellent.. Shore ...

Sail Date June 2019

Alan707

1 Review Written

12 Helpful Votes

A fine ship but with some odd contradictions

We live in Edinburgh, the sailing was from Rosyth, and the itinerary was very interesting. The check in went slowly but smoothly, parking procedure very good. The gangway was very steep, very narrow and entirely ...

Sail Date June 2019

Sheilatay

1 Review Written

4 Helpful Votes

Great Scenic cruise

Norwegian Fjords

Always wanted to see the Fjords and this ship seemed like a good size to experience this .We has a good midship cabin near to lifts etc . the dining onboard we could not fault exceptional . The shows were all very ...

Sail Date May 2019

jeanniedance

4 Reviews Written

35 Helpful Votes

Boring old ship

Very dated ship. Mainly elderly passengers. Nothing on during the day except bridge bingo and handicrafts. More like a floating care home. Tour operator extremely unhelpful.. Don't book flam railway through olsen ...

Sail Date May 2019

Robin and Karen

2 Reviews Written

16 Helpful Votes

Boring boring Sweden

Baltic Sea

Been with Fred before and loved the friendliness of the staff, the food, the service and the Balmoral is not too massive and plenty of room to sit and relax. The excursions were very disappointing. This is not a ...

Sail Date April 2019

jolai1

4 Reviews Written

32 Helpful Votes

Not value for money

I consider the price we paid for the itinerary, distance travelled, entertainment, drinks package and cabin comfort (superior interior) was far too much. The A/C in the cabin was rubbish we had the setting off the ...

Sail Date April 2019

jdohants

6 Reviews Written

43 Helpful Votes

Fallen Standards of Fred Olsen

Spain

Previous wonderful experience with Fred Olsen over the past fifteen years. Sadly, will go with them no more unless they get back to their previous excellence. It appears that the ' Bean Counters ' have taken charge. ...

Sail Date March 2019

Dave200

8 Reviews Written

94 Helpful Votes

Fantastic Staff , Food and Entertainment. Ship Tired in Places But Great Value.

We chose this cruise, our first with 'Fred', entirely on price as ridiculously cheap at £45 per night.pp. We have visited all the destinations before which made it quite relaxing. For the price you really can't ...

Sail Date March 2019

AdeAfloat

11 Reviews Written

34 Helpful Votes

Round trip UK - West Coast US. A long trip with some great people

World Cruise

We usually travel with P&O during the January - March period to escape the British winter but they had nothing new this year so we thought a return to Fred Olsen with a different itinerary would be different. We ...

3 photos

Sail Date January 2019

The happy wanderers

6 Reviews Written

32 Helpful Votes

Many missed ports

World Cruise

We chose this cruise for the chance to see LA and San Francisco. what did we see . More sea than expected. All went well until we exited the Panama canal then an argument with a fishing net ( we lost) reduced our ...

Sail Date January 2019

Sarah D

3 Reviews Written

7 Helpful Votes

Couples cruise Xmas 2018 Europe Balmoral

Staff – some good some bad, certainly not at the level across the board of the more expensive cruise lines but a lot of the staff where great. Drinks – the drinks package includes so little variety I ended ...

2 photos

Sail Date December 2018

sleepingcat

3 Reviews Written

12 Helpful Votes

A winter birthday celebration in the warmth of the Canary Islands

Not many people post about Fred Olsen, maybe because so many passengers are returning guests, on this cruise over half those on board had silver Oceans club membership or above, so Fred must be doing something ...

1 photo

Sail Date January 2019

Artemisgirl

3 Reviews Written

13 Helpful Votes

Summer sun

We wanted to get away for some summer sun in January but didn't want the hassle of flying so a cruise from Southampton to Madeira and the Canary Islands sounded perfect, and it was. We couldn't believe how smooth ...

Sail Date January 2019

Eurovisionfan

9 Reviews Written

117 Helpful Votes

Christmas, New Year and my husband's birthday

Canary Islands

Fred Olsen Balmoral – Xmas/New Year 2018/19 – Canaries All in all, this was a most enjoyable cruise and a great way to spend both the festive season and celebrate my husband’s birthday on Christmas Eve. ...

1 photo

Sail Date December 2018

Ashcombe

1 Review Written

3 Helpful Votes

Overall a most positive experience

We chose this as it was my husband’s first experience of cruising although I’ve been on several. The duration and itinerary were ideal, as was the ambience of a small ship. Food and service were very good and ...

1 photo

Sail Date December 2018

mooredenise

1 Review Written

3 Helpful Votes

Christmas Markets of Germany & Denmark

We chose the cruise for the Christmas Markets in Europe. The Balmoral crew had made a splendid effort to make the ship festive. Lovely decorations throughout.There were beautifully made gingerbread houses in some ...

Sail Date December 2018

SLM8W

1 Review Written

6 Helpful Votes

Mixed feelings