We chose this cruise because it departed from Newcastle upon Tyne, which is only 12 miles from home. Much better than hanging around airports, as so many people also commented .Embarkation was orderly and efficient. Luggage taken care of early on and delivered to door of cabin.
For all we have been on a number of cruises before we were impressed with both the size of the cabin(suite) and its ...
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 ...
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 cruise for wheel chair users. Malmo had many cobbled streets which make it very hard for the pusher and very uncomfortable for the sitter. It was a bank holiday so 90% of the shops were ...
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 scale and still found it stuffy and through the night it seemed to go off altogether, maybe to save money- so very poor sleep quality. Obviously we reported this and it was supposedly ...
The reason for choosing this cruise were many One the embarkation and disembarkation port was only half hour from home so we did not have any extra travel to join the ship.TwoThe ship Balmoral, we have sailed on this ship in the past and have had a wonderful time . The food,entertainment and ports of call had always been good. The size off the ship was also to our liking, friendly yet spacious ...
We have travelled with Fred. Olsen several times before but never on this, their flagship. Chosen for the itinerary and because it was a special event with all 4 Fred.Olsen ships meeting in Cadiz, a good place to visit. That was a very good day if a bit overcrowded. Very nice ship which probably was not seen at the best time, as it was full and so you could not get into the various events and ...
Although this ship was recently refurbished (newer furniture and carpeting) it lacks the excitement and character of other cruise lines we've been on (P&O, NCL, RCCL). The entertainment was so-so (think community college theater not Vegas-style), the comedian unfunny, and the average passenger age was over 60. We traveled with a well-behaved toddler. Even so most people were friendly (only had ...
I’ve always wanted to try a cruise so picked this one as I’ve always wanted to go to the Shetland Islands and it was short so gave us a chance to experience cruising.
Arrived on the boat to our very expensive upgraded cabin. Very disappointed. Only soap in a bottle supplied in the bathroom - just like a 3 star hotel. Very small towels. Thick rust round the taps and some black mould round bath. ...
A bit of a mixed bag. We had been on Balmoral before and it was not as good this time.
Superficially the cabin appeared spotless but there was a large accumulation of dirt under the beds and it obviously had not been cleaned for a long time. The water in the bathroom was seldom more than lukewarm and ran very slowly. The shaver points were hanging off the wall. The toilet paper was thin and ...
Chosen as embarked Newcastle.Embarkation first class suitcases outside cabin on arrival.Stayed in oceanview deck 4 quiet cabin 4116 first time in many years of cruising there was a bath if you had time to wait for it to fill.The cabin was a good size kept very clean with plenty of wardrobe space.No noise from adjacent cabins
We chose second sitting the meals where palatable but similar to pub ...