Was a little surprised to find 2 single beds arranged in an L shape. Apparently only 48 doubles on the entire ship. The whole ship was very clean and the staff were very helpful. The restaurant staff were especially good knew our names after our first day and made you feel special. We were disappointed that we couldn't get on a trip for the first port of call, needed to book well in advance of departure. We only booked the cruise at the last minute and people had booked trips months in advance. Overall a very nice cruise plus excellent weather would recommend it to anyone.
We were so impressed with Fred Olsen. Staff were so friendly and ship well maintained. Food was excellent and the Seafood Banquet on the last day was spectacular. Much preferred the smaller ships.
Boarding chaotic, rush to lifeboat drill etc. Everything then calmed down and we were on holiday. Food excellent, staff very attentive, shows - musical, singers, dancers,comedian, guitarist and magic ( she went to final of Britain’s got Talent ) very good, Especially enjoyed trio, whenever I sat and listened to them never heard the same song twice. Beauty treatment - late booking pedicure managed to fit me in, very relaxing. Early morning trip to see bulb field worth getting up for, as we were leaving to go back to ship,it seemed everyone else was arriving, lovely to walk around with out crowds. Being able to disembark with cases was good, Home by 9am.
This was only our second cruise with Fred Olsen and we much preferred the Balmoral to the Black Watch, on which we did the German Waterways. This one was to the Swedish Waterways and was extremely good. We were extremely fortunate to have excellent weather throughout which added to an already good itinerary, the best of which was Stockholm, with the wonderful sail up and down the archipeligo to it. Balmoral is one of the smaller ships on which we have sailed and all the better for that. The service and feeding was outstanding, albeit we had to draw the attention of our maitre de to cold food early on. once that was resolved, we had no complaints at all and loved the cruise, especially since it sailed from Rosyth in Scotland, which suited us much better, since we live in Scotland. I would thoroughly recommend this cruise to anyone thinking about it.
Very friendly and well trained staff. Food was excellent and a good variety. Itinerary was good but disappointed we did not get into two venues because of the weather.
Lovely smaller ship. Super staff. Enjoyed all of it!
Vegetarian options is limited, staff excellent, service 5 🌟, entertainment is limited... needs more entertainments
my first time with Fred Olsen......excellent.....i will be back....
Our first time with Fred Olsen in 26yrs of cruising. We went because we are not keen on the mega ships which are now prevalent in cruising and were not disappointed. First class food and service with excellent entertainment delivered in a professional manner. It took us back to how cruising should be and not the 'Butlins at Sea', which many ships seem to be turning into. One lovely thing was 'NO' piped music blasting your ears everywhere on the ship. We will be sailing with Fred again.
Weather was limiting, tour taken via fred olsen was disappointing. Did not think that Oslo worth the stop, many tourist sites were closed. All cities visited were interesting but very expensive. Would have liked more time in St Petes rather than stopping at Oslo. Enjoyed Tallin, lovely old town.
