Elegant, calm and homely, Fred. Olsen Cruises' Balmoral prides itself on offering comfortable and welcoming cruises where you'll remember every special moment you spend onboard. With stylish décor and sophisticated entertainment to live up to her name, Balmoral boasts a stately feel throughout. There is also a wide range of fine dining options onboard, including the opulent Ballindalloch Restaurant and delicious Vasco restaurant.
01 February 2024
14 September 2024
16 December 2024
24 April 2025
04 July 2024
19 March 2024
26 April 2024
03 October 2024
13 December 2023
Onboard Fred. Olsen's Balmoral, Little Skippers Club is on hand to keep 5-11 year olds entertained. Featuring activities such as treasure hunts, pool sessions, cookery and more, there's never a dull moment for even the youngest of guests.
Fred. Olsen Balmoral boasts 2 swimming pools for a refreshing dip in the sun, along with hot tubs for a relaxing soak and plenty of spots to lie back with a drink and a good book as you work on your tan on the sun deck. In addition, the spa is on hand for those wanting to truly relax in serenity and style.
The main dining venue on Balmoral is the Ballindalloch Restaurant with an a la carte selection of dishes cooked to perfection. For a more casual dining experience with flexible dining times, visit the Palms Café. Here, you can expect to sample exquisite cuisine in a casual setting. Fred. Olsen Balmoral also boasts two award-winning speciality restaurants.
Live entertainment onboard Balmoral ranges from cabaret performances and '60s and '70s themed nights to graceful ballroom dances while during the day you can relax in the library, work up a sweat in the gym or soak in the bubbling Jacuzzis. Balmoral is a mature setting but also bursting with a livelier side where guests are guaranteed to have the time of their life.
Head to the Neptune Bar, which acts as the main lounge of Fred Olsen. Balmoral with fantastic live music, cabaret shows and of course, a full range of your favorite tipples. Other venues onboard include the Lido Bar, which overlooks the pool, Marquee Bar, which has an extensive gin menu and Morning Light Pub, open day and evening.
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.