What do you want to know about Balmoral?

Hi, I'm setting sail March 3 - 8 for a cruise onboard Fred. Olsen's Balmoral. I'm curious: Do you have lots of questions about the ship?

We plan to feature an interactive "blog in a thread" right here in the Fred. Olsen forum -- I'll come on each day (technology permitting) during my trip to answer as many of your specific questions as possible. Please post them below, and visit often for new insights and information.

Best,

Carolyn

Editor in Chief

Cruisecritic.com and Cruisecritic.co.uk

I think as much info as possible and a blog ,good idea,will they have wifi or just their normal type connection ,via their own PCs.Also photos of cabins etc. nothing yet on FO site ,is the prom deck wide enough for loungers ,whats she like in rough seas ,although hope you don,t get any.

Have a nice cruise.:)

I'd prefer it if you were going on Black watch;)

But uptodate photos of cabins - especially superior outside. Price list for the beauty salon, do they do nails, massage, etc - what about quality?

I'm sailing on Balmoral in August so any info on her would be appreciated! ;)

Loads of photos would be great :) It will be interesting to know how much of her is "new" ie furniture, carpets etc. I have a cabin in the stretched part.....are these cabins better than others?

What about the crew? Are they from other Fred. Olsen ships or are they new? Loads of questions to ask so yes an option to do that would be wonderful!

Hope you have a wonderful few days on her.....happy cruising :D

We are sailing on Balmoral on 1May to 22 May and would really appreciate your overall impression of the ship, crew, food, service etc., Were the shore trips well organised? We have not seen a deck plan with the new section added and is there now a self service laundry?

Hope all goes well and you are able to report that your cruise was great.

We are a party of 4 who are on the Balmoral from 3-24th March.Do you plan to organize a Cruise Critic members meeting? We were on Azamara in November and found the meeting useful as it was attended by senior personel of the ship.

We are going on Black Prince, would like to hear more about this ship, also pics. Any thing would be very helpful. This is our first cruise.

Would be interested to know which areas are smoke free and which are shared with part for smokers and part for non smokers.

Would also be interested in facilities for Tea/Coffee during the day. Is there a self service area like that on Black Watch.

I am joining Balmoral on 13 March, would love to see any pictures .... just to wet my appetite even more! Salon prices and singles/solo cruisers info would also me good to know

Hi Carolyn, the wife and I are on the Balmoral cruise when you are, 3rd -13th March and if you would like to meet up you can call us at cabin 4078. It is our first cruise and will be celebrating our Golden Anniversary on the 8th. It is a good idea to get as much information about cruises as possible and we wish you all the best and have a nice cruise. Roy & Doreen

Is it possible to view Camcorder recordings on this site as I expect to use my camcorder during our cruise. Roy

Great suggestion; let me check it out! Look forward to meeting you.

Best,

Carolyn

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor

Cruise Critic

We are a party of 4 who are on the Balmoral from 3-24th March.Do you plan to organize a Cruise Critic members meeting? We were on Azamara in November and found the meeting useful as it was attended by senior personel of the ship.

Hi, Roy, don't know my cabin yet but I know yours and so will ring you once on board. Would be great to meet you and by the way -- CONGRATULATIONS!. What a special occasion....

Re camcorder, I can ask but (and I'll admit I'm the Luddite on the Cruise Critic staff) what I know about video is if it's short and sweet you can easily upload it to You Tube and then we can download it on site. I'll ask but anyone out there who's smarter than me on this (the bar, LOL, is pretty low here) please feel free to chip in.

Best,

Carolyn

Hi Carolyn, the wife and I are on the Balmoral cruise when you are, 3rd -13th March and if you would like to meet up you can call us at cabin 4078. It is our first cruise and will be celebrating our Golden Anniversary on the 8th. It is a good idea to get as much information about cruises as possible and we wish you all the best and have a nice cruise. Roy & Doreen

Thanks, all, for your posts. I'm happy to find answers to specific questions and also quite happy to take photos (with one caveat: it's really hard to get cabin shots if the cabins are occupied so can't promise specific requests there).

Let's do this: Between now and when I leave for the trip (next Saturday) please respond with very specific questions (if you haven't already). I'll print them all out and will run around during my short cruise and find out, and will post them here.

Sound do-able? We'll also be publishing a "sneak preview" review (our full review has been assigned and will launch this summer). And lots o' photos so stay tuned....

Best,

Carolyn

PS It doesn't hurt to nag me (feel free as well to email me directly at editor@cruisecritic.com) if I don't answer your question in the first few days....

I posted this in another thread here but if you could answer then that would be great:

Firstly, I've been reading the other parts of this forum and mostly the views of Americans (not trying to offend anyone just pointing it out). There are various threads about tipping, auto-tipping, etc

So, what is the procedure on FO? I don't recall reading anything about auto-tipping but have taken note of the suggested amounts per person for certain crew members - what about the 'behind the scenes' crew? Are the tips collected and shared out? Or what?

Also, I've read about 'soda cards/stamps' - does FO operate this kind of thing too? - as a non-drinker I do tend to put away quite a quantity of Coke and lemonade.

Are there any rules about leaving a teenager on board ship during a port visit - there is one stop that my daughter (14) thinks she won't be interested in and would like to stay on board- I have no problem with this but wondered if FO might.

That'll do for now - I'm sure I'll think of some more:eek:

Thanks

Hi Chippy71,

If there is anything else you wish to know before you go please feel free to contact me.

Regards

Chris

Great suggestion; let me check it out! Look forward to meeting you.

 

Best,

 

Carolyn

 

 

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor

Cruise Critic

Thanks for your reply. My husband and I are in cabin 5039 although we have yet to receive our tickets, and my sister and partner are in cabin 5035. See you onboard.

Having cruised on the Royal Odyssey in 1995, I'd love to see what it looks like now. Please post lots of photos.

How do we in the U.S. see the virtual cruise if it's on the UK site? Will there be a link on the U.S. home page too?

Thanks.

My husband and I and another couple are due to go on the Balmoral on 13th March - woohooo! Next week!

Like everyone else we'd love to see some pictures of the interior of the Balmoral as the FO site is sadly lacking!

We're going to be in cabin 9092 on Bridge deck so we'll have a balcony. Is it standing room only on the balcony or is there room to sit (and I mean on a chair not on the floor!) ;) ?

We're also interested to learn the cost of a few bits and pieces - namely the photographs and the drinks in the bars. I would be drinking red wine or gin and tonics, my husband is a lager man and our friend drinks pints of bitter. Is there an all inclusive drinks package available once you're onboard?

Changing local currency - will we be able to change small amounts of sterling for local currency - or will we be able to buy small amounts of local currency for each port and charge it to our room/credit card.

Are there plenty of sun loungers on the decks?

Will I be able to get a massage and if so, how much will it cost?

Anyway, my husband says that's quite enough questions for now so many thanks for any answers you get.... appart from.. what's the weather like over there at this time of year! ;)

Netty

Carolyn,

Will be interested to hear how passengers flying in from the Uk found the immigration proceedure at Miami and how long it took to get through to the coaches. Originally the flights were going to land at Ft.lauderdale, Hollywood airport, but this appears not to be.

Looking forward to your Blog, I see Peter Knego is doing a blog as well, communications permitting.

Bon Voyage

Chris

Hi Chris,

I am going on the 13 March Balmoral sailing, but went through Miami immigration on 27 December, no problems at all, so fingers crossed this time!!!:D

be nice to know what they are like,not as far to travel as southcoast,plus i somehow don't fancy the large ship's!but we will see

Hi everyone,

Thanks for posting so many great questions. As we all know, it's not uncommon to experience technical difficulties at sea. ;) So please be patient as I'm sure Carolyn is eager to come online as soon as she can to share answers and highlights with all of us!

Carolyn, I want to know: How's the weather (it's crummy here in New Jersey -- and snowing, I heard, in the U.K.!)? Also, how's the food? :)

Melissa

(and at last online; system's been down pretty much since I boarded).

First impressions: the ship is just beautiful. The weather is simply gorgeous (a bit breezy which of course takes the edge off the oh-so-warm sunshine, LOL).

We're at sea today, headed to Grand Turk tomorrow.

I'll get to individual questions shortly -- and please keep them coming as I'll be checking in several times daily -- but a couple of things:

*This is Fred. Olsen's first Miami based series of cruises and also the first time they've made any real effort to market to Americans. There are 300 Americans total onboard.

*Balmoral really looks and feels like a luxury ship. It's sleek and contemporary and roomy and lots of great art (including a whole corridor devoted to photos of its namesake castle).

*The ship, aside from receiving a whole new midsection, is massively refurbished and almost everything is new (still smells new, too), like carpets, chairs are reupolstered, new bedding, great bath amenities, etc. I'm astonished at how a ship as 'old' as this cleans up so nicely!!!

*After a day, my assessment on the food is that it's excellent quality, not frou-frou fancy, not luxury, but quite satisfying.

*There's no wireless. There's a beautiful Internet cafe (quite pricy and very slow, alas) and no support. Not even instructions in the cafe about how to log on which is pathetic. You have to go to purser's desk (one deck down and then some) and ask for help. They're not terribly helpful.

More to come....

Carolyn

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor

Cruise Critic

Hi everyone,

 

Thanks for posting so many great questions. As we all know, it's not uncommon to experience technical difficulties at sea. ;) So please be patient as I'm sure Carolyn is eager to come online as soon as she can to share answers and highlights with all of us!

 

Carolyn, I want to know: How's the weather (it's crummy here in New Jersey -- and snowing, I heard, in the U.K.!)? Also, how's the food? :)

 

Melissa

Since there was nothing in the brochure about a spa, just a salon, I was surprised to find that there is a beautiful full-service spa onboard and the staffers there are just lovely. It's run by Harding, a UK spa company that's like Steiner but isn't Steiner. The prices are reasonable (55£ for 60 minute massage); actually very reasonable for Brits who pay in pounds and right in line with what Americans pay on Royal Carib and such for comparable treatment.

All prices here, by the way, are in pounds. So a glass of wine is £2.80, seems cheap to me, LOL, even if you convert to dollars at $5.60. Prices are generally quite reasonable.

CSB