Fred Olsen Baltic cruises.

[Green gills]

Hi, I have been surfing the web for a Baltic cruise, and now my brain is frazzled !! So many to choose from, I would appreciate some help, I am currently looking at the Balmoral from the Fred Olsen fleet, what are the state rooms like, the condition of the ship, is there plenty to do on the sailing days, what excursions can any one recommend , is it very formal or is smart casual ok for evening dining too, what is the overall age of passengers on the ship, my hubby and I are 50 and not wanting to be rude, do not want to be the youngest on board.

[John Bull]

Hi, & welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

Fred's fleet is much older than most cruise ships, but well-maintained. I haven't sailed Balmoral but she is one of Fred's oldest.

 

Fred's passengers are predominantly recently-retireds.

A fit, happy & friendly lot - not elderly coffin-dodgers, but certainly 10 - 15 yrs older than yourselves & very few families.

 

Quite traditional, at dinner the one or two formal evenings tend to be observed but most evenings it's smart casual in the dining room, much like dining out in a pub or restaurant at home.

 

Other cruise lines would probably suit you better, though if Fred's offering good value..........

Perhaps avoid P&O's three adults-only ships (average age 107 ;) )but other P&O ships would suit.

 

On-board currency is sterling, prices (drinks & such) are about the same as P&O and Thomson, and a good deal cheaper than the US cruise lines. The illogically-named daily "gratuities" added to your on-board account are also about the same as P&O & half the level of US ships.

Don't let this put you off US ships, they would probably suit you better, but when comparing cruise prices do allow mebbe £150 to £200 per person in their higher on-board costs.

 

Fred's excursions will be much the same fayre as other cruise lines (they tend to be run by the same local operators), on Fred they too will probably be a little cheaper (errrrr ............ make that "less-expensive") than the US ships.

But on a Baltic cruise you have no need of excursions. All the usual ports are very cheap & easy to DIY using hop-on buses & boats, local buses & trams, & shanks's.

 

The exception is St Petersburg, where taking an organised excursion avoids the need for a fairly-expensive & complicate visa, and also overcomes a few other significant issues like long queues and the written & spoken language. But no need to take a ship's tour -tours booked direct with local operators have the same visa-free status, are a little cheaper than ships' offerings, and use 16-seater minibuses rather than 50-seater coaches so are much more personal, much more flexible, none of the inevitable cattle-herding, no waiting around every time 50 people board or alight, etc. Google Alla Tours, TJ Travel, Best Guides, DenRus, SPB Tours & Red Oktober - and glance through the St Petersburg threads on http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=192

If you want to take one of those tours you do need to pre-book because the tour ticket e-mailed to you gets you through Immigration without a visa, but you don't pay anything up-front, or even quote a credit card number, you pay when you're there.

St Petersburg is the jewel in a Baltic cruise, spend a significant proportion of your budget there.

 

I suggest you avoid cruises which don't allow two days in St Petersburg (a single day in St Pete's is a nonsense).

 

And if possible avoid the very large cruise ships which dock in "Stockholm (Nynashamn)" cos that phrase is the same as cruise lines' use of the words "London (Dover)" :rolleyes:

The dock in the centre of Stockholm is Stadsgarten, or Frihamnen is a short bus or taxi ride from the centre - ships which berth at those two quays sail through the archipelago of islands (a magical experience), those which berth on the coast at Nynashamn do not.

 

Bookings for Baltic cruises have dropped due to the political situation & this is reflected in plenty of late bargains if you can hold your nerve & be flexible on dates.

 

JB :)

[YoungDubFan]

I am booked on Crystal's Baltic Capitals cruise in June. I did a lot of research comparing different cruise companies. We partly picked Crystal because the cruise overnights in Copenhagen at the beginning and Stockholm at the end, which negated having to get a hotel room in both cities. Crystal also spends 3 days in St. Petersburg, which I feel will give us time to see most of the highlights and not feel rushed. I agree with John above that 1 day in SPB is just not enough time. We also like the smaller size of the Crystal ships compared to the mass market US lines. While at the beginning Crystal seems so much more expensive that other lines, since it is relatively all inclusive (except for excursions), when we looked at the total, it turned out to be a decent price for what we are getting.

 

I recommend putting together a spread sheet - compare ship size, total number of passengers, cabin size by category that you are looking at, if tips are included, port taxes, is alcohol included, how many days in SPB, does ship overnight at beginning & end, number of formal nights, number of nights, and any other item that may be important to you. This allowed me to really try to compare apples to apples and make a decision.

[Talisker92]

We did the Baltic a few years ago in conjunction with a river cruise. Budapest to Amsterdam, spent a couple of days in Amsterdam on our own, and flew to Copenhagen to pick up a Princess ship.

The main reason we chose that one was because it went to Oslo. To do the Baltic and miss Oslo would be a shame. There is Frogner Park with the magnificent sculptures, the Olympic ski jump, and the Viking Museum to mention a few.

The story and pictures are on our website. We are always happy to answer any questions.

[ontheweb]

We did the Baltic a few years ago in conjunction with a river cruise. Budapest to Amsterdam, spent a couple of days in Amsterdam on our own, and flew to Copenhagen to pick up a Princess ship.

The main reason we chose that one was because it went to Oslo. To do the Baltic and miss Oslo would be a shame. There is Frogner Park with the magnificent sculptures, the Olympic ski jump, and the Viking Museum to mention a few.

The story and pictures are on our website. We are always happy to answer any questions.

 

You can add the Munch Museum to the list of attractions to see in Oslo. It is not on ship's tours (or at least was not on that of Princess when we did a Baltic cruise), but was well worth it.

[Green gills]

Thanks guys you have been extremely helpful.:)

[AchileLauro]

We did the Baltic with Balmoral a couple of years back. As far as the cruise went we have to say it was the best of the many cruises that we have done (mainly P&O) over the last twenty six years. We were fortunate in that northern Europe was going through a heat wave at the time so spent most of our time on deck and in the pool. The ports of call were all excellent and the food and entertainment very good indeed.

 

Our cabin was the most comfortable that we have ever had on any cruise ship though a tad scruffy around the edges. Day time entertainment was good with just the right balance of the various activities for us. The only real downside was the main dining room layout but we understand that you can elect for one of the other dining rooms that are probably less confined. The other problem was the poor children's facilities as our 8 year old daughter has been used to those offered on P&O which greatly excel Fred in this respect.

 

Overall while P&O have the newer ships and do some things quite well, Fred does some things much better and if I could repeat this cruise again I would go for it.

[LandC]

I agree. We went on a 14 night Baltic cruise on the Balmoral in 2012, and it was a magical experience. We spent 2 whole days in St Petersburg, and we arranged a private tour with Alla tours. You book on their website and print off the tickets, which get you through passport control at the port. No money changes hands until the second day of the tour. They prefer to be paid in cash, preferably crisp new dollars, euros or pounds. They pick you up from the port in a minibus. We saw many attractions without having to queue, and they provide lunch on both days, and guarantee to get you back to the ship on time.

[LondonTowner]

We did a Baltic cruise on Balmoral last September and thoroughly enjoyed it. I would like to do another cruise in the Baltic with a different itinerary, but maybe in a couple of years.

 

We did our own thing in all the ports of call except SPB where we booked the 2 day Comfort Tour with Alla Tours. It was excellent and would book through them again without hesitation. In Gdynia we booked the ship's excursion to Gdansk due to the time constriction, but we don't normally book ship excursions.

[jokskot]

We did a Baltic cruise on Balmoral last September and thoroughly enjoyed it. I would like to do another cruise in the Baltic with a different itinerary, but maybe in a couple of years.

 

We did our own thing in all the ports of call except SPB where we booked the 2 day Comfort Tour with Alla Tours. It was excellent and would book through them again without hesitation. In Gdynia we booked the ship's excursion to Gdansk due to the time constriction, but we don't normally book ship excursions.

 

Another recommendation for Alla Tours from me!