Balmoral Canaries - just returned

Just wanted to say that we have recently returned from a 2 week cruise on the Balmoral with our 2 teenagers - aged 15 & 18 & 3 friends and we have had a most fantastic time.

The ship is lovely, staff wonderful, good excellent & service fantastic.

We had a wonderful time - this was our first longer Fred Cruise & we will definitely be booking more!

Good to hear. We are on her 1st September. Balmoral is our favourite Fred Ship. Glad you all had a good time. Lovely to read such a post.

So pleased to hear you had a great cruise. We like Balmoral as well. Glad to hear the youngsters also had a good time.

So pleased to hear you had a great cruise. We like Balmoral as well. Glad to hear the youngsters also had a good time.

They loved the ship & everything about it. We were so well looked after by our waiters & the bar staff. There was a really nice bunch of people onboard that we mixed with in the evenings in the Lido but we also enjoyed the shows & the bars too as well as the good Sailway & a Sail-in Parties. The atmosphere was lovely & although there were a lot of older people onboard (which we knew there would be) we had lots of fun with some of them & it was so nice to see so many people of the older generation enjoying their holidays & how well looked after they were by the staff - I only hope that we are able to continue enjoying cruising when we get to the ages of some of the clientele.

One thing we were slightly disappointed with were most of the Entertainmet Hosts / Team. Although we appreciate they were doing activities during the day, they didn't try & encourage guests to join in at the Deck Parties or dancing in the evening - if it wasn't for the group of guests we all mixed with & a lovely Dance Host & his wife, all of whom made effort to get up & dance, I think the dance floor may have been empty! The Ents Host seemed to enjoy talking amongst themselves rather than mixing & mingling with passengers & encouraging others to join in.

We had a great time & were often dancing the night away until at least 2am.

We loved the Captain's Cocktail Parties & the British Night was great. There was a new Showteam onboard & they were very good - they did put on some excellent shows; shame they weren't performing more than every 2-3 nights though!

The showteams are very professional these days and seem to work extremely hard even when they are not performing on stage. They just get better all the time.

The showteams are very professional these days and seem to work extremely hard even when they are not performing on stage. They just get better all the time.

I think that's right. Those on our last 2 cruises have been better than some we've seen previously.

wft

Fred used to use Headliners for their show company for all ships until, (I think), last year. They had a show team provided by a different company onboard Braemar last Nov/Dec when we were onboard, but that was the only ship who were using them at the time and Headliners were still providing show teams to the other ships. This summer on Black Watch they had a 'non headliners' group onboard, (I am not sure if it was the same as on Braemar last year), and I think I was told they are now using that company on all their ships.

I was told all this information by senior members of the entertainments staff onboard. As headliners is actually a P&O company, (this is also info from Fred's staff), I wonder if they kept the best people for their own ships - must admit, I would have done.

The show company on Braemar last year were particularly good.

I think it has become much more noticeable of late that staff are multi tasking more with ents staff doing things that I do not think they did before. I could be wrong, but they certainly seem to be working harder. Cutbacks have probably affected staff job descriptions - if they actually have such things!

They were using Peel on the Balmoral for their Showteam until the new Showteam came onboard early August who are from an Agency called Mirage.

Apparently Fred Olsen no longer use Peel so I am told which is a shame as we saw the Showteam at Christmas who were then Peel & we have seen a lot of entertainment with Peel & they have been the best shows we have ever seen including shows such as Les Mis, a Michael Jackson tribute, Abba Tribute, Lion King, Cocacobana, Pirates of the Carribbean & more.

The Showteam currently on Balmoral are very good. The Ents team didn't however seem to be as hardworking as ones we have seen on other cruise lines!

We just got back from visiting Norway on Balmoral and we too missed the Peel show company as although the current hroup were clearly working hard and doing the best they could, they were not of the same caliber as the Peel group we watched perform excerpts from Les Mis on a previous cruise.

The one good thing they achieved though was to drag the British Night out of the 1940's and firmly into an age range that may have left those over 80 feeling a little bemused, but much better suited those who were in their teens in the 60's and 70's.

I'd have to say that the continued reductions in restaurant staffing was having a negative effect on service quality sadly. Also the quality of the food seems to have taken a further nose-dive as well.

We were blessed with great weather though and seas that barely moved an inch off the horizontal.

Still an enjoyable experience but it has us considering other cruise lines next time around as any further declines in service and food quality would tip the balance from the still enjoyable to something more disappointing.

We just got back from visiting Norway on Balmoral and we too missed the Peel show company as although the current hroup were clearly working hard and doing the best they could, they were not of the same caliber as the Peel group we watched perform excerpts from Les Mis on a previous cruise.

 

The one good thing they achieved though was to drag the British Night out of the 1940's and firmly into an age range that may have left those over 80 feeling a little bemused, but much better suited those who were in their teens in the 60's and 70's.

 

I'd have to say that the continued reductions in restaurant staffing was having a negative effect on service quality sadly. Also the quality of the food seems to have taken a further nose-dive as well.

 

We were blessed with great weather though and seas that barely moved an inch off the horizontal.

 

Still an enjoyable experience but it has us considering other cruise lines next time around as any further declines in service and food quality would tip the balance from the still enjoyable to something more disappointing.

We really enjoyed the British Night too and we were in our teens in the 80's ! Also had 2 teens with us & they loved it!

Shame the restaurant service wasn't up to scratch; which restaurant were you in as we could not fault the service that we had at breakfast, lunch & dinner. Food quality was superb too - maybe it was an 'off week' when you were on?

We just got back yesterday, we were in the 'Spey' up on deck 10.

We just got back yesterday, we were in the 'Spey' up on deck 10.

Shame - we were in Ballindaloch for the 2 weeks before you & really could not fault the service or the food.

Shame - we were in Ballindaloch for the 2 weeks before you & really could not fault the service or the food.

Glad it was good for you, only wish we could say the same.

I'll be writing to FO directly on this as the decline from previous cruises on other ships was very noticeable sadly.

Sorry folks, but we have been a couple of times on board of the Braemar and the Balmoral (in the upper resto) and i must say that the food is not fred's speciality (btw we are Belgian)

This however is subject to interpretation and one's taste; But the service is outstanding!

JP

I cannot agree about the food. We found it to be far superior to the food on RCI and HAL. It is very British, however, which is maybe why it is not to your taste.

I cannot agree about the food. We found it to be far superior to the food on RCI and HAL. It is very British, however, which is maybe why it is not to your taste.

Quite agree with you there nb125

We went with friends on our cruise & they have been on several lines & said they could not fault the food on FO. Also have a friend on another line at the moment who cruised with us in August & he says Fred are far superior to what his is currently experiencing with food!

We were on Boudicca in September in the fjords and thought the food better than previously. Although we have always enjoyed the food on fred's ships. The staff as usual were so friendly and obliging. Unfortunately the entertainment was extremely poor, both the show team and the duo in the Lido. The entertainment was provided by Mirage and not the standard we are used to. Just returned from Thomson celebration and their entertainment was outstanding in all areas.

We were on Boudicca in September in the fjords and thought the food better than previously. Although we have always enjoyed the food on fred's ships. The staff as usual were so friendly and obliging. Unfortunately the entertainment was extremely poor, both the show team and the duo in the Lido. The entertainment was provided by Mirage and not the standard we are used to. Just returned from Thomson celebration and their entertainment was outstanding in all areas.

I've got to agree with you there, Bobby. We were on Boudicca the 2 weeks before on the Baltic cruise. The show team was new for our cruise and they did work hard and were a very friendly group of young people. Mirage are to be blamed for the choice of material which was mainly songs from the 60/70s. The duo were very poor and were overheard making some unpleasant remarks. We did however, have an excellent guitar player who filled the show lounge for his 3 cabarets, but he was only on for the Baltic cruise.

I have just returned from Thomson Spirit and like your experience I found the entertainment outstanding in all areas. I loved the shows which included Les Mis, Jai Ho and Can Can finales.

However, the quality of food on Fred's Boudicca was way above that on Thomson Spirit which was in my opinion very poor compared with that on Spirit last year and Celebration in June.

We were on boudicca for 27 nights in August and honestly the food was far from good. Some nights I struggled to find something to eat. Not an experience to be repeated. After 15 Fred cruises we are decamping to elsewhere.

Some nights I struggled to find something to eat.

Sounds like you had a similar experience to our recent Balmoral cruise.

It is not like either of us is new to Fred and we know the type and quality of food they normally produce, but for some reason the consistency and quality has taken a severe nose-dive recently.

We're just back from a Balmoral cruise last week and we are no strangers to the ship.

We noticed that the food was rather variable in quality and the salads were not as they were some time back. It's hard to say quite why but as a consistent salad- starter eater I was left a little disappointed. The standard of service around the ship was liable to be a bit suspect, too. Have they reduced staff a little which is affecting service on sea days? I approached the bar for a drink in the pub and was asked by the waitress to take a seat as she would come to me. We just gave up; and another day it took nearly 15 minutes to be approached as the 1 waiter did lots of bustle around the bar, left the room and finally returned. Slow service twice starts to be a trend. :(

Sorry the service on Balmoral is in decline. Service on all Fred's ships has always been first class. The service and food on Boudicca in September was fine. Our 4 table companions were first timers with Fred and they were satisfied. Going on Balmoral 19th January for 46 nights so do hope standards are back to normal. With regard to the food I do think on a longer cruise you can become tired of the repeat menu. I often find I enjoy lunch in the Spey or Avon more than dinner. Carolyn

We had similar bar experiences as well on Balmoral, complete contrast to all our previous cruises on Fred's other ships.

Sadly Balmoral seems to be just a little too large to manage the level of personal service the other ships deliver.

For us at least, Balmoral is off our list.

We haven't written of the rest of the ships yet as we hope the standards there are being maintained a little better.

So there is still at least one more Fred cruise ahead for us, not booked yet but we are not giving up on the whole line yet...

We've not long returned from a 35 night cruise on the Balmoral and we thought the food in the Spey was superb. The steaks which were available around three times a week were among the best we have ever eaten. Large, tender, tasty and juicy. The themed nights in Palms - we sampled the Indian, Tapas, Thai and Chinese were atrocious and not at all authentic. A huge disappointment since we had convinced our table companions to join us. Our regular table waiters didn't take the trouble to remember our names but this seems to be normal these days. At least the cabin maid who looked after us in 2011 was excited to see us and remembered our names. So did the maitre d' of the Spey. What really spoilt the cruise was the fact that the ship was more akin to a building site than a luxury holiday. A team of 14 Polish workers were installing a new internet system and ceilings and wall panels were down on every deck. It was often difficult to get back to our cabin because there were stepladders in the way and we were not allowed past them. The internet was so slow it was unusable. The cruise fell below an acceptable standard and we will not be booking Olsen for the forseeable future. Lots of other cruise lines available! Having said all that, we still enjoyed the cruise.

Sorry Coravel. Perhaps I didn't make myself clear. We usually have lunch in the Spey and dinner in Ballindaloch. I do feel with the Spey being smaller you get

more personal attention but have never been offered it for dinner. The wine waiter. Thomas I think, kept the wine chilled perfectly and as soon as we arrived in the restaurant he served us. I agree that the Indian. Chinese etc. are not very good in the garden rest. We have tried them in the past for a change when on a long cruise and thought we may give them another try in January. Hope it has improved. Carolyn