Educational Trip – Fred Olsen Cruise on Balmoral.

I was very fortunate recently to be invited by Fred Olsen Cruises to take part on one of their Educational Trips on a short cruise around the British Isles. Having sold Fred Olsen Cruises personally for many years I was really looking forward to experiencing their service for myself. I was lucky enough to be able to board my home for the next five nights – the Balmoral from my home port of Belfast. So after a busy morning at work, I made my way to the port of Belfast. Boarding was relatively straightforward and very soon I was in my Balcony Junior Suite on Deck 9. My first impressions of both my Suite and the ship, in general, were ‘WOW’ and far better than I had expected! There was plenty of room in my Suite and on my Balcony to relax in and loads of storage room to unpack my case into. After unpacking I explored the ship taking in the great public areas before stopping for a refreshment in the Marquee Bar looking back to the Sun Deck. There was a lovely mixture of guests onboard with quite a number of families with young children. Soon it was time to meet my hosts and fellow travel agent guests and after a welcome drink, we had dinner (we were booked for the late sitting) in the Avon Restaurant. Our first meal set the standard for all our meals onboard – it was super, with a great menu choice and served excellently by the attentive waiting staff. After dinner, it was off for the evening show followed by a nightcap. Our next day we were spending a short time in Dublin. Fortunately, the ship had made ticket arrangements for the shuttle buses to reduce the amount of queues quayside for all guests. After a short exploration of Dublin, we were off then to our next port of call – Falmouth. We were also very fortunate this evening to be given a tour of the bridge – it always amazes me the amount of technology that cruise ships have at their disposal to ensure that all their guests are as safe as possible. Later this evening the theme was British Night, where guests were encouraged to dress wearing red, white and blue (guests of other nationalities were welcome to represent their own homelands if they prefer). With a sing-a-long before dinner (songs from throughout the British Isles), a themed British menu and then a themed British show after dinner it was all great fun. The evening show with music and dancing throughout the pop era from the 60’s until now was particularly well done and entertaining. For Falmouth, we had a pre-booked excursion to the Eden Project planned. As we did not have to depart right away for our trip I was able to have a quick walk around Falmouth and what a super town it is. I would have really enjoyed spending more time exploring here, but we were soon off to the Eden Project. What an amazing experience this is with a Tropical Biome and a Mediterranean Biome both situated in a crater in the middle of the Cornish countryside. This amazing park was very busy when we visited (height of the school holidays) and I feel I would really need to return to see it fully. However just to see this park for such a short visit was still an amazing experience and I can see why visitors return again and again. That evening we also had a special treat, dining in The Grill – this restaurant specialises in steaks and I must say that my aged Fillet Steak was wonderful. Our next morning we docked in Portland and I took the shuttle bus into visit Weymouth, another town I had never visited before. I really loved this resort town with its great beach and busy marina and harbour. Also a great shopping town and just so much going on, another place that I shall have to return to. Once back on board it was time to dress for our formal night and the Captain’s drinks party. We had another super meal in the Avon restaurant followed by the show. For our last full day at sea, our hosts had organised a fun training session for us on Fred Olsen followed by a treasure hunt throughout the ship following some cryptic clues. The North Sea was very flat - like a mill pond for our last full day and whilst packing to leave the following morning I really did not want to get off the Balmoral. Overall I had a marvellous time on the Fred Olsen Balmoral and would definitely recommend it for many of my clients – call me and I will have a chat with you to see if you will enjoy it as much as I did?