When we woke up this morning, we were not in our own bed at home. We were in the Ibis Hotel, Southampton. We had travelled down from Durham yesterday on the train as far as London, then the National Express coach from London to Southampton. We wanted to have a good night’s sleep and not have the risk of cancelled trains or the hassle of last-minute travelling today.
Yes! You will already have guessed that the reason we were in Southampton was because we were going on another cruise. 🙂 This afternoon we were due to join Balmoral, a well-loved charming ship of the Fred Olsen fleet. This would be our sixth cruise on Balmoral, and indeed we are already booked for another cruise on her in October 2025.
We had arrived in Southampton last night around 7.00pm, and once we were checked into our room at the Ibis and we’d dumped our bags, we were ready to go out for something to eat and a couple of pints. We knew exactly where we would be going: a Wetherspoon’s pub that used to be a bank, and is hence known as The Standing Order. We had been there when we were last in Southampton, in January of this year.
The weather was dry and very mild for the time of year as we set off on the 15-minute walk to the pub. Inside, it was thronging with Saturday night pre-Christmas revellers, and it took us some time to find an unoccupied table, near the back. We used the Wetherspoon’s app to order our food and drink; I ordered southern fried chicken and chipotle wraps with a pint of Shipyard beer, while Trevor opted for pizza and Guinness.
The din in the pub was tremendous and we each had to shout to be heard. It took about 10 minutes for our food to arrive; we’d received our drinks a couple of minutes earlier. While we ate, we took part in that most interesting of activities; people watching. The pub was full of twenty-somethings all out to have a good night. Despite the time of the year, many of them wore no coats and some of the lasses wore the tiniest of mini-dresses with no tights on as well as strappy camisole tops.
After we’d eaten, we stayed in the pub for another couple of drinks. The place got even more crowded and even louder. A group came into the pub and took up occupancy at the table next to ours; one of the lads had a voice on him like a foghorn. When he went outside for a cigarette break it almost felt blissfully quiet. We decided that after we’d finished our current drink, we’d go and find another pub. We remembered passing one called The Titanic on the way.
We left The Standing Order around 10.30pm and went out into the cool night air, enjoying that feeling of knowing we were setting off on another cruise tomorrow. 🙂
Arriving at The Titanic, we went inside what was a comfortable, old-fashioned pub, on of those with wooden beams and windows with stained glass, and heavy tables and chairs. Jukebox music played in the background, a few of what appeared to be regulars stood enjoying their pints at the bar. We ordered our drinks and sat down.
It was pleasant in the pub, and at least we could hear each other. When they called last orders just before 11 o’clock we had one more drink, then said goodnight to the barmaid and headed back to the Ibis, where we settled down and had an excellent night’s sleep.
Getting up at eight o’clock this morning, we smiled in anticipation of the day to come. Our boarding time was not until after 1.00pm, so we had the morning at our leisure. Looking at the MarineTraffic app, we could see that the Balmoral was going to be slightly late arriving in Southampton this morning, so we decided that after breakfast we would take a walk along to the port and see if we could see her come in.
There is a McDonald’s just behind the Ibis hotel in Southampton, so we headed there for our breakfast of Egg and Bacon McMuffin, washed down with a white Americano each. There is always a sense of déjà vu when we go there, especially as we tend to sit at the same table each time. The first time we breakfasted there was in August 2021 when we were waiting to join Celebrity Silhouette, and the second time was only in January of this year, when we were waiting to board the Borealis. It’s become a bit of a Southampton pre-cruise ritual. 🙂
After our breakfast we decided we needed some exercise, so we walked along towards the cruise terminal. You can’t get close to the dockside or the ships because the area is fenced off to pedestrians, but we went down a side street and soon we spotted the distinctive red funnel of the Balmoral as she was just about to berth. We could hear the tannoy crackle into life as various passenger announcements were made, and we instantly recognised the dulcet tones of cruise director Simon Egerton, who we have seen several times on previous Fred Olsen cruises.
We still had some time to kill so we wandered along and into the city centre where some of the shops were only just starting to open (it was Sunday, after all). There was an attempt at a small Christmas market and a bit of a funfair for the kiddies. We browsed in some of the shop windows and, as we walked along, Trevor rang up a local taxi firm and booked a cab to take us to the cruise terminal for 1.30pm.
Strolling around the streets looking at the remains of the city walls and the castle, we soon came across The Standing Order pub once again. As it was now still only 10.30am and we had three hours before our taxi came, we decided to pop into the pub and enjoy one of their Christmas Cocktails as a prelude to our cruise! 🙂
We had a Christmas espresso martini each as they had a special offer on, followed by an Aperol Spritz. Then we left the pub and started to head back to the Ibis hotel, as we still had our packing to do; checkout was not until 12.00 noon.
Once we’d lugged our cases down to reception, we checked out and sat, with small groups of others, to await our taxi. Listening to the other conversations, we could hear that other people were also going on the Balmoral. We each enjoyed a cold soft drink out of the nearby vending machine and whiled away the time. Soon a text message from the taxi firm told us our driver was on his way, and we eagerly looked out of the window for our cab, which we spotted a few minutes later. 🙂
It literally only took about five minutes to get to the City Cruise terminal, where we deposited our cases for delivery to our cabin later (I kept my shoe case with me!) and joined the short queue to check in. As we’d all been given arrival times based on our cabin grade and/or level of Oceans Club membership (Trevor and I are Platinum), none of the queues were very long, but in any case we had that wonderful just-about-to-embark-the-ship feeling. This is our 68th cruise and we were just as excited about this one as we were for our first cruise, back in 1988.
We were issued with our cruise cards and soon we found ourselves following the cheerful yellow signs proclaiming “TO THE SHIP” as we happily made our way along the airbridge and up the gangplank into the dearly-familiar interior of the Balmoral, along with the cries of “Welcome aboard!” from the smiling crew. This is the sixth time we have cruised on Balmoral; the only ship on which we will have done six cruises.
We had been allocated cabin 5007 on Deck 5 starboard for’ard. As we walked through the ship (we didn’t need to be shown the way!) we passed through the main area (you couldn’t really call it an ‘atrium’) and saw a tall, lavishly decorated Christmas tree adjacent to a fantastically detailed gingerbread city, complete not only with lots of little gingerbread houses but even a train running through it and cable car gondolas swinging gently. It was fabulous, and got us into the Christmas mood straight away. 🙂
Reaching our cabin, we let ourselves in and had a look around. The cabin was a nice size and there was lots of drawer and wardrobe space; we have found on the more modern cruise ships that storage space in cabins tend to be rather sparse. On this 36-year old vessel, however, there was no mistaking being on a ship, from the dark wood furniture to the two large portholes and the fact that you have to lift your feet high over the threshold when entering the bathroom. 🙂
There was a large dressing table and two single beds in an L-shape configuration; one under the portholes and the other alongside the wall. The bathroom contained a shower cubicle, washbasin, WC and lots of little glass shelves to store your toiletries and cosmetics.
We also had a small refrigerator and a kettle, and supplies of tea, coffee and milk if we wanted them. We knew we’d have a comfortable fortnight in 5007.
It was now time to dump our bags and head up to the Thistle self-service restaurant for a light snack and a drink. We didn’t want a lot to eat as we knew we’d enjoy a large dinner later on. I just had a small plate of salad vegetables washed down with a glass of chilled cava.
Afterwards, we returned to our cabin where one of our cases had arrived, so we took some time emptying it out and hanging up our clothes and neatly folding them into drawers. We’d no sooner done the first case when the second one arrived, so we did the same with that one before stashing the empty suitcases under the beds. Our time was now our own. 🙂
Perusing “The Daily Times” activities newsletter, there weren’t any organised events going on until tonight (embarkation day is already pretty busy!) so we decided just to go into the Morning Light pub, perch on a bar stool, and enjoy some of Fred’s all-inclusive drinks package. 🙂
We had been allocated table #51 in the Ballindalloch Restaurant, which is the main dining room on board. We always ask for a table for six or eight as we enjoy the interaction with our table mates and fellow passengers. Dinner for first sitting was at 6.00pm, so after finishing our drinks we returned to cabin 5007 and got washed and changed and smartened up a little. I wore a simple black dress with lace sleeves, and a pair of fantastic Irregular Choice Christmas boots, with the heels shaped like Santa Claus. As we made our way to the restaurant, lots of people stopped to have a closer look at my boots and to take photographs. 🙂
Arriving at table #51, one other couple was already seated, and they introduced themselves as Alex and Diane from Penrith. While the four of us perused the dinner menu, we waited for the other couple to arrive (the table was set for six) but they didn’t put in an appearance tonight. Maybe they were tired or were eating in the self-service Thistle Restaurant instead.
Dinner was delicious, as it always is on Fred Olsen cruises. There was a good selection of starters, soups and salads, main courses and desserts, and we washed it all down with water and a very palatable dry rosé wine. At some point during the meal, we noticed the slightly-increased vibrations coming up through the floor that signified that the engines had started up on Balmoral and soon she was moving away from the dockside and setting off down Southampton Water. Our cruise had begun! 🙂
There was no shortage of conversation at the dinner table; we usually find that we cruise with well-travelled, like-minded people on Fred ships, although for this cruise there did seem to be a higher-than-usual number of first time cruisers.
After dinner, we made our way to the Neptune Lounge for tonight’s welcome aboard show, which would give us an introduction of “A Taste of Things to Come”. We sat in our ‘usual’ seats in the front row, only getting up to join in with the pre-show ballroom and sequence dancing. It was seeing the dancing on cruise ships that encouraged Trevor and me to start dance lessons in 2018, so we would be able to join in. We got up for a Rumba One and a Square Tango. Loads of people were looking and pointing at my boots as we danced. 🙂
Soon the introductory music blasted out of the loudspeakers, and Simon Egerton took to the stage. He spotted us in the front row and gave a smile and nod of acknowledgement. He sang a couple of songs before inviting members of the Balmoral Show Company onto the stage to do a couple of numbers. They were followed by the San Juan Trio of musicians, consisting of father, uncle and son.
After the show, we hotfooted it up to the Lido Lounge on Deck 8 for the trivia quiz. We only got 9/15; the winning team scored 12.
We just remained in the Lido Lounge afterwards, to listen to the resident band Family Affair, consisting of female singer, lead guitarist and bass guitarist. The lead guitarist was excellent and we enjoyed their music a lot. It was about 12 midnight when we headed back to 5007 for our first night on board. We slept very well indeed.