When we got up at 7.30 this morning it was with happy and exciting anticipation of the day we had in store because, once again, we were setting off on a cruise! 🙂
Yes! We were joining Fred Olsen’s Balmoral later on today in Rosyth, Scotland, for a 10-day cruise around the Baltic, transiting the Kiel Canal and visiting Warnemunde (Germany), Gdansk (Poland), Klaipeda (Lithuania) and Copenhagen (Denmark). We had never been to Gdansk or Klaipeda before, so we had those two new ports to look forward to.
It would be our fifth cruise on Balmoral, and we had fond memories of this lovely little ship, on which we had first cruised in 2012. In fact, we had cruised on this ship in 2003 as well, but in those days she was known as Crown Odyssey and was operated by the now-defunct Orient Lines.
Last time we cruised on Balmoral was in August 2019, nearly five years ago now. We did visit the ship briefly though last November, for the Fred Olsen “Fleet in Funchal” event. We were so excited to be going back! 🙂
After dropping our cat Cedric off at the luxury cat hotel where he spends his holidays whenever we go away, we returned home, put the car away in the garage, brought our suitcases downstairs to the hall and awaited our taxi, which was due to 10 o’clock. It was a few minutes late arriving (apparently he had gone to the wrong house!) and there were a few moments of panic, thinking we would miss our train. We arrived at Durham railway station in good time though, with 10 minutes to spare.
Our train to Edinburgh was on time, and we set off and headed north through the sunlit towns and villages. Our first stop was at Newcastle, and as the train pulled out we cracked open a bottle of cava that Trevor had stashed in his rucksack, and we dispensed it into two plastic beakers we had brought for the purpose. It gave an extra sense of occasion to our journey. 🙂
The train journey from Durham to Edinburgh is very picturesque, as a great part of the journey is a coastal route, and we could see the rugged cliffs and dunes as we looked on to the blue North Sea, which glittered in the July sunshine.
Soon we could see the distinctive bridges over the Firth of Forth as we approached Edinburgh. Our train crossed the famous red Forth Bridge; there is a well-known saying in Britain to describe a job that seems never-ending “It’s like painting the Forth Bridge” – this means that by the time the painting is finally finished, it’s time to start all over again at the other end. 🙂
We arrived at Edinburgh Waverley station at 12.15pm, and trundled our cases to Platform 2 for the local train to Inverkeithing, which is the train station closest to the cruise terminal in Rosyth. We had never cruised out of Rosyth before, but the last time we had been here was in September 2020, when all cruising had been paused because of the dreadful CoViD-19 pandemic. Then, all four of Fred Olsen’s fleet, including Balmoral, were docked in Rosyth for months on end, until we were all allowed to cruise again in 2021.
We arrived at Inverkeithing just before one o’clock and made our way outside to the taxi rank. There was no queue and a taxi was available immediately, so after loading our suitcases into the boot, we took our seats in the back of the car and chatted happily to the driver on the 10-minute journey. As we approached the cruise terminal we spotted the distinctive red funnel of the Balmoral and experienced that happy little “we-are-going-on-a-cruise” feeling; something we never tire of no matter how often we’ve cruised previously (and this one would be number 67) . 🙂
Once we’d been dropped off, there were plenty of staff around to direct us to the check-in building, where it took no time at all to obtain our ship-board passes. We then had to board a shuttle bus outside to take us on the short ride to the ship. 🙂
Walking up the gangplank for the first time to join your ship and start off your cruise is an unbeatable feeling. We smiled widely at each other as we heard the cries of “Welcome aboard” from the happy crew members. This was great, and returning to the Balmoral after five years felt like coming home.
We had requested (and been allocated) cabin 6009, which is a superior ocean view on the main deck, and is the same cabin we had last time we were on, so we knew exactly what to expect. It’s not a particularly large cabin, but it contained two beds pushed together to form a king-sized bed under a big picture window which let in lots of light.
There was also a dressing table and chair, a separate armchair and a TV screen attached to the wall with a flexible arm that allowed you to change the angle. Several mirrored wardrobes provided plenty of hanging space, and there were lots of drawers to stash all our stuff.
The bathroom was small, but adequate, and contained a large shower cubicle, WC and sink. It would be our comfortable home for the next 10 nights.
As it was such a warm and sunny day (we had not seen a lot of sun in recent weeks!) we dumped our bags and decided to go up to the rear decks to enjoy a welcome drink. En route, we called into the Palms Café on Deck 7 for something light to eat; we didn’t want a great lot because we knew we’d enjoy a substantial dinner later on. I just had an open sandwich with mozzarella cheese, sundried tomato and pesto, followed by a mini kiwi Pavlova. It was washed down with a glass of chilled cava. 🙂
We then went out of the rear decks next to the pool, where the sun shone down warmly and we could see the Forth Road Bridge and rail bridge in the near distance. We bagged a sun-lounger each and ordered a pint of freezing cold beer, then looked around appreciatively at our surroundings.
I removed my Irregular Choice trainers and socks and put my bare feet up onto the sun-lounger, whereupon the lady sitting next to me exclaimed “Oh, I just love your shoes!” and she asked if she could take a photograph of them! When she found out that I was the same shoe size as her (size 4) she asked if she could try them on!
Irregular Choice was founded in Brighton in 1999, so this year sees its silver anniversary, so I’m surprised more people haven’t heard of the brand. On the other hand, it means my shoes always stand out and I am totally used to getting comments whenever I am wearing a pair of IC shoes, which is often. 🙂
We had another drink each before deciding to go inside and see if our suitcases had arrived. Indeed they had, so we spent 10 minutes or so hanging up all our clothes, folding things into drawers and (in my case) lining up all my shoes in the bottom of two wardrobes.
Then we had time for an hour’s power-nap before we had to start getting washed and changed for dinner at 6.15pm in the Ballindalloch Restaurant.
We had been allocated table #109, a table for six. We always ask for a table of six or eight as we enjoy the interaction with our fellow passengers and we have had some memorable table-mates in the past, some of whom we have kept in touch with over the years.
As we made our way to the restaurant, the increased vibrations coming up through the floor indicated that the Balmoral was on the move; our cruise had begun. 🙂
When we arrived at table #109, we were the first ones there, but we were soon joined by John and Sheila who hailed from York (in fact, they had got the same train up to Edinburgh as we had, because the York train stops at Durham on the way!).
Soon afterwords the third couple arrived, Jim and Margaret from Glasgow and table #109 was complete.
The meal, as we have come to expect on Fred Olsen ships, was excellent, as was the service, and we enjoyed a couple of glasses of chilled rosé wine with our food. There was no shortage of conversation on our table and the time flew by. I was very good and didn’t have a dessert, although Trevor and I both finished off our meal with a glass of amaretto each. An excellent meal in convivial company – here’s to many more!
After dinner we went along to the Neptune Lounge to take part in the dancing. We only had time to do half of a Rumba One, before the dance floor was raised to become the stage, ready for tonight’s show, which was called “Balmoral High” and featured the Balmoral Show Company performing an all-singing, all-dancing high-energy musical production based around the American high school culture. It was a great start to the evening, and we looked forward to more excellent shows throughout the cruise. The entertainment on Fred Olsen ships usually is very good indeed. 🙂
We then went to the Morning Light pub to do the trivia quiz at 10 o’clock. It’s obviously a very popular event because the pub was packed and it was difficult for us to find a seat. Eventually we shared a table (and a quiz team) with three others; a lady who was with her daughter and her daughter’s friend. We scored 12/15 in the quiz, just missing being in the tie-breaker with two other teams which scored 13.
We decided to finish the evening off by going to the Observatory, but there wasn’t much going on in there. Maybe many people had retired early tonight if they had had a long way to travel to join the ship. We therefore went to the Lido Lounge where the resident band, the Impromptu Trio, played and sang a selection of lively songs.
We enjoyed a couple of cocktails before returning to 6009 around 11.30pm. We had to put our clocks forward one hour tonight in line with the ship’s time, so we’d lose an hour in bed.
We therefore set the alarm for 8.00am and settled down for the night. We had a sea day to look forward to tomorrow, and we slept very well indeed.