SUNRISE: 07:55 SUNSET: 15:26
We got up at eight o’clock this morning and looked out of our portholes. It was not long after sunrise and the sea below us looked (and felt!) quite choppy. We could see lots of white horses on the water and the sky was overcast, but it wasn’t raining.
We went up to the Thistle Restaurant (previously known as the Palms Café before Balmoral’s refurbishment) and I enjoyed some crispy bacon, sausage, mushrooms and tomatoes for breakfast, washed down with orange juice and coffee.
Afterwards, we thought we’d go out on deck and maybe do a couple of laps if it wasn’t too cold or windy, but all the doors were taped off, saying “Deck closed due to high winds” so we couldn’t go outside.
As we were walking along back towards our cabin, we paused at the Gingerbread Village again and admired the imagination and craftsmanship of the chefs who had created it. While we were standing there, Simon the cruise director walked past and stopped to have a chat with us, recognising us (as we knew he had last night) from previous cruises on both Borealis and Bolette as well as Balmoral.
Afterwards I had a look in the shop, as they had some gorgeous Elizabeth Scarlett velvet embroidered evening clutch bags in the window, aptly depiciting polar bears and whales. I couldn’t resist getting the polar bear bag; it was £28.00 (with our 10% Oceans discount it reduced it to £25.20) I decided I would use it tonight.
Back in our cabin, we looked at the Daily Times to see what was on today. There was a Tour Presentation at 9.45am in the Neptune Lounge, talking about the various ports of call we would be visiting, and what was worth seeing at these places. We love Norway and seeing the photographs in the presentation really whet our appetites for our imminent visits. 🙂
We also saw that they were holding an Indoor Kurling knockout at 10.30am in the Lido Bar, and as we won this when we were on Balmoral in July, we thought we’d go up and have a go. It was hosted by George, a member of the entertainments team who we also knew from July; he recognised us too. 🙂
It was lovely in the Lido Bar. It’s situated on Deck 8 at the stern of the vessel, with big floor to ceiling wraparound windows overlooking the pool deck and hot tubs, and of course, fantastic sea views and the white wake stretching out behind the ship. There was a huge Christmas tree placed exactly in the centre of the window, and holly garlands and baubles along the top of the bar.
We didn’t win the kurling, but we were not the first people knocked out either. It was all good fun, with lots of banter and encouragement and was the start of a series of games we were to play, attended in most cases by the same people. In between shots, I popped out onto the lovely rear decks to take photos as Balmoral ploughed her way through the sea.
It was about 11.15am when the game finished, which made us too late to take part in the trivia being held in the Morning Light pub, but we decided to go along there anyway, perch on a bar stool and just listen to the quiz while enjoying a couple of pre-luncheon drinks.
As we sat there, who should walk in but another very familiar face, that of entertainment host Hubert Greaves. Now, we have known Hubert since 2011 on the Braemar, and over the years we have seen him on several ships; he is so much fun. He recognised me straight away and gave me a hug, and asked if I had brought some of my fabulous shoes with me! 🙂
Afterwards, we remained on our bar stools and had another drink, which was only interrupted by Captain Steffan Ravneng’s noon navigational announcement. We know Captain Steffan well; we have met him on several previous Fred ships, from Braemar in 2017 to Boudicca and Borealis.
We enjoyed a light lunch in the Thistle Restaurant before making our way back up to the Lido Lounge for “Name that Tune” at 1.00pm. It was the usual type game; 15 songs are played and you have to name both the tune and the artiste. We only got 22/30, which was not enough to win.
We decided a power nap was in order afterwards, and we returned to 5007 and enjoyed 30 minutes gentle sleep, lulled by the still quite noticeable movement of the Balmoral as she took us ever further northwards.
At three o’clock we had an appointment with the Future Cruise desk, as we had seen a cruise we wanted to book for August 2026. There will be a total solar eclipse in August 2026 where the path of totality would be visible from Iceland, so we booked to go out of Liverpool on Bolette for the 11-night cruise.
Then, at 4.00pm, I hotfooted in along to the salon on Deck 10 for a hairdressing appointment.
When I arrived at the Atlantis Spa, I was greeted by hairdresser Dom. Dom has worked for Fred Olsen on various ships for a number of years, and has often done my hair in the past. He did a lovely updo for me; a sort of French pleat with little tendrils of hair hanging around my face.
I then had exactly 30 minutes to get ready for the Captain’s Welcome Party at 5.15pm. This party, however, would be unusual in that it was not a formal night. However, a cocktail party is a cocktail party, and to me that meant getting dressed up. While I didn’t go full-on formal, I nevertheless wore a black and red maxi dress with a black lace jacket, and some of my amazing Irregular Choice shoes. These ones were red and purple with a row of candles down each side, which flickered and flashed when I walked. 🙂
As we made our way into the Neptune Lounge, we passed by the ‘receiving line’ of senior officers, including the captain. We greeted him and I handed him a Christmas card. 🙂
We went down to the front to our ‘usual’ seats, and had no sooner sat down when a waiter approached with his tray of drinks, and we each took a chilled cava. Looking around, many of the passengers had still made some sort of effort to dress a little more smartly, but we still saw people in casual clothes. I wonder why they didn’t make this a formal night?
On the stage the ship’s band played a selection of dance music, while the dance hosts whirled their partners around the floor. We enjoyed some more of the gratis drinks accompanied by a selection of tasty little canapés.
Soon Simon introduced the master of the Balmoral, Captain Steffan, and he was clapped onto the stage to the familiar strains of Anchors Aweigh! He gave a little speech and welcomed us all on board for the Christmas and New Year cruise while we continued to enjoy a couple more drinks; “free drinks that you’ve paid for” as Simon so humorously put it. 🙂
At 6.00pm we made our way to the Ballindalloch for our dinner on table #51. This time, the third couple joined our table, Tom and Chris from Chester. Once again, it was a delicious meal in interesting and convivial company.
As ever, we hotfooted it along to the Neptune Lounge for tonight’s show. On the way, we saw the captain and all the senior officers, all wearing Santa hats, sitting in rows while the official photographer recorded them making a special Christmas video message.
There was no dancing on tonight as those on second sitting dinner had just left the theatre after their cocktail party, so we bagsied our regular seats at the front. The show was called “Balmoral High” and featured the Balmoral Show Company. We had seen this show when we were on Balmoral in July, but it’s a great all-singing, all-dancing show set in a fictitious American high school, and we enjoyed it a lot.
Then it was up to the Lido Lounge once again for the quiz, which we didn’t win, only scoring 10/15.
We enjoyed the music of Family Affair once again, and chatted with some other passengers on adjacent tables before leaving around 11.00pm, very early for us when we are on holiday. We stopped off at the Morning Light pub for a nightcap on our way back to 5007. The sea seemed to have calmed down a bit now, and the Balmoral wasn’t moving around so much.
Tomorrow would be Christmas Eve, and we fell asleep with the pleasant thought of another enjoyable sea day tomorrow. 🙂