First time cruise on Fred Olsen

On Thursday I will be going on my first Fred Olsen cruise.

I have worked in the cruise industry for 23 years but have never had the opportunity of cruising with them until now.

I was lucky enough to have been invited on board with a few other travel partners to experience their product first hand so I can go on to speak to my customers with confidence about Fred Olsen.

I will join the Balmoral for the first 3 days of the Baltic cruise which leaves Southampton on Thursday so I am travelling by national express to Southampton early Thursday morning.

I hope there are no traffic delays because I am not due to arrive until 2.30pm and I am one of those people that normally arrives far too early just in case of any travel delays.

I have been reading through my itinerary and on Friday after a business meeting I will be spending the afternoon in Amsterdam and will visit the Zaanse Schans windmill village before returning to Balmoral.

Saturday will be at sea so this will be a perfect opportunity to relax and enjoy all the ship has to offer. I enjoy sea days because otherwise you don’t really get to enjoy the cruise experience.

I also love my food so I am sure I will enjoy having afternoon tea. The captain’s gala night is in the evening which I love. I know some people prefer less formal cruises now but for me this is part of what cruising is all about. I love to get dressed up so I am pleased there is a formal night during my short stay.

On Sunday morning we will leave Balmoral in Copenhagen and due to flight departure times will stay overnight in Copenhagen. This is somewhere I have never visited before so looking forward to spending time there aswell.

I have to say after watching the Fred Olsen documentary on Balmoral I am a little nervous as to what to expect from my cruise but having spoken to many of my regular customers who have cruised with Fred Olsen they have assured me the BBC2 programme was not a true insight into life on board.

In fact some were a little embarrassed that their friends may have seen it knowing that they cruise regularly on Balmoral.

Either way I will soon know myself and would be more than happy to pass on my experience with you so for anyone considering a cruise on Balmoral please do contact me when I return to the office on the 11^th September.