North Cape in the Sun

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North Cape in the Sun
Reviewed By: Taylor, Derby on 27th Jun 2009
Cruise Line: Fred. Olsen Cruises	Times cruised before: 1-2
Cruise Ship: Balmoral	Sailed: June, 2009
Destination: Northern Europe	Age: 65+

We chose to travel to the North Cape of Norway for this our second cruise on the Balmoral and overall we were far from disappointed. The Balmoral is a fine boat which, with 1300 passengers, we find to be an ideal size with a general air of spaciousness without being too big. We had taken advantage of a special offer on suites and balconies last autumn and as a result found ourselves on Deck 9 in a Junior Balcony Suite. This was amply spacious with more than enough drawer and wardrobe space and two comfotable chairs and a table in the window leading onto a reasonably sized balcony with chairs and sunbed. Generally, the cabin service and cleaning was to a high standard with just the occasional small lapse from a stewardess who appeared to very willing but rather overworked. We were allocated a table by the window in the smaller Spey Restaurant on Deck 10 which afforded superb views particularly when cruising in the fiords. The food and service in the restaurant were excellent with our waiters going out of their way to be friendly and helpful. The weather at the North Cape was fantastic and the Captain took us on one of his famous "detours" to sail round the Cape in the evening with the sun shining directly onto the mighty cliff face. This was followed by a superb midnight sun, a wonderful experience not to be missed. This ideal weather continued south to Tromso which is a most unforgettable city with its modern university built specifically to keep the young people in the north rather than them drifting southwards to Oslo and Bergen. This same principal has been adopted on the infrastructure with very many islands, even in the most remote areas, joined by a multiplicity of tunnels. The official excusions were rather overpriced and some of them lacked real substance. However, we found it very easy to do ones own thing with many of the ports we visited offering a sightseeing train with English commentary. On the days at sea there was always plenty to do for those that wanted with lectures, quizzes and classes and many other activities. Never a dull moment really, it was sometimes difficult to fit it all in! The entertainment was well up to expectation, particularly the comedian and the truly excellent Rosario Trio who were promoted during the cruise from the atrium to the main theatre and completely filled it. The show company worked extremely hard and were active to some extent on virtually every evening with a performance that was more than acceptable. On the down side, it was slightly disappointing to find when we received our tickets that the complementary parking that came as part of our deal was off-site compared with the dock-side parking we had been allocated on our two previous cruises. This was much less convenient and more time consuming. Also, having been given a check-in time based on deck number, the order of embarkation appeared to be based on a completely different criteria. But these are minor niggles against an otherwise most enjoyable and successful cruise.
Quality of Food
Spey Restaurant -superb smoked salmon and excellent steakes cooked to order
Entertainment
Rosario Trio and comedian outstanding -show company very aceptable
Shore Excursions
Overpriced and some lacking in substance
Staff
Waiter and wine-waiter excellent- nothing too much trouble
Children's Facilities	n/a

Onboard Activities
Always plenty to do
Cabins
More than met our expectation - excellent storage space
Overall Rating