Asia, the Pacific and onward to Alaska

• Cruise Line:Fred Olsen Cruises
• Cruise Ship:Balmoral
• Destination:Far East

• Date Sailed:March 2009
• Age Range:78

In March 2009 I joined the Fred. Olsen "Balmoral" for two sectors of its 2009 WorldCruise. Our ports of call in Asia were Chen May (Vietnam), Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tianjin (all China), Incheon (South Korea), Kagoshima and Yokohama (Japan). We then had an 8-day voyage across the North Pacific to the Aleutian Islands and Alaska. Ports of call there were Dutch Harbour (to pick up the US Immigration officials), Kodiak Island, Seward, Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan. We then travelled to Vancouver where I disembarked. The Ship. It is Fred. Olsen's latest acqusition and is larger than the other ships in their fleet. In my opnion there is a lot of wasted space in the public areas. The design on the Lounge and Lido decks is not the best I have seen. That said it is a fine ship with good facilities. It is very stable in fairly rough seas. There is plenty of deck space. The Cabins. On this cruise I had a D-grade cabin (a double for single occupancy) which was fine. There was plenty of storage space. The air conditioning was very good. The inter-active TV is very useful. The Food. It was very good. The main restaurant (Ballindalloch) is large but is attractive. There is a good choice of food and it is of high quality. There is an attractive alternative, more casual restaurant (Palms Cafe) which is fine for breakfast, casual lunches and "themed" evening meals (Indian, Thai etc). The smaller restaurants (Spey & Avon) on Highland deck are attracively places and are much praised. The Staff. The cabin stewardesses, bar staff and waiters are all from a range of Third World countries but primarily Philipines, Thailand, Indonesia and India. They give efficient, friendly and cheerful service. The entertainment staff are mostly British and are pretty efficient. The Cruise Director on the cruise was very good. Entertainment. There was the usual round of daytime activities. The lecturers were good but two (including the former MP Edwina Currie) were on my previous cruise giving virtually the same talks. The evening entertainment (cabaret) was, as usual mixed but there were some very good acts. The ship has two show venues which gives passengers an element of choice. Shore Tours. This was the high point of the trip. It was very much a destination-orientated cruise. I went on a tour of Hue in Vietnam. In Hong Kong I enjoyed a hyperactive day seeing as much as I could of that vibrant city. In Shanghai I enjoyed a fantastic day touring that cosmopolitan city. On the second day there a small group of us went on a 3-day land tour in China calling at Xiang to see the Terracotta warriors and Beijing to visit Tiananmen Square and the Great Wall (and much more). In South Korea we visited the DMZ and Seoul and explored Incheon. Japanese visits were great. We had the added advantage of arriving just as the Cherry Blossom came into flower. We saw cities including Tokyo, had a brief glimpse of Mout Fuji and had an emotional visit to the Kamakaze Museum. In Alaska there was so much see in the beautiful snow-covered land. We were the first cruise ship of the year so there were no crowds and a warm welcome from the residents. The tours were not cheap but were very well organised and well worth the money. The Captain. Captain Olav Sovdsnes was really excellent. His enthusiam for our ports of call, his entertaining talks and his courtesy and friendliness added much to the cruise. The cruise. A very different route from the normal world cruise but one of great interest. I enjoyed it thoroughly.