I was recently boarded Fred. Olsen Cruise lines’ Borealis ship with my colleagues Simeon, Nicola, Megan, Jade and Shelly as it was docked at Southampton.
I’ve never been to Southampton before, but finding the cruise terminal was very easy and check-ins are very straightforward. I have only seen one ocean cruise ship before back in 2004. Compared to that gigantic ship, the Borealis is a much smaller ship but can host around 1,300 passengers. To be honest, cruise ships have always scared me but after being onboard for a few hours it put me at ease, and I would be very happy to do an Ocean cruise now.
The ship has very stylish decor and lots of beautiful artwork. We began our tour in the Observatory lounge where we were treated to breakfast pastries and coffee to begin our morning, the latte was most welcomed after a 2-hour drive. The Observatory lounge is a great place for cruisers to sit and watch the world go by, with lots of seating all around the edges and binoculars so you can look out to sea and spot landmarks on the horizon. I imagine it's also a great place for star gazing in the evenings.
Our host Kerry then showed us to the “Atlantis Spa” located on Deck 8, which I was very impressed with the wide range of treatments they had to offer. You can really pamper yourself here! Have your hair done from just £20, change nail polish for £13.50, have your legs waxed, beard trimmed, facial treatments, Swedish massage, the list goes on. You can hire the thermal suite for an hour for £15 or £25 for a couple. Also, on their selected days at sea you can enjoy a traditional afternoon tea here accompanied by the on-board pianist’s lovely music.
Next up was the gym, again I was very impressed, they have an extensive variety of equipment to use while on board. They also offer lots of exercise classes. If they get booked up, they will be more than happy to put another class on later that day to accommodate you, so don’t worry you can still burn off the calories from all that delicious food if you so wish.
We then went to visit the pool area on Deck 8. A retractable roof covers the pool so you can use it during bad weather. I was really impressed with the sun loungers as they were very big and comfortable. They also had a nice bar area here, where you could sit and sip a cocktail in between a swim. A cocktail here would cost you just £7, to give you an idea of prices if you haven’t purchased the drinks package for £24.99 per person, per night.
Situated on Deck 8 is one of Borealis’ two speciality restaurants: “Vasco Goan Cuisine”. You can pre-book a table here for £10 per person before your cruise or £15 per person while on board. Their menu consists of signature Indian dishes, which sounded very appetising. This restaurant is very modern with lots of light coming in from the floor to ceiling windows, I loved the beautiful Mermaid statue that is in pride of place here.
This led us through to “The View” which is Borealis’ buffet restaurant. There are plenty of seats for different sizes of parties. We were led out onto The View’s bar, a lovely outside sun deck. It was a beautiful sunny day so it was easy to imagine what it would be like sat out here when sailing. This cruise has an eleven night mystery itinerary, which no one but only the captain and a few crew members know the destinations. I thought this was a fabulous idea, waking up in a new location each day when cruising onboard Fred. Olsen’s Borealis.
We then looked at various cabins, I was surprised by how big they were. The first cabin we looked at was their adapted balcony junior suite. The bathroom had lots of support rails. There’s a shower stool, raised toilet seat, and a pull down bench seat in the shower. This is perfect for anyone with disabled needs. The cabin itself had two huge beds as it was a twin cabin but can be rearranged to be made as a double. It also had a large sofa and vanity area. Their balcony junior suites were of similar size, but bathrooms were without the adaptions.
We also looked at an adapted premier suite cabin, this was absolutely huge, plenty of room to manoeuvre a wheelchair around. It also had a mirrored dressing room, double sofa, an adapted bathroom with bath and shower plus an incredible balcony with two sun loungers and a table with four chairs.
Next up was “The Olsen” suite, one customer I booked to stay in one and I see now why they loved it. I was blown away with how big this cabin was. It had a full-size dining table and six chairs, a large lounge area with lots of seating, a huge bedroom that can be separated from the lounge by curtains and a stunning bathroom. I can see myself staying here in the future.
We also looked at the other cabin types the Borealis offers, including balconies, solo and interiors. All of them were very spacious. I was also surprised how big the ocean view windows are in person; I’ve only seen them online before. We also seen the terraced cabins, which have privacy glass and a sliding door leading to a shared deck full of sun loungers. It was gorgeous sat out there in the sunshine.
Laundry rooms are available for guests to use, with washing machines you can buy tokens for, ironing boards and irons, handy especially if you're going for a longer cruise. I was also very impressed by the public bathrooms on board, they had large vanity stations for the guests to us and the toilet roll was made into a little boat.
We then visited Deck 5, here you will find the Neptune Balcony, the venue for your evening entertainment, this could be a musical, a magician or even a dance class. We then went to the Atrium with the very impressive clock tower, apparently, it’s a real treat when it strikes on the hour. I was also really surprised to find a florist shop, providing beautifully arranged bouquets for any special occasion you are celebrating. We then found the “Morning Light Pub & Lounge”, a British style pub that has a portrait of Bolette, who was Fred Olsen's grandmother and whom he named one of his other ships after her. There is also a picture of Fred Olsen and his two brothers in pride of place. The history behind Fred Olsen is very fascinating, having originated in 1848.
In the pub, you will find a lot of seating areas plus games to enjoy, there is also the Bollette card room. You will also find lots of books on board to read, puzzles to make and lots of lovely seating areas. I think my favourite place though was the Oriental Tea Room.
I was really blown away by the beautiful decor and the artwork on the floor, I had to take a picture of it. Here you can have various specialty teas. We stopped here for a refreshing drink. We then visited the “Aurora and Borealis” restaurants set over two decks, where you will have your evening meals on either the first or second sitting. We were treated to a three-course lunch with wine, the ribeye steak was absolutely delicious, and I would go back again just for that. You will be in for a real treat as the food is amazing. The Borealis’ other speciality restaurant called “Colours & Tastes” is very colourful, with beautiful decor. The menu has a great selection and changes every three days. You will never be short of somewhere to enjoy on the borealis, with various areas you can sit and relax or enjoy some lovely food or refreshments. You can shop in the boutiques or shops.
I was really impressed with Fred Olsen and I would highly recommend it to any of our customers, hopefully one day I'll be able to cruise with them myself. If you would like to know more, please pop in and see me, I have lots more photos and videos to share.
