I was lucky enough to go to Southampton and have my first visit the Fred. Olsen ship Borealis. When arriving you can see the size difference compared to the bigger ships in port and realise that she is smaller, only having around 1200 passengers at any one time, you know you will get personal service from the crew.
When going around the ship, you cannot help but notice how bright and spacious the communal areas are. We started off in the Observatory Lounge with coffee and pastries, this is the lounge where you can have white gloved afternoon tea, relax in recliner chairs, watch the horizon and use the binoculars to view the wildlife or view the new port you are arriving at, this shows that show attention to detail.
When viewing the cabins, I noted that all are spacious including the inside cabins, I was also surprised to see how much room there was in the cabin with either configuration of twin or double bed. Beds are made up twice a day, after breakfast and then turn down service before bed, what a wonderful service to have. A concern of mine was the cabins on Promenade deck and that when people walk past, they would be able to look in, that’s not the case as the windows and balconies have the tinted class so you can look out, but no one can look in. The cabins range from inside, ocean view these have a good size window, rather than a small port hole. Then there are balcony cabins, moving on to suites. Should you need adapted cabins this is possible, they have a few on each deck.
There are plenty of areas round the ship where you can sit and watch the world go by or view the horizon in the Neptune Lounge or the Oriental tea lounge. The shows are done twice an evening to accommodate the 2 dinner services. Should you wish to exercise, there is a full gym, with some classes or you can use the equipment ranging from cross trainer to dumbbells. There is a spa area that you can hire for time to yourself, which I would highly recommend. The pool is on the top deck and even if you are travelling across the Atlantic and it’s raining it won’t matter as the roof is retractable.
After all that walking around, we were given lunch, 3 courses, what can I say but the food was fantastic. Should you not want a 3-course lunch then there is plenty of choice in the buffet on deck 8. Then, if you are celebrating whilst on board there are 2 specialty restaurants Asian or Indian as well as the main restaurant, where I tried sesame and cashew coated goats' cheese, grilled salmon fillet followed by fresh raspberry millefeuille. If you are on the fence of booking a Fred. Olsen cruise, please don't hesitate as you won't regret it.
