I Cruised in a ‘Superior Oceanview’ cabin onboard Balmoral - Here’s my Review.

AD | This post is tagged as an ‘ad’ as I was invited onto Balmoral by Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines. Everything you’re going to read in this article is my genuine review, but I’m legally required to tag this post as an ‘ad’. Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines have had no editorial input to this post.

I took a cruise onboard Balmoral, one of the cruise ships in the Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines fleet. This was my first time ever cruising with this cruise line, so I wasn’t totally sure what to expect.

I boarded the ship in Southampton, on one of the sunniest days of the year so far at that point (look at that blue sky in the photo below) - lucky, right?!

Here’s Balmoral against the blue Southampton sky. Perfect weather for a sailaway, isn’t it?

I was onboard Balmoral for a 9-night Norwegian Fjords cruise, and so I was delighted to find out that I’d been allocated a cabin with a window - it was a ‘Superior Ocean View (B)’ cabin on Deck 6 of the ship. Before we move on any further, let’s unpack what that means, as you might be surprised to see the ‘B’ in that room title.

On Balmoral, there are quite a number of different grades of cabin within each type. For example, there are five different grades of Inside cabins (G, M, H, I & N). When you move to look at Outside or Ocean View cabins (rooms with windows), there are 8 different grades of cabin (A, B, C, D, E, K, F & L). I won’t go into the detail of what factors contribute to a cabin being allocated to each letter, but the ‘short story’ is that it’s important to note that the cabins on Balmoral can be quite different - it’s worth looking at what letter your cabin is to then be sure you’re looking at the correct photographs online before your cruise!

Here’s a useful list of all of the grades of cabin on the ship - there’s 21 different grades on this one ship!

Here are off the different grades of cabin available on Balmoral.

So, let’s move on to look at my specific cabin. Welcome to cabin 6093, my little ‘home from home’ for my 9-night cruise!

Here’s my ‘Superior Ocean View’ cabin for my cruise.

My first impressions as soon as I walked into the cabin was that this was such a traditional-feeling room. I knew that this would be the case from the research I’d done before the cruise, and the overall feel of the ship. My other immediate thought was about the size of the window. I’d seen lots of pictures of Balmoral’s cabins online before my cruise showing portholes rather than this large picture window. I believe that all of the Ocean View cabins on Deck 6 have these picture windows - a real treat for a scenic itinerary!

There were two single beds pushed together to form a large bed on the left side of the room, with a large piece of art hanging directly above. On either side of the bed, there was a small bedside unit with a table lamp on each.

At the far side of the room, there was a workstation on one side and an armchair on the other. The workstation had a large mirror directly infront of it, so it would be useful as a vanity/makeup station for anyone that needed that too (spoiler: I didn’t need that option!). The armchair had a small glass table to accompany it, making it a good option for afternoon dining from the room service menu, or just relaxing with a coffee in the cabin.

I found this cabin to be really traditional, and super comfortable!

Looking to the opposite side of the cabin, you can see that the bathroom is on one side, and most of the storage for the room is on the other. This consists of wardrobes, and some hooks on the wall.

There is other storage in the room (specifically the bedside drawers and some drawers by the desk), but the far side of the room in the above photo offered the majority of storage space.

Here’s the primary storage space of the cabin - lots of space for two passengers to share!

Inside these wardrobes, you’ve got a variety of different storage options: hanging space, drawers and shelves. This is also where you’ll find your safe and your tea & coffee making facilities (in other words, your kettle). I really love the fact that Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines furnish every cabin onboard with a kettle, mugs, tea and coffee - it’s such a luxury being able to retreat to your cabin to pour a brew, isn’t it?! My top tip for this one - if you like a particular type of tea, instant coffee or hot drink, why not bring it with you now that you know you’ll have your own kettle?

If you’d like a detailed look at what’s behind those mirrored doors, then why not come over to YouTube, where I’ll walk you around every inch of this cabin in my full tour?

Let’s now move into the bathroom of this cabin, which is one aspect that I was particularly surprised by.

Here’s the bathroom. Surprised? Me too!

This bathroom has a walk-in shower. Yes, there’s a shower curtain, but this isn’t a brand new ship!

I didn’t expect the bathroom to feel as fresh as it did - I’m assuming that this cabin may have had a bathroom renovation as part of Balmoral’s 2024 dry dock upgrade. In here, you’ve got exactly what you’d expect from a cruise ship bathroom: the sink directly infront of you with a large mirror above, the shower cubicle on the right and the toilet on the left.

It’s worth mentioning here - I usually really don’t like a shower curtain in a shower enclosure when I’m on a cruise ship, but I didn’t mind this one. You need to remember that you’re not on a modern cruise ship when you take a cruise on Balmoral, and so you do need to forgive the fact that some modern luxuries aren’t on here. That’s my view on it, anyway!

In addition to the above summary, there’s also a retractable washing line in here, which offers you somewhere to hang your clothes if they get wet during your cruise. This could be where you dry your swimming costumes after your swim, or it could be where you dry your clothes after caught in torrential rain (I’m hoping that the latter doesn’t need to be thought about on your cruise…!).

Here’s the retractable washing line - a surprisingly useful item when you’re cruising!

That’s a summary of the bedroom and also the bathroom areas, but there was one thing in this cabin that really surprised me. I’ve never seen one of these on a cruise ship before…

Have you ever seen one of these on a cruise ship before?!

This little control panel was attached to the desk, and I absolutely loved it - it was SUCH a great nod to the age of the ship. Using this panel, passengers are able to control the volume of any announcements coming into the cabin, and also which channel should be listened to.

There is also a light to show an alarm/announcement taking place, and another to signal that the weather is rough outside. I’m pretty sure that I’d know about the latter being the case before seeing the light illuminated - I’m sure that my diagonal walking through the ship would probably be a clear sign of that…!

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), during my cruise, I didn’t see this light illuminated. I’m therefore unable to confirm if it still works, but I’m going to hope so for now!

That’s my full tour and review of my ‘Superior Ocean View Cabin’ onboard Balmoral, the cruise ship from Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines. If you’ve enjoyed this post, then why not come and check out the rest of my content on the subject of Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines? Just click here! Also, I’ve got lots to show you from this cruise line on YouTube - click here to see all of my YouTube videos on Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines!