Fred Olsen Balmoral Cruise: Day two review

Here is what he got up to!

Our first night sleeping on the boat was a surreal experience.

As we sailed past the north of Scotland and on towards Orkney, the waters got a bit choppier - but the cruise remained plain sailing.

It was sometimes easy to forget that we were even at sea, the atmosphere inside felt like a massive hotel.

Nicole and I started our second day by heading down for breakfast at the Avon Restaurant - the options included a set meal or we could take our pick from the many different breakfast staples.

The view from the ship as we headed towards Orkney. (Image: Newsquest) I loaded my plate with sausages, eggs, hash browns, tomatoes and mushrooms while Nicole helped herself to some pastries and fruit.

Keen to chat to as many people as possible, we sat with a man from Lancaster (who stayed in Alloa the night before setting sail!) and a lovely couple from the west coast.

Afterwards, we made a beeline for the spa treatment and booked ourselves in for massages for later on in the week.

Having never had a massage before, I am thoroughly looking forward to having my neck, back and shoulders relaxed!

Nicole and I got ready and I met her at the Bookmark Cafe, where she had been chatting to more lovely passengers - one woman Cath told her about her experiences cruising in the past and with all the exciting stories she had, it's definitely making us consider doing another one!

Pool much warmer than I expected! (Image: Newsquest) I decided I wanted to brave the pool on the top deck, so with the sun poking through the clouds, we kitted up in our swimsuits and went outside.

I'll admit, I had my fears about the water temperature but I dipped my toes in and found to my surprise that the pool was very heated.

So in I went! Nicole joined me and we did a few lengths and spent about 15 minutes in the pool. The deck was quiet so we could just relax and look out towards the north east coast (Wick, Keiss, John O'Groats in the distance).

Next up on the agenda was the hot tub, which was even warmer and was very relaxing. I could have spent hours in there alone but from fear of coming out a wrinkled mess, I forced myself out to get lunch.

This afternoon's main course was a Sunday roast, so we helped ourselves to the buffet and had a lovely slice of roast beef, a load of veg and some Cajun grilled chicken too.

The free binoculars from Fred Olsen came in handy! (Image: Newsquest) The captain informed us that we would be passing the first of the sightseeing highlights - so we grabbed the Fred Olsen customary binoculars from our room and went to the top deck to get a good view.

The binoculars have swiftly become my best friend on this trip - I could spend hours looking through them in the hopes of seeing a dolphin soaring through the waves or a seal cheekily poking their head out the water.

This time around though, my attention was on the landmarks - Duncansby sea stacks was first up, followed by the Needle as we got closer to Orkney.

The Old Man of Hoy. (Image: Newsquest) Rather embarrassingly, I spent 15 minutes facing the wrong way on the lookout for the Old Man of Hoy, before Nicole tapped me on the shoulder and wheeled me round to get a look at it before we got too far away.

Once I did spot it, however, I was very impressed by it - a real shame that soon it shall be lost to the elements.

After the sightseeing, we went upstairs to get ready for the first of two formal nights on the cruise - the passengers get dressed up in our finest black tie clothes to spend a night with the crew.

Nicole and I dressed up for formal night. (Image: Newsquest) I bought a dinner suit in January and was beyond delighted to know I will get two further uses out of it on this cruise, taking me to a grand total of four outings so far for this year.

Nicole wore a lovely green dress that she'd picked up and off we went for the captain's cocktail party in the Neptune Lounge.

The band, Session Five, serenaded us as we walked in while the senior crew members lined the walls to welcome us in.

The Neptune Lounge. (Image: Newsquest) This underpinned the atmosphere of the night - the staff made us feel extremely welcome and it was a joy to meet them properly.

Captain Brauno Murer greeted us and delivered a speech about his career and how he came to work for Fred Olsen - he had the crowd in stitches with his remarks about how easy his job is!

Captain Brauno Murer (left) introduces his crew. (Image: Newsquest) Afterwards, he introduced his senior officers who then all said a few words about themselves - head of security Campbell got the biggest cheer when he said he was from Dumfries and Galloway!

Grilled salmon with vegetables. (Image: Newsquest) We made our way into dinner for our second evening meal - I had the chilled leek and potato soup followed by grilled salmon and a range of vegetables, Nicole had the pasta.

Our aim was to use the sea days to fully explore the ship, so we raced to the Lido Lounge for an evening quiz and came second with 13/15 questions right!

Immediately after that, we made our way back to the Neptune Lounge to watch Sofia Castillo, an award-winning flutist, who put on a solo performance and played some classics (Bach) while also some crowd-pleasers (You Raise Me Up, Strangers In The Night).

Sofia Castillo's solo performance on the flute. (Image: Newsquest) I was blown away by her performance, she carried a full show by herself and the speed at which she played the flute was incredible - would happily see again.

Lastly, Nicole twisted my arm and, after dropping hints about it all night, took us to the Lido Lounge for karaoke.

My sobriety kept me far away from the microphone, but Nicole did have the whole room singing along to I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by the Proclaimers.

Niicole performing I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) on karaoke. (Image: Newsquest) As the host said, it was a song which could only be described as a classic.

We called it a night after that as we travelled full-steam ahead towards our first stop, Shetland.