Fred Olsen Balmoral cruise review day nine: The Mary Rose, Portsmouth

Here is what he got up to!

Our final stop before heading back home took us to Portsmouth for day nine of the Fred. Olsen Balmoral cruise.

Due to the sheer size of the dock area in Portsmouth and restrictions on walking in the port area, this was another tender service provided by a company on the shore.

Nicole and I had a bit of a longer lie so I missed breakfast and went straight to the bus.

We'd opted for the Mary Rose tour for this stop - a guided walk around the salvaged wreckage of King Henry VIII's prized ship in the Tudor Era.

With the museum so close to the water, it was just a 10/15 minute drive from the ship to the tourist area.

We met our tour guide Nicola, who provided us with brief history on Portsmouth's role in ship building through the years, carrying on right until the present day.

Arriving at the docks, we walked through the Naval Base area towards the Mary Rose exhibit.

The Mary Rose. (Image: Newsquest) We were introduced to Janette, who was a volunteer at the Mary Rose and would be showing us around - she was absolutely lovely, so passionate about the ship and very keen to help with any questions that I had.

The first stop on the tour was a fully-immersive 3D welcome video charting from the moment they discovered the Mary Rose's ruins right to the day they lifted her out of the water.

This was brilliant, it put you at the heart of the action and showed us all the intricate parts required to carry out such a delicate operation - and the risks people took to make it happen.

A skeleton recovered from the Mary Rose. (Image: Newsquest) After a quick video introduction from King Henry VIII himself, we got to looking around the museum.

Janette was happy to let us explore at our own leisure but was always on hand if we had any questions.

This was one of the best exhibits I had ever seen, the ship has been lifted from the waters, thoroughly dried (which took 35 years!) and laid out exactly how she would have been when she was in operation.

Cannons had been placed in their corresponding locations on either end of the walkway and the sheer size of the ship was enough to take your breath away.

What stunned me most of all was that divers had managed to recover artefacts from the ocean floor as small as a stone and managed to positively identify them, despite slight erosion.

The best part was from the doctor's cabin - the team had recovered jars of ingredients and powders that he would have used - and the smells remained inside them to this very day, allowing visitors to lift the lid and have a whiff!

Despite it being a pain to navigate, it was pretty cool to see that the Mary Rose was protected by airlocked doors, meaning only one door along the walkway could open at any one time.

The last surviving ship from Gallipoli. (Image: Newsquest) The final part of the tour took us around some of the other ships docked there, including one of only three boats to survive World War I and the only one to make it out of Gallipoli!

We left the Mary Rose and were given free reign to walk about, so Nicole and I set our sights on Spinnaker Tower - the iconic skyscraper on Portsmouth harbour.

Before we headed round, we passed an old-style police box and, being a big Doctor Who fan, I couldn't resist getting a photo in front of it.

The police box. (Image: Newsquest) Tickets for the tower were bought and we raced up the elevator for full 360 degree views of Portsmouth and the Isle of Man.

Also at the top was a glass floor, which I was happy to walk across but Nicole not so much!

Spinakker Tower. (Image: Newsquest) Afterwards, we found ourselves in the middle of a shopping centre so treated ourselves to a Nando's lunch.

The quest for a local newspaper hit another snag as, after trying three different shops, I could not find one at all!

The view from Spinakker Tower. (Image: Newsquest) I accepted defeat and we got the last tender boat back to the ship, passing the various fighter ships and aircraft carriers docked in Portsmouth.

That night, it was the Captain's Farewell Cocktail Party - so we got dressed up in our suit and dress again and made our way to the Neptune Lounge.

The glass floor. (Image: Newsquest) The family feel of the Fred. Olsen Balmoral cruise was once again on display as this time, instead of introducing us to the senior officers, the spotlight was placed on the ship's navigational officers and then the crew.

Captain Brauno Murer gave a short speech before letting each of the three drivers chat to the crowd - once again, Scotsman Fraser got the loudest applause!

Captain Brauno introduces the three navigational officers. (Image: Newsquest) Around 30 members of the crew were invited onto the stage for applause, with a couple of them having the opportunity to introduce themselves to the crowd as the captain thanked them for their hard work.

We headed round to the Ballindalloch for dinner and I tried seared scallops for the first time, possibly have overdone it with the fish meals on this holiday but I felt a bit off it - however, it was lovely nonetheless and the plate was cleared.

As ever, we grabbed ourselves a seat in the Lido Lounge for the quiz, presented by fan-favourite Hubert.

Captain Brauno introduces the crew. (Image: Newsquest) This time around, the theme was famous men - and we did terribly, somehow coming out with eight points out of 15.

Despite Hubert trying to reassure me that I knew this one, I simply did not and spent much of the quiz an idle passenger, carried by the rest of my team!

Hubert presenting the quiz. (Image: Newsquest) The only question I managed to chip in on was who was the first man to land on the moon.

I went to call my family for Father's Day and we then got an early night, looking ahead to our final day on the Balmoral.