Our flight left Manchester airport about half an hour late. We were flying to JFK Airport in New York to join the Balmoral on the third leg of the 40 night cruise. The flight was with flyglobespan and was very good – plenty to eat and drink, compliments of FOCL. There were huge queues at Immigration when we landed but there seemed to be a lot of staff on so the queues moved pretty quickly. We had our fingerprints and photographs taken. Journey from airport to the ship at Manhattan took about an hour – shame we couldn’t have had more time to spend in New York. Boarded the ship and made our way to the cabin (more about that later) and unpacked. Wandered around then went for dinner, then went on deck as we left New York. About 20 minutes later we passed the Statue of Liberty. It seemed to glow in the dark.

The next day was at sea and heading for Shelburne, Nova Scotia. We then went to the Lifeboat drill and then more exploring. Formal night tonight and Captain’s Welcome party.

We awoke the next morning to the Captain informing us that the rough weather meant that we couldn’t tender and therefore were not able to go to Shelburne. Everyone was disappointed as we knew of the effort and work the people of Shelburne had gone to for our visit. This was the first cruise ship to go there in 30 years and they were hoping this would be the start of an increase in tourists. If that wasn’t disappointing enough the Captain announced that a gastric virus was on board and 29 passengers were suffering so preventative measures would be put in place. All passengers were invited to a meeting at 3pm to discuss the situation with senior officers, including the Captain and the Doctor. At that meeting it was announced that there was now 45 passengers sick and that public health clearance would be required before we could get off the ship the next day at Halifax. As we were heading straight to Halifax we would soon find out if there were any problems, but there were none. A pipe band welcomed us as we dock in Halifax and a lot of people got off for a wander around.

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA
We got up early, had breakfast and went ashore. It was freezing! We walked into town which took about 30 minutes and had a look around the shops. This is a very pretty large town/small city (which reminded me so much of the suburbs of Boston) which was founded by the French as well as the Scots, Irish and the Americans but the people think of themselves as descendant Scots. The scenery was very much like the Highlands. Although they have a lot of lobster fishing here, it is licensed and controlled by the government. The largest export is blueberries, believe it or not! We went on the excursion to Peggy’s Cove this afternoon which is a tiny village with a population of 65 and a large lighthouse. Just up the road from Peggy’s Cove is a memorial to the passengers who died when a Swissair flight crashed into the sea just off the coast here in 1999. We headed back to Halifax, which has 3 cemeteries where 150 Titanic victims are buried. Whilst we are on the subject of tragedies, there was the Halifax explosion where, during World War I, two ships collided and exploded, killing 2000 residents. They have had more than their fair share of human catastrophes.

SYDNEY, NOVA SCOTIA
I awoke this morning about 5.30 hearing things falling off the bathroom shelf. I hoped this wouldn’t stop us from going into Sydney. Everything seemed to calm down about 7am and I went up on deck to watch our arrival, following the Crown Princess into the harbour. The larger ship berthed alongside and we were anchored and would be tendering ashore. I like the tenders. Our excursion today was to Bras D’or Lakes, Highland Village and Baddeck, which is the home of the Alexander Graham Bell museum. AGB was born in Edinburgh but lived in Washington and Boston. He had a house built in this area as it reminded him of his homeland. He worked with deaf people and designed different ways of communicating and he developed the telephone. He also designed hydrofoils and the Silver Dart made its first voyage in Baddeck in 1909. We then went to the Highland village, an historical site which shows how settlers cleared from the highlands of Scotland set up home and the difficulties they faced. On the way back to the ship we saw bald eagles. They are quite distinctive because of their white head and tail but they do look bald!

Unfortunately this turned out to be the last stop before crossing the Atlantic.

We awoke on the Wednesday to rough seas. Captain says that force 8-9 winds and rough seas mean it wouldn’t be possible to stop at St. Pierre and Miquelon. Huge disappointment all round. I wanted to see these tiny little islands which have retained their French territorial status and use the Euro. Maybe to cheer us up it was announced that there would be complimentary pre-dinner drinks this evening. Shame we had an early start tomorrow in Newfoundland (so we thought) or we could have had a few tipples, compliments of Fred.

Extremely rough night, lots of crashes and banging and creaking and juddering. There were things falling off shelves and batteries rolling back and forward in a drawer. Captain told us that St. Johns, Newfoundland was closed to all shipping, in and out, so we were heading for Cobh, Ireland. I have to say that I found it difficult to get around the ship this morning, the sea was very rough but I was still very sorry that I wouldn’t see anything more of Canada.

Seemingly a Public Health official had boarded the ship at Halifax with the intention of getting off at St. Johns, but had to go all the way to Ireland. Can you imagine the telephone call to his wife “Sorry dear, but I will be late home…..”. There was also a passenger who had to have medical treatment at Sydney, but was going to rejoin his wife on the ship at St John’s. He was flown back to the UK and was home in Liverpool before we got to Ireland.

The next 5 days were at sea which had calmed down and the sun came out sometimes. It was a very pleasant crossing and we arrived in Cobh on the Monday evening, 12 hours earlier than planned. Even though it was about 10pm when we got clearance, hundreds of people got off just for a walk and a pint of Guinness.

COBH, IRELAND

We were up bright and early this morning, and looking forward to a day ashore. Cobh stands on the largest island in Cork harbour and used to be called Cove and when Queen Victoria visited it they changed the name to Queenstown but in 1921 it reverted to the Irish spelling of Cobh.

Our excursion took in a panoramic tour of the city of Cork. It is a very nice university city and it has a lot of bridges, so you are constantly crossing water. We then headed to Midleton, home of the Jameson Experience. The Old Distillery is now a museum, and we learned about the different stages of Irish Whiskey making. It was very labour intensive with triple distillation and three years maturing in oak barrels but we all got a sample of the end result and it was nice. I don’t like whisky and cannot stand Scotch but this was bearable with water. After some time in the Jameson shop we headed back to Cobh.

The Cobh Heritage Centre is part of the railway station and just a stone’s throw from the ship. It exhibit’s the history and legacy of this unique Irish port town, which saw 2.5 million adults and children emigrate, it was the last port of call for Titanic and was the nearest port to the Lusitania which sank during WWI with the loss of 1,198 lives.

We left Ireland and headed for home and we arrived in Dover in the early hours of Thursday 5 November. Even though the ship was due a deep-clean, it still seemed to be a long drawn-out process to disembark.

MV BALMORAL

We have been on all the FOCL ships (except post-stretch Braemar) and this one was the most glitzy. There was a lot of shiny metal and coloured glass and it looked very nice. It didn’t seem crowded despite all the sea days we had. There was plenty to do each day such as bridge, bingo, dolphin racing, golf putting, carpet bowls, Nintendo Wii, Watercolour classes and numerous quizzes. Each of the lounges had musicians playing in them at various times of the day. The evening entertainment consisted of the comedian Dave Kristian, magician Daniel Buckler, singer Jan Lesley and the trio Tenorissimo, whilst the Lido lounge tended to have the dancing along with the Balmoral Orchestra. I thought the Balmoral Show Company was excellent and one of the highlights was the Crew Show.
We were in cabin 8007 which was the largest cabin we had been on that wasn’t a suite. There were 24 (yes, 24) drawers, 2 double wardrobes and loads of space in the bathroom. There was a huge dressing table and a large picture window – glad we brought the binoculars. Abigail looked after us and our cabin very well.
We had our evening meals in the Ballindalloch Restaurant which is the largest of the three formal dining areas. The food was up to the usual high standard and our waiters, Carlos and Hadeck, were brilliant. The other restaurants are Avon and Spey, which are on deck 10 and a lot smaller. We usually chose to have breakfast in the Spey or Avon because of the spectacular sea views from there. We went to the Palms Cafe once but it was when the buffet had to be served by the staff and it was a bit of a crush trying to work your way around the servery.
I went a walk around the ship and found 2 laundrettes and an arts and crafts room, neither of which I used but I did use the Atlantis Spa (I had a luxury pedicure - £30 and hubby had a head and shoulders massage - £24) and a fitness centre with lots of things in it and it seemed very busy.
One thing, there is a lot of art work on this ship but there is no information on the artist or the work. I suggested that there are narratives by each work. We will see if they take this on board.
According to the more experienced passengers, Balmoral handled the rough seas very well. I felt the movement of the ship quite a lot and for the first time I actually saw things sliding off the table in our cabin. I was informed that because our cabin was near the front we would experience the movement a lot more than if we had been midship. I did feel queasy a few times so maybe in future we should book a cabin towards the middle.
The staff have to be commended for managing the extra workload as a result of Norovirus. Salt, pepper, milk, butter, bread had to be served to you in individual portions at the table and the buffets were manned by waiters. The restaurants had to be sanitised after every meal. FOCL were always very strict about antibacterial hand cleanser and there were bottles of it everywhere, including the shops, reception, along all the corridors. The gambling tables were closed for the rest of the cruise. Bingo was charged to your account but dolphin racing wasn’t – don’t know why? Some passengers accused the Captain of lying when he said we couldn’t get into the various ports because of the weather – they said it was the virus that stopped us being allowed to dock. Some people blamed FOCL for a dirty ship, but the doctor was able to confirm that this was brought on board by a group of passengers who had gone ashore at New York. We were fortunate not to be affected by the virus and were concerned about catching it so much that we became a bit obsessive about hand washing and using the antibacterial foam.
This cruise was different from any other cruise we had been on and it highlighted how little control we have over certain aspects of our holiday. A cruise is affected by the weather and sea conditions. The itinerary is dependant on the conditions being right and if there is a problem we depend on the experts to make the correct decisions to ensure our safety at sea. Passengers should not choose to cruise if they cannot accept the word of the senior officers. There were a small number of passengers on this cruise who believed that the Captain was missing the ports for reasons other than stated by him. They continuously undermined his reports and were scathing of the information he provided each day and had a conspiracy theory for most of his decisions. Everyone is an expert!

This was another great cruise with FOCL. We were on a beautiful ship and enjoyed our stops but obviously disappointed that we missed three ports. The staff and crew did everything possible for us to make up for situations that were outwith their control.
I already have the brochure out and avidly searching for the next cruise.