• Home
• News
• Cruise Ships
• New Ships
• Cruise Lines
• PSA

Fred. Olsen’s Balmoral makes maiden calls at New Orleans and Galveston

Fred. Olsen’s 1,350-guest cruise ship Balmoral has made her inaugural call at the US port of Galveston during the first sector of her 89-night "Cruise to the New World" which departed from Southampton on January 5.

It was Olsen’s first voyage to the United States since February 2010.

Matt Grimes, director of planning, said: “It is tremendously exciting for our guests to be able to visit such iconic attractions as Houston’s NASA Space Center, and this goes to show why we are renowned as one of the leading cruise lines for the breadth of our destinations and itineraries.”

Balmoral makes her maiden call at the Port of Galveston

After her first US stop in Key West on January 21, Balmoral arrived at the home of Jazz, New Orleans – also a maiden call for Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines – and then set sail for Galveston.

During the visit, guests were able to take advantage of a wide range of evocative excursions, including a tour to explore Bishop’s Palace, the Railroad Museum, Moody Gardens, the Great Storm, the Ocean Star Off Shore Museum and NASA Space Center.

Guests were also offered the opportunity to discover the many shopping and entertainment opportunities of the Historic Strand District.

Balmoral’s South America Grand Voyage has a different and novel itinerary, taking in parts of North America, as well as Central and South America.

After Galveston, the ship was bound for Montego Bay and Ocho Rios in Jamaica, before sailing to Costa Rica, Nicaragua and El Salvador, and then onto Ecuador and Peru for a two-night stay in Callao (Lima).

This cruise also visits several Chilean ports, the Falkland Islands, Uruguay, Argentina (Buenos Aires), and Brazil, a key focus of the cruise, which includes calls into Santos (for Sao Paolo), an overnight stay in Rio, then Salvador, Recife, Fortaleza and Santarem in the Amazon.

The return voyage is via the Cape Verde Islands and finally Madeira, returning to Southampton on April 3.