​Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines Pushes Back Braemar & Balmoral Restart

Fred. Olsen Cruise Line’s has announced that it has taken the decision to delay the restart of two of its cruise ships, Balmoral and Braemar.
 
The company’s former flagship, Balmoral, will now not resume sailings until May 2022, later than originally planned. Whilst Braemar has had its restart date pushes back to 2023.

The following statement was posted on the cruise line’s Facebook page:
 
We are sure you will have heard about our revised return to service plans for our wonderful ships, Balmoral and Braemar, and may be wondering why we have made these changes and what this means for our plans for 2022.
 
We are very much looking forward to having all four of our ships back in service as soon as possible, and it is so important that the time is right when we do so. At present, we cannot ignore the increase in Covid-19 that the new Omicron variant is creating in the UK and around the world.
 
In light of this, we have reviewed our return to service dates and will now welcome Balmoral back in May, a little later than originally planned, and will be delaying Braemar’s return to spring 2023.
 
The good news is that we will still be returning to Scotland for departures this year, with Balmoral to operate between Newcastle - where she was originally due to be based - and Rosyth, where she will take over some of Braemar’s itineraries in the summer months.
 
Please be assured that Braemar very much remains a part of our family, and we are already working on some exciting new itineraries for her return in 2023. We know some of you will be really looking forward to learning more about these cruises, and we will share more information with you in March and April.
 
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your patience, and for continuing to support us here at Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines.