Two injured on Balmoral

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Two passengers have been taken to hospital in Spain after being injured when the Fred Olsen cruise ship Balmoral was hit by 50 ft waves in the Bay of Biscay, according to a BBC report.
The ship docked in La Coruna on Saturday after two days of rough seas and winds of up to 60 mph.
A Fred Olsen spokesperson today confirmed the incident, and said the ship’s itinerary had been amended because of the delays.
Calls at Tangier and Lisbon have been abandoned, and the ship, which is due back in Dover on January 27, will instead head from Bilbao to La Rochelle, L’Orient and Cherbourg.
I hope the weather improves.

By | 2017-06-15T16:00:49+00:00 21 January 2009|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|7 Comments

About the Author:

John Honeywell is a travel writer specialising in cruise ships and cruise travel. Winner of CLIA UK's Contribution to Cruise award 2017.

7 Comments

  1. Caroline Richmond 23 January 2009 at 11:18 am - Reply

    I am on this cruise. We are having force 8-9 winds, having turned back to avoid even worse. The itinerary has been changed again – La Rochelle and L’Orient are cancelled to avoid extreme weather, and (at the latest version) we are going to Cherbourg and Antwerp.

  2. Caroline Richmond 23 January 2009 at 2:08 pm - Reply

    One of the injured was the friend I travelled with. She was not injured on the ship but at Dover, where the station cafe, the Pumpkin, has an unexpected and therefore dangerous single step in the middle of the floor. She hoped her injuries would prove minor and boarded the ship. She was taken to hospital in La Coruna, where she was found to have a broken ankle and broken elbow; the latter required surgery.

  3. John Honeywell 23 January 2009 at 5:00 pm - Reply

    Thanks for the updates Caroline. Sounds like you’re having a bumpy ride, and I’m not altogether surprised that changes are being made from one day to the next. I hope you are still able to enjoy the cruise.

  4. Olive Howard 23 January 2009 at 10:41 pm - Reply

    My Sister and husband are on the Balmoral cruise. I have had terrified telephone calls from her since setting off from Hull. It has been a nightmare cruise and they both cannot wait to get back home. There have been many injuries some requiring hospital treatment. Ambulances were lined up as the Balmoral arrived in La Caruna and also at the next stop enroute. It is 10.30 p.m. Friday 23rd January and I have at last had a message to say the waters are now calmer and that tomorrow the Balmoral arrives in Cherbourg. This unfortunately has been my Sister’s first experience of crusing and for obvious reasons her last. Should a review of cruising in the Bay of Biscay in the winter months be carried out? Very sad that the planned destinations could not be reached.

  5. Olive Howard 24 January 2009 at 8:01 am - Reply

    Sorry comment above January 23, 10.41pm should have read that the Balmoral sailed from Dover.

  6. Malcolm Pryke 27 January 2009 at 1:29 pm - Reply

    Loved the pictures of the Balmoral, I was on that cruise and have just arrived home. It was a great mystery cruise as the Captain spent most of his time dodging a force 12 with wind speeds off the Boufort scale. He did a wonderfull job and once again we had a great time on an Olsen Cruise.
    Regards Malcolm Pryke

  7. judith thornton 30 January 2009 at 1:00 pm - Reply

    Enjoyed it despite all its pitfalls, wonderful considerate crew and a fantasic Captain who kept everybody informed. Would travel FO again – our fault we booked for January cruise – decision was ours. It was somewhat a mystery cruise – made it more memorable.

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