Voyages to Antiquity

75 MB $ 45

225 MB $85

450 MB $ 150

1 GB $300

Prices quoted directly from onboard reception for 2018 season. - Shar

Yikes, my phone travel roaming and data package is much cheaper. And will work on shore too. I think that is the way to go. Thanks so much for researching this, Shar.

Mary

Mary - no problem and I was curious. Here's hoping they have upgraded their computers and placed sani wipes in there for the keyboards ( a personal bugaboo for me.)

Shar

We have been on three V to A cruises. There are no formal nights. Clothing for Captain’s Welcome Party in the Ambassador Lounge and the one the Captain throws for Odyssey Club(returning guests) poolside, you will see arange of choices from ladies in slacks with dressy tops to dresses. I have never taken a dress. I do not remember if my husband wore a jacket, some men did, others did not not. Both events were very crowded and I am not sure if we would attend them again. We have enjoyed dining at the Captain’s Table and did not dress differently from what we wore to dinner most nights. It was on the Terrace Cafe deck. We were happy to learn that we could have waiter service for dinner on the Terrace Cafe, a modified choice of what Marco Polo was serving.

We prefer to eat dinner at Terrace Cafe, outside if we can get a table there. We also like to dine later,7:30-8:00 and are happy that meal times are flexible. We have eaten in Marco Polo too and like that we can choose to eat by ourselves or be seated with other guests.

WiFi is free for returning passengers plus one bag of laundry as well plus some welcome gifts, free bottled water, a bottle of wine or champagne.

We have always stayed on the Belvedere level, Class D with balcony which we love for early morning and evenings, relaxing, watching the world pass by.

We have found the land tours well done and enjoy the high quality of lectures offered aboard.The included hotel nights pre and post cruise are also a plus. We have made friends on our V to A cruises and stay in touch with them.

V to A has reinstated the Asia, India, Egypt and Jordan cruise ports which are very appealing to us. The only other ships we have been on carried 60-70 passengers. I would not want to be on a ship any larger than the Aegean Odyssey. Looking forward to booking another cruise soon!

I'm leaving on Thursday for my upcoming Voyages to Antiquity cruise, departing Venice on May 19. It will be my 8th cruise with them. Can't wait...:cool:

If anyone has any specific questions about the ship, I'd be happy to see if I can track down answers while onboard.

Cynthia - bon voyage and have a great cruise.

We just missed each other again since I was going to do this to tag it on the front of a visit to see my UK grandkids.

Shar

Cynthia - bon voyage and have a great cruise.

We just missed each other again since I was going to do this to tag it on the front of a visit to see my UK grandkids.

 

Shar

thanks Shar, too bad our paths didn't cross!

Really looking forward to the vacation....:D

Just finished our cruise a few days ago. Absolutely loved it! Great little ship! We are still in Italy right now, but will post a full review when we get home.

I look forward to reading your review Mary. We are boarding the ship on October 1st for the Aegean Experience 1. Can’t wait! :D

I boarded Aegean Odyssey in Venice a few days ago. The ship looks much the same as always. Quite a few of the staff are new or new-ish (since my last time on her, a year ago). Same cruise director -- Richard. Many different faces on the shore excursions staff, waiters, and bar staff.

Unexpectedly we docked in Venice at the large commercial port rather than San Basilio, which makes for a slog with luggage -- even using the People Mover. Our weather in Venice, Ancona, Split and Dubrovnik has been good, if a little warm and humid for the time of year. In Dubrovnik today we tendered in, which is terrific as they drop you right in the heart of the town. We heard that last time the ship stopped here, they had to dock in the main port facility. One of the Ponant ships has been in port with us in both Split and Dubrovnik. Another larger ship was in the main port.

My cabin is fine -- no problems with noise, with air con or with plumbing. The food seems an area where the quality has dropped just a bit, unfortunately. Less high quality offerings. Still fantastic ship-made ice cream though...:D

They had a special meeting for the new Emerald and Sapphire tier members of the Odyssey Club and we got little badges. So far, we have been very busy with a port every day and even though there have been two lectures, I've not attended any as I've been on the afternoon tours.

Tomorrow we are in Brindisi, with an included trip to Lecce. After that, a well-earned day at sea!

Cynthia - glad that things are going okay and sorry about the food. It was sometimes less than stellar last year too but when in doubt, have the pizza.

Are you in a solo on Belvedere? Glad to hear that the noise is not a problem. I think Oliver is the only repeat on the shorex team. Last year's team leader probably ran for cover and didn't re-enlist so to speak.

Shar

Cruisemom,

Thanks for the update. Sorry to hear about the food. Do they still serve continental breakfast at the Lido deck?

As a newbie to the ship, We thought the food was great, especially in the dining room. Service was beyond great. Only weak spot was the coffee. -we found if you got the French press-don’t let them press it down right away- let it brew for a few minutes, then press it and that seemed to help get a better flavour.

Yes, continental breakfast is still on lido deck.

We were with a group of people and the consensus with rooms on this cruise was: rooms in the aft were noisy and had vibration, while people with rooms in the bow were very quiet-that applied to insides to veranda cabins. Anyway, have no way to actually know if that’s true. We were at the bow on Belvedere and had a very quiet room.

Mary,

Thanks for the reply and looking forward to seeing your full review.

I usually get up early and go for the continental breakfast, which is often ready before the advertised time. As for the overall quality of food, we will see when we get on board in August.

We have always chosen a cabin at the front half of the ship. Just walking on the inside corridors on our way to the dining room, one can hear the noise and feel the vibration at the aft of the ship. There may be quiet cabins there, but we do not want to take a chance.

Sorry, just lost a lengthy response to some questions due to 'at sea' issues, I suppose...

I am in a cabin on deck 5, toward the bow on the right side. Great cabin and no issues with air, plumbing, noise or vibrations, so am happy.

The 'healthy' breakfast is still served on Lido. I'm not an early bird, so have not checked it out in person.

Shar -- why did the shorex staff jump ship? Yes, Oliver is here but the rest are new, I think. A few things I had planned based on original scheduling have not held up 'in real life' onboard. The group overall seems a bit inexperienced and unwilling to help with things outside the normal box of offered tours. (Which for me is a disappointment.)

I give full marks to the lecturers though. Outstanding, as usual.

The problems - the North Sea is not friendly to ships of any size and as you know the AO is small. I did a b2b around the UK and 5 stops in Iceland. Whenever we missed a port the tour director kept dodging questions etc and was getting it full blast and telling us nothing.. Case in point our already short trip to Guernsey ended up only being about 3 hours. We found out later courtesy of the waiters who are always indiscreet that there had been a crew injury. We were annoyed but the Guernsey shore company were furious.

However, and I find this ridiculous since all of the pax were well-traveled, they complained the most about his accent that they couldn't understand! I don't remember where he was from but really?

Are you a MM on Belvedere?

BTW - I'm not up early either but I do go up there before a shore tour to grab a muffin or apple for the tour :)

Have a great time - Shar

Has anyone done the Norwegian fjords sailing, or is the first one only in the summer of 2018? (The 2019 version is tweaked.) My concern is whether the ship is too small and I will get seasick. I was on the Aegean Odyssey from Istanbul to Venice, and the crossing to Thessaloniki was a little bit difficult. (I wasn't sick, but I wasn't feeling too great.)

I would really love to book the 2019 Norwegian Fjords, but that is a worry.

We had some rough water at Dubrovnik last cruise and while sailing to Split (that is why we had to dock in the port instead of tendering) I was a little afraid of how the rocking would affect us on a small ship. We were fine, and I was surprised that is was not a bit worse than on a big ship, but I guess it really depends on how rough the seas are.

I would suggest you book a mid-ship on the Belvedere if possible and if stability is an issue a seasick patch and a lightweight cane for getting around the ship. I've been on her on some pretty rough seas and while I do not get sea sick, standing upright with the rocking was a problem for me.

On a brighter note, since she's so small, you may be docking right in the heart of St. Petersburg which would be great.

Perhaps put the minimal deposit down then wait for reviews.

Shar

This isn’t the Baltic trip that goes to St Petersburg. This goes from Copenhagen to London via Norway and Scotland.

I like your suggestion about putting a deposit for now, especially since there is a double Odyssey discount until the end of the month.

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Whoops :) I was on a b2b last year that included Scotland and ports were missed and re-scheduled on mine and the one that followed due to high seas. The shorex team stepped up to replace some of the ports but some of the island ports were missed.

If you've never been to St. Petersburg, I suggest you take a second look at that one.

Shar

Has anyone done the Norwegian fjords sailing, or is the first one only in the summer of 2018? (The 2019 version is tweaked.) My concern is whether the ship is too small and I will get seasick. I was on the Aegean Odyssey from Istanbul to Venice, and the crossing to Thessaloniki was a little bit difficult. (I wasn't sick, but I wasn't feeling too great.)

 

I would really love to book the 2019 Norwegian Fjords, but that is a worry.

We were on Fred Olsen Braemar's Norwegian cruise a few years ago. Besides the fjords, the Norwegian coast has many coastal islands. Once we crossed over from Dover to Norway, we cruised mostly in sheltered calm waters. We had to face the open sea once in a while, but only for a few hours at a time. Looking at your itinerary, the only possible rough part maybe the crossing from Norway to Scotland and then down to London. Hopefully in July, the North Sea will not be stormy.

Whoops [emoji4] I was on a b2b last year that included Scotland and ports were missed and re-scheduled on mine and the one that followed due to high seas. The shorex team stepped up to replace some of the ports but some of the island ports were missed.

If you've never been to St. Petersburg, I suggest you take a second look at that one.

 

 

Shar

The Baltics don’t interest me particularly. I have had my mind on a Norwegian fjords cruise for some time now, and this adds Copenhagen which I wanted to see on a cycling tour that didn’t get enough interest to go many years ago. For me the good news is if we skip Scotland they might bring us to London a day earlier and I wouldn’t complain about that. I haven’t been to London since 1995. The next response says the fjords themselves are somewhat sheltered, so that helps.

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Another update from onboard. :)

I think the ship's itineraries sometimes try to offer too much. Such was the case with Taormina. Any port where tendering takes place is just going to take longer to get passengers to and fro. They simply did not schedule enough time. What was supposed to be a 3.5 hour tour in Taormina turned into 2 hours. I was not a very happy camper. Same thing today in Salerno. There was a big rush on to get us here to Sorrento this evening (not sure why that was necessary -- we will be here for two overnights!). Yet we were still late arriving. Tendering schedule to get folks ashore who wanted to go to Sorrento for the evening was pushed back an hour and a half -- yet at the same time, the timing of the last tender (at 9pm) was not changed. I ask you -- is it really even possible to eat a true Italian meal if you don't get to Sorrento port until 7pm, have to find a restaurant, order, eat, pay, and get back to the tender point by 9:00?? :rolleyes:

Otherwise things continue well. Very nice, happy and helpful servers and stewards. Good lectures. We really have not had any rough seas to speak of, but in the past I find the ship does pretty well, not that much difference from a bigger vessel. As Shar suggests, I'd go with a cabin on a lower deck and midship if the movement bothers you.

gnome12 - It just occurred to me that my suggestion about putting down a deposit might not be the best choice if you were British since they do not give it back. Someone I met on a previous cruise lost her 500 pound deposit even though she cancelled about 6 months ahead. I see you're also CDN so thank heavens for our travel industry laws. Shar

gnome12 - It just occurred to me that my suggestion about putting down a deposit might not be the best choice if you were British since they do not give it back. Someone I met on a previous cruise lost her 500 pound deposit even though she cancelled about 6 months ahead. I see you're also CDN so thank heavens for our travel industry laws. Shar

I’m not sure it has anything to do with laws specifically. I checked the terms and conditions and the deposit is fully refundable more than 120 days out. I know on most river cruises the deposit is not refundable so I make sure that the amount is not excessive. (I was looking at a Pandaw cruise and they wanted a deposit of 25% non-refundable which means travel insurance immediately. Even then you can only cancel for certain reasons unless it is cancel for any reason which costs more. And the insurance cost is not usually refunded.)

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