Odyssey trip report Athens to Istanbul

[dmb707]

Hi all

 

Why it is all fresh in my mind and delaying me from unpacking:D which I hate i thought i would post a quick review

 

Athens - we stayed post cruise in the Hotel Grande Bretagne which was very nice (just a note if you are staying there book the restaurant for dinner at the top floor restaurant before you go as fully booked) a bit caotic checking out as lots of cruise ships in port and everyone arriving and departing at the same time, but apart from that very nice

 

Embarkation was really quick and straight onto the Ship (my 1st cruise on the Odyssey, we arrived about 1.30 pm so shown to the lounge, but decided to escape and have a nose around the ship, which was lovely)

 

Suite all set up as it should be, needed a few fiddles to work out how to use the lights etc, not sure why the rear section lights have to be turned off at the back and cant be controlled as you come in, but i suppose they just want to keep us on our toes like the triplets and make our brains work!!;) also the shower stood trying to work out how to get the overhead bit working rather than the handheld, but soon found out when cold water sprayed over me!

 

What struck me the most was how informal the ship was and very casual which for hot climates was a nice, not having to dress up of a night even in the restaurant as very casual even on EC nights, although the restaurant was never anywhere near a third full

 

Service was very good, a couple of minor blips but very good and on par with the triplets which was good to see, ok not everyone knew your names, which i did not expect, but a smile and a hello is good for me, the only place that the service was not as good was on the pool deck drinks service was not great, even though at times they were not busy, but the sky bar deck no problems at all very attentive and friendly

 

Loads of new cruisers on board both to Seabourn and to cruising which is good to see and a very young crowd also there were children, a baby and teenagers who were all very well behaved

 

Food breakfast and lunch were great in the Colonnade, selection and quality of the food was very good, dinner was not so good the same for the restaurant very bland food and either overcooked or tasteless at times, which is odd as so right at lunch.

 

Another point which i feel SB have got totally wrong is the repeat menus every 7 days, why if you were on for more than one cruise would you want to eat the same food again, and a lot of passengers were on for more than 7 days, yes i know you can have special orders in the restaurant but if you want to sit in the Colonnade in the evening to enjoy the views and the weather you had exactly the same menu, i appreciate it is a trade off, but it is something that SB could easily put right

 

Tastings at 2 also had the same menu for the complete week so everyone could try it, but it would have been nice if it had changed as a nice fun place to have dinner (which was the best meal we had for dinner)

 

Part 2 to follow

 

deb

[dmb707]

Part 2

 

Stil not in the mood for unpacking:D

 

The Itinary Athens to Istanbul - 7 days, it was a very nice trip and also the ship went to a couple of islands that i have not been before, we did not do any ships tours as dont like standing around listening to tour guides in the heat and in Europe it is very easy just to grab a taxi and go and do the same tours, but without a tour guide!

 

Mylos, we grabbed a taxi as soon as we got of the tender which took us to the Capital (Plaka i believe) walked around this little toy town of a place then wandered down the road to the threatre and the Catacombs (easy 15 minute walk) then a local man called us a taxi back to the ship, all very easy and do able, Mylos is a small place with a few shops, bars restaurants etc, also it was mariner day as well on the ship

 

Rhodes - walked off the ship into the old town and just wandered about

 

Patmos - when we got off the tender we jumped into a taxi and did a trip up to caves of St John, stayed there for 30 min's then the taxi came back and took us up to the Monastry (the name of which escapes me) but a lovely place with fantastic views a small museum and a few shops surrounding the Monastry, we arranged for an hour there and the taxi came back and picked us up and then back down to Patmos, really easy to do. Patmos was a lovely small place, with good quality shops, bars, restaurants etc and a little beach where you could go and have a swim

 

Kyhio (Chios) this is a big town not what we were expecting, so booked a cab for the morning and went to Mesta and Pymi which were both beautiful and well worth going to had a brief tour of the south of the island as well, then back to the ship

 

Kusadasi, i have been here many times before so did not need to go to Ephesus and some how managed to spend the day shopping which was very good fun (and no we did not come home with a carpet:)) it was also very hot 97 deg in the shade, so by the time we got back to the ship we did not fancy going to the evening SB experience so had a lazy meal outside at the Colonnade and watched the lights come on in Kusadasi, and yes i know i missed a fantastic evening so will do it next year

 

Our last day was a Sea day, what a change in the weather, cold, damp overcast what a shame, played Trivia badly (very badly but fun) and we had a very nice galley lunch which is always good to go to

 

Istanbul we arrived to rain, cold winds and 68 deg's not what we had been expecting, we were picked up in the morning and taken to the airport so nothing exciting there

 

Entertainment was good, we had a very good English comedian who did 2 shows, both were very well attended and the ship was buzzing when he finished, a Duo Violinists, rock the boat show which went on for an hour and half and everyone was up and dancing so a good evening, went to one of the SB singers shows, but to be honest it was geared for a much older audience than was on board, so escaped, the dancers were good, but one dance a night is not enough, would be really nice if they had a dance evening as enjoyable to watch Jan was the CD and Marla the social hostess and a guy called Kevin who was the Ass CD not sure what he did as not as visable as the other 2, the duo were good as well

 

I hope that my brief review has not bored you all:D

 

I really enjoyed the Odyssey and the informality of it

 

any questions please ask

 

deb

[JaneBP]

>"any questions please ask"

 

Is the lifeboat safety drill still held in the Main Dining Room?

[Keith1010]

Thanks for taking the time to post this review which was very balanced.

 

Get some rest.

 

Welcome home.

 

Keith

[dmb707]

>"any questions please ask"

 

Is the lifeboat safety drill still held in the Main Dining Room?

 

Hi Jane

 

Yes still in the main Dinning Room!

 

deb

[dmb707]

Thanks for taking the time to post this review which was very balanced.

 

Get some rest.

 

Welcome home.

 

Keith

 

 

Thanks Keith

[JaneBP]

Hey Deb, Why not sign up for the Sojourn crossing in September '11? Lots of new ports and sea days for Trivia!

[sundial]

Welcome back. I really appreciate your posting about your cruise experience. Our last several cruises have been with Regent and we are trying Seabourn for the first time in October. We will be on the Odyssey with the same itinerary as yours plus another week so I was very interested to read your trip report.

[dmb707]

Hey Deb, Why not sign up for the Sojourn crossing in September '11? Lots of new ports and sea days for Trivia!

 

Hi Jane

 

I like sea days but not sure if i would like the crossings or not to be honest, perhaps when i am older and retired i may give them a go:D

 

At the moment holidays away from home are limited as i have a puppy now and difficult to leave her, hence why i only did a week on the Odyssey

 

i hope our paths will cross again some day

 

deb

[waimanalojan]

Deb,

 

Enjoyed your summary. First time cruiser I will be on the Athens to Instanbul in August.

 

Any advise or cost information for taxis? Particularly Mylos, Patmos, Kyhios? We are planning a car hire on Rhodes to drive western Rhodes and moni Filerimos.

 

Sounds like you had a great time,

 

Jan

[dmb707]

Deb,

 

Enjoyed your summary. First time cruiser I will be on the Athens to Instanbul in August.

 

Any advise or cost information for taxis? Particularly Mylos, Patmos, Kyhios? We are planning a car hire on Rhodes to drive western Rhodes and moni Filerimos.

 

Sounds like you had a great time,

 

Jan

 

Hi Jan

 

Taxi in Mylos to Plaka 7 euro's one way, same back from the catacombs which we walked down the hill to (easy 10 min walk even in the heat) or you can get the bus down (all the locals told us to do this) there is an information desk in Seabourn square in all the ports where the local rep will give details of taxi costs etc and bus timetables, maps etc so all very easy

 

Patmos the taxi was 50 euro's which included picking us up and coming back etc 3 trips total

 

Kyios we did a taxi tour for 4 hours and it was 100 euros

 

you can easily do car hire in all the ports,

 

i hope the above helps

 

deb

[JaneBP]

>"I like sea days but not sure if i would like the crossings or not to be honest, perhaps when i am older and retired i may give them a go"

 

Touche! However, this crossing is a few sea days and then a new port. I don't care for the southern crossings with uninterrupted sea days, but this one will be much more interesting.

And in over a year, your puppy will be oldier!