Swan Hellenic Minerva

[comcox]

Hi Tamara,

We're going on Swan in a few weeks, info please. How was the food & where did you eat most of the time? Do we need BPS on board? Is the laundry free? Is there an ATM on board? We were on Minerva II 8 yrs ago, imagine things different now. Hope food is better now.

Seacooky

 

The food is really quite British for the most part but that includes curries since most Brits eat those now. I ate in the Veranda buffet the whole time except for afternoon tea which is served in the MDR. I like the buffet because I see what I'm going to get, select just the amount I want of any item, and I can eat quickly without having to wait to be served course by course (just a personal preference). Both the MDR and Veranda serve the same menu with the exception at night when you can get a few items such as steak or chicken breast in the MDR any night. There is a very limited room service menu available as well.

 

Many of the entrees I thought were good, but several people complained that they did not cook the fish very well often. Desserts were heavy on the pudding/custards/jellies end. There was ice cream available at lunch and dinner but it was not high quality. Salad bar had a wide variety of choices of pre-made ones (salads with pasta, fish, veggies, etc.), but I would liked to have had better greens selections. Hot breakfast is your basic British fry-up and they offer what they call streaky bacon (like American), but it was only cooked to American standard sometimes. As a gesture to us colonialists they did put out three bagels each morning which they would toast for you. Lots of fruit available, some pastries, and a variety of cold cereals plus hot oatmeal. One of the best features of the Veranda is a self-service espresso machine (available 24 hours) that will do several types of coffee drinks, hot milk froth or just hot water.

 

To me the treat of the day was afternoon tea at 4 pm. They set out a large table with assorted cakes, tarts, cookies, and small sandwiches. In addition they had warm scones and one warm savory item each day. Plus hot tea of course

 

You don't need British pounds (I think that's what you were referring to) on board. You will charge anything you buy on board to your cabin. That ending bill will be in pounds and will get charged to whatever credit card you gave them when you boarded. Check with your CC company to see what foreign transaction fees they may add.

 

There is no ATM on board nor do they offer currency exchange except on some cruises they will do euros or pounds. We were lucky in our first India stop as a local rep came on board and did exchanges for us.

 

The laundry is free and they supply soap, but bring any dryer sheets you may want to use. The laundry room was very busy and I heard of several complaints of people finding that others had removed their stuff from the machines before they got there. Unfortunately the room is small and no chairs provided for you to wait by your machine. There are four washers, four dryers, and two ironing boards. It was open from 8 am to 10 pm. Since I was travelling on my own I just hand washed in my cabin and they shower had hanging line you could use. They also offer a laundry service.

 

Anything else?

[Seacooky]

There weren't a lot of Americans onboard on my cruise last fall, but more than just a handful. There were more Canadians, but of course the majority of passengers were British -- can't give a specific number but perhaps 70%.

 

 

 

Not Tamara, but thought my experience was recent enough to be helpful. I ate most dinners in the main dining room. Service there was very good and food was quite decent; I thought it a step above the mass market cruise lines anyway. I believe I ate most breakfasts and most lunches in the buffet area. Breakfasts had plenty of choices though they didn't change much from one day to the next (not that I expected it). Breakfast in the MDR was nice for a change but really only had the time for it on sea days. They had a special roast beef lunch one Sunday, with Yorkshire pudding, very proper British meal though of course no pleasing everyone, as some of the British passengers moaned that this or that wasn't exactly the way they had it at home....

 

Charges onboard are in British pounds, but you don't need cash for anything onboard. Drinks etc. are all charged to your onboard account and you can settle at the end with a credit card.

 

Laundry was free, including powder.

 

I don't recall an ATM onboard. Reception desk had limited resources to change some money but they obviously couldn't do it for everyone nor for large amounts.

 

Thank you, whomever. BTW how much local currency did you take? Our countries will be on the Euro, we like to stop for a local snack. A cuppa & bun would be how much for both?

Seacooky

[Seacooky]

The food is really quite British for the most part but that includes curries since most Brits eat those now. I ate in the Veranda buffet the whole time except for afternoon tea which is served in the MDR. I like the buffet because I see what I'm going to get, select just the amount I want of any item, and I can eat quickly without having to wait to be served course by course (just a personal preference). Both the MDR and Veranda serve the same menu with the exception at night when you can get a few items such as steak or chicken breast in the MDR any night. There is a very limited room service menu available as well.

 

Many of the entrees I thought were good, but several people complained that they did not cook the fish very well often. Desserts were heavy on the pudding/custards/jellies end. There was ice cream available at lunch and dinner but it was not high quality. Salad bar had a wide variety of choices of pre-made ones (salads with pasta, fish, veggies, etc.), but I would liked to have had better greens selections. Hot breakfast is your basic British fry-up and they offer what they call streaky bacon (like American), but it was only cooked to American standard sometimes. As a gesture to us colonialists they did put out three bagels each morning which they would toast for you. Lots of fruit available, some pastries, and a variety of cold cereals plus hot oatmeal. One of the best features of the Veranda is a self-service espresso machine (available 24 hours) that will do several types of coffee drinks, hot milk froth or just hot water.

 

To me the treat of the day was afternoon tea at 4 pm. They set out a large table with assorted cakes, tarts, cookies, and small sandwiches. In addition they had warm scones and one warm savory item each day. Plus hot tea of course

 

You don't need British pounds (I think that's what you were referring to) on board. You will charge anything you buy on board to your cabin. That ending bill will be in pounds and will get charged to whatever credit card you gave them when you boarded. Check with your CC company to see what foreign transaction fees they may add.

 

There is no ATM on board nor do they offer currency exchange except on some cruises they will do euros or pounds. We were lucky in our first India stop as a local rep came on board and did exchanges for us.

 

The laundry is free and they supply soap, but bring any dryer sheets you may want to use. The laundry room was very busy and I heard of several complaints of people finding that others had removed their stuff from the machines before they got there. Unfortunately the room is small and no chairs provided for you to wait by your machine. There are four washers, four dryers, and two ironing boards. It was open from 8 am to 10 pm. Since I was travelling on my own I just hand washed in my cabin and they shower had hanging line you could use. They also offer a laundry service.

 

Anything else?

 

BOO HOO.Doesn't sound like much changed over 8 yrs:Same food & not many choices; with multiple food allergies,I can't eat anything with gravy, sauces or custards or anything I can't identify & nix all seafood, oriental & curry. Will eat most meals on veranda. Can you make your own salad? Expresso & afternoon tea sounds good.

LOL Brits are always washing & they iron everything!

The only thing I hope they haven't changed is the shore ex. 8 yrs ago we had excellent guides & shore ex--that's the only reason we doing Swan again.

Is there anything you wish someone had told you that you can tell us?

Thanks for all your help. TA's are not reliable for this info.

Seacooky

[comcox]

BOO HOO.Doesn't sound like much changed over 8 yrs:Same food & not many choices; with multiple food allergies,I can't eat anything with gravy, sauces or custards or anything I can't identify & nix all seafood, oriental & curry. Will eat most meals on veranda. Can you make your own salad? Expresso & afternoon tea sounds good.

LOL Brits are always washing & they iron everything!

The only thing I hope they haven't changed is the shore ex. 8 yrs ago we had excellent guides & shore ex--that's the only reason we doing Swan again.

Is there anything you wish someone had told you that you can tell us?

Thanks for all your help. TA's are not reliable for this info.

Seacooky

 

Food: There were times the gravy/sauce were separate. At night in the MDR you can order a plain steak or chicken breast. The salad bar did have some lettuce, tomatoes, and few other things for making your own green salad. If you have food allergies, let them know in advance. I think I noticed folks occasionally getting something specially made in the kitchen. Once I got plain pasta just cooked in butter for example. The Kiosk shop on board had some wonderfully plain Scottish shortbread cookies for sale.

 

Meal times: breakfast 7:30 am (unless early tours), lunch 12:00, tea 4:00 pm, and dinner 7:00 pm.

 

Shore ex: Yes, the guides are the best they can get. Some of our ports saw few tourists so it was a bit rough there but otherwise Swan is very careful in picking its guides and they try not to cram the buses full so there is room for singles to sit separately for instance. In some of our commercial ports, Swan provided a shuttle bus service out to port gate or to town. However, we never knew when this would be offered until the last minute.

 

Money: I did get some currencies in advance, but I was travelling to regions (Sri Lanka, India, Egypt, etc.) where I did not trust ATM machines. If you are in Europe, I would just use ATM machines as you get the best rates that way. Just let your bank know in advance and try to ask machine for odd amount such as 80 instead of 100 so you get smaller bills. I do try to have at least one or two days money on me upon arrival just to tide me over.

 

Other tips: Avoid the blue chairs in the Darwin Lounge as they have been known to collapse. The Reception Desk personnel do not always have the correct or complete answers to questions; but the Shore Ex staff seem quite knowledgeable. Underneath the bed is plenty of storage room for suitcases. Cost of internet is amazingly low--12 hours for 21 GBP! They now have 6 computers for guests to use. No need to bring many books to read as the library is amazing. The paperback fiction section is open for swapping out books you brought with you.

 

Embarkation information from Swan gets really garbled and I had a terrible time figuring it out and getting a straight answer out of U.K. office is impossible. In general they tell the independent travelers to come at a time later than their charter flight passengers from London will arrive. However folks have been known to get on earlier unless it's a commercial port where access is limited. In Sri Lanka it was a commercial port so we had to report to a hotel and wait until Swan provided us with a bus to the ship. However, in Venice it was a port you could enter the terminal building at anytime so I arrived after I had checked-out of my hotel and got on early.

 

Disembarkation can also be tricky. Swan says it only provides airport transfers for their charter passengers. Independent passengers are one their own. However, I discovered the U.S. Swan office will arrange a pre-paid transfer if you need it (pricey but cheaper than making arrangements once on board). If it's an open port, then you may be able to make own arrangements.

 

Americans can take advantage of the charter flights from London if they want to book that. Just need to get yourself to London in advance and be sure you know which airport they are flying out of.

 

That's about all I can think of.

[comcox]

In the cabins on Baltic and Aegean decks, the standard bed layout is two separate twins, but for the outside cabins that means one of the beds will be in front of the window/portholes making it difficult to look out. If the beds are together this will leave some room to stand in front of the windows. However, the queen bed formation does leave you feeling as if you have less floor space. You should request whichever bed configuration you want in advance as it is much easier for them to make any changes on changeover day.

[Seacooky]

In the cabins on Baltic and Aegean decks, the standard bed layout is two separate twins, but for the outside cabins that means one of the beds will be in front of the window/portholes making it difficult to look out. If the beds are together this will leave some room to stand in front of the windows. However, the queen bed formation does leave you feeling as if you have less floor space. You should request whichever bed configuration you want in advance as it is much easier for them to make any changes on changeover day.

 

Thanks for the info. Our cabin is A70, docs don't state a bed config.so we take what we get; don't plan to spend much time there anyway. We bought RT flights from Swan which inc. transfers,hope they work out. Happy to read smoking only allowed in designated areas on deck :) What are veranda hours? Like to get coffee before 7 am.Is there room service?

Thanks, Seacooky

[comcox]

Thanks for the info. Our cabin is A70, docs don't state a bed config.so we take what we get; don't plan to spend much time there anyway. We bought RT flights from Swan which inc. transfers,hope they work out. Happy to read smoking only allowed in designated areas on deck :) What are veranda hours? Like to get coffee before 7 am.Is there room service?

Thanks, Seacooky

 

Veranda coffee and espresso machines available 24 hours except when they clean and refill them, which doesn't take too long. Sometimes they do run out of clean cups or spoons in the early morning. Some folks kept cups and spoons in room for that reason or some of us just rinsed out dirty ones under the hot water spigot. You will see quite of few of the regulars pop down in the bathrobes for coffee or tea in the early morning.

 

There is continental breakfast room service which I think starts at 6:30 or 7:00 am. Other room service from small menu in your room starts at 10 am.

 

Veranda hours for regular meals: breakfast 7:30 am-9:00or 9:30 am (unless early tours than earlier hours), morning coffee/cookies 10 am, lunch 12:00-2:00, and dinner 7:00 pm-9:30.

 

A70 is inside aft cabin between the offices and the salon. You can request twin beds split or both put together into a queen--it's your choice so just let your TA know to notify Swan in advance. Standard set up is twin. Be prepared for some noise and quite a bit of vibration in that location as you are over the propeller. I had a massage my first night in the salon and felt like I was on a vibrating table. We will be just a few doors away from the laundry room which will be handy as well as from reception.

[bozo5404]

Hi Tamara,

We sail on Baltic Splendour, May 21. Any info on Cabin A41. I don't

know what that big square is in the deck plan diagram, hope it isn't

noisy. Your info previously is very helpful. Thanks.

 

Rusty

[comcox]

Hi Tamara,

We sail on Baltic Splendour, May 21. Any info on Cabin A41. I don't

know what that big square is in the deck plan diagram, hope it isn't

noisy. Your info previously is very helpful. Thanks.

 

Rusty

 

The darker square within the lighter square is the funnel of the ship. I did not hear anyone complain about it though. That hallway is nice and quiet.

[bozo5404]

Thank you, Tamara. Look forward to the cruise.

[bozo5404]

Tamara, I have just one more question. Can you tell me how

long it takes to disembark. Do we need to go through security

at the cruise port? And if so, how long does that take. We need

to disembark and get back to Heathrow by no later than 1 p.m.

Our flight leaves at 3 p.m. Can we ask ship personnel to let us

off first, I know we cannot all leave at once. Thanks.

 

Rusty

[bozo5404]

Hi Tamara,

This may be a duplicate, if so, please excuse.

My question was about disembarkment. We need to get off

the Minerva as early as possible because we need to taxi back

to Heathrow and get there no later than 1 p.m. Our flight leaves

at 3 p.m. Will Minerva put us with the first group off, I know

we can't all leave together and then my question is do we have

to go through security at the cruise terminal and if so, how long does

it generally take? Many thanks.

 

Rusty aka Diane

[comcox]

Reception sends around a disembarkation questionnaire about a week before. It asks for your flight information, how many suit cases, etc. They then base your disembarkation time on that information. This is one of the joys of this tiny ship in that there is no problem getting off at the needed time as long as the ship has been cleared by the port authorities.

I've not been to that port before so I don't know what formalities may be involved there. Nor the travel time to Heathrow from port.

 

On both my Minerva cruises (one ending in Citivecchia/Rome and this latest one in Aqaba, Jordan), there were no formalities as the ship had arrived the day before and all our passports had been cleared then. If you are not arriving the day before, clearance may take a bit of time and then you'll need to retrieve your passports from the desk; unless there is some clearance desk within the terminal. It may also depend on what your previous port was--is it in U.K. or E.U.? Is so, it expect it will be easier.

 

The crew put the suitcases for the independent passengers on the dock near the gangplank and you pick them up and go. Do you have a car picking you up? If not, ship will arrange for you although if they do it will be more expensive probably.

 

You could try posting a question on this forum under the port categories for specifics of that port. Or contacting Swan or your TA. When you get your cruise book there may be additional information there as well.

[Seacooky]

Hi Seacooky,

Good questions for Tamara, looking forward to her response.

We are pretty far from Waukegan, think South and West. We live

in Burr Ridge. If you don't know that suburb, it was originally the

South end of Hinsdale before it became Burr Ridge. Have lived here

most of my adult life but was born and raised on the Westside of

Chicago and later Oak Park. As you know it can get miserably hot or

cold in Chi land but I love the Midwest. I have a good friend in Phoenix,

a transplant from LaGrange. She also loves Arizona--I guess I just

couldn't live with one beautiful day after another beautiful day!

Do you know if there are any others from the U.S. on your cruise?

 

Have fun,

Diane

 

Hi Diane,

You should have gotten your SE brochure by now.When we rec'd ours, we immediately faxed to Swan & by same aft. they were confirmed, we got every one we asked for.We're really excited, we leave next Tue.

Bon Voyage, Darlene aka Seacooky

[bozo5404]

Hi Darlene,

We contacted u.s. TA and she e mailed the form, we filled it out and

it looks like we are all set. I hope you have a super nice trip. Let us

all know the highlights when you get back. I thought perhaps it

would be easier if we kept in touch via e mail. Would you be

interested in that?

 

Bon voyage,

Diane aka Rusty

[Seacooky]

Hi Darlene,

We contacted u.s. TA and she e mailed the form, we filled it out and

it looks like we are all set. I hope you have a super nice trip. Let us

all know the highlights when you get back. I thought perhaps it

would be easier if we kept in touch via e mail. Would you be

interested in that?

 

Bon voyage,

Diane aka Rusty

 

Hi Diane, Yes, good idea. darlenegriffith@hotmail.com Have a wonderful cruise.