Louis Hellenic "Aquamarine" reviews, please

[cruisingrus]

PP - I would also love to have the PDF of the cruise happenings. I am taking this cruise in less than 3 weeks and I can't wait. Send them to: kknott1130@gmail.com

 

Thanks

 

Are you staying at the Athens Diamond Hotel? I thought I saw your name on another forum asking about this hotel.

[petpringles]

PP - I would also love to have the PDF of the cruise happenings. I am taking this cruise in less than 3 weeks and I can't wait. Send them to: kknott1130@gmail.com

 

Thanks

 

Sure...will send tomorrow AM! petpringles

[YoungDubFan]

No - I am staying at the Park Athens. I have been on the other board as well.

[petpringles]

PP - I would also love to have the PDF of the cruise happenings. I am taking this cruise in less than 3 weeks and I can't wait. Send them to: kknott1130@gmail.com

 

Thanks

 

Just sent it....let me know when you get it.

 

PP

[YoungDubFan]

Nothing came through. Can you try and resend?

 

Thanks

[arbordude]

I wanted to thank everybody here and on the internet for the warnings on Louis Cruises. I was debating between a weeklong tour with a Louis Cruise, and one that stayed in hotels on 3 islands, with regular ferries between the islands. Given the consistantly poor reviews, I'm thing going with the land-hotel option. (True it's fewer stops, but that seems like it might be better.)

 

One question I had though was from the pictures of the boats - are there any shaded outdoor areas on the Louis Cruise boats to lounge and/or read? The last thing I'd want after being in the sun on land is to be in the sun more on a boat.

[love*2*cruise]

OK, here's my two cents for those of you seeking information on this ship. I accompanied our senior class on ten days in Greece. What a fabulous time we had. The cruise was part of our trip and I had no expectations before boarding the ship. I was expecting a ferry with some type of berths and was pleasantly surprised by what we found. That being said, if you go into this with low expectations you will be much happier.

• Boarding and disembarkation: Prior to boarding we stood in a line outside the terminal for about 45 minutes. Not too bad but not exactly pleasant. Once the line started moving we were on the ship pretty rapidly. They still process by hand, no computers, so it was interesting. I had a moment of panic when they took my passport to give back to me at the end (having spent five days in Greece prior to the cruise I knew that passport theft is rampant) but all went well and passports were returned prior to disembarkation with no problems. In fact this is pretty brilliant on their part, our students could have cash accounts but could not pick up their passports without settling thier accounts.
  
• Cabin, we had an inside for three. It was very similar to cabins on other ships. Cabin was clean, no smells. TV and sound system. The biggest problem with the cabin was the paperthin walls. We could hear the conversation of all three cabins around us. In fact, late one night some adjoining high school students were actually having conversations through the walls.
  
• Food and dining - I was very surprised by this. It was quite good. No, it was not equivalent to other cruise lines' foods but it was very good. Service in the dining room was mediocre, frequently we had no refills on water, and service was very slow but the food was similar to maybe an Olive Garden experience.
  
• Ports - the Greek isles are fabulous. We loved our ports. On Mykonos, Crete and Santorini we did not have excursions booked and were fine without them. Patmos and Ephesus were very interesting and we had private excursions on both. Our tour company booked these. My biggest complaint is that we just did not have enough time in port. Most ports were half days at most, Mykonos and Santorinin we arrived late afternoon and all aboard was about 10 pm. Just not enough time to really enjoy and explore. The people on the islands are friendly and helpful. This is unlike the people in Greece mainland. We found the people there to be very cold and the whole place was depressing. Beautiful country, amazing history but I'm wondering what is wrong with the people. Perhaps it's the economy. People were the least friendly of any where I have ever visited. Crime in Athens is high and human trafficking is in evidence everywere.
  
• To the parents who are sending students on a trip - please insist that they are accompanied by an adult at all times. It is not a safe place to be a teenage girl. Our tour guide was exceptional and pointed out to us in every area, including the islands, areas of crime and things to be aware of. I just don't think that a group of teens is perceptive and careful enough to manage on their own.
  
• Overall this cruise was a fun experience. If you've been on cruises before don't expect that type of cruise. There's not much to do on board, but it's not needed. The point of the cruise is the ports. Go expecting to enjoy the ports, go with a good attitude and you will have a fantastic time.
  

If you have any questions I will be glad to answer them. One final thought. One of our chaperones was pickpocketed our last night in Athens. Anyone who is going needs to be very vigilant with their belongings at all times. It was actually kind of surreal to watch them "work our group" to try to get our belongings.

I have a cruise booked on the Celebrity Solstice next month and now I can't wait to again experience a "real" cruise!

 

By any chance do you still have the itinerary from your 2015 cruise on the Louis Hellenic's Aquamarine? I'm trying to trace back some old ship itinerary that I've done and as the cruise line doesn't exist anymore it's hard to get any info. I'm hoping that it was perhaps the same as mine as they usually repeat the same over & over...