Orlova

[MMDown Under]

Does anyone know anything about Orlova?

 

It has just got a really bad review on "Other Cruise Lines" thread for an Arctic cruise by Cruise North.

 

My daughter is going on this boat to Antarctica in January, with Quark.

[soraya]

Hi, One of the people in my office was on the Orlova last year - he seemed pretty happy with it. He said it is not luxurious, but very clean, refurbished a few years ago. He found the staff very professional.

 

I haven't seen the review but if you have any specific questions, I can certainly ask him.

[MMDown Under]

Hi, One of the people in my office was on the Orlova last year - he seemed pretty happy with it. He said it is not luxurious, but very clean, refurbished a few years ago. He found the staff very professional.

 

I haven't seen the review but if you have any specific questions, I can certainly ask him.

 

Thanks for your response.

 

This is just one of the comments which caused concern:

 

"Most days the toilets were broke. We were told to fill the bowl with water from the shower, then flush. Well, if this didn’t work, you now had a full bowl to deal with. Also, the hot water line always had air in it. So whenever I turned it on, it would spit out forcefully into the toilet or sink and blow water all over me. Nice. It was a couple of days until I remembered to use only the cold water. The water from the shower and sink was always brown. It was advised not to drink it. So each passenger gets a water bottle that you can refill from a purified source in the library. Bar soap is not provided. The rooms cannot be locked from the outside and there are no keys. Staff said it was for safety."

[soraya]

Hi, Managed to have a chat with the person I know who's been on the ORlova. He was very surprised to hear about most of the points.

He said there are no locks on the doors but this is standard practice on many marine vessels. His other comment was that while the Orlova is not a luxurious cruiser it is still a good standard. He says he didn't hear of any bother with loos or water at all - so hopefully just a one off!

[MMDown Under]

Hi, Managed to have a chat with the person I know who's been on the ORlova. He was very surprised to hear about most of the points.

 

He said there are no locks on the doors but this is standard practice on many marine vessels. His other comment was that while the Orlova is not a luxurious cruiser it is still a good standard. He says he didn't hear of any bother with loos or water at all - so hopefully just a one off!

 

Thanks so much for passing on the information on Orlova.

 

I must admit my daughter was surprised at the comments, because she is travelling with a respected company, so she expected a good "expedition standard" boat. She will be pleased.

[soraya]

Hopefully your daughter will have a great time! Look forward to hearing how she got on.

[mvkor]

If you mean Lubov Orlova - it used to be Russian (USSR) ship.

It was built in 1974, and there 5 ships like it.

 

I have been on board it in 1992.

It was 19 days cruise in Pacifik ocean.

All the passangers became friends very quickly, and

atmosphere aboard the ship was perfect!

It's small ship. Used to have about 55 cabins.