Hi I'm Gary Bembridge, and this is another of my tips for travellers. In this episode
we take a look at the Cruise Line Voyages To Antiquity and
seven things that you need to know before considering cruising with this
Cruise Line, including a number of really important watch outs. But, first of all
remember please subscribe to this channel because that way every single
week you'll be reminded that there's another video packed full of travel tips,
advice and inspiration. Voyages To Antiquity is a small independently owned
cruise line that focuses on educating and enriching passengers about the
ports that they go to. At the time recording it is a one ship cruise line.
They have the Aegean Odyssey and the ship was originally built as a
ferry. It was converted in the late 1980s to a passenger ship and has gone through
many changes since then - and the ship is constantly refreshed and updated. All the
itineraries tend to focus on ports that either have historical, cultural or an
archaeological importance or significance to them. They really aim to
make sure that passengers know a lot about the places they're calling on
before, and when, they're calling on them. The passengers on the cruise line are
extremely loyal and you'll find that you'll talk to people who've been on
multiple trips, often booking exactly the same cabin. What type of passengers are
they? Well first of all they're english-speaking because the whole
cruise is operated very much in English. They tend to be from the US, Canada
Australia and the UK. Passengers also tend to be older, so they tend to be
in their 50s 60s 70 s and above. They tend to be quite well educated, because
they're very interested in the history, the culture and the stories of the
places that they're going to. There will also often be a lot of groups onboard,
which again are on kind of cultural or educational type tours. If you're looking
for a cruise which is very unlikely to have children on Voyages To Antiquity is
a good option. Voyages To Antiquity is also a great option if you're a solo traveler.
They have a lot of solo cabins at all different grades and they also often
have promotions where there are no supplements for occupying the standard
cabins. You'll also find the passengers are relatively fit and able because
they're visiting archaeological sites or old historical sites and there is lots of walking
involved ,often over uneven surfaces, and things like steps. So people tend to be
quite fit. Although the passengers tend to be a little bit older
they are quite fit and active. Voyages To Antiquity follow what is very similar
to a european river cruise approach to fares. So the fares are largely
all-inclusive. When you look at the fares for a trip, bear in mind it is likely to
include your airfare, transfers, often pre and post cruise activities and stays.
So the fares tend to be a package including all of those things. The
following is included within your fare once you're onboard: your accommodation
obviously, food which includes breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner there's also
late-night snacks and there is a limited room service also available , drinks at
dinner time are included (so wine and beers are included) but all other drinks
outside at that time are extras. Gratuities are included, although you
will pay a gratuity if you're buying drinks of twelve and a half percent. And
another very very important inclusion is excursions. In pretty much every single
port will have at least one excursion, and often you'll find up to choice of
two or three excursions. So what's not included? Well drinks outside the
mealtimes are not included, Wi-Fi is not included, laundry is not included and
there's no guest laundromat onboard and then of course discretionary spend like
spend in the shop or in the spa. What's very important is after your first
cruise you do become a member of the Odyssey Club and you'll find there is a lot
of extras included in that: some Wi-Fi, some laundry. So take a look at also what
the benefits are after the first cruise. If you're looking at their fares,
whilst on the surface they sometimes may seem a little bit higher, bear in mind
there are a lot of things included. Taking a look at the brochure I would
say on average you can expect to pay from around about £175 pounds about $200
US a day up to about £400 pounds / $500 per day. Now the fourth
thing I think you need to know is around the dress code. There is no set dress
code on board, and it tends to be relatively casual. In the evenings you'll
find that people do tend to get dressed up a little bit to go to the Marco Polo
dining room, so you'll often find gentlemen have jackets on ladies will have
smart dresses on. Again you'll find at things like the Captain's Welcome Party
most people will put on jacket or smart dresses. So you don't have to worry
about bringing lots of formal wear. And again it's much more focused on making
sure you bring the right clothes for the excursions and the sightseeing.
Following on from that the fifth thing I think you need to know is what is the
on board experience like? It's casual, it's civilized and it's
attentive. It's a very casual approach, so as I mentioned there's no formal nights,
there's no gala nights, dress code is casual, it's open seated dining. Not
very stuffy and not very formal. It's very civilized. You'll find there lots of
talks there's lots of educational events and activities. You'll find classical
music being played. You'll find quizzes. You often find people just sitting
around on the decks or in the public rooms reading on things like sea days. So
it's a relatively civilized and quite a calm approach. In terms of service, it is
pretty attentive. The ship only holds around about 350 passengers at any one
time, so the crew can get to know you quite easily with little touches, for
example, even at the informal dining restaurant (the Terrace Cafe) the staff
will always insist on taking your tray to the table. So it's casual, it's
civilized but attentive. The Aegean Odyssey is a relatively small ship so facilities
are relatively limited. There are two dining venues you have the Marco Polo
restaurant, which is the formal restaurant, and you have the Terrace Cafe
which has both an indoor and an outdoor area. That is a buffet service restaurant.
In terms of bars and lounges the main one is the Charleston bar, which is very
popular hub. You then have the Ambassador lounge. This is a very large space and it can
hold everybody on board at one time. It's where you'll have things like the
Captain's receptions, where all the talks are held, it's where the port briefings
are held. Further up on the ship is the Observation Lounge. You also have the
Lido bar, which is very popular particularly when sailing in warm
climates. There's the pool deck and the Athena spa which has a very small
fitness center. There's also a small hairdressing salon,
there's a library( which has got lots of books puzzles) and there's a shop. Aegean
Odyssey doesn't have big production shows so entertainment again is
relatively low-key. So you're going to have things like quizzes, you might have some
dance classes, there might be vegetable and fruit sculpting. There's a classical
trio and normally also a musical duo on board and then the cruise director will
often hold cabaret doing themed evenings, for example around the 60s. But the main
focus is enrichment and there will normally be on board three lecturers.
They're all eminent and experts with some still lecturing in various universities
around the world. So there will often be two to three talks a day
that are extremely well attended. I reckon that 95% of the people on board will go
and watch. The sixth thing you need to know is about excursions. As I mentioned,
excursions are included within the fare. There are some optional excursions
offered, usually if the ship is staying overnight in a port where you do have
to pay for those. Most ports will have one excursion but in many places there
will be three. So for example on the cruise that I'm recording this on, which
went to Iceland, in most of the ports of call there were three excursions that you
could choose from. Some were part days and some were all day. They have a local
guide and normally someone from the ship is also with you and they use the QuietVox
system, so very similar to European river cruises, where you can hear the guide up
to 50 feet or more away. The excursions are designed for all fitness levels and
each of the excursions will have ratings in terms of how much walking there is,
amount of uneven territory and how many steps and whether it involves
getting in and out of boats. A lot of the places they go do require a certain
degree of fitness, although there will often be a tour included which has more
driving or coach and less walking. But expect to be walking and much more active than
perhaps some of the excursions on other cruise lines. When you embark on your
cruise card there'll be a little colored sticker and a group number, that's the
group that you will do all of your excursion with. The tours will always
build on and focus on the education enrichment side so you'll go to
archaeological sites, perhaps some old heritage sites,
perhaps places of natural beauty, various cultural immersion sites or museums - but
it's designed to help you understand and learn about the port and
destination you're visiting. So what are watch outs with Voyages To Antiquity?
As I mentioned, this is a cruise line that's designed for people who want to
go on vacation and want to learn and enrich themselves. They want to
really delve into the history and the culture and the significance of the
places that they're visiting. So it is a very different way of seeing
destinations - and I can understand why that won't appeal to everybody. Many
people are very loyal because they can go to the Mediterranean, they can go to the
Caribbean, they go to South Africa wherever they go and they're going to see them
in a different way versus perhaps on other cruise lines - which are going to be much
more focused around the "lighter" side of destinations and much more
around the beaches or the entertainment or those kind of activities. This is very
much for people who want to get deep into the stories, the history, the
architecture and the culture of the places they visit. The Aegean Odyssey is
a relatively old ship. It's very well maintained but it's a very classic style -
so for example less than 25% of the cabins have balconies. Again that won't
appeal to everybody. So Voyages To Antiquity is a different kind of cruise
line. It's small, it's independent and at the time recording it has one
very distinctive ship. So if you're looking for an enrichment experience, you
want to go and visit ports that are perhaps a little bit more off the beaten
track then I would definitely consider Voyages To Antiquity. I hope you found
this overview of Voyages To Antiquity interesting and helpful - and if you did
I'd love it if you watched many more of my Tips For Travellers videos because
you'll get more travel inspiration, advice and tips to help you make even
more of your very precious travel time and money.