Hi, I'm Gary Bembridge and this is another of my tips for travelers. In this
episode I'm going to tell you about the nine things that you need to know about
Voyages to Antiquity Aegean Odyssey, including what's good and what's not so
good. Subscribe to the channel and every week
you'll be alerted to let you know there's another video packed full of
great travel tips, advice and inspiration. First of all certainly it is the only
cruise ship at the time of recording this that's part of the cruise line
Voyages to Antiquity which is really aimed around exploring the historical,
the archaeological, the natural world and the history of the various ports that it
calls on. It was originally built as a ferry but was converted in 1988 into a
cruise ship and has over the years been reworked remodeled and substantially
improved - and it's constantly going through dry docks. It's quite a
small ship. There's seven passenger decks and all together normally cruises with
around about 350 guests. There's just over 200 cabins. The third important thing is
that it's a very traditional ship. So it looks like an old-style passenger ship,
not like the new modern or apartment block type cruise ships. Inside though it has
been significantly updated and modernized and is constantly being refreshed and
improved. But of course being a smaller ship does mean it has fewer
facilities and less choice. So let's explore what it actually has onboard. In
terms of dining there are two main venues, the first of these is the Terrace Cafe.
This is the more informal dining area which is a buffet and also has a really
nice outdoor deck, so particularly for sailing in nice warm climates it's great
to sit out on the terrace deck. This is open for breakfast, for lunch, for
afternoon tea and for dinner. The more formal dining restaurant is the Marco
Polo and this is open for lunch and for dinner. Depending on the cruises may also
be open for breakfast. It's a waiter served restaurant. This is the restaurant where
people tend to dress up much more for. So you'll find in the evening
gentlemen often wear a jacket or so long-sleeve shirts and ladies will
dress up a little bit smarter. There is no formal dress code on the Aegean
Odyssey so in the day people tend to be much more casual but in the evenings
people do tend to dress if they're going to dinner in the Marco
Polo in the evening. There's also normally some late night light bites and they are
normally in the Charleston bar. There are four lounges or bars on board. The
largest of all is known as the Ambassador lounge. This is the main
meeting point on board and it's where all of the enrichment lectures are held,
it's where in the evenings there might be some shows or cabaret if there are.
Things like the captain's welcome party is also held in here. It's a very large
room and it can hold everybody on board, so it can seat more than 350 people very
comfortably at one time. Just along from that is the Charleston and this is the most
popular bar on board. A lot of people meet here for evening drinks and also
before and after dinner often performing here you'll have either the classical
trio will perform in here, or there might be a duo. It's also where in here they
hold things like the morning daily quiz. Higher up the ship is the Observation
Lounge. Now occasionally during some cruises this is used if there's a very
big group on board. If it's not being used by a group it's the venue where
people go and play things like bridge. The outside bar is the Lido bar. Again
very popular when sailing through warmer climates and it has a great view over
the pool deck. In terms of fitness and spa you've got the pool deck with a
pool which is a saltwater pool. There is the Athena spa on board. In the Athena
spa you have the small gym area, which has some machines and free weights, and
then of course you have the spa area where you have your normal treatments.
There's also separate to the Athena Spa a hair salon.
There are also occasionally some classes held and the classes will be held in the
Ambassador lounge. In terms of other facilities on board there's a library.
It's quite a large library room which has lots of books, reference books. This
is also where you'll have the various daily quizzes and there's lots of
magazines and brochures in here as well. Of course as you'd expect there's the
normal facilities like you've got your reception, guest services and your
shore excursions desk. There's also a shop which sells everything from branded
merchandise, clothing, jewelry and of course essential supplies. There is no
photography center and there's no onboard photographer taking pictures all
the time. There is no guest laundry on board, so if you do need
washing or laundry done then you have to send that away. In terms of
accommodation, as I mentioned ,there's just over 200 cabins and these range
from inside cabins right through to Owners' Suites. There are not many balcony
cabins on board ( less than a quarter of the cabins will have a balcony). The
great thing though there's lots of cabins for solo travelers and you'll
find these at all different levels and grades. Thee upper tier of cabins are
known as the balcony grade cabins, and they have a whole lot of different
features so for example they'll have things like a welcome champagne and
fruit, they'll have daily canapes, Molton Brown toiletries, dressing-gowns and
slippers. What are the areas that I think are probably less good on board the ship?
One of them is Wi-Fi. So the Wi-Fi at the time of recording not
great. It's not ship wide and there are certain hotspots around and it seems
that the bandwidth is relatively low. So there's a lot of people want to go and
connect and you'll find the Wi-Fi is pretty poor. So that's one area that
probably over time hopefully will improve. The second area is as you
probably see in the gym in the spa area is quite small now because Voyages to
Antiquity and the Aegean Odyssey are attracting people who want to go out and
experience things and see things the, passenger mix tends to be slightly older
but is very active, because you have to be to go on the excursions. One
things I found is I would go to the gym a couple of times and because it's so
small it was completely full. So hopefully over time the gym facilities will grow
and expand to really address the needs of the more active traveler who's going
out and wants to be connected much more and does want much more fitness
facilities. The Aegean Odyssey as you can see is a very classic ship. It's a
relatively old ship but it's being constantly improved and updated and
certainly inside it is in really great condition because it's constantly
refreshed. But it is a much more traditional cruising ship and a much
more traditional cruising look and feel, and all of the cruisers on board
are very much focused on education and enrichment. The passenger profile
does tend to be a little bit older but very interested in going on vacations
where they learn. The fares on the Aegean Odyssey are pretty all-inclusive so your
accommodation, your food, your gratuity, your excursions and drinks with dinner
are all included in the fare. So extras tend to be things like Wi-Fi, gratuities
if you're buying drinks outside of the evening meal and obviously discretionary
spend in the shop or in the spa. If you found this helpful please watch many
more of my Tips For Travellers videos because you'll get much more inspiration,
advice and tips to help you make more of your precious travel time and money.