Louis Olympia

Hello! We just recently took at 4 day cruise on the Louis Olympia through Greece and Turkey. I had a really hard time finding out much about this cruise line and I couldn't find any reviews on the ship, so I thought I would post on here for others. :)

A few bits of information that everyone should know about Louise: it is a Greek line where English is the primary language spoken. However, all of the announcements are also given in Greek, Spanish, French, and several others I didn't recognize (you can only imagine the length!). The passengers on this trip were from all over the world and it was incredibly diverse. During one game they had people from over 25 countries come on the stage!

One thing we were surprised by was that probably 60-75% of people using Louis were with a tour group. Very few individuals booked this cruise on their own like us. That helped me understand why it was so hard to book this cruise on my own. There were problems with the web site loading and not a lot of information on their site. I had to email frequently with questions and it took a while to get answers back. The customer service was a definite drawback for us.

We boarded the ship in Athens but people embark and disembark in several locations during the four days so it made for smaller crowds boarding. Some tour groups even disembarked and got back on the same Louis cruise ship four or so days later when it returned with a different group of people on the ship.

Our itinerary included Athens, Mykonos, Kusadasi (Ephesus), Patmos, Rhodes, Crete and Santorini. Louis is known for making their cruises more about locations than anything else. You see a lot in a short amount of time so you aren't in the locations very long which can sometimes feel rushed. We felt like we had a good amount of time in most places but would have liked more time in Mykonos. I cannot believe that the cruise only allows for 4 1/2 hour in Santorini which is the crown jewel of the Greek Islands. You have to tender in Santorini so that took over an hour for everyone to get on a small boat and then you take a long bus ride to Oia to see the main sites. By the time you get there you have hardly any time to see the prettiest island of all and you miss their famous sunset. I am so glad that we disembarked in Santorini a night early so we spent several days there. It is a crime that they spend so little time there!

We were shocked at how expensive all the excursions were in each location with Louis. We decided to try doing each excursion ourself and we did for a fraction of the cost! In Mykonos we took the public bus in to the center and we beat everyone waiting in line for a Louis transfer and it was 1/4 the cost! In Kusadasi we hired our own private guide and had our own private van with a/c and a guide for the morning and it was cheaper than going with Louis in a giant group where you would also had to go to the bazaar. We also asked our guide to show us the Temple of Artemes. In Patmos we took a public bus to St. John's monastery and then walked downhill to the Grotto of Apocalypse and then to the boat. It was easy to do and a fraction of the cost of the excursion. In Rhodes we took a public bus over an hour each way to Lindos instead of doing it with the excursion. We were nervous about going this far on our own, but it was easy and the bus runs back and forth often. If we were really in a bind we could have taken an expensive taxi ride back to the ship. In Crete we also took a public bus to the Palace of Knossos for a fraction of the cost. If you are willing to walk a little more and figure out locations on your own (we had a travel book) it is easy to do excursion on your own for so much cheaper.

Since the cruise line is focused on destinations, the meal times were usually changed based on when most people would be on the ship. The sit down dinning room was open seating, so you didn't have a set time you had to eat. You were seated with others though, usually at a table for 6. The food was not impressive in the dinning room or buffet though it seemed a little better in the dinning room. The food seemed more like a cafeteria and was of fairly poor quality but it was fine for us. We aren't picky. The majority of the buffet was Greek and Mediterranean food. There wasn't much American food. The food didn't even compare to our Royal Caribean cruise it was much poorer quality and there aren't things like unlimited steak or lobster at dinner or a midnight chocolate bar. Additionally the server in the dining room wasn't all about getting you anything you wanted and being friendly. He was borderline rude and didn't talk to us. If you want steak that costs extra and unlimited soft drinks are $12 a day and alcohol was round $16 a day. We just drank water and filled our water bottles in the buffet area all day anytime.

The activities on the boat didn't interest us and most were similar to our Royal Caribbean cruise.They evening entertainment was fairly cheesy and not too exciting. Additionally everything would have to be repeated in several languages. The ship itself seemed outdated and older and a little tacky but it had everything we needed just nothing fancy or modern.

Customer service on the ship wasn't great. Since most people are there with a tour guide in a group, they don't need to communicate with the ship. When I had questions I sometimes got a little attitude with my answers. Some workers were friendly, but several were not.

We booked this cruise because we got it at an incredible rate and it was even cheaper when we booked it online once we were in Europe for work (for some reason the price in euros was way lower than what it was showing in dollars, maybe to attract more locals?). We also booked it for the locations more than for the cruise itself. We knew it wasn't going to be luxurious and probably not as nice as an American cruise company we were used to. We were right. If you think of this as more of a floating ferry to take you from island to island with a nice pool to lay by and food provided, you will love it. That is how we viewed it. We didn't take the cruise for the food, entertainment or to make friends. We used it to get from island to island and loved being able to nap in our room or lay by the pool as we were transported from location to location and it was nice not having to worry about food or switching hotel rooms every night. Louis cruises aren't for everyone, but for the budget traveler they are a good option!

Thanks for your review--very good info. Did you spend your extra time in Santorini at the end of the cruise and then make your way back to Athens on your own?

We disembarked in Santorini in the evening and spent two more days there. It is definitely worth 2 full days to explore or more. We just booked a ferry when we got there for our return to Athens.