Aegean Odyssey

[Wiredforsoundnz]

Hi

Just wondering if anyone has sailed on the Aegean Odyssey since its upgrade in March. Would like to know if they have address the issue of AC, black smoke discharge and how the new cabins on the Lido deck look? We are taking a cruise next year and with all the negative comments are very worried.

Thanks

Cheers

[CalmSea]

AC is working fine. Black smoke is not noticable. Can't comment on the new Lido deck look, because I do not know what it looks like before. We had a great time.

(Posted from on board the Aegean Odyssey).

[Wiredforsoundnz]

Thank you CalmSeas, it is always nice to hear from someone who has just returned from a cruise. When I asked about the new cabins on the stern of the Lido deck, I really was asking if anyone stayed in them or had a look at them? Also can you stroll around still on the lido deck?

Thank you

[rugbypopsie]

Calm Sea can you post a review when you get back? I am on her next year for Egypt/India and cant wait to find out how this years itinerary went...not at all worried about the soot issues...it was really not a big deal.

 

Sue

[Tony & Trevor]

Sue,

 

We arrived back last Monday. We did the Singapore to Bombay segment and had a really very good cruise. We made our own arrangements pre and post cruise.

 

Apart from a few minor irritations we certainly enjoyed the cruise. We found the lecturers very good and informative and certainly not boring at all. We were slightly surprised on the high standard and variety with the food /menus etc. We ate mainly outside in the 'Terrace' but found the MDR

equally as good. The waiters were very professional and most helpful. In fact we have mainly sailed on more upmarket ships but found the waiters / bar girls equally as good and in some cases better! There was only 184 passengers on the ship and we felt it might have been too compact with the full complement of passengers. The tours were generally very good-some more than others. We did not bother too much with the evening

entertainment but found the 'Romanian ' trio excellent.

Soot was not an issue. Would we go again with VTA-yes depending on the right itinerery.

 

Kind regards,

 

Tony

[Tony & Trevor]

wiredforsoundnz

 

 

We did not meet any passengers that were in the new cabins. But looking at old photographs there was certainly quite a lot of deck space. As I mentioned the ship was far from full-184 passengers. If it had been full I am sure there would be a paucity of deck space / chairs. It was too hot to sit out on this segment albeit some passengers did. Also the jacuzzi has gone.

 

Yes you can walk round the deck. We tended to sit under cover on the promenade deck.

 

 

Kind regards

 

Tony

[cruisemom42]

I'll be on board starting 25th April and I plan to write a detailed review when I get back.

[Ontariotrekker]

Cynthia - looking forward to your review. Have a great cruise with calm seas and blue skies. Shar

[rugbypopsie]

Thanks Tony can you tell us a bit about the shore tours...organisation, interest, etc.

 

Sue

[Tony & Trevor]

Sue,

 

The tours were well organised with some much more interesting than others.

Malacca-very good with interesting things to see.

Penang- not too good. Potter round a 'Chinese' jetty-photo stop to view a fort and the reclining temple Buddha-interesting. We didn't do the obligatory shopping stop in the guise of demonstrating wax and dyes (Craft Batik workshop) we had a good look round the Anglican Church.

Colombo, Ceylon-We did a full day tour which was interesting. It was 'billed' as a visit to see one of the Buddha's tooth but of course what they do not tell you is that you can only see it every 5/6 years !!!. However visit to botanical gardens-delightful lunch in old British colonial hotel. We went up to the old British Garrison cemetery which was very interesting. We were there overnight so di the city tour with museum- good.

Cochin, India- full day tour- Kerala very interesting But no local dance performance as advertised.

Magalore and Marmagoa very interesting.

Bombay-very good and interesting city tour-comprehensive.

All the guides spoke very good English-coaches comfortable.

As mentioned the lecturers were excellent.

Canon Dr Ann Davis-hx of comparative religions- fascinating.

Prof Robin Cormack, Inst of Art, London-art hx and culture.

Col Gerald McCormack -political hxs conflicts etc. On main problems no blinds in lecture theatre so sometimes difficult to see the slides etc. We were impressed by the lecturers and diversity of the talks-always very well attended. I checked some of the films shown and they were quite pertinent to this particular segment. Tour girls very knowledgeable and helpful. We certainly learnt a lot.

Kind regards

Tony

[rugbypopsie]

Great, sounds like the organisation of the tours is back on track...thanks for the feedback.

 

Sue

[Ontariotrekker]

Tony - thanks for the port info. I'll be there in Feb./Mar. with the AO and appreciate the feedback. Shar

[cruisemom42]

wiredforsoundnz

 

 

We did not meet any passengers that were in the new cabins. But looking at old photographs there was certainly quite a lot of deck space. As I mentioned the ship was far from full-184 passengers. If it had been full I am sure there would be a paucity of deck space / chairs. It was too hot to sit out on this segment albeit some passengers did. Also the jacuzzi has gone.

 

Yes you can walk round the deck. We tended to sit under cover on the promenade deck.

 

 

Kind regards

 

Tony

 

Have they really done away with the jacuzzi? If they have, I'll have no reason to take my bathing suit on my upcoming cruise.... :(

[rugbypopsie]

The hot tub was one of my favourite places too :( Does anyone have an "after" shot of the new deck where the hot tub was? I am not worried about the ship feeling crowded we sailed nearly full and it was fine...always plenty of space particularly upstairs.

 

Sue

[CalmSea]

Just a quick note to say that I agree with Tony's review of the tours(Melecca, Penang, ...). with a couple of additional comments:

 

Regarding the full-day tour to Kandi to see the Tooth Temple, I knew before hand that we will not see the tooth. However, the temple itself was also disappointing. I don't think it is worth the 3.5 hour trip (one-way) to see this temple. Others who went to the alternate tour to see elephants said they enjoyed it.

 

Regarding Cochin, we took the included half-day tour. We opted to stay behind at the last stop, skipped lunch, walked around some more and then took a local ferry for 1 stop to cross the water and then walked back to the OD. The local ferry is very inexpensive, and actually visits several of the interesting tourist places along its route. If we were not tired out walking near the Jewish quarter, we would have taken the ferry for a longer ride.

[Tony & Trevor]

Sue,

 

As you know they have an extra 12 cabins on the lido deck and much of the deck space has gone including the jacuzzi. You can walk around but its narrow in places. There are a few deck chairs on the extreme aft of the deck. I think we counted some 48 deck chairs around the pool and on some sea days it was pretty full despite the very hot temperatures. As I mentioned we only had 184 passengers and if it does sail with its full passenger compliment plus an extra 24 passenegrs ( new cabins) it could be quite crowded. Many passengers sort out the deck chairs aft and on the promenade deck-which became quite full.

slighlty digressing the dock area in Bombay was in an old cargo area. There was NO cruise terminal at all. On our final day all the cases were placed on the dock side. There was no cover at all in case it rained. There was about 3/4 taxis there. The dock gate was some 1/2 mile away or more. The night before we got off we walked it just to see how far it was as they only allow certain taxis in.. There were soldiers etc at the gate who could not speak English. Beyond the gate were all the taxi touts. We had pre arranged a taxi to pick us up but the 'tour desk' helped us as we had no means of getting to the dock gate. No Taxis available. We heard that one group of passengers had to bribe the guards with I think quite a large some of money to let them through. They had to leave the ship very early for the airport. I was surprised that we were not in the modern cruise terminal ( we were there 3 years ago)

Kind regards

Tony

[Ontariotrekker]

Thanks everyone for the updates. Sue and I are travelling the same itinerary but sadly not on the same cruises.

 

It's a b******* re no hot tub anymore but I think it had to give way for the new cabins. The re-vamped spa on Deck 4 is apparently lovely though and of course cabins were lost to make room for it.

 

Shar

[CalmSea]

In Mumbai, we walked through the Green Gate multiple times with no problem. The guards did check our papers. They spoke English and were courteous. There was never any hint of a bribe.

 

The AO was berth inside the Indiri Dock. It had to pass through a lock to go in and out. The AO is just small enough to get through with several feet to spare on each side. Another bigger cruise will not be able to get in. Passage through the lock was very interesting. When AO was leaving, many passengers were on deck looking at the operation.