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Louis Cruise Lines

MS Calypso

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: Pat Harris
# previous cruises: 3
Date of Trip: September 16, 2005
Itinerary: Mediterranean

The ship was clean and orderly. The crew were very friendly and efficient. Overall we liked the ship...but it is not the same standard as your usual cruise line..Keep expectations reasonable.

Or main complaint was with Louis Line Cruises rather than with the ship. Our stop at Istanbul was cancelled by Louis Line Cruises and even though we tried to find out the reason..we could only presume that we were a small group of 20, who along with 1 couple for elsewhere, were bumped off the Coral which was overbooked( it went to Istanbul) and put on the Calypso where the itinerary was changed. We were given a 3 day and 4 day cruise put together, instead of the 7 day cruise we booked. This was very disconcerting....although the crew bent over backwards to make our trip pleasant. Our travel agent here could also get no satisfaction even though we persisted for 6 mos. after returning.

There were several lounges...all comfortable. If you chose to walk around the deck, you were by yourself in a noisy area. This was not a good/safe option. The pool was very small, but refreshing. It was emptied if the sea was somewhat rough. (2 times)

The food was good. There was a sit down dining room available for breakfast, dinner and lunch. The back of the dining room shook and was very noisy. Sit near the entrance. Staff very good. There was a nice but repetitive buffet for lunch and you could take your lunch outside near the pool, or up to an outside deck. We were impressed that they had sugar-free ice cream! There is no snack bar open all the time.

We were on a lower deck with a porthole and cabin size was fine. Shower was small, but fine as long as you took care to keep the water contained. Friends of our had Jr suites which were very nice.

The entertainment was typical crew style light fun.

The ship either docked or tendered depending on the order of ships in port. It seemed to work out fairly. Unfortunately all cruise ships plying the area arrive in port at the same time!..so all tourist sites are overwhelmingly full...or empty when all ships take up anchor! We stopped at many Greek islands. We expected to enjoy all the stops..which we did. The 3 day cruise part of our trip had some strange docking times...after dark for a few hrs(see itinerary), but on the whole, stops were great. You don't need to pay for tours on the little islands or Santorini or Bodrum Turkey .You can walk or taxi. Tours worth paying for are Ephesus, Rhodes, Crete.

The first night, the passengers were Greek and the smoking in the lounge was a problem for us. The ship then made a no smoking policy to accommodate us. Great.