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Royal Olympic Cruises

MTS Olympic Countess

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Reviewed by: Nelson de Barros Pereira
# previous cruises: 10+
Date of Trip: July 10, 2000
Itinerary: Mediterranean

By European standards Royal Olympic is a very good company and a good value for your money, but do not expect something like Royal Caribbean or Celebrity.

The ship has a good selection of attractive public rooms, nice pool, good Lido & sunbathing area, mini-tennis court, boutiques, although fitness room, cinema, casino and Spa & Beauty Salon are small size. No walk-around promenade.

The food is good but not memorable, typically continental some regional dishes. Friendly and attentive Greek staff provides good service, but it is fast, which means that correct service is difficult.There is a good wine list (including Greek wines) with moderate prices. The price of drinks is high. The informal buffet served in the partially outdoor Brazil Coffee Verandah is better than in many other bigger ships. The Greek cabin steward was not friendly and barely looked at us, although the cabin was reasonably clean. Purser's desk, boutiques and other personnel were friendly and attentive. Gratuity envelope is provided on the last day with suggestion of $9 per person & per day, to be pooled among the entire crew.

The standard cabins have pleasant colors, decent size with enough space for baggage, good bathroom, but poor insulation and no TV or safety box.

There are the usual greek dance and musical shows.

Shore excursions: The prices range from $25 to $67 with duration from 2 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours.

We took three excursions:
Ephessos and The House of the Virgin Mary (31/2 hours & $38) Ephessos has much better-preserved ruins than in Greece and the House of the Virgin Mary has the strongest energy I have ever felt. The Turkish guides are teachers and we learned a lot about this region. Do not miss!
Rhodes & Lindos Combined (41/2 hours, $48): We spent 1 hour at a souvenir shop, 1 hour at the very, very crowded village of Lindos, ruins of Acropolis and Temple of Athena and 21/2 hours in the bus.
Santorini - Island Tour & Oia Village 31/2 hours, $35) The ship cannot dock, so you should take a boat to the pier and then wait in the bus for the rest of the passengers(the debarkation took more than one hour). The bus went to the marvelous village of Oia (most of Santorini postcards have pictures taken there), but we stayed there for only 45 minutes and rushed back to the ship without having time to know the village of Fira. There are very long lines to get the cable car back down to the pier.

Ports:
Kusadasi: One of the highlights of this cruise. In addition to go to Ephessos and the House of Virgin Mary, I should say that is very nice to walk around in do some shopping in the very interesting Bazaar (many bargains). The Turkish are very friendly, much different from the aggressive Greeks.

Patmos: Very nice village (where the ship docks), good to walk around.

Rhodes: Interesting walk in the Medieval City Old Town (walking distance from the ship) with the Palace of Knights, Hospital & houses of the Knights of St. John and many boutiques.

Mykonos: Take a bus to the village and spend your time walking in this amazing place.The sunset is marvelous.

Heraklion: A port city with nothing to see

Santorini: Beautiful place, I suggest taking a taxi to Oia and come back to know Fira.

Mainly Americans, few Europeans & others.