Aegean Odyssey Review

4.0 / 5.0
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Striving for Perfection

Review for the Middle East Cruise on Aegean Odyssey
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Skyebear
First Time Cruiser • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Nov 2010

For someone very picky, I rather enjoyed myself on this cruise. Stateroom with balcony was spacious and well-thought-out. Our guy, Rodolfo, was charming and always available. Staff at the desk were patient and helpful (why can't the space be redesigned so they don't have to stand all day?). For the most part, the waiters in Marco Polo dining room were super-sweet and accommodating. Wine poured freely and even the champagne was delicious. The tours were exciting, if often trying. Really, the pace set in Cairo and Luxor was a Litmus test to see if one we up to snuff. I have to say that I was surprised by some of the passengers that signed up for this cruise: obese, sedentary, with serious physical disabilities (one woman had such swollen legs that she barely could shuffle along). Voyages to Antijquity were more than generous and some of their decisions were surprisingly commendable. Leaving the ship in Athens was orchestrated to the point of being coddled: we were escorted through, luggage organized with a porter, a taxi waiting to whisk us to our hotel.

However, there are a few areas that could be improved. The lecturers were boring, monotoned and worst of all simplistic. For the most part, a subject was covered after, not before we visited a site. I thought that I would learn something but didn't. Doesn't queen Zenobia deserve her own half-hour talk, rather than the topic being dumbed down to include a slew of women? The lecturer on St. Catherine's Monastery had never been there and knew as much or as little as everyone else.

Since the televisions barely worked -- lots of excuses about satellite reception in port or out of port -- it would have been nice to reprint the lead news stories of the day for the Library instead of useless and frustrating headlines only. Also the daily bulletin could have been used better to dispense real information. Or even better, more details could be included in the packet before the cruise. Such as the need to bring scads of little monies,especially dollars for tips everywhere. Also such need-to-know things as not to throw toilet paper down into most of these country's fragile waste systems. And maybe a local currency converter.

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