Cruise Lines

It's been three whirlwind weeks since I got back from my cruise on Voyages to Antiquity's 378-passenger Aegean Odyssey.

During the cruise I posted blogs about our calls at Syria and Lebanon, which were fabulous despite the poor guide in Syria, so it's well past time to give you a few thoughts about the ship.

I had a lovely spacious cabin with a walk-in wardrobe and big bathroom - bath, shower and, amazingly, a toilet that flushed rather than vacuumed - and a generous supply of quality shampoos, conditioners, lotions and shower gel.

The bed was comfy, there was a small balcony and Cidi, my room steward, was charming, but the room was very spartan, as indeed is much of the rest of the ship (the pic to the right is the reception).

There were no pictures on the wall, very little furniture but one morning, while lying in bed, I did spot a TV on the wall opposite.

I say "spot" because it was so small relative to the size of the room and the distance from the bed, I hadn't noticed it before. And other than on the bed, there was nowhere to sit and watch it, which rendered it rather useless. It was anyway; apparently none of the TVs were getting a signal.

Mine was the last cruise of the 2010 season - the key thing that sets VtoA apart from the competition is that they cruise in the Eastern Mediterranean only and are sensible enough not to try cruising there in winter.

That means a) there is no chance of hitting bad weather and b) they have time to put the ship in dry-dock so any problems can be ironed out.

As a priority, they need to get the smoke stack sorted. Ever since they launched in May 2010, passengers have been complaining about soot falling from the stack, but they have been unable to get the problem fixed.

Just look at this picture of Aegean Odyssey arriving into Beirut, belching smoke and with a blackened stack. No wonder a lot of the loungers on the top deck were spotted with soot. Just unfortunate they chose white seat covers!

VtoA also desperately needs to install wi-fi. I am told they are putting it in during the dry-dock, but seriously wonder why it wasn't installed during the initial major refit given the type of people they want to attract.

Namely highly-educated folk aged 55-plus who travel with laptops and want to keep in touch on-line.

If I'd had £1 for every passenger who came up to me in the hotel we stayed in overnight in Palmyra who wished they had also brought their laptop when they saw I was on-line on mine, I could have covered the cost of my air fare.

Well maybe not, but you get the idea.

There is an internet café on the ship, and the satellite signal was excellent, but its six terminals were in constant use. I do hope they can do something about the deafening air-conditioning in there.

But more importantly they need to address the poor food and sloppy service, which was commented on by many passengers I spoke to, both Brits and Americans, some hardened cruisers, others trying a holiday at sea for the first time.

Service howlers included seating me without a menu, forgetting to take my order, giving me a wine glass but having to be asked again to pour wine in it (free wine with dinner is one of their selling points, but you have to constantly ask for it), having to wait 20 minutes for service in an almost-empty bar.

The good news is that all things that can easily be put right (the smoke stack might not be easy, but I'm sure it can be fixed). A change of catering company, more training for the crew, wi-fi and some decoration on the walls.

The people I spoke to who were disappointed with the ship loved the destinations and shore excursions, and want to cruise again with VtoA because of the interesting places they visit.

I'm with them. I'd certainly cruise with them again for the destinations.

I just hope the powers that be spend the money necessary to make sure that when we do all go back, we can sit outside without getting covered in soot and enjoy a drink that's been served promptly while discussing how fabulous the food and crew are.