To Antiquity … and beyond!

Voyages to Antiquity, the new one-ship cruise line launched earlier this year by industry veteran (he must be starting to hate that description) Gerry Herrod, didn’t get off to the most auspicious of starts.
Work on updating the ship, Aegean Odyssey – which included reducing its capacity from 650 passengers to 378 – took longer than expected, and striking Greek dock workers conspired with the Icelandic ash cloud to hold up the re-launch.
The first passenger reviews were less than enthusiastic; customer service was spotty, as were the aft decks, thanks to an imperfect funnel design.
Recent reports have been far more encouraging and managing Director David Yellow has been working hard to iron out the initial problems. Today I fly to Venice to join the ship for five days and see how successful he has been.
The concept looks excellent – cultural itineraries inspired by historian John Julius (Lord) Norwich’s substantial tome The Middle Sea – with tours at each port included in the fare, as are drinks with dinner and gratuities.
Provided British Airways get me to Venice on time, I will be enjoying a private tour of St Mark’s basilica this evening, and as the ship makes its way to Dubrovnik over the next few days there will be walking tours to the Roman amphitheatre at Pula, to the largest church in Croatia, at Zadar, and to the magnificent Palace of Diocletian at Split.
I’m not sure how reliable internet access will be in this corner of the Adriatic, but I’ll do my best to keep you updated. Ciao.