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Louis Hellenic Cruises - Greek Islands


herb

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Wondering if anyone has had any dealing with this cruise company. Since Royal Olympia cruises went bankrupt I surfed the internet and this company seems to be taking over the same itineraries offered by the now defunct Royal Olympia Cruises

 

Has anyone sailed on any of their ships?? We're contemplating an 8 day trip including Athens with 4 night sailing on MS PERLA (formerly NCL Southward).

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I've just returned from the April 29th 7-day Aegean cruise on the Perla. Rumour has it she was brought out of dry dock to accommodate us, the Calypso being over booked (or in bankruptcy). Yet we saw the Calypso several times docked at the same ports as us. We had an outside cabin with window (porthole) - the walls were so thin we could hear next door's alarm clock! There were two metal chests with 3 drawers each - they were OK except they stuck when opening or closing. The cabin contained a safety deposit box but you had to pay 15 Euros extra (non-refundable) for the key. That went up to 50 Euros if you didn't have the key back by midnight on the last night!

The library had no books, the internet cafe no computer, the card room no cards, the swimming pool no water (until day 3), the water fountain no water and the Bank ran out of money by the time we got to Rhodes.

The bar and restaurant staff had no idea what was going on - this did improve later in the week. It took 4 days to get charges reversed from our account!

An 'all inclusive' drinks deal was offered at 119 Euros for the week but we got charged on the first and last evenings and never did get the last day's charges reversed. The 'free' house wine was served in smaller glasses than if you'd paid the 3.50 Euros for it.

The disco smelled of damp and mustiness as did another area between the Clipper lounge and the Piano bar.

The food was not very good at all - the first few days, it was cold by the time it got to the table so we just sent it back. It did improve as the week went on (the temperature that is).

The shore excursions were a rip off - not very good value for money at all - Sharron the Tour Director did a good job of organizing disembarkation at each port but it took ages every time.

The staff at the Purser's Desk were very friendly and tried their best to help but they were unable to fix incorrect charges on accounts and from what I can gather that was the most popular reason for going there. On the last morning, after printouts of accounts had been delivered to each cabin overnight, there were at least 20 passengers lined up to have corrections made.

I could probably add more but this is getting too long. I just know that I will never travel on this ship or cruise line again.

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YIKEES!!!:eek: We have been looking at the land/cruise packages offered through Homeric tours, which utilize Louis Cruise Lines for a trip next summer with two granddaughters. Sounds like we may be disappointed if we were to book a four person suite on say the Calipso or the Ithica.

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We are already booked into the Perla for June and it seemed to be the only option to get where we wanted to go, when we wanted to go. I am now braced for a marginal experience. Hopefully, by the time we cruise, they will have more bugs worked out. We are taking a fan with us for extra cooling and maybe that will block out some of the noise too. I've told people that if the food wasn't good, we can always eat on the islands. I'd looked at the sample menu on their website and wasn't too thrilled

 

We had been booked on the Radisson Diamond, which was sold and cancelled. We had never cruised with them and were looking forward to a pretty swanky experience. It sounds like this might be at the other end of the spectrum. I will not be taking my evening gown. Oh well, I will try to make lemonade!

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We boarded the Perla in Istanbul on May 1. Thankfully, we were only on the 5 day cruise. "Cruise" is a misnomer for what we experienced. If you approach this ship as a ferryboat with sleeping facilities, you won't be disappointed.

 

Perhaps things will improve. The staff was working hard. But the ship is shabby--dirty carpet, mold in bathrooms, definitely not luxury by any stretch of the imagination. We finally wised up on the shore excursions and took taxis to major attractions, sharing the cost with another couple. For Ephesus, it is possible to book a private tour ahead of time. That would be well worth it, as the tour groups were large and slow, most frustrating.

 

Knowing what I know now, I would take ferries to a few islands and book a hotel. We heard the Calypso was no better, but, I can't believe that. At least it only carries 600 passengers as opposed to almost 900 on the Perla.

CaroleAnn

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Just got off the 7-day cruise. My advice, cancel. Dirty, old, mold. Lots of people left the ship sick. Paid for first class cruise and got the lowest class experience ever! Food was not good, service terrible, nobody knew what was going on. The crew was nice and tried to smile but it was evident that things were quite unorganized. We would never go with them again. I could go on but you would not want to hear all of it - - - just cancel and get your money back and go with another cruise line.

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My family and I booked with Royal Olympic and are now sailing with Louis Hellenic due to the bankruptcy of ROC. We are sailing on the Triton(renamed coral??). Anyone know how this ship is??? We sail on June 17th.

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My family and I booked with Royal Olympic but due to the bankruptcy we are now sailing with Louis Hellenic on a ROC ship they bought at auction-the Triton(renamed Coral?) Does anyone have any info on this ship??

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I am another person who just got home from the april 29th 7 day louis greek island cruise (if you can even call it that). My mum and I were so unhappy that we got off after 5 days in Patmos. We then contacted our travel agent in Athens quite upset and he at first said he didn't know what we were talking about but then admitted he had never seen the boat (even though he booked several people on it with high recommendations. we then persisted and he contacted the cruise line and they had already received at least 100 if not more complaints (before the cruise was over). they blamed it on being the first cruise of the season...but really. We then spoke to our travel agent the day after the cruise ended and 7 lawyers from 7 different countries had already contacted and sued the cruise line on behalf of certain disgruntled customers (no not us we are trying to get money back but wont sue (so I think they are in a fair bit of trouble).

 

So no I don't recommend this cruise or cruise line (as all ships are quite old), I could list the problems but other people have already done a good job...

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I was just doing one last search prior to booking. Just to find these alarming reviews.

 

Are there any alternatives to this Louis Cruise? I wanted to got to a few greek islands and not have to worry about dragging luggage around. Not too expensive not too long. I want to go to athens these few islands and then go to italy for another few weks.

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We decided to make the best of it. I talked with a travel agency in Athens-Key Travel- and they told me that they did not use Louis Cruise because of issues with their ships but had heard nothing bad about the Triton/Coral, which has just recently been purchased by them. The ship goes where we want to go-we look at it as a place to sleep. Gate1 travel is using Louise and you can go to their website-gate1travel.com- and pick up some pretty good info. We have no great hopes so can only be pleasantly surprised if it turns out ok.

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In doing some more searches, I found a few but have not found any information on whether they are better/worse etc.

Zeus Aegean Mosaic - has some some informal boats that look interesting, not quite the varienty of stops.

Nereus Cruises - although I cant figure out if this is a separate line or books Louis/Golden Cruises

 

Any info on these?

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Perla has only recently been acquired by Louis too. She was previously Airtours' Seawing. Coral has only just started sailing this season, Perla began a bit earlier this year. If you are used to sailing US mass market mammoths then non of these ships can be compared, as they are smaller, older, 'classics' with no Las Vegas razamatazz etc. Indeed if you sail Radisson as the norm, Perla is the other end of the spectrum, and I can't understand why she has come the 'replacement'. Unless you are a ship enthusiast or purely taking the trip for the itinerary, don't go.

 

Zeus has nothing to do with Louis. http://www.zeusgroup.gr/default.htm

They are a Greek company with a global market.

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Has anyone been on the Luis Calypso? We're doing the 7-day cruise in a couple of weeks. Hadn't seen these bad reviews of Luis. I'm worried.

 

The ship wich operates the seven day cruise is now the CORAL (ex TRITON of ROC). You can find information about this ship easier than for the CALYPSO.

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I've been researching the new Louis owned ship, Perla. Reviews have not been good. Here is something I found while web surfing.

 

Message 1:- You were talking about the Perla on your web-site, so I thought that you may like a little feed back on the current state of the ship. My wife and I just returned from a cruise on the Perla. We were on the Aegean cruise between May 6 and May 13, 2005. It was awful. The entire ship stank of diesel fuel; the cabins, which obviously had not been refreshed since 1971, were old, tired and run down. The food was ordinary, the dining room dark and gloomy. Many passengers (including both my wife and I) got colds because of the filthy ventilation system. It was, all in all, a bad experience. I highly recommend that the ship be thoroughly cleaned and its diesel fuel handling system be repaired before it ever be allowed to sail again.

Message 2:- We took the PERLA on the COSMOS 7-day Greek Island cruise from May 6-13, 2005 and this ship was the worst excuse for a floating tub that I have been on. Throughout the cruise the entire ship, public areas and cabins, reeked of diesel fuel. Towels and bed linens washed in the ship's laundry smelled of diesel fuel. It was nauseating. Our cabin 245 on Caribbean Deck had cracked glass over the faded print on the wall, one entrance wall coat hook was missing entirely and half of a towel hook in the bathroom was broken off. The bed cover was threadbare and the sheets often had holes. Frequently there was no cold water for the scalding hot shower.

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I've been researching the new Louis owned ship, Perla. Reviews have not been good. Here is something I found while web surfing.

 

Message 1:- You were talking about the Perla on your web-site, so I thought that you may like a little feed back on the current state of the ship. My wife and I just returned from a cruise on the Perla. We were on the Aegean cruise between May 6 and May 13, 2005. It was awful. The entire ship stank of diesel fuel; the cabins, which obviously had not been refreshed since 1971, were old, tired and run down. The food was ordinary, the dining room dark and gloomy. Many passengers (including both my wife and I) got colds because of the filthy ventilation system. It was, all in all, a bad experience. I highly recommend that the ship be thoroughly cleaned and its diesel fuel handling system be repaired before it ever be allowed to sail again.

Message 2:- We took the PERLA on the COSMOS 7-day Greek Island cruise from May 6-13, 2005 and this ship was the worst excuse for a floating tub that I have been on. Throughout the cruise the entire ship, public areas and cabins, reeked of diesel fuel. Towels and bed linens washed in the ship's laundry smelled of diesel fuel. It was nauseating. Our cabin 245 on Caribbean Deck had cracked glass over the faded print on the wall, one entrance wall coat hook was missing entirely and half of a towel hook in the bathroom was broken off. The bed cover was threadbare and the sheets often had holes. Frequently there was no cold water for the scalding hot shower.

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I've been researching the new Louis owned ship, Perla. Reviews have not been good. Here is something I found while web surfing.

 

Message 1:- You were talking about the Perla on your web-site, so I thought that you may like a little feed back on the current state of the ship. My wife and I just returned from a cruise on the Perla. We were on the Aegean cruise between May 6 and May 13, 2005. It was awful. The entire ship stank of diesel fuel; the cabins, which obviously had not been refreshed since 1971, were old, tired and run down. The food was ordinary, the dining room dark and gloomy. Many passengers (including both my wife and I) got colds because of the filthy ventilation system. It was, all in all, a bad experience. I highly recommend that the ship be thoroughly cleaned and its diesel fuel handling system be repaired before it ever be allowed to sail again.

Message 2:- We took the PERLA on the COSMOS 7-day Greek Island cruise from May 6-13, 2005 and this ship was the worst excuse for a floating tub that I have been on. Throughout the cruise the entire ship, public areas and cabins, reeked of diesel fuel. Towels and bed linens washed in the ship's laundry smelled of diesel fuel. It was nauseating. Our cabin 245 on Caribbean Deck had cracked glass over the faded print on the wall, one entrance wall coat hook was missing entirely and half of a towel hook in the bathroom was broken off. The bed cover was threadbare and the sheets often had holes. Frequently there was no cold water for the scalding hot shower.

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Perla has only recently been acquired by Louis too. She was previously Airtours' Seawing. Coral has only just started sailing this season, Perla began a bit earlier this year. If you are used to sailing US mass market mammoths then non of these ships can be compared, as they are smaller, older, 'classics' with no Las Vegas razamatazz etc. Indeed if you sail Radisson as the norm, Perla is the other end of the spectrum, and I can't understand why she has come the 'replacement'. Unless you are a ship enthusiast or purely taking the trip for the itinerary, don't go.

 

Zeus has nothing to do with Louis. http://www.zeusgroup.gr/default.htm

They are a Greek company with a global market.

I am not accustomed to Radisson and am not looking for Las Vega razzamatazz. I do, however, expect the ship to be clean and healthy for my child. I am very concerned that we're headed for a very unpleasant vacation that we have saved for and have to fly across the Atlantic to reach. Any news on the Calypso?

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The ship wich operates the seven day cruise is now the CORAL (ex TRITON of ROC). You can find information about this ship easier than for the CALYPSO.

I was just on a four day cruise on the Calypso and it was quite nice it,s not the QE2 but it was clean the food was good and the entertainment was fine.

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