Tri-Continental Voyage - Royal Olympic Cruise's new vessel

Cruise Travel, Oct, 2001 by Theodore W. Scull

Royal Olympic's Classy New Vessel Races From Europe To Asia In A Week

Not since the Queen Elizabeth 2 raced across the Atlantic in five days at 28.5 knots has sea travel been so exhilarating. I was among a score of passengers standing at the aft rail, watching the wake widen and froth up astern when the Olympic Voyager set sail from Santorini (that's in Europe), bounding overnight at high speed to rendezvous at Alexandria (that's in Africa). Following a day among the pyramids in Egypt, we sped overnight to Ashdod (that's in Asia).

If cruising is meant to be so relaxing, why the hell-bent quest for speed? Some busy folks don't have much free time, yet they have a strong penchant to pack a lot of travel experiences in one short week. Royal Olympic Cruises has the answer, and it's simply a new twist on what the company (formerly Epirotiki and Sun lines, and reportedly soon to be trading under the name Royal Olympia Cruises) has been doing for decades: operating itineraries where the ship is a vehicle to explore the culturally rich wonders of the Mediterranean world.

But now the ROC fleet includes a spanking-new, sleek-looking ship, finely decorated, full of amenities, and ever so fast. The service speed for most cruise ships plying these azure waters is 18 knots, but the 25,000-gross-register-ton Olympic Voyager easily attains 27 to 28 knots--that's 50 percent faster--allowing, for an ambitious and far-reaching itinerary What's more the ship actually arrived at most ports early. Sister ship Olympic Explorer is scheduled to join her this autumn.

From Piraeus, the port for Athens, it's a one-week/three-continent, grand tour with, mercifully, four half-days at sea to recuperate from heavy doses or sightseeing. The first call is the dramatically situated island of Santorini, with remnants of a once important civilization that literally exploded into the atmosphere about 1500 B.C. There are unearthed rums to pick over: the precariously clinging, white-washed village of Oia to explore: and the main town of Santorini itself for a noontime plate of calamari washed down with an ever-so-lightly-sparkling Santorini white wine; before descending the steep cliff by aerial tramway, astride a mischievous mute, or more wearily on foot avoiding the dotted piles of night soil.

By the next morning the Olympic Voyager slips into the major port of Alexandria, a vast, sprawling city with miles of seafront to stroll, a museum of royal family treasure to visit, and former King Farouk's Montaza Palace to ogle. But most opt for the drive through the Nite Delta to Cairo for a very busy day-tour to the Egyptian Museum for Tutankhamen's treasures and then to the Great Pyramids and the mysterious Sphinx at Giza. Until the U.S. State Department drops its travel warning for Israel, the Olympic Voyager spends two days docked at Alexandria, permitting a two-day overnight inland excursion that also includes Cairo's Alabaster Mosque, a sound and light show at Giza, the ancient Egyptian capital at Memphis, and the cemetery and step pyramid at Sakkara.

Sailing north to the island of Rhodes, it's a healthy harbor walk to uncover the layers of Greco-Roman, Crusader, Ottoman, Italian, and now modern Greek influences in the walled city center. Or take a motorcoach tour out to Lindos, a fortified medieval town perched high over the sea.

Istanbul, an energetic harbor city of spiky minarets straddling Europe and Asia, is a sheer delight for urban walkers. But for first-timers, the most efficient way to see the major sites--Topkapi Palace, St. Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Grand and Spice Bazaars--is to take a tour. The cruise route to and from the bi-continental city passes through the famous waters of the Dardanelles, Sea of Marmara, and Bosphorus.

Down the Turkish coast, the wonders of Ephesus never fail to impress, from the first moment you stand at the top gate and look down the length of the marble street to the multi-story houses and spectacular library facade. It's a short walk to the still-active stadium for a sprint up to the highest level, from where you can appreciate how far the sea has retreated from this once great port city, which was the Roman capital of Asia Minor.

Wind down on the final evening with a stroll through the narrow streets of Mykonos. The lanes were designed to foil thieves, but now the only hazard is getting lost, never for long, as the sea laps at much of the perimeter. With the ship not sailing from this Greek isle until late evening, seek out an outdoor restaurant for a last meal on the town, as early Saturday morning the Olympic Voyager returns to Piraeus.

Aboard the 840-passenger Olympic Voyager, most cabin arrangements are similar, of average size (140 square feet), but with all the features that one comes to expect--TV, safe, fridge, telephone, decent stowage, roomy bathroom, plus the top seven of 11 categories have full baths for a delightful pre-dinner soak after a day clambering over ruins.

Luckily, I occupied one of 16 bay-window cabins (215 sq. ft.), where perched in one of two chairs in the alcove above the water, I could watch the ship slice rapidly through the seas. Being only four decks up, the speed appeared awesome. Only once did the ship vibrate uncomfortably, and that was leaving Istanbul. Otherwise, the solid, German-built ship was smooth running and even quiet at the top cruising speeds. (However, to avoid engine vibration, a cabin forward is always a better bet than one aft.)