easyCruise Life - Short cruises around the Greek Isles and Turkey
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It’s summer, the Greek Isles beckon, and your dad is on his yacht with his new girlfriend.
You don’t fancy a big cruise ship with thousands of XXL-sized seniors and ferry-hopping is hard work.
Sounds then, like you’re made for easyCruise Life, now offering three and four-night cruises around the Greek Isles and Turkey.
This vessel is Stelios’ latest go with things that float. The first vessel had lots of orange paint, not so many windows, offered late nights in ports, and came at a bargain price. Presumably, it did not strike gold, perhaps like the discontinued Amsterdam to Brussels hotel barge.
Actually, the hotel barge was not bad so long as you accepted this was not something from the GoBarging fleet, with or without Rick Stein in the galley. Same for the first cruise ship. Sure, you had to pay to have your cabin cleaned and for fresh towels, as well as meals, but passengers who bought the tickets knew that before they boarded, and they liked the price.
I also liked the idea of late nights in port so I could dine ashore.
Now there is just one vessel, easyCruise Life, and a new format. Your cabin is cleaned, fresh towels are provided as necessary, as are meals. What has not changed is the low price, starting at three nights for £348 or four nights for £640, based on two sharing.
Cheaper cabins are small, and the food is nothing to write home about, but it’s not bad. My only complaint is I would have preferred every sailing to have been late so I could dine ashore and maybe practice my Sirtaki.
As it is the vessel – an ex-Russian Navy tank carrier – has a hectic itinerary starting with a 10.30 am departure from Piraeus, which calls for an overnight in Athens if you are flying in for the cruise. First stop is Mykonos, where 6.30 pm to 11 pm is not a lot of time.
We woke next morning at Kusadasi in Turkey, where the port was jammed with six other cruise ships, and went, like everybody else, to Ephesus, one of the greatest monuments of the Roman Empire. Departure was noon. Whew.
At 4.30 that afternoon we were in Patmos, and at 9pm we cast off. There was a shore excursion for sale at every port, and prices were not bad, but at some places, like this, motor scooters were often rented cheaply, sometimes for as little as three hours for 10 or 12 Euros. They came with helmets, but Greek roads are very dangerous.
The port call at Heraklion in Crete was 7 to 11 – am! Just time for a visit to Knossos or another scooter dash. Then Santorini from 4.30 pm to 9 pm, enough for the second half of a Manchester United match at a pub but too early to see Zorba the Greek on the dance floor.
You pays your money, as they say. I found the vessel very well run, the pool refreshing, the crew friendly and the mixed bag of passengers (including many students from the US and Canada) happy to be on board. Maybe the bottom line is that you get a (very quick) look at a selection of islands in what is basically a long weekend, and what you like you can revisit.
Oh, and you don’t need a tie.
* Outside cabins are going for £299 pp for all sailings in September and October.
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