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Ocean Majesty cruise to the Black Sea. |
| Reviewed By: Atkins, Sawbridgeworth on 5th Apr 2008 |
| Cruise Line: Voyages of Discovery |
Times cruised before: 10+ |
| Cruise Ship: MV Discovery |
Sailed:
March,
2008 |
| Destination: Western Europe |
Age: 65+ |
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Ocean Majesty was on contract to Voyages of Discovery.
This cruise was booked on impulse in May 2007 and before I had checked the average temperatures in the region! I was not happy when similar inside cabins were advertised for £180 less in January 08. My complaint was shrugged off as “normal practice in the industry”. There was further disappointment when the flight tickets arrived, we were going with Thomas Cook Airline who are very well known for their minimum seat pitch, inadequate for anybody taller than 4ft 6. Two weeks before departure we were given a cabin upgrade to outside that was being offered at slightly more than we had paid. Even later we were offered a switch of flight to Heathrow but had to decline because the car park had been booked at Gatwick. When this offer was made there was no mention that the return flight would be to Gatwick so it proved wise to decline the offer.
Check-in at Gatwick was quick and the flight departure on time. The TCX flight was very uncomfortable; knees hard up against the seat in front, not enough room to put the table down. Not enough room to open the A4 size in-flight magazine flat, when holding the magazine vertically it was too close for the eyes to focus. The cabin crew’s advice to keep moving was a joke, I was jammed in too tight to move. Inconsiderate fellow passengers who recline their seat restricts leg room even further. Food was mediocre. There was far more room on the coach to the ship at Piraeus.
Embarkation was quick and easy with our luggage getting there before us. The cabin, J29, was bigger than expected. It was plain, light (big square window) and spotless with more than adequate cupboards and draws. It was cold in Odessa, I spent some time looking for a room thermostat, there isn’t one! The only temperature control available is to adjust the flow of cold air into the cabin.
We ate in the main dining room every morning and evening. We usually skipped lunch apart from one salad in the Lido buffet where we twice had afternoon tea The food was good the only criticism being a limited choice at dinner. On most nights there was just a choice of 3 main-course dishes, pasta, fish or meat plus a vegetarian option. Twice towards the end of the week there was a second meat dish added to the choice. Service in the dining room, bars and cabin was excellent but after four days at sea the draft beer ran dry!
Entertainment was poor. A duo played two 45 min sessions in the Show Lounge each evening, a jazz group played for a similar time in the Majestic Lounge but were indisposed on one night when the ship was rocking a bit. A couple of quizzes and that was it. The piano in the Observation Lounge never made a sound. Bar prices were around the norm.
Port lectures were excellent, Col Russell’s presentations on the Dardanelles, Crimean War and the Yalta Conference were also excellent. The lady history lecturer read from a script in a monotonous voice so I quit halfway through her first piece. The excursions were overpriced, in particular the Crimean War Highlights tour. It consisted of visits to the Black Navy Museum and the Panorama in Sebastopol, five short stops at significant places en route to/from Balaklava and a very poor lunch and cost £91. Someone must have made around £65 per passenger profit on this trip. I was told (by the cruise director, Mo Holland) that the Panorama was closed but was being opened especially for the organised tour so it was £91 or don’t see it. This info was not true, some passenger took taxis to the Panorama and it was open, the total cost 10 Euros for two! Voyages of Discovery should have offered a half day city tour including the Panorama but did not do so.
The Gallipoli tour from Canakkale was good but disappointing in that we did not go to any of the British or French sites around Helles only Anzac and Turkish sites in the centre of the peninsula. We were not even taken to the main Turkish monument illustrated in the tours brochure. Col Russell told me that he could have rearranged the tour to include Helles within the time but he was not allowed to make any changes.
The biggest surprise was Nessebur, I had never heard of the place before we decided to go on this cruise but is a unique town with much to see. The ship was small enough to be berthed along the small quay and it was an easy walk around the town. In Yalta we were berthed along the main promenade alongside the shops and restaurants.
When the time came for disembarkation in Lavrion it was raining but the coaches were brought right up to the end of the gangway and the crew had erected an avenue of umbrellas from ship to bus. After a very long walk to the gate at Athens airport the flight home on a new Thomsonfly 737-800 was much more comfortable than outbound on TCX, the extra couple of inches on the seat pitch making a huge difference.
The onboard currency was the pound and the bill was in pounds but when I got my credit card slip I had been charged in Euros. I am now waiting to see how much is going to be added to my bill when its changed back again into pounds.
NB. Neither The Black Sea nor Ocean Majesty are in your selections.
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| Quality of Food |  |
| We ate every morning and evening in the main dining room, I mostly ordered the fish course | | Entertainment |  |
| No shows, no comedian, just a duo and a jazz group. The best entertainment of the week was provided by the Brass Band that played us off for a whole hour in Yalta. | | Shore Excursions |  |
| Gallipoli was good, Blacksea navy Singers and Dancers were excellant. | | Staff |  |
| Our cabin steward, Regan, was excellant as were our two dining room waiters. | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities | |
| Excellant lectures and port talks, little time for anything else as we were in port every day. | | Cabins | |
| The cabin was larger than expected but no heating was a problem. | | Overall Rating | |
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