Excellent short trip

Celestyal Olympia is a very old Royal Caribbean Ship, that is now operated by Celestyal. Background is that I had my honeymoon on this ship, when it was the Song of America in 1990. It leaves from the Port of Lavrion near Athens, and not in Rhodes. This form did not have the cruise port listed. This is a small port, with a parking lot next to the ship that is well below the cost of a USA parking garage. A short walk to the cruise building, where we had our first encounte with staff. My wife being in a scooter, they came out to us, and once they found out, we were in one of the very limited balcony suites, they immediately took action, our luggage, and skipped all the lines, which was not very long to start with. They have a shuttle bus to the ship, but the walking distance is not far, and with a mobility scooter, we just walked. We were welcomed and went to the pool deck, which was where the suite entrance was. Note we were booked on the grandfather rate plan, so we had a beverage package and with a small upcharge, it was unlimited for a small upcharge. We had our first drinks, since boarding started at 9:00am, which is very early for a cruise. Food was all buffet style, with a fixed menu if you wanted in the dining room. It always seemed busy and you did not have a fixed time. Since the ports were 2 a day, everyone tried to eat at the same time. The advantage to a suite, you had a private area, with same servers for all meals. It was much more relaxing but again, it came with the suite. The food is the same. The food was nothing to brag about, but yet is was good. Service was exceptional. One night, they had a BBQ on deck also, which I sampled but it was after I ate dinner. Bar service was good, with many places to enjoy drinks. This was basically an island hopping cruies with two ports a day. Really did not have much time on the ship, but getting on and off, was easy, and if you had a tour, you had no issues. The only port stop that was difficult was Santorini, which you had a tender, and to get to the top of the town, you had lines for a skyride, or walk, which is not advisable unless, you are a healthy 20 year old. Just not enough time. The suite area was awesome. Don't expect huge rooms, but the service was awesome. Stocked Fridge, balcony, and a full bathroom. Very personalized service, and easy to get items needed. I would recommend this, because the regular staterooms are tiny. Entertainment was lacking, but the ship was always in port. There was one show nightly, and music in some areas. But this is not the late night party ship, since the next port is 7:00 am. Daytime was quite, and many small activities found on the large main cruise lines, just did not exist. I really didn't miss it, but wanted to point it out. Casino, was tiny, with very limited hours, but again, always in port. Stores, lacked the one thing I would think they should have is a place to buy items with a ship logo on it, like cups, shirts, etc. Nothing like that. Overall, the ship met my expectations, knowing this was a short, island hopping sample cruise. I had no negative issues, and the staff bent over backwards to help my wife. Although she did not use a scooter on the ship, the crew always seemed to know her and escorted us to the dining areas, and always seemed to check up often for drinks etc. Main luggage put out the nigt before, and getting off in the morning was easy. No lines, but had to be off by 8:00. Remember they start boarding at 9:00. For it's age, this is a classic ship, and taken care of very well. Sure, it shows it's age, but age is beutiful and it brings you back to maybe the golden age of cruises. Still no issues with anythign I saw. So, if you want to island hop, and get a taste of Greece, take this trip, you won't be sorry.

Greek heaven

This has been my first trip and I am a solo traveller. I was a bit sceptical after reading all the reviews but this cruise and the staff exceed my expectations. I stayed in the cruise four nights and I couldn't have packed more things or visited more places in such little time. Every day plenty of activities to keep you occupied and fit in the boat. From Greek lessons to south American dancing and great zumba lessons. Food was fab and plenty of choices to make everyone happy. I thoroughly recommend Aegean restaurant and talking to Mohamed to have one of his pasta dishes or tasty chicken (also nice omelettes for breakfast). Entertainment wise were plenty of options until 11.00 at night. I must admit there were so many options, it was impossible to do everything! All announcements were in English (even they were the minority on board), Greek, Spanish, French, Brasilian, Chinese and Japonese. Quite entertaining to hear Ian talking in 5 different languages. Cabins were really nice and extremely clean. Every day the house keeper would come to your cabine a few times, even decorating with nice towel shapes (monkey was my favourite) or leaving nice sweets. They will always great you in the corridor with a welcoming smile. The whole staff were amazing, so nice and attentive that I can't praise them enough!! Thank you all of you for making my holidays so enjoyable! Definitely coming back very soon!!!!

Excellent service for guests with dietary restrictions

My family was absolutely blown away by the incredible dining service that we received on the Celestyal Olympia Iconic Aegean Cruise. We dined in the Galileo room and were served by Lais and Gede who were just fantastic! The wine steward, Yassir, spoiled us with extremely fast coffee service and even took the time to teach me (a new wine drinker) about wine tasting. My family is a mix of vegetarian/vegan/gluten free and our past experiences in situations like this is that there are not a lot of meal selections for people like us, other than a salad and pasta for every meal. This was not the case with Celestyal. The dining staff was more than accommodating to our needs and exceeded our expectations! As instructed by the Celestyal Website, we emailed the Olympia dining staff 2 weeks in advance to let them know of our dietary needs. We were met on board by Jean Pierre, who we believe was the Maître D’, who assured there were several vegetarian/vegan/gf options that met our needs for each meal. The chef prepared such delicious meals with beautiful presentation, as you can see in the photos! On top of the excellent service, we really enjoyed getting to know our waiters and see their talents through their performances. A big thank you to all of the people that made our time onboard so special! Thank you Celestyal for the most amazing experience. We can’t wait to come back!

A well organised, efficient, pleasant, friendly, smooth cruise experience

We chose this cruise because I had never visited the Greek islands. We only had 3-4 days to spare, so I chose the Iconic Aegean cruise. I've seen some negative reviews of Celestyal Olympia, but we had a great time. The food was good, the service was excellent, and the staff were pleasant, attentive and efficient. We chose a suite and we had ample space. The bed was comfortable and the AC functioned perfectly. We experienced some difficulty with the toilet and the maintenance crew came immediately, worked hard and remained until they had fixed the problem, which turned out to be a stuck air valve. The after dinner shows were a bit cheesy and Celestyal could do a little better in terms of the calibre of their artistes, but the days were so packed with activities that it didn't matter. All in all it was a wonderful cruise. Everything worked on the boat and it was clean, modern and well outfitted. There was no musty odour or unpleasant smell. Boarding and disembarkation was smooth and our luggage came off and on the boat with no problems.