The term ‘Odyssey’ comes from the fact that, following the Trojan War, Odysseus was cursed by the great God of the sea Poseidon to sail for 10 years. This voyage isn’t quite that long! But, if you fancy an extended Ionian adventure, then this is the cruise for you – a 15-day extravaganza of Ionian highlights. A combination of our Ionian Jewels and Gems itineraries, it even visits Odysseus’ home island of Ithaka.
The two different 8-day cruises sail out of Lefkas so, depending on when you join the cruise, it may head south or north the first week, but here is the total itinerary assuming you head north to start with.
These are totally island-hopping waters with a mixture of short and longer beats, but all very comfortable. These islands – Zante, Ithaka and Kefalonia – spring straight out of the pages of history. Once again, we mainly keep to the smaller ports of call.
MEET AEGEOTISSA – SMALL SHIP CRUISING FOR A SUSTAINABLE WORLD.
In a world that is increasingly rushed off its feet we’re turning the clock back to those halcyon days where the perfect holiday was jumping on a boat somewhere and hopping from island to island. We want to take guests right back to those days – although in a bit more ensuite comfort!
Our motor sailor has 12 cabins, so the full complement of passengers is normally between 15 and 24. Cabins are small, with air-conditioning and private facilities, but we don’t have huge storage space so we ask guests to ‘travel light’. Cabins are made up once a day and linen changed twice a week.
There is a sundeck and there are areas to sit and watch the world go by. We run a full bar and normally a member of the crew will be there to serve – but if not guests help themselves, make a note of it and we’ll add it to the final bill.
Unless we’re on the beach having a BBQ we all eat together in the dining room at the same time. We try to serve organic food, sourced locally, and freshly cooked by our chefs. We have a small wine list focused on local wines.
We give a daily briefing about what guests can do and see when they land. We’ve planned our itineraries so that guests get to spend a few hours each day at sea but also get time to discover the local colour or simply sit and sip a cold beer or glass of local wine in a waterfront bar. Mostly we’ve picked smaller off-the-beaten track ports of call where our 12-cabin motor sailer can moor tight to the quayside so guests are never more than a short stroll from the action. Along the way we regularly drop anchor so guests can plunge into the clear waters and cool off.
Life on board has a big focus on wellbeing. We encourage guests to be active on the water and on land. If we find a messy beach we try and make the time to drop anchor and spend an hour or two collecting the plastic flotsam and jetsam, bagging it up and disposing of it. We encourage guests to join us in protecting our marine environment.
