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Posted by Sue Bryant Feb 18, 2007 |
I was hoping to post daily blogs from Ocean Odyssey while I was on board last week but the internet connection hadn't been made and the wires were dangling loose in the library. The ship was on its second cruise, a fortnight round-trip from Goa, calling at ports in Southern India, the beautiful and uninhabited Lakshadweep Islands and at Colombo, Sri Lanka.
This is an ambitious venture and if you enter it in the right spirit, you'll love it. I'd never been to India and this cruise was a great way to see several places without too much planning ahead. The tours were good; the backwaters of Kerala were beautiful and the buzzing city of Trivandrum was an assault on the senses in every way - but not an unwelcome one. We explored the interior of luscious Sri Lanka, visited a Buddhist temple, indulged in ayurvedic massages, shopped till we dropped and feasted on fabulous curries at every possible opportunity. The Lakshadweep Islands were the pristine castaway paradise that had been promised.
Sadly, the same could not be said about the poor old ship, a 30-year old vessel formerly owned by Royal Olympic Cruises and despite a recent paint job, really showing its age. The bigger exterior-view cabins are fine and the food and bar/dining room service were good, but the pool was dirty, the hot tubs unappealing, deck furniture lacking and the 'spa' just a single, unlovely treatment room. The biggest problem was the inadequate air conditioning, which the crew say is going to be fixed - an absolute essential in such hot temperatures. A lot of disgruntled passengers were sleeping on deck to get some air, which is all very well but not when you've paid around £1,000 ($1,800) for the privilege.
The cruise director and captain had a firm 'can't do' attitude (passengers weren't even offered free bottled water in compensation for the stifling heat) and blamed everything either on India, where it's difficult to get spare parts, the passengers themselves or 'the management.' They showed no enthusiasm for the ports we visited and information on what to do was sorely lacking. Luckily, most of us were adventurous enough to do our own thing, using cheap Indian or Sri Lankan taxis and local buses.
A better customer service and they could have saved themselves a lot of complaints, as people genuinely did love the itinerary - and any experienced traveller is sympathetic to the challenges of operating in a developing country.
This season is apparently a trial run. If there's a market for India, the owner will acquire a better ship. I wish them well - it's always good to see a new cruise area opening up, especially when the operation is of a size to make minimal environmental impact. But service from the senior crew with a bit more of a smile wouldn't go amiss - and would cost nothing.