Easycruise Life - A Budget Cruise To Greece With Glamour

Every year, millions of people do the same thing – trawl the holiday brochures for their perfect getaway. Cue disagreements, rows and a few sleepless nights on the sofa. One of you wants a beach holiday, the other wants to explore the sights. And someone usually has to give in. Not anymore.

The perfect solution may be a cruise. But don’t dismiss it just yet. Forget dressing for dinner and awkward conversations about the stock market with a man named Giles. Forget being cooped up. Forget all that, because this is an easyCruise – and it’s the brainchild of Stelios - the same man behind easyJet. But this time, not everything’s orange.

easyCruise Life is a rather chic-looking ship that carries 600 passengers at full-whack. It’s the newest addition to the easyCruise fleet and there’s little that labels it ‘budget’. It’s kitted out with a restaurant and bar - both of which are dressed in dove-grey, and have elegant touches like orchids and floating gerberas on the tables. More tables, this time topped with mini citrus trees spill out onto the sundeck and surround the ship’s swimming pool. On the next deck up you’ll find comfy sunbeds-cum-daybeds and three hot tubs, plus just inside, a gym and spa. The ships’s also got an internet lounge and a duty-free shop. As for the cabins, they grade from simple, but adequate, right up to spacious, panoramic suites that enjoy extras like free slippers (adorned with ‘pinched from easyCruise’) and toiletries in the en-suite. But one thing’s for sure, whatever cabin your budget allows, with a different place to see each day, you won’t be spending much time in it.

Cruising Greece and the Greek islands – plus a little bit of Turkey too – an easyCruise whisks you off on an adventure where there’s plenty to please everyone. Over the course of seven days you’ll take in the islands of Kalymnos, Kos, Paros, Mykonos and Syros and you’ll also have a day and evening in Turkish Bodrum, too. easyCruise Life sails, for the best part of the trip, during the wee small hours while all you want to do is sleep. During the night you’ll island hop around the Aegean Sea so, come the dawning of a new day, you’re all ready for a new adventure in a new port of call.

Whether you’re a sun or a sight-seeker, it ticks all the right boxes. For the sun-seeker, think lazy mornings and afternoons lounging on comfy sun beds-come-sofas on the ship’s sundecks. Or a short stroll to one of the island’s beaches where you can do nothing more strenuous than slap on the suncream.

Sight-seekers meanwhile will be in their element roaming round ancient sites dating back to BC centuries. If you can handle the sun’s incessant rays, then a trip to the ancient island of Delos, just a thirty-minute rocky ferry-ride from Mykonos, is a definite must. Greek mythology cites it as the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis, so there’s plenty to get your teeth into. Weave your way through stone huts, columns, and statues. Climb up past temples and theatres and cool off in the museum that’s packed with stunning monuments and statues from long ago. And with temperatures here soaring into the high 30 ‘Cs and beyond, you’ll be glad of the air-conditioning.

The Delos trip is just one of many excursions that easyCruise puts on as part of its excursion programme. They’re not free and are more expensive than going it alone, but if you want to cram as much into your day as possible, they’re a good option. During the holiday, easyCruise Life excursions run everyday, letting you in on the islands’ best sights.

In Kos, you get a chance to see the ancient Asklepion, hill-top village, Zia and enjoy a trip in a traditional Greek boat – a kaiki. Here an Ouzo-fuelled, merry captain plays Greek music as his kaiki, full of easyCruisers, bobs towards a secluded cove where a BBQ sizzles ready for your arrival. Once docked, a dip in the glassy waters before a feast of kebabs, Greek salad and barbequed fish is in order. A couple of hours later and the kaiki, with more Ouzo for those who want it, takes you back to the bus for the return saunter across the island and back to Kos Town.

Of course, excursions aren’t the only way of doing things. Pretty Paros island, that’s fit to burst with white, cubist houses adorned with blue shutters, is an ideal place to wander un-aided. A web of cobbled alleyways lined with boutiques and courtyard restaurants eventually lead through to the coastline where tavernas hustle for your custom and street entertainers perform for the milling crowds. Hot, hot days melt into warm evenings with welcome sea breezes and as the heat gets more bearable the islands come alive with tourists and locals alike. Take it all in over a cocktail at Rough Guide-recommended ‘Pebbles bar’. With cushion-clad benches under a pergola of greenery, and a perch above the main restaurant-laden coastal street, it’s easy to lose hours listening to the mellow tunes and soaking up the sea views.

The islands that easyCruise Life takes you to are idyllic. Think Mamma Mia-worthy settings, pelicans on Mykonos beach and bougainvillea-sprinkled scenes every which way you turn.

But all this sounds like it should come at a price. And obviously it does, but it’s a very small one. A seven night cruise sailing the Aegean Sea costs from £70 per person with easyCruise. Factor in easyJet flights from Luton and Gatwick to Athens from £29.99 one-way and £61.80 return, and you’ve got a budget holiday that’s nothing like Butlins.

21 July 2008