Louis Cruise Lines

MS Perla

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Operator: Airtours Cruise Line
Year Built / Last Refurbished: 1971 / 2000
Length / Tonnage: 536 / 16,710
Number of Cabins / Passengers: 399 / 798
Officers / Crew: British / International
Operating Area: Aegean Sea, Mediterranean, Canary Islands
Telephone / Fax: Tel 110 4165 / Fax 110 4165

You cannot compare chalk and cheese, but the critics often try. Louis Cruise Lines is a budget cruise line, not a premium one.

The MS Perla entered service in 1971 as the Norwegian Cruise Lines Line's 'Southward'. Prior to joining the Louis fleet she sailed as Seawing for Airtours. She was Airtours first ship and they began operating her in March 1995, under the name of Sun Cruises. Perla is a modest 16,710 gross tons and has a maximum passenger capacity of 904, divided between the 392 cabins. There are seven passenger decks, but no single cabins, wheelchair accessible cabins or balcony cabins. There are four elevators.

Perla is a very attractive and distinctive ship, with almost a yacht like profile. She has inboard lifeboats and distinctive twin swept-back funnels, which enhance her profile. Just about everyone agrees that Perla is a very friendly ship.

Perla probably has as many public rooms as you could reasonably expect, for a small ship, although some of them are rather small. Unfortunately they are spread over four decks. Maybe this was an attempt to keep passengers fit? The good news is they are all approximately amidships, including the dining room, which is the most stable location. There is the Clipper Entertainment Lounge, the EL Dorado Restaurant, the Riviera bar/ café, the Piano bar, Beauty Salon, Card Room, Photo Gallery, Gym, Children's Club, Medical Room, Casino and the Crows Nest Disco.

The largest room on board is the main show lounge, the Clipper Lounge, located on the Mayflower Deck. Large windows provide good views of the passing scenery. However, this space has been described as 'cavernous' by a critic. Aft, on the same deck is the Library, Card Room, Children's Club, Beauty Salon and Card Room. One deck up, on the strangely named the Beach Deck, is the Crow's Nest Nightclub which is very comfortable. It has a circular dance floor. It offers more charming sea views.

If everyone onboard, decided to occupy the public rooms at once, they would become very crowded indeed. Likewise, the available deck space for sunbathing is somewhat limited, so congestion during fine weather is guaranteed. There is a pool tucked behind the twin funnels, on the uppermost deck, but it is rather small. The area around the pool has been described as being "as slippery as an ice rink" by passengers, so beware!

The Entertainment offered is perhaps one of the most subjective aspects of the Louis operation. Some passengers regard it as excellent, while others regard it as amateurish and 'holiday camp' style.

The Perla pre-dates freestyle dining. There is one main restaurant called the 'El Darado'. It is attractively decorated and seats nearly 400 passengers at each of its two sitting. Seating is allocated by the cruise line, so you have little real choice. The food may not be the finest afloat, but the passengers often consider it to be very good. It is certainly plentiful, with six meals per day being offered. However, the dining experience can be a little rushed. There are breakfast and lunch buffets served on deck and the midnight buffet is served indoors. Healthy and vegetarian options are available, as well as kids meals.

Twenty-four hour cabin service is available at an extra charge. However, I can't imagine anyone choosing to eat in a cramped cabin, rather than the dining room, unless they were ill?

The cabins are divided into five grades: Inside, Standard outside, Superior outside, Promenade and Deluxe. Apart from the Deluxe grade, most of the cabins are of a similar size, which is small by today's standards. There are no balcony cabins. Doubles often have two rather small single beds arranged in an L-shape. Passenger's often report that the insulation between them is poor and the closet and storage space is limited. The bathrooms are small, and the water tends to change temperature mid-shower! However, the cabins are adequate. If space is really important to you book the deluxe variety, which could be classified as mini-suites if you had a very vivid imagination, but be quick there are only ten of them!

The Louis brochure offers some tempting half price cabin upgrades, but it is important to remember that most of the cabins are the same size, just the deck location varies. The price rockets for the deluxe cabins. If you want to book a specific cabin number in advance, not just the grade, Louis makes a £50 charge!

The voltage is 110v so the Brits may need adaptors to power their shavers etc. They have not managed to squeeze TV's into the cabins! However, the brochure informs us that some cabins do have piped music. However, I hardly feel that this is something to boast about.

Like most old ships, the air conditioning can be both noisy and ineffective at time. The disabled access on this ship is poor.

Louis mainly aim their product at the British market, which is a small but growing one. However, other nationalities are often represented onboard. Their cruises are extremely popular with first-time cruisers. They appeal to a wide age range of budget conscious travellers, including families. They don't have too much local competition, because the other UK cruise lines charge higher fares and seem to particularly attract the 'grey pound'.

The Perla cruises the Mediterranean year round offering 3 and 4 day cruises from Piraeus to the Greek Islands and Turkey. The 3 day itinerary stops at Mykonos (Greece), Rhodes (Greece), and a same day visit to Patmos (Greece)/ Kusadasi (Turkey). The 4 day itinerary visits Mykonos (Greece), same day visit to Kusadasi (Turkey)/Patmos (Greece), Rhodes (Greece), and same day visit to Heraklion/Santorini (Greece).

This is at this point we meet the great divide. The 'experts' tend to regard Louis's standards as pretty low, in comparison to the major American cruise lines. However, the people that really matter, the passengers, usually regard them as very good, if not excellent! Of course the critics would respond by saying that as many of Louis's passengers are virgin cruisers, so they do not know any better! In support of this hypothesis, it does appear that seasoned cruise passengers are rarely as impressed with the product as the first-timers are.

So is a 'Louis' cruise for you? If you are an experience cruiser or expect the highest standards of pampering and luxury, you should definitely choose another cruise line. They will only be too happy to charge you accordingly. If you are a first-timer and/or your main criterion is value for money, you are unlikely to be disappointed with Louis and Perla.