Royal Olympic Cruises, Ltd.

MTS World Renaissance

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Operator:Royal Olympic Cruises, Ltd.
Year Built / Last Refurbished: 1966/ 1996
Length / Tonnage: 492 / 12,000
Number of Cabins / Passengers: 215 / 455
Officers / Crew: Greek / Filipino
Operating Area: Aegean

Conceived as a dual purpose vessel to both work the Marseilles/Haifa line and to cruise, she was built for France in 1966 as the RENAISSANCE. She began her career as flagship of Paquet subsidiary Cie. Francaise de Navigation (a company set up to run Paquet passenger ships to Israel, and thus allow the company to bypass the Arab League's boycott of firms dealing with Israel...and Paquet was highly involved in trade to Arab Morocco).

Experiencing the same numbers shock that came to American, Italian and British passenger/cruise ship operators in the late 1960's and early 1970s...Paquet would later sell the ship to Epirotiki who very wisely retained the ship's name...or better said..ADDED to her name...after all, she had a big following...so why throw 'em off the scent? Credit both passenger jets moving the point to point traveler and the expense and difficulty of operating under the French flag for French passenger line companies to get out of the business...just over a decade after the introduction of regular passenger jet service across the Atlantic, French flag ocean services were largely a thing of the past. Except for French Line's FRANCE, which sailed into the mid 1970s under the tricouleur, only Paquet continued to offer overseas passenger services at all..in the form of cruises. Forecasting a dim future for passenger ships as early as 1967, Paquet formed a new company, the Nouvelle Compagnie de Paquebot (usually abbreviated to NCP) and took over a number of French passenger liners. One, the ten year old JEAN MERMOZ was converted to a full time cruise ship. Renamed MERMOZ, she remains in service under the French flag...but Costa Crociere of Genoa is now her partial owner and the ship's once French crew is now a crew of French and Indonesians...

Meanwhile, the owners of Paquet made the decision to winnow down the passenger and cruise ship fleet to a precious few...and at the age of four the RENAISSANCE was folded into the fleet of the NCP... though she was marketed directly by Paquet...When Epirotiki Lines of Piraeus offered to buy the beautiful RENAISSANCE in 1977, Paquet let her go...the new owners knew what they were getting when they bought this ship...she instantly became Epriotiki Line's flagship..need we say, deservedly so?. You may already know that the RENAISSANCE was eventually sold off to an Indonesian line only to be bought back by Epirotiki successor Royal Olympic but you may not know that after joining Epirotiki and becoming their flagship...she was briefly renamed HOMERIC RENAISSANCE... though Epirotiki did make a few changes, adding a few cabins and then, when Costa Line offered a hefty sum to charter the liner in 1978, Epirotiki wisely changed the ship's name, substituting the word "WORLD" for "HOMERIC"...and as WORLD RENAISSANCE, she has cruised happily for both Epirotiki and for Costa Line.

After a number of years sporting Costa's blue initial "C" on her slim yellow the name, the WORLD RENAISSANCE returned to full time cruising for Epirotiki. When Indonesia's Awani Modern Group offered Epirotiki a handsome sum of money to buy the ship in 1995, Epirotiki sold her. She sailed off to Indonesia where she became the luxury cruise ship AWANI DREAM. As you know by now, after selling the ship, Epirotiki joined Sun Line to form Royal Olympic Cruises...and maybe Indonesia's economic troubles had one silver lining for one Greek firm...Royal Olympic Cruises bought the ship from Awani Modern in January 1998 and when a Greek crew arrived to bring her home to Piraeus, the ship's early name WORLD RENAISSANCE was restored to her. Happily, and basically, this once Gallic honey of a ship is still much as she was...and maybe she is better today...several refurbishings lavished upon her over the years have certainly enhanced her decor! She looks GREAT!

The old RENAISSANCE, a ship with a history... built for a French company to haul travelers between France and Israel and to cruise...a gracious vessel quickly earning a special place among Francophile travelers who looked to her for her extraordinary food and service and for a chance to experience France and French living at sea...despite a few spoilsport Yankees and Britons who thought her a bit TOO French...she was a modern ship with a heart as French as Paris...don't let the Francophobes put you off...they are the same guys who don't LOVE Paris...and I do...so VIVE le RENAISSANCE!

Yes, she's now the WORLD RENAISSANCE....and she's classy and sassy with just enough of that insouciant Gallic panache her French builders endowed her to set her apart from the mainstream of today's cruise liners...the years have been very kind to the ship and...she looks better than ever. With a Royal Olympic crew and staff I think she's a real winner and I expect you will too. I know that after her summer 1998 season she won a lot of new friends from many countries and like the other Royal Olympic "Blue Ships" she will get a lot of repeat passengers who like her for many of the reasons I do... her cozy size, her great open deck spaces, her great shaded deck spaces, her two outdoor pools and her itineraries.

There are two main public rooms, the Main Lounge, midships on Apollo Deck and the "Disco", a room that surely deserves a much better name... Most, if not all passengers can sit in the Main Lounge at one time...Red upholstered seating predominates in here and gives the room a warm inviting feeling, cooled by the bar area on starboard side...Except for the Athenian Lounge on the company's recently sold STELLA MARIS, it's one of the most beautiful lounges aboard ANY Greek cruise ship. The Disco gives out onto one of the ship's two outdoor swimming pools so when the ship is at sea by day, it's a good place to grab a drink and a respite from the sun...and in the evenings, it's open late.

A cinema near the Main Lounge offers passengers movies in a number of European languages and sports fans can work out in the ship's gym, one of the best such facilities in the fleet. As for me...my favorite spot by day is around the Hera Deck pool...either at a table under the awning within "spitting distance" of the bar...but don't spit...there's a buffet set up parallel to the bar and thousands of lunches have been enjoyed in this region of the ship...so DON'T spit...just enjoy the food..it's good AND you get a view of the pool deck and the occasional looker grabbing a few rays never killed my appetite (what does?). The ship has a small casino - but there's nothing in your face about the gaming here...it's for passenger's amusement...not to squeeze them for money.

The main Dining Room is on Dionysos Deck and though it doesn't serve all passengers at a single sitting, it does serve them good food! In either of two sittings it's smoke-free...and in Europe, that "luxury" isn't always possible, so enjoy the clean air where you can...Royal Olympic's emphasis on quality is as evident there as in the dining rooms of her fleetmates and the couple of friends of mine who work here brought me some extraordinarily tasty samplings! Most of the food in the WORLD RENAISSANCE is very good...naturally, all of the lamb dishes were superb...you KNOW I tried it all...or ALMOST all...so I'll have to go back and try the rest of it.

After a career spanning three decades...it's hard to believe because she looks pretty new...she is VERY well looked after...the WORLD RENAISSANCE offers passengers a wide choice of cabin types. Recently renovated, thoroughly cleaned with pristine linens and new pillows, these are comfortable private quarters...indeed...this ship has five GREAT suites and 36 deluxe cabins I'd like to hole up in for a couple of months...Look to the higher cabin grades here...the cabins in the SA, SC, TA and TB grades range from dandy to pretty wonderful...a number of them still retain the wood veneer wall coverings of the ship's early days.

Fan of the suite life that I am...I love her five suites but I am equally drawn to the midship SC and TA rooms on Venus Deck and if you can swing it, you will too. Another thing that I like about the WORLD RENAISSANCE is the number of single cabins she has...both inside and outside...so single travelers can come along, too...and not have to worry too much about scrimping to pay for their cruise. There's not much wrong with the lesser rooms either...they have ample closet space, private facilities and air conditioning. Is there any word of caution? A number of the smaller cabins are really best occupied as singles...so don't be afraid to ask what rooms are equipped with only one lower bed...THOSE are the rooms I mean...

Like most of the company's ships both blue and white, the WORLD RENAISSANCE will appeal to both the first time passenger and the experienced traveler...she may actually appeal equally to both groups but perhaps for different reasons. Experienced cruisers who tend to be fans of personal service and privacy will like her for the reasons I love her and newcomers can't fail to be charmed by what this ship offers. The WORLD RENAISSANCE strongly appeals to passengers who are able to interact and amuse themselves without great visual distractions accompanied by sound and light, yet she offers plenty of good cruise ship entertainment performed by highly talented people. If you think you might be interested in taking a cruise in any waters this ship plans to be...don't overlook her!

This year WORLD RENAISSANCE will be alternating between 3 and 4 day cruises leaving from Athens. The 3 day cruises leave each Friday afternoon and visit Mykonos, Rhodes, Patmos, and Kusadasi before returning to Athens. The 4 day cruises depart Mondays and visit Mykonos, Kusadasi, Patmos, Rhodes, Crete, and Santorini.

She feels good too and when you're on her you can't fail to notice that she has a very pleasant ambiance...maybe it's her French origins combined with that Greek hospitality and the zest for life so inherent to both cultures! Like her fleetmates, she's a friendly ship... small enough to remain cozy and intimate yet with expansive deck spaces and a couple of spots to get away for a quiet moment alone...I find her to be just the kind of ship I LOVE...and she charms me more than I can tell you...after all, she's a SHIP...not a resort hotel at sea...she is just the ticket for you if you want a sea cruise in a real ship and don't need glitz, pseudo glamor and big crowds..AND if you don't feel the need to overpay for a cruise. I think she's a real WINNER!