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| Reviewed By: Neill, Magherafelt on 21st Oct 2006 |
| Cruise Line: Swan Hellenic |
Times cruised before: 0 |
| Cruise Ship: Minerva II |
Sailed:
2006 |
| Destination: Mexico |
Age: 56-65 |
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We chose Swan Hellenic's Minerva II for our first cruise, partly for the destination, Cental America, and partly on the strength of reviews of the ship and style of cruising - we weren't disappointed on either count.
We flew from the UK to pick up the ship in Costa Rica for a 2 week cruise up the west coast of Central America to San Francisco, with calls in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico. Minerva II specialises in "Discovery Cruising" offering the opportunity to experience the landscape and culture of the countries it visits through a comprehensive and varied programme of shore excursions, most of which are included in the basic price. The knowledge and enthusiasm of local guides was supplemented by a series of informative and entertaining on-board talks from guest speakers who included former ambassadors to some of countries visited. We felt that despite the relatively limited time ashore which cruising offers, we really did get a feel for the regions we visited with trips to active volcanic landscapes, rainforests and mangrove swamps where we had close encounters with a wide variety of wildlife, former colonial cities with their grand Spanish-American architecture and colourful local markets in rural towns and villages.
On board, Minerva II offers the ambience of a refined country house hotel. With no casino, bingo or glitzy shows, it caters for a clientele who prefer quiet relaxation in comfortable surroundings after a busy day ashore. With well stocked reference and fiction libraries, live classical concerts, two resident dance bands and a cocktail pianist, two open air hot tubs and a daily choice of movies in our cabin, we never found ourselves short of things to do after dinner each evening.
We had been well warned by friend of the dangers to the waistline of a spell abaord a cruise ship and we now understand what they meant. Minerva II has four dining rooms, all offering imaginative, varied and appealing food; "The Bridge" is a more casual buffet style with a good choice for each course and the attraction of outdoor seating when appropriate; the main dining room is more formal, offering a similar menu but with full table service by ever attentive staff, mainly from the Philippines and the Ukraine. The other two restaurants, offering Mediterranean and Grill-style options, are smaller and more intimate. As there was an open seating policy, we were not confined to the same table or even the same restaurant each day, giving us the opportunity to sample all the different dining styles and menus and also to get to know more of our fellow travellers. One of the highlights of each day was a sumptuous afternoon tea served in one of the lounges, - we never felt we really needed it but it was an indulgence we didn't like to miss when we weren't ashore.
There were so many highlights of our first cruise: encountering crocodiles in a small boat on a cruise though a Costa Rican mangrove swamp; breakfasting on an open deck in the balmy early morning sunshine with the stunning coastline of Mexico's Cabo San Lucas as a backdrop; waking up to the sight of smoking volcanoes in Nicaragua and, perhaps most memorable of all, entering San Francisco Bay under the Golden Gate Bridge on a beautiful sunny morning.
We thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of the cruise and have nothing but praise for the officers and crew we encountered. Nothing ever seemed to be too much trouble and requests were always met with a genuine smile. Would we go cruising again? We had already booked our next cruise on Minerva II before we left the ship at San Francisco to fly home.
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| Quality of Food |  |
| We ate mainly in the two main restaurants but tried out the two samller ones a couple of times. We particularly liked the asian options which had an authentic flavour, plus sumptuous desserts | | Entertainment |  |
| A string quartet performance was excellent; different, but thoroughly good fun was a concert put on by the Philippino and indonesian crew members - what talent! | | Shore Excursions | |
| Best was probably the boat trip through the mangrove swamp in Costa Rica - such a variety of wildlife. There were none that I would regard as "least enjoyable" | | Staff | |
| The Maitre D in the Bridge restaurant was outstanding - he had a warm welcome for us each time we visited and never seemed to forget a face | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities | |
| We appreciated the lack of raucous organised activities and felt there was more than enough to keep us occupied while on board | | Cabins | |
| good size, well equipped and with a private balcony | | Overall Rating | |
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