Easy Cruise?

[simple girl]

Has anyone tried this cruise line out?
www.easycruise.com

I read about them in Cruise Vacations for Dummies.

They are a no-frills cruise line. You pay only for your cabin - which is tiny - and there are no big shows, etc. etc. They have a few restaurants and a bar with a DJ for entertainment. You pay for your meals on board or eat most of your meals in port. They hop from island to island. Typically they cruise only in the morning, arriving in a new destination each day around noon. You can stay on the island from around lunchtime until whenever - they don't embark unti the next morning.

It caught my attention - not only because it is so much cheaper (I think around $40 - $45 per night per person) - but just because it is so different. So I'd really like to hear if anyone has cruised with them and what their experience was like.

Thanks!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I havent taken a cruise in years, but at first glance my thoughts are:

- Very small ships. I never, ever get motion sick in cars, boats, planes or roller coasters, but when I took a cruise on a smaller ship (and it was bigger than these) I was ill the entire time

- Lots of destinations and motivation to spend time off the boat, as theres nothing on the boat to do. Be a nice way to find 2-3 places to fly to on a later vacation.

- Could get pretty boring after a few days unless you like sitting on a deck chair relaxing, which would work for me.

- That greek island cruise looks killer. Best time I ever had was island hopping around the greek islands, and it looks like they're hitting all the good ones. I went for a week and stayed for two.

 

[simple girl]

I havent taken a cruise in years, but at first glance my thoughts are:

- Very small ships. I never, ever get motion sick in cars, boats, planes or roller coasters, but when I took a cruise on a smaller ship (and it was bigger than these) I was ill the entire time

- Lots of destinations and motivation to spend time off the boat, as theres nothing on the boat to do. Be a nice way to find 2-3 places to fly to on a later vacation.

- Could get pretty boring after a few days unless you like sitting on a deck chair relaxing, which would work for me.

- That greek island cruise looks killer. Best time I ever had was island hopping around the greek islands, and it looks like they're hitting all the good ones. I went for a week and stayed for two.

Yeah, I was concerned about the small boat size, too, re: seasickness. I wonder how choppy the water is near the greek islands? That cruise in particular caught my eye, too.

Still plan to try a big cruise with all the hoopla first, but this could be an option to explore later on.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I wonder how choppy the water is near the greek islands?

Depends, but you're going to have at least a couple of nights of rolling seas unless you're really, really lucky. Thats what killed me on the Caribbean cruise I took and that ship was more than twice the size of these. On the greek tour we used some smaller boats like these but the travel time was just a few hours between islands. And we slept ashore.

I was just flipping through my Costco monthly magazine and was really surprised at some of the cheap cruises they offer, but nothing was 'no frills'. Quite the opposite. Cheap for what was offered though.

 

[sailor]

Yeah, I was concerned about the small boat size, too, re: seasickness. I wonder how choppy the water is near the greek islands?

Depending on the time of the year and actual islands. It will be less choppy in protected bays (Saronic gulf places like Aegina, Hydra or Poros) and downright nasty in Cyclades when "meltemi" blows (strong summer NE wind)
Frequently, when meltemi blows the ferries and cruise ships will not run or will have altered schedules.
My rule of thumb for Greek islands (I typically charter sailboats on my own there, so I can choose a schedule to some extend) is to stay put if the hydrofoil ferries don't go out.

 

[justin]

I've never taken a cruise on easycruise, but it looks promising if you want to check out a different city each day (on the French/Italian Riviera cruise).

Re: costs - if you shop around and are flexible on dates, you can find a full service cruise in the caribbean or elsewhere for about the same price per person per day. I've seen plenty for $50-60 per day, including taxes.