Cruise editor Brian Major spent eight days in the Mediterranean
aboard Renaissance Cruises' newest ship, the R6. His report
follows:
VENICE, Italy -- Conventional wisdom says any Mediterranean
cruise departing in late October, as my voyage aboard Renaissance
Cruises' new R6 did, is decidedly post-season.
So much for conventional wisdom. There are worse ways to spend
seven autumn days than cruising around Italy, Sicily and
Greece.
The Mediterranean's balmy summer breezes and sun-filled skies
slipped away weeks ago, but my cruise aboard the R6 proved that the
region is no less charming in the fall.
My experience was complemented in no small measure by the
ship.
Cruise liners are often called "floating hotels," but R6's
on-board style is as close to a mid-sized, upscale hotel as a
cruise ship can be.
The 698-passenger ship certainly resembled a hotel on the
inside.
Instead of a sweeping lobby and atrium, R6 offered a quiet lobby
with cushy chairs and sofas and a land-scale reception area
finished in dark mahogany paneling.
Traditional artwork and furnishings adorned the lobby, which also
featured a small double staircase.
The lobby exemplified R6's on-board character. The ship eschewed
the broad scale of other new, comparably sized ships in favor of a
more sedate version of traditional elegance.
R6's decor was patterned after the interiors found at
Ritz-Carlton hotels, according to company officials.
And indeed, the R6 seemed more like a hotel than a contemporary
cruise ship.
There were few public announcements. The vessel was largely
empty during the day, as most passengers opted for shore
excursions.
Traditional daytime activities were kept to a minimum (although
there were art auctions, a ubiquitous feature on contemporary
ships).
Our itinerary included no full days at sea, as R6 sailed mainly
at night, usually arriving in port around 8 a.m.
Renaissance offered between three to five half- or full-day
shore excursions in each port.
R6's evening entertainment was limited to a casino and
twice-nightly, small-scale variety shows. There's also a handful of
lounges.
Still, the ship grew quiet in the evening, as most passengers
were in bed by midnight.
That seemed to suit our passenger contingent just fine. Most of
the passengers were in the 50-years-and-up range and were more
interested in the ports of call than in on-board activities.
If nothing else, Renaissance offers its passengers fleetwide
consistency. Each of its six R-class ships features the same
traditional style.
Even the location of public rooms and facilities is the same
aboard all of the R ships.
Repeat Renaissance passengers are attracted by the company's
focus on the ports of call and its identical, upscale ships.
Still, the line's insistence on a sedate on-board atmosphere
seemed a bit overdone at times.
I was fairly surprised one evening when, while sailing from
Messina to Naples, our captain failed to make an announcement as
the ship passed the active volcanic island of Stromboli.
In several years of sailing in the region, I've never been
aboard a ship whose captain failed to alert his passengers to the
island's lava-spewing peak.
A word also must be said in regard to R6's no-smoking
policy.
I heard many passengers remark on their preference for a
smoke-free atmosphere and I appreciated this feature.
However, I also heard from many who admitted that they'd broken
the no-smoking ordinance in the privacy of their cabin bathrooms or
balconies.
One passenger, a smoker, said that when she booked her cruise
she was told by Renaissance officials that while there was a
no-smoking policy, "we don't have any smoking police on board."
She quite obviously felt within her rights to smoke on her
balcony, and she presumably did.
The point is that a fleetwide no-smoking-aboard-ship policy
seems excessive.
I've been on some ships that restrict smoking to outer decks, a
policy that seems not only more reasonable but also
enforceable.
Other cruise companies have designated one ship (not an entire
fleet) for the non-smoking crowd.
Renaissance's four-restaurant strategy, on the other hand,
provides an impressive amount of flexibility for passengers.
One young couple I befriended said the Club Restaurant's food
was fine, but the attentive wait staff was distracting.
The pair thereafter ate all of their meals in the Panorama
Buffet.
Twin sisters from Philadelphia whom I met on the cruise,
however, seemed to enjoy the Club Restaurant's courtly efforts and
praised the venue.
Personally, I found the Italian restaurant (simply called the
Italian Restaurant), one of two alternative dining venues, the best
of the lot.
Perhaps there's something to be said for post-season
Mediterranean cruising.
For one, the most popular ports are happily free of the usual
tourist crush.
There are still visitors, to be sure, but with the summer a
memory, the busy season is over, ensuring reasonable access to the
most heavily visited tourist sites.
While we called at some of the most popular Mediterranean cruise
sites -- at Pompeii during a call in Naples; at Taormina during the
stop in Messina, and at eternally popular Venice -- we found a
comparative minimum of tourists and generally good temperatures,
between the mid-50s to low 70s.
There were but a handful of wet, drizzly days. And even when the
cloudy skies showed up, there was always a nice, comfortable hotel
to come back to.