On the Deck: Diogenis Venetopoulos, Variety Cruises

Family-run Variety Cruises has a strong Greek heritage and specialist knowledge dating back to 1949 and is still run by the Venetopoulos family with a focus on experiential, luxury travel with an informal atmosphere. Seafarer Cruises acts as its GSA in the UK.  

What can British passengers expect on a Variety Cruise itinerary and ship?

First of all when booking with Variety Cruises you have the guarantee that you will be sailing with a small ship cruise pioneer dating back to 1968 and with many faithful guests who truly love coming back to us year over year.

When enquiring about Variety Cruises in the UK with our GSA Seafarer Cruises you can rest assured that you will be getting accurate information about what our cruises are all about by one of our Variety Cruises experts.

Finally Variety Cruises offers a unique Yacht Cruise experience with Yachts ranging from 10 to 72 passengers so a client gets a taste of the private yachting experience combined with the Cruise experience.

If our itinerary is in Greece we tend to also have a Greek feel if in one of the other destinations we operate such as Seychelles, Cuba, West Africa, Cape Verde, Adriatic and others then the feel would be of that place.

How many cruises will you be offering that feature Greece in 2014/15?

We operate the eight-day ‘Classical Greece Cruise’ onboard the modern 25-cabin mega-yacht Harmony V which combines Athens, Cyclades, Crete the Peloponnese and the Saronic Gulf Islands and another eight-day option is the ‘Aegean Odyssey Cruise’ which visits Athens, Cyclades, Dodecanese Islands & Turkey. There is also the ‘Jewels of the Cyclades Cruise’ covering eight days and the ‘Adriatic Odyssey Cruise’ that also visits Albania, Montenegro and Croatia.

Our ‘Antiquity to Byzantium’ is a unique cruise we operate which is truly booming year after year. It visits many amazing places around the Peloponnese during the off season months such as March, April, October and November. It truly is an unforgettable experience to cross the Corinth Canal which cuts through Greece Mainland & the Peloponnese or imagine the feeling of being just amongst other 50 fellow guests and no one else around when visiting Delphi where the Oracle was able to start or stop any war or the birthplace of the Olympics, Olympia.

And finally we also offer a private yacht experience; clients can just charter one of our 30 metre, five-cabin private yachts and cruise around the Greek Islands.
What facilities are onboard?

Imagine your life on a super yacht of a millionaire? Would you expect casinos or several different restaurants? The answer is no.

Well the same applies with us! We don’t have a swimming pool but we stop on a regular basis for a swim of the back of the ship in one of the amazing bays we sail around during a cruise with us.

Life is not only focused around the ship as in a “normal cruise” but life is both on board and off board. We overnight on nearly all islands and the places we visit where one can spend their whole day and night either on board or off board exploring these unique areas.