Voyages to Antiquity New Announcements

With a track record of successful cruise lines dating back over 40 years, Gerry Herrod and his Voyages to Antiquity team have built businesses that have thrived on customer loyalty. So it’s not surprising that two new initiatives from the Oxford based cruise company are looking to target past passengers of both the new Voyages to Antiquity venture started in 2009, as well as the second of Herrod’s ventures, Orient Lines which he sold in 1998.

The first initiative is the new Odyssey Club for past guests of Voyages to Antiquity. The cruise line, with its boutique ship the Aegean Odyssey, only started sailing in May last year and already has a repeat passenger rate of 15%, with many guests taking three cruises in the company’s first season of just nine months. The club will be automatically available to all past passengers of Voyages to Antiquity, and will offer savings of between 5-10% on cruises booked up to 31 December 2011 as well as offering special savings throughout the year. A special programme of announcements and activities on selected cruises is also planned as well as gifts and incentives.

The second announcement relates to past passengers of Mr Herrod’s second cruise company, Orient Lines, which sailed the popular ship Marco Polo on a series of global voyages from 1993 until the company was sold in 1998. Details of the cruise departing on 26 August 2011, on Aegean Odyssey, have been sent to travel agents and it is hoped they will notify their databases, in addition to those who have already contacted Voyages to Antiquity to sample the high quality cruising style synonymous with Herrod and his team. The cruise from Athens to Rome starts at £2195.00 per person based on an inside cabin and includes all shore excursions, gratuities, wine with dinner on board as well as a reunion cocktail party and other special activities such as a gala dinner during the voyage as well as a visit to the famous Palazzo Gangi in Palermo.

Speaking about these two new initiatives, David Yellow, Managing Director of Voyages to Antiquity said: "Past, as well as future guests are vitally important to our business. We have already had a number of ex-Orient Lines’ guests travel with us and this voyage seemed an ideal way to bring more of them together for a cruise. We’re also welcoming back two of our captains for this particular cruise, Captain Erik Bjurstedt and Captain Roland Anderson, who also sailed on the Marco Polo. We know this cruise will be extremely popular with both UK and US guests and hope this will be the first of many such cruises.

"Our second announcement will look to build the same kind of loyalty with our new passengers, sampling our niche style of cruising for the first time. The programme entitled The Odyssey Club has been designed to show our more recent guests how much we value their support too. In this first year we are offering a 10% discount on all bookings made by guests who travelled during 2010. We hope the other incentives will show how much we appreciate them and look forward to seeing them again soon."

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Images Available: Gerry Herrod photo and Odyssey Club logo.