Royal Olympic Cruise Lines Inc. announced that its new cruise ship,
Olympia Explorer, was christened at the Port of Piraeus on Friday, June 7, 2002. Vangelis Papathanassiou, the internationally renowned composer and 1982 Oscar winner for his film score for "Chariots of Fire," was the vessel's godfather, assisted by Katerina Potamianos and Marisa Loizou, the daughters of Andreas Potamianos and Costakis Loizou, Royal Olympic's two main shareholders. After the christening ceremony, music from Vangelis' score for the film "1492" was played.
Olympia Explorer, like her sister ship, Olympia Voyager, was built at the Blohm+Voss shipyard in Hamburg and with cruising speeds of up to 30 knots, she is the fastest cruise ship, of her size, in the world. This fast speed allows the vessel to call at more ports during a cruise, providing the passengers the opportunity to spend more time in port to tour the destinations.
With a passenger capacity of 836 and a gross tonnage of 25,000, Olympia Explorer is the ideal size for those passengers that enjoy cruising on a smaller ship in an intimate and sophisticated atmosphere and style. The vessel is currently performing seven-day round trip cruises from Piraeus and Venice to Corfu, Dubrovnik, Bari, Katakolon (Olympia), Istanbul, Santorini and Mykonos.