Minerva markets itself as a sea borne country house for those who want something a bit more traditional. This is highly accurate, apart from the lack of wallpaper. From the moment we set sight on our fellow passengers waiting to board our BA flight to Athens, for the ‘Mediterranean Escape’ cruise in November, we knew this would be a very British traveller’s experience. Previous reviews had lead us to understand that there would be a good supply of retired teachers, lecturers, civil servants and ex-armed forces passengers, and we were not disappointed. The cruise itinerary was changed some months prior to departure to miss out a call to Tunis, and this was replaced by a second call to Sicily.

Shortly after leaving Heathrow, things started to deviate from the plan when there was an announcement requesting “senior cabin staff to the cockpit”, and then an another indicating that there was a spot of bother, and we would be returning to Heathrow. “Don’t worry about the fire engines”, we were told, as these were purely routine. Later, someone remarked that the calmer the captain’s voice, the worse the emergency, and I later discovered a report on our spot of bother at http://eu.greekreporter.com/2015/11/09/flight-heading-to-athens-from-london-lands-safely-in-heathrow-after-midair-turmoil/

Regrettably support from Swan Hellenic was absent in the subsequent rescheduling of the flight, which was unable to take all passengers. Passengers drifted in to Athens over the remainder of the day and night: just as well we were scheduled for an outing the next morning in Athens. To their credit, after I made a call to their head offices, the Minerva laid on a splendid late night buffet meal for passengers as they arrived. Read more