Former Onassis Yacht Available for Cruises

One of the most storied yachts in the world, the 325-foot-long Christina owned by Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, is available for Mediterranean cruises and lease.

If you and a companion can spare at least $17,500, or $1,750 per day, the two of you can luxuriate in a stateroom for 10 days. Feeling more flush? Book the whole boat, now called the Christina O, for about $70,000 per day.

From 1954 to 1975, celebrities and heads of state enjoyed Onassis’ hospitality on the Christina. He and his bride, former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, honeymooned on the it. After Onassis’ death in 1975, his daughter Christina donated it to the Greek government. It was bought in 1998 by investors, who said they spent $50 million refurbishing it.

On board are 18 staterooms plus the Onassis Suite, a pool with a mosaic floor that rises to become a dance floor, a bar, a lounge, a formal dining room, a show lounge and a helicopter pad. Modern additions include a spa and CD and DVD players.

Ten-day cruises between Athens and Rome begin Aug. 30. Contact Tauck World Discovery, telephone (800) 468-2825, Internet https://www.tauck.com. To lease the whole yacht, contact Titan Brokerage Corp., tel. 011-30-1-428-0889.

Complaint Filed Against Student Tour Operator

California’s attorney general has accused Class Travel International, a Redondo Beach operator of trips for high school and college students, of deceptive advertising and illegal practices in handling money and tickets.

In the case, detailed in an April 26 complaint in Los Angeles County Superior Court, state officials seek refunds for an unspecified number of customers. The complaint names company President Marc Radow and associate Kelley Millard as defendants and seeks civil penalties of $100,000 or more from each. Efforts to reach Radow and Millard were unsuccessful.

An Oct. 15 Travel Insider column reported that Class Travel International, in Redondo Beach since 1991, had drawn 52 complaints to the Better Business Bureau from 1997 to 2000 and prompted further inquiries from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s aviation enforcement office in connection with the company’s use of charter flights. (Complaints totaled 92 as of last week, according to the BBB.)

In October, Radow called the BBB’s “unsatisfactory” rating of his company a “personal vendetta” by bureau leaders, a charge the BBB denied. He said his company served more than 30,000 customers per year with an “absolutely outstanding” customer satisfaction record.

The April 26 state complaint alleges that in brochures and on its Internet site, the company overstated the quality of lodgings available to customers, advertised charter flights for which the required federal documentation had not been filed, dragged its feet in telling customers about changes to travel arrangements and deceived customers about the availability of refunds.

The company’s former toll-free phone number and Internet site were inoperative after the complaint filing. Callers to its local number last week heard a recording that said “due to the high caller demand,” agents were busy.