Norwegian Star Greek Isle ports

Hi everyone, we are going on our first family cruise vacation (family of 4 kids ages 12 and 10) and decided to head to Europe and do a little venturing by going on the Greek Isle cruise on the star in August. A couple of questions about the ports which are Kotor, Corfu, Santorini (Oia), Mykonos, and Dubrovnik.

We were thinking of doing the beaches in Corfu (not sure what beach but says it goes to a resort) and Mykonos (Kalafatis beach). Should we take the cruise excursion to these beaches or is it easier to get there via bus/taxi? We would like to see Mykonos town so doing a bus/taxi to the beach then to the town sounds good. My wife is more into doing stuff thru the cruise as to not get left behind or anything like that so I'm trying to get her to do a bus/taxi but not sure how easy it is. We definitely want to go to a beach or beaches to see the beautiful water since this is our first time to Europe and my kids really want to play in the water. If we do not need to go to both beaches and any recommendations of which one to choose would be helpful.

Santorini I think we are going to do the Greek celebration via the cruise ship although we wish it allowed more time than an hour in Oia. But any suggestions about Oia to sway us away from the Greek celebration which I believe goes to Pyrgos I will definitely consider since We would love to spend more time in Oia.

As for Kotor and Dubrovnik we are just going to get of the ship and figure things out.

Thanks for any responses, we are very excited for everything to come together.

If more time is desired in Oia, I would avoid the ship's tour and suggest DIYing. It's pretty easy to do.

One (package)option is to take the 20 min. ferry to Ammoudi/Quick shuttle up to Oia/Return to Fira by bus. There are two companies that offer this option located at the dock where the ships tender. A search on this forum will provide some threads that may answer any questions that you might have.

We just had the best day ever on Corfu joining with some people on our roll call and chartering a boat. I think if you google nautilus tours Corfu you should find the couple we used. For 11 of us (my three plus people we found on the roll call) it was about 70 euros per person.

Dubrovnik we loved doing dyi but it was so hot if we had a do over we might have gotten a cab from the cab stand to take us to some different places.

If you need more info I can send more when I'm back on my computer.

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Thank you Irvington. We booked a taxi to take us to a Corfu beach then it will take us to old town for 100 euros. As for Dubrovnik I will watch the weather as we get closer to Mid August when we leave and definitely take that into consideration, at that point of the trip we'll probably be a little tired for sure after being and being too hot (especially our kids) won't work too well.

How was getting up to Oia from the port? Did you DIY or did you take a tour? I looked and it seems like 4 cruise ships will be in port that day (2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon). We were considering doing the Greek celebration excursion but that goes to Pyrgos and I think we will just do our own thing in Oia.

Sorry Corfu and Dubrovnik were our only ports that overlap.

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How was getting up to Oia from the port? Did you DIY or did you take a tour? I looked and it seems like 4 cruise ships will be in port that day (2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon). We were considering doing the Greek celebration excursion but that goes to Pyrgos and I think we will just do our own thing in Oia.

We just returned from Santorini and took the boat to Oia from the Fira port. It was 15 Euros per person. It included your boat ride, a bus up from the port to Oia and a bus transfer from Oia to Fira. I would suggest getting to Oia as early as possible. It does get a little congested there. Take some time touring both of these unique towns. We walked down the donkey path from Fira to the port. Very different.

We just returned from Santorini and took the boat to Oia from the Fira port. It was 15 Euros per person. It included your boat ride, a bus up from the port to Oia and a bus transfer from Oia to Fira. I would suggest getting to Oia as early as possible. It does get a little congested there. Take some time touring both of these unique towns. We walked down the donkey path from Fira to the port. Very different.

Was it pretty easy getting the boat/bus tickets in terms of the line and waiting time?

Dubrovnik will be super hot in August and probably crowded too.

Ordinarily first time visitors would walk the walls and explore the old town itself, and maybe do a boat trip to one of the small offshore islands. If the heat and crowds are offputting, you could simply do one of the boat trips and take your swimming/beach things with you. EG to Lokrum or the Elaphit Islands. Or stay in Dubrovnik but take a bus or taxi to one of the beaches in Dubrovnik, mostly I think in the Lapad area. You would need to research Dubrovnik beaches online to read about which might suit you best and their location.

Alternatively take the bus from the port to Cavtat. Lovely small resort. It is a favourite for second time visitors to Dubrovnik. No real beaches as such, but people swim from the rocks there and it is a pretty place with a short scenic bus drive to reach it. Some of the swimming areas are shaded by pine trees which helps on hot days and you can enjoy chilled drinks and admire the mega yachts once finished swimming. Look at Cavtat on the internet or search the OTHER MEDITERRANEAN PORTS forum with the words Cavtat or beaches or whatever. You could pick up snacks and drinks from the supermarket at the cruise port/bus station before heading wherever you decide to go or even to have with you if going to a Dubrovnik beach.

For the above, go over to OTHER MEDITERRANEAN PORTS. Plenty on there about Dubrovnik and Cavtat and there is a CC member who lives there and gives really good advice in response to questions.This is one of the Dubrovnik threads. Read posts 50-55 for detailed info on Cavtat.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2418762

For off the ship options look at the website viator. Very good options. We are on the Star July 29.