StCroixCruiser

My 80 year old mother had her passport, cash, credit cards, and prescription sunglasses stolen in Rome while on a metro bus to the Vatican. Afterwards I knew exactly the old woman who did it, as a local motioned to me to be careful and watch her because she was a Gypsy pickpocket. I didn't know she had already victimized my elderly mother, who was sitting some distance from me due to the bus being crowded. We wasted 3 days of the trip and a lot of $$ going to Milan to get a temporary passport issued, along with dealing with cancelling credit cards and her panic about the whole experience. So, if you do have your passport with you as you walk about, be extraordinarily careful with it. Lesson learned.

Keep in mind most cruise ships only allow their guests in suites or those booked on tours through the ship to get on the first tenders after arrival. Everyone else stands in line to get tender tickets, and then stands in line to board their tender.

I've been to Rhodes twice and absolutely loved it both times. Wandering the cobblestone alleys, the Way of Knights, visiting the Grandmaster's Palace, and enjoying a glass of wine in the city square while a sketch artist drew my portrait made for magical days. So many Med ports are about viewing rock piles from antiquity. This is interesting, but so is Rhodes where modern civilization exists as a living history within a Medieval fortress. Even the memories make me smile years later.

Mykonos, Rhodes, and Santorini are some of my favorite ports ever, and I booked my upcoming cruise specifically because it included Santorini (and Mykonos, but unfortunately not Rhodes). Since all three ports are on both itineraries, I suspect you will enjoy either cruise. To make your choice, I'd recommend checking into what types of excursions you might want to experience in Istanbul. One cruise is there one day and the other two. If you find a lot you'd like to do, go with the 2-day in Istanbul option. If the excursions aren't capturing your attention, go with the 1-day in Istanbul option.

To get all the details on the public bus routes on Santorini, here's the best resource I've found, including maps, photos, videos, and narrative: Santorini Public Bus - Routes, Schedules, Tickets, Map (santorinidave.com) And other Santorini info you might find of interest: Santorini Greece - The 2024 Travel Guide (santorinidave.com) Santorini, Rhodes and Mykonos are some of the easiest cruise ports to do it yourself and have an amazing day quite inexpensively, although it helps if you don't mind walking alleys and cobblestones since they are all built that way. They are three of my favorite ports ever, though. And I've been a lot of places.