Greek Islands

[Wembley22]

I am planning on taking a fly cruise to the Greek Islands in the future and want to find a cruise line that includes the greatest number of islands on its itinerary.  Does anyone have any experience in this area?  Thanks.

[leaveitallbehind]

Welcome to Cruise Critic! Just a suggestion, as there are a number of cruise lines that offer cruises with itineraries that include the Greek Islands, along with discussions here you may also want to reach out to a travel agent who specializes in cruises to discuss your preferences and expectations with them.  They can assist with identifying the different options that may best suit your objectives.  

 

But most of the mass market cruise lines (RCI, Celebrity, NCL, MSC, etc.) offer itineraries that include that region.  There are also a number of smaller ones (Windstar, Viking Ocean, Seadream, Seabourne, etc.) that also offer itineraries that may include a more intimate cruise style with those locations.  How many ports of call involved would also be dependent on cruise length.  You would need to check each one to see who has the most ports of call to which islands based on the length and different itineraries offered.

 

Along with the information you will receive on this thread from experienced cruisers, you may also want to check the Ports of Call board for the Europe forum at the following link for additional information and discussion regarding this:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/8-europe/

 

Sounds like you are planning a great vacation - enjoy!

 

Edited August 13, 2019 by leaveitallbehind

[Essiesmom]

If you are on a budget, Celestyal Cruises does three and four and seven day cruises from Piraeus.  Visit 5 islands in three days - 7 in four days...  Go to www.cruisetimetables.com and choose Greece ports for your departure and see who is sailing.  For a lot more money, you can go on Windstar or Star Clippers.  And for very small ship cruising, check out Variety Cruises:    https://varietycruises.com/cruises/greece

[JimnKaren]

Contact a local travel agent. That person will have lots of appropriate answers for you. Relate your priorities and your budget and allow that person to offer suggestions.

 

Jim

[marco]

We did a cruise/tour a couple of years ago and the cruise was with Celestyal.  Older (but not "old") ships, smaller, which made getting on/off in ports a LOT quicker and especially the couple of places we had to tender to.  Food and entertainment were  good.....maybe a little bit better on a bigger mass market line.....but you couldn't beat thier itinerary, which really was the first and foremost reason for the cruise. We spent much more time on the islands than we did on the ship.

[LHT28]

I think P & O offer a cruise & stay package  also

 

Maybe check the link at the top of the page  FIND A CRUISE & put in the dates  etc.. to filter your priorities

[chipmaster]

We just completed a focus on Greece cruise, we looked at several and in the end selected NCL Star that had a one week round trip out of Venice, every cruise is a compromise of ports/times and schedule. We  hit Corfu, Santorini, Mykonos, Argostolion, with Venice, Kotor, and Dubrovnik.

 

There is no perfect ship/line, all about ports, and schedule that hit your most wanted ports and the most secondary ones.

 

Happy Planning

[iancal]

There is an alternative however it depends upon you much time you have, how independent you are, etc.  

 

We have done several Med cruises  on Celebrity and one on Crystal.  The mass market lines usually go to the same islands.  They can become very crowded.  If you goal is to see different islands, these cruises will not do it for you and they are comparatively poor value.

 

We have not been on Celestyal so I cannot comment.

 

We have done lots of independent island travel.   From Turkey down to Crete.  Usually in the spring or fall.  We started by researching travel books.   We would typically fly to athens, take local ferries and arrange our own accomodation as we go, end up in Crete.  Fly home home from Crete via some interesting gateway like Paris. 

 

Next month we will be touring the Ionian islands for three weeks, Then Crypus for two weeks.

 

Travel in Greece is very easy.  The summer is too hot and crowded so avoid this time.  Pack light.  Keep your schedule flexible.  The ferry schedules can be challenging.  Lots of them, the challenge is arranging your timetable to best fit their schedules. Also, lots of inexpensive  domestic flights on a few different airlines.

 

Make a decision based on your preferences.  Cruising is great but it is a very different experience than island hopping on  your own.  After doing both several times, we very much prefer island hopping on our own.

Edited August 13, 2019 by iancal

[iancal]

The other challenge is that the cruise lines often spend a limited amount of time in the islands that they do visit.  These islands often take on a very different, very uncrowded, atmosphere after the cruise ship sails away.  

 

It all depends what you want from your travels.

[Wembley22]

Thank you all so much for your kind and useful comments.  I should probably have mentioned that I am an older, female, slightly disabled solo traveler, so am somewhat restricted in my modes of transport!  Sadly, island hopping in the way iancal has suggested is a non starter.  I have already researched Celestyal, but the ship is very old and was evidently burnt out at one point!!  I love their itinerary but again, as a solo female traveller, I’m not sure they are suitable for me!  I think I may have to go for a bigger ship as my budget is somewhat restricted.  All your suggestions are very helpful and as a result, I am hopeful of finding a cruise that will fit my needs without having to research every single cruise line!!  Please keep your suggestions coming.  Thanks.

[LHT28]

how about Saga cruises  maybe they do the Greek Isles

[jocap]

Check Marella (used to be called Thomson) They do fly cruises from many local airports, using their own aeroplanes, so the travel is seamless. I think it's Celebration  which is home ported in Cyprus- another old ship, I'm afraid..

[jocap]

P&O's Oceana is based in Malta in summer, and does a one week cruise touching 4 Greek islands. The cruise can be extended to 14 days, with Adriatic ports in the 2nd week.  Again, a fly/cruise using chartered aeroplanes- no hassle being tipped off the ship until your plane from the UK has landed, and shuttle buses included (like Marella)

Edited August 13, 2019 by jocap
old age and late night

[dronnygirl]

Marella have great itineraries around the eastern Med. We are going in October flying to Naples to pick up the ship then Chania Crete, Mykonos, Athens, Zakynthos and via Catania in Sicily to Naples. We are on Explorer 2 which is a newer ship. Marella are also known for their friendly helpful staff and are great for singles. They are also all inclusive which helps you to budget.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

Assume you've already booked, but if not, Oceania Cruises has an itinerary July 30, 2021 from Istanbul to Athens that includes a number of Greek islands and some Turkey ports.  

[Hlitner]

I am going to give the OP a different kind of recommendation.  While most of here on CC focus on cruise ships the reality is that large ships overwhelm some Greek Islands and cannot even access many others.   Over the decades we have been to the usual cruise ship destinations (i.e. Rhodes, Corfu, Santorini, Mykonos, etc) many times and it has all been fun (if not a bit crowded).  We have also accessed quite a few islands on much smaller ships/yachts and it has been a far better experience.  

 

So, I suggest the OP check out "Variety Cruises" which is a small ship/yacht cruise company.  Because this company uses yacht size boats they are not often reviewed here on CC (too few customers).  A yacht cruise does not necessarily cause any more then being on a large cruise ship and it is a completely different experience where you quickly get to know most of the passengers and crew.    Here is a link to their site: https://www.varietycruises.com/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term={KeyWord}&utm_campaign=Bing Brand

 

Hank