Seabourn to Aegean vs Adriatic

[NorthbyNorthwest]

I'm looking into cruises for next summer (hopefully!) or summer 2022.  Absolutely loved our Seabourn Mediterranean cruise and am looking at similar cruises (~7 days) further East.  Any opinions on Aegean (Athens to Istanbul) vs Adriatic (Venice to Athens) routes?  We're very active (love hiking excursions, etc.) so unique ports of call with lots of options are important.  Both itineraries look fun, wondering what other factors this experienced group of cruisers would include in the decision.  TIA!

[jenidallas]

I’ve done both routings and really the deciding point for me would be timing as I like the ports on both.  I’ve been personally missing Istanbul though so I’d probably lean toward that.  Venice, Athens, and Istanbul are three of my favorite food cities.

[Two4Sea]

With regard to "other factors" I would give a bit of weight to the stability of Turkey's political positions. Our 2016 visit to Istanbul had the consolation of being very uncrowded because of issues in the preceding months. The downside was that the last weeks steaming towards there had us concerned about the call being cancelled. It's a fine point of personal choice, we'd readily go again but would give a moment's thought to a last minute plan B.

 

We've been to ports on both seas and agree that there is lots of appeal to them. With only 5-6 ports in mind have you just written out the port names, Googled TripAdvisor "best active things to do in xxxx" and noted what would wow you? Maybe that would tip the scale.

 

Bill

[whystayhome]

Both are wonderful. What are the specific ports on each?

 

Linda

[Fletcher]

One of the key things about choosing a Med cruise (or any cruise for that matter) is to find out how many other ships are in port at the same time as your ship.  In places like Santorini and Kotor that can have a big impact on your enjoyment of a port.  Go to Cruise Timetables, ports of call, and check out each port on a daily basis.  Of course, in these Covid times, everything is a bit tentative to say the least. 

 

https://www.cruisetimetables.com

Edited July 20, 2020 by Fletcher

[NorthbyNorthwest]

Great feedback everyone.  Thanks so much!

[SLSD]

Istanbul is one of my favorite cities of the world.  Hopefully, it is an embarkation port or a disembarkation port because there is so much to see there.  I would be mindful of the political situation however.  We were there a good 15 or 17 years ago and it may be a different kind of place now.   

[Spree75]

We've also been on both seas with Seabourn and loved both trips.  However, there are a number of considerations and changes since we did the cruises.

• If the Aegean is Athens to Istanbul or vice versa then you're in for a fantastic trip.  Ephesus is almost guaranteed to be on the itinerary with various Greek islands rounding out the trip.  Lots of archaeological sites and lots of beaches.  I wouldn't consider this to be a hiking through nature kind of cruise but there is plenty of fun walking in the small port cities and some challenging walks like up to the church in Patmos.  As others have mentioned it's worthwhile to monitor the situation in Turkey as two of the major port cities would be deal breakers for me if they are excluded.  Also you'll want to monitor the situation with refugees from Syria (Lesvos comes to mind).  Our trip was Istanbul->Lesvos->Ephesus->Rhodes->Patmos->Mykynos->Milos->Athens
• The Adriatic has two flavors.  We did the round trip Venice which gets you to the west coast of Greece and then heads back.  The other is Venice to Athens.  We found this trip to more varied than the Aegean as you stop in more countries and many more mainland locations.  Corfu, Katakolon (Olympus), Dubrovnik and/or Split, and Kotor would be some of the destinations on this side.  You will see both Roman and Greek history on this trip.  Corfu was amazing and I can see spending a week or two just there.  Some things to watch out for on this side.  Venice is tamping down on cruise ships so watch out for where you will dock.  We were last there on one of the little sisters so got to dock outside of the main terminal closer to the city which made a huge difference.  Dubrovnik is also limiting where and how many ships can dock.  Once again we were tendered right outside the Old Town but I'm not sure that's the case anymore on the larger ships.  Less ships would be great as Dubrovnik can turn into a zoo!  We had a 10 day trip on the Adriatic and went Venice->Gallipoli (Italy)->Kefalonia->Katakolon->Corfu->Dubrovnik->Split->Opatjia->Venice with two sea day

If I was picking again and hadn't been to any of the places I would go with the Aegean but only if Istanbul is on the list.  That city is amazing and you should plan for several days there.  Definitely one of my top 5 cities to visit in the world.  If Istanbul isn't on the itinerary then I'd pick the Adriatic.  Everyone should visit Venice and there's more variety in my opinion on this trip especially if you want to do nature hiking.  From the Croatian cities you should be able to make your way inland to what I heard are amazing national parks.  Of course you'd be missing out on the amazing port cities...