Best Cruise line for Greek Isle?

[Scarlett3]

We are a party of three, looking for the best cruise line for a 7 day or 10 day cruise to the Greek Isle.  We would like the purchase the flight as well as book the cruise at the same time.  Which cruise line is the best for the Greek Isle for ports and pricing?  What type of "extra" charges can we expect?  We are considering either the last week in May 2025 or early June 2025.  Is this a good time to go to the Greek Isle cruise?

[Flatbush Flyer]

31 minutes ago, Scarlett3 said:

We are a party of three, looking for the best cruise line for a 7 day or 10 day cruise to the Greek Isle.  We would like the purchase the flight as well as book the cruise at the same time.  Which cruise line is the best for the Greek Isle for ports and pricing?  What type of "extra" charges can we expect?  We are considering either the last week in May 2025 or early June 2025.  Is this a good time to go to the Greek Isle cruise?

There’s no such thing as the “best” cruise line without your defining YOUR criteria for “best.”

I suggest that you interview a few well-respected TAs and pick one to assist you.

FWIW: you can search here on CC for my several extensive posts about how to find a good TA.

[Hlitner]

Agree with Flatbush Flyer.  You do not tell us enough about yourself, or group, to aid us in making a recommendation.  Keep in mind with the Greek Islands you have lots of choices from small yacht-like boats (fewer than 50 passengers) to mega cruise ships.  One can also choose to island hop, using the excellent Greek ferry system.  We find pros-cons to most of the options.

 

Hank

[crystalspin]

5 hours ago, Scarlett3 said:

We are a party of three, looking for the best cruise line for a 7 day or 10 day cruise to the Greek Isle.

Hello Scarlett!

Agree, tell us more about yourselves and your preferences on a cruise. Meanwhile you can browse the Greek Ports sub-forum to see what people are saying!

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/463-greece-ports/

 

[Cruzaholic41]

Personally, I prefer Viking Ocean because they tailor their cuisine and entertainment to the ports they visit. It makes them perfect for the Greek Isles. 
 

Otherwise, if you prefer larger mainstream lines, I recommend Celebrity and Holland America. 

[clo]

On 7/20/2024 at 6:38 PM, Hlitner said:

One can also choose to island hop, using the excellent Greek ferry system. 

That's what we did and thoroughly enjoyed it. Here's the view from our apt.. in Paros.
 

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, clo said:

That's what we did and thoroughly enjoyed it. Here's the view from our apt.. in Paros.
 

I used to worry about giving away secrets, like Paros!  But not to worry here on CC, because most cruisers we have met are just not very adventurous, when it means going off on their own.   Not many cruisers take advantage to embarking/disembarking at Piraeus, as a convenient place to also access the Greek ferry system.   There are also some small boat cruises in Croatia, that go to some terrific places not visited by large cruise ships.  Lots of options for those with a spirit of adventure who are willing to do their homework,

 

Hank

[zqvol]

On 7/20/2024 at 7:37 PM, Scarlett3 said:

We are a party of three, looking for the best cruise line for a 7 day or 10 day cruise to the Greek Isle.  We would like the purchase the flight as well as book the cruise at the same time.  Which cruise line is the best for the Greek Isle for ports and pricing?  What type of "extra" charges can we expect?  We are considering either the last week in May 2025 or early June 2025.  Is this a good time to go to the Greek Isle cruise?

Define Greek Isles. If you want Santorini and Mykonos and maybe Crete or Rhodes anything will work. If you want Paros, Sifnos, Lesvos, Patmos, Aegnia, Hydra etc. you have to look at the ferry system or the luxury lines.

 

Of course the ferry system works for almost all of the islands.

[clo]

6 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I used to worry about giving away secrets, like Paros!  But not to worry here on CC, because most cruisers we have met are just not very adventurous, when it means going off on their own.   Not many cruisers take advantage to embarking/disembarking at Piraeus, as a convenient place to also access the Greek ferry system.   There are also some small boat cruises in Croatia, that go to some terrific places not visited by large cruise ships.  Lots of options for those with a spirit of adventure who are willing to do their homework,

 

Hank

Yep. And the good news is that those people don't want to do what we do. Sometimes.

 

Naxos.

 

[edinburgher]

On 7/21/2024 at 12:37 AM, Scarlett3 said:

 Which cruise line is the best for the Greek Isle for ports and pricing?  What type of "extra" charges can we expect?

Impossible to say as cruiselines price in different ways. And only you know which "extra" charges you might want to add, and of course the type of onboard accommodation you want to book can change the pricing significantly.

 

Some lines will give a basic cost which includes less, appearing at first view  to be cheaper but with many add ons such as drinks, speciality restaurants, shore excursions, gratuities/service charges etc which will bump up the overall cost, but others, usually the more upmarket and at first view the more expensive, include extras in the base price meaning you need to calculate which is actually "best value" as you may find after doing that, that the more inclusive lines actually offer the same or better overall value

 

And bigger ships could be more problematic if there are tender ports as it can take a long time to get on to tenders ashore and back to the ship, eating into your shore time. Smaller ships might also have to use tenders in some ports but would take less time.  And some ships are simply to big for smaller islands so that too is a consideration.

 

You really need to do lots and lots  of research(mostly online reading)  and/or meet with a good travel agent to discuss your preferences, but it would be helpful to have done a good deal of research before meeting with an agent.

 

May should be quite a good month to sail as heat levels should be lower than in the peak months.

Edited July 23 by edinburgher

[Hlitner]

Keeping with the spirit of this thread, I have given some extra thought about the "best" cruise line for the Greek Islands.  My own answer to this question would surprise some friends as I would say "Variety Cruise Lines."  Of course there are few on CC who have ever heard about Variety although the company has been around for over 70 years!  They currently do the Greek Islands with a boat that only has 49 passengers :).  It has been a few years, but jumping off the boat, after breakfast, and swimming to shore to a deserted beach, is quite different than being on a large cruise ship.  I noticed that this line now goes to Hydra (among other places) which is one of those beautiful Greek Islands that will never be visited on a large cruise ship.

 

Our 2nd choice would be Seabourn which has ships that carry 450 or 600 passengers.  In fact, our first choice when cruising restarted, after COVID, was 3 weeks in the Greek Islands on this line  

 

I do understand that most here on CC are not going to cruise on either of those lines (they can break the budget of most cruisers).  Once you get to the mass market lines, I do think that for the Greek Islands the itinerary is king/queen.  Carefully look at the scheduled times in ports, and choose the line(s) that give you the longest days.  

 

I will also double down on my previous comments and suggest tacking on an extra week (or two) to use the ferry system for some pre/post cruise island hopping.  There are lots of options (some posts have already mentioned Paros and Naxos) but we do suggest choosing islands not normally on the big ship itineraries.  It is even possible to do some day trips from Pireaus, for those who do not want to spend any time on the various islands.  I think the closest island would be Aegina.

 

Hank