New to the Board - Cruise the Greek Isles

[Frankie Sue]

I am new to this Board, so I hope that I am doing this correcty. My first question to you "savy" cruisers is: Have you cruised the Greek Isles before, if so what is the Best CruiseLine to do it and what is the best time of the year. I really look forward to reading your comments and getting your valuable advise.

[Atomica]

I cruised the Greek Islands waaaay back in March 2000, on a line that no longer exists (Royal Olympic). We left from Piraeus (port for Athens) and called at Mykonos, Kusadasi, Patmos, Rhodes and were supposed to go to Crete and Santorini as well, but a storm prevented us. The Greek Islands are absolutely without a doubt one of the most amazing places I've ever been to, and I'd go back in a second.

 

What's the best line? That depends - where do you want to go? HAL, Celebrity, NCL, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, MSC, Costa...etc, etc...all sail the Med from about April to October, give or take. I'd look at the itineraries from all cruise lines by going to their websites & see which one interests you the most. Some combine the Greek Islands with Italy, others focus more on Turkey & the Black Sea, and others still even call in Egypt as well.

 

Best time to go? Depends. How's your heat tolerance? In March, it was plenty hot. I'd choose May or September/October personally.

 

Good luck!

[RuthC]

You want to look at more than just itinerary when you're booking any cruise. You also want to take a look at the cruiselines themselves in an attempt to find which lines are the best "match" for you---they are not all created equal.

You need to think about what style of cruise the various lines provide. Do you want a lively nightlife? Or do you think you'll be turning in early? How much does the food matter to you? Do you want flexibility in dining times? Or do you prefer traditional sittings? Do you want several choices of dining venues?

Do you want to dress up? Or do you just want to put on something clean?

Do you want a large cabin? Is a small cabin all right with you? What size ship? Larger, with more people, or smaller, more intimate?

There's a cruiseline (or two, or three) out there that's right for you. Picking the right line can make a great cruise even better. Picking the wrong one....:eek:

[hammybee]

We have done this twice and both times on different cruise lines. I think time of year trumps everything because it is so darn hot. I agree with Atomica that Autumn has to be far better than the summer months when we have sailed.

 

Before you choose a cruise line or even the intinerary, you have to decide why you want to cruise in this part of the world.

 

Is it history, culture, scenery, ruins, the beaches or just being on a ship in the Med?

 

How much time do you have to cruise, including the almost necessary arrival one day before sailing?

 

Have you checked out air fares which can be more than the cost of the cruise, especially during the summer months.

 

All cruises in this part of the world are very port intensive, meaning that every day and sometimes twice a day, you will be some place new. I thrive on this but a lot of people find it absolutely exhausting, especially in the heat.

 

Ruth C posed additional questions about how many pax you want to sail with, what you want to do while onboard and how dressy or casual of an experience do you want.

 

There are many cruise lines that sail in these waters. Have you cruised before? Where did you cruise? How long was the cruise? What did you like and not like about that experience?

 

So what was a good experience for me or the next guy means absolutely nothing to you if we have different values. And it all matters.

 

So think about these questions and tell us more or even better, see a travel agent- cruise specialist. The better ones will ask you questions similar to these to match you with the most approriate cruise line, given what you want, becasue it's your vacation.

[debsjc]

I also sailed with Royal Olympic, as Atomica did and on almost the same routing.

 

We travelled in May and the weather was perfect, I would pick April, May or late September/ October time myself. June, July and August are very hot.

 

Santorini is very beautiful, so I would recommend finding an itinerary that stops there if you can.

[cusyl]

We sailed on the Grand Princess last June from Venice to Barcelona. We selected that ship because of it's itinerary. It went to Turkey and Greece in addition to Italy and France, we were very pleased with all aspects of it. :D

[Aussie Gal]

We too also cruised on Royal Olympic way back in 1995 and we went to Santorini, Rhodes, Crete, Patmos, Kusadasi, Istanbul and Mykonas. We cruised in their autumn which was October and it was still very warm and the seas were calm.

 

It was a great cruise over 7 days and we saw so much. The Greek Islands are fantastic and each one is so different from the next. We have returned to Greece since that trip and have also been back to Santorini.

 

Jennie

[LILynn]

We did the Med Cruise this past Septemeber on the Grand Princess. We started in Rome - went to Monte Carlo, FLorence, Naples, Santorini, Mykonos, Athens, Kusadasi, Corfu, Katakolon and we ended in Venice. I chose this cruise for the ports - I had never been to Europe and never sailed with Princess. I knew that I wanted to go to Venice and Santorini so I started looking for ships that stopped in both those ports and wound up selecting the Grnad Princess. We loved every port we stopped at and loved Princess. I cannot recommend that itinerary enough. We truly had the trip of a lifetime.

 

But with that said totally agree with the previous posters. Try to decide where you want to go and then look for the ships that go there.

 

I am sure that you will have a great time no matter what you select.

 

Lynn

[Frankie Sue]

Thank you so much for all your replies. You have given me much food for thought........

When I do make my choice, I will feel much more confident about it thanks to you all.

 

can't wait to cruise again.

 

Thank you

[Frankie Sue]

Thank you so much for all your replies. I now know more what I should be asking myself before choosing and your help has been very much appreciated. A lot of food for thought there....

 

When I do book I will feel a lot more confident about my choice because of all your info.

 

Thank you very much again.