I am sure you guys will be a great source of info

Are there any other cruise ships that travel to Greece and the surrounding area that offer the same sort of 6 star experience as the P.G. ship? My friends are planning a trip,but don't want to go on a mega ship.

Hello,

We were on the PG in the summer of 2013 and loved it. Next summer we are going on the Windstar Athens to Istanbul. It has only 148 passengers!

Second seating

Windstar for sure. Sailing the Greek islands under wind power only is something that everyone should be able to experience at least once in their lives. Excellent food and service, great experience. Best cruise we've ever been on.

Another vote for Windstar. That said, I didn't consider PG a "six star" experience.

We did a cruise in Greece last year on the Regent Voyager. It has about 700 passengers, so twice the size of the PG but with all balcony suites and all inclusive liquor, excursions, and gratuities. And it should be noted, Windstar doesn't have balconies and is not all inclusive.

We had a great cruise, but next time I will definitely pay much more attention to port information. Even though you are on a small(ish) ship, when you port the same day with mega ships, the port experience is definitely less enjoyable. For example, the day we were in Santorini, there were also several other ships totaling 10,000 passengers there. This happened at almost every stop, and the main attractions were mobbed, even in November! When I checked the web site just before cruising http://ports.cruisett.com/ I saw there were no ships scheduled to arrive the day before or day after in Santorini. I just checked next fall and on Sept, 17, 2015 and some other days , the Wind Star will be in port with 4 other ships totalling 7,086 passengers, but several other days a Wind star vessel will be the only one in port. http://ports.cruisett.com/schedule/Greece/805-Santorini_Island/September_2015/

So, IMHO, I would look just as closely at the port experience as the ships to enjoy Greece. I would consider Windstar, but also would look closely at Azamara and Silversea if I were to go again.

And off topic but definitely related the to PG< I did have a chat with one of the PG corporate representatives on the reunion cruise about this topic. The day we departed Papetee there was a Carnival ship in port. We met a couple of cruisers on that ship at the IC and asked about their itinerary, and were relieved that they would not be in port with us along the way. So many people on those small islands:) When I mentioned this to the PG rep, he said they go to great lengths to ensure the PG is in port alone as much as possible, sometimes changing their itinerary but most often working with other cruise lines well ahead of schedule. With 41 days on board the PG, we have only shared ports (besides Papetee) twice, both times in Bora Bora, once with the Island Princess and this time with Windstar vessel. You could really feel the impact with the Island Pacific when doing excursions. .

When we were on the Wind Surf they changed the itinerary a month or so before we left and flip flopped two ports in order to avoid a crowd. We were alone in Santorini until a large Euro cruise ship pulled in about an hour before we were getting ready to leave. I still shudder thinking of the hour long line to get up the hill with hundreds of people still waiting to get off the ship on the tenders. I was really glad we were leaving when we did. We had most ports to ourselves except Venice (turn around day on our B2B) and shared several (Sorrento, Kotor, and another I can't recall) with Le Austral which only holds 350 or so, so no biggie.

By the way, just like many don't feel the need for a balcony on the PG, it's no different on the Wind Star ships. There is a ton of space on the decks, never a problem finding a place to sit, and you're off the ship exploring every day. Typically there is one sea day which is kept busy with various activities and enrichment programs.

I would look at Regent, Azamara or Crystal. I haven't been on Seabourn but it's well recommended.

Crystal has won best Cruiseline for the last 20 years.

SeaDream Yacht Club? No personal experience, but size is more like the Tere Moana I believe. Not cheap, for sure, but neither is TM.

Thanks for your responses--will pass on your suggestions.