Few Greece Cruises

Hi Everyone -- I'm planning a cruise for next year and we wanted to go to the Greek islands. Perhaps I am mistaken, however, there seems to be very few ships that are doing more than a port or two of the Greek islands. Is there a reason? Seems an idyllic sail!

What cruise lines have you been checking? We're on a Celebrity Reflection sailing this year that departs Rome and visits 4 Greek ports (Mykonos, Rhodes, Santorini, and Athens) in addition to Sicily, Malta, and Naples. I know they have sailings next year out of Barcelona, Rome, or Venice that visit a few Greek Isles on their itinerary.

Or were you wanting a smaller cruise line that visits almost exclusively Greek ports? I think Azamara and Star Clippers have some sailings. At least, I've seen their ships listed on the port schedules for our ports when I've checked.

So, there are over 6000 Greek Islands and about 227 are inhabited. Many cruise lines regularly visit Mykonos, Santorini, Corfu, Rhodes, Crete and a few others. A lot of the other islands do not have the infrastructure to handle the monster ships popular with North American cruisers. But there are some European lines that do visit quite a few of the islands. For those who want to enjoy some of the smaller islands you might want to consider a company that have very small ships or boats. One example is Variety Cruises which operates several small boats that do some terrific itineraries. Many years ago DW and I cruised a week with Zeus Cruises (now part of Variety) on a 20 passenger boat (with a crew of 7) and it was a wonderful experience. We visited some fascinating islands that could never handle a ship of 300 much less 3000 :).

Some of us have talked about the unfortunate situation with Santorini. It is arguably the most popular of the Greek Islands for cruisers, but its infrastructure is not designed to handle the thousands of cruisers that can be in that port on a busy day. Consider several thousand passengers trying to get down to the tender pier below Fira via the cable car that can only move 600 per hour! Ouch.

Hank

So, there are over 6000 Greek Islands and about 227 are inhabited. Many cruise lines regularly visit Mykonos, Santorini, Corfu, Rhodes, Crete and a few others. A lot of the other islands do not have the infrastructure to handle the monster ships popular with North American cruisers. But there are some European lines that do visit quite a few of the islands. For those who want to enjoy some of the smaller islands you might want to consider a company that have very small ships or boats. One example is Variety Cruises which operates several small boats that do some terrific itineraries. Many years ago DW and I cruised a week with Zeus Cruises (now part of Variety) on a 20 passenger boat (with a crew of 7) and it was a wonderful experience. We visited some fascinating islands that could never handle a ship of 300 much less 3000 :).

 

Some of us have talked about the unfortunate situation with Santorini. It is arguably the most popular of the Greek Islands for cruisers, but its infrastructure is not designed to handle the thousands of cruisers that can be in that port on a busy day. Consider several thousand passengers trying to get down to the tender pier below Fira via the cable car that can only move 600 per hour! Ouch.

 

Hank

When we are in Santorini there will be five ships there! We are trying to figure out the best way to visit. We had a stop in Dubrovnik last year and could not see it due to the crowds.

Yes OP, you are right!! There are very few Greek Isles cruises for 2019. I found the same exact thing for September specifically. There are more in October or August. Azamara isn't going in Sept. and Princess' itineraries aren't that great for the Greek Isles then as they have more Italian ports that we wanted.

We ended up with the Jewel OTS in Sept. and it's been almost sold out for about 6 months now so that is another clear indication that you're right - very few Greek itineraries compared to before. My advice is to find what you want and book ASAP. The good ones sell out far in advance.

What cruise lines have you been checking? We're on a Celebrity Reflection sailing this year that departs Rome and visits 4 Greek ports (Mykonos, Rhodes, Santorini, and Athens) in addition to Sicily, Malta, and Naples. I know they have sailings next year out of Barcelona, Rome, or Venice that visit a few Greek Isles on their itinerary.

 

Or were you wanting a smaller cruise line that visits almost exclusively Greek ports? I think Azamara and Star Clippers have some sailings. At least, I've seen their ships listed on the port schedules for our ports when I've checked.

We are sailing on the Infinity next year, same itinerary. I was just wondering why so few ships are going to Greece.

We are sailing on the Infinity next year, same itinerary. I was just wondering why so few ships are going to Greece.

Just a guess, but many Greek island cruises included stops in Turkey, maybe Ephesus, maybe Istanbul. Due to current events those ports are no longer visited. They are both deep ports suitable to large cruise ships. Those lines are sticking to the major "destination" ports farther away from Turkey, like Mykonos and Santorini. However, if you look at the small ship luxury lines, you will find that many of them still have plenty of sailings in the area.

Just a guess, but many Greek island cruises included stops in Turkey, maybe Ephesus, maybe Istanbul. Due to current events those ports are no longer visited. They are both deep ports suitable to large cruise ships. Those lines are sticking to the major "destination" ports farther away from Turkey, like Mykonos and Santorini. However, if you look at the small ship luxury lines, you will find that many of them still have plenty of sailings in the area.

Certainly not Azamara. Very few to the Greek Isles next year unfortunately. I think you're right about losing Ephesus and Istanbul though. I really do think that's why Princess isn't doing the great Greek routes they used to do. Sad.

Certainly not Azamara. Very few to the Greek Isles next year unfortunately. I think you're right about losing Ephesus and Istanbul though. I really do think that's why Princess isn't doing the great Greek routes they used to do. Sad.

Azamara is not quite in that class. Look at Sea Dream, Seabourn, Star Clippers. Star Clippers has some fabulous itineraries that include small Turkish ports like Bodrum.

https://www.starclippers.com/us-dom/destinations/eastern-mediterranean-sailings.html

Star Clippers is NOT a luxury brand at all. Windstar is approaching that level but not quite. Star Clippers is a step (or two) below Windstar. But I agree about Seabourn and would add Silversea (which we did consider) to the luxury line-up.

I wouldn't consider any of Star Clippers or Windstar's sailing yachts for a few reasons: size is too small for DH, gym is too small, rigging is obtrusive, not enough fully unobstructive deck space. Just our opinion though. I know many people who have sailed both lines and loved them.

Star Clippers is NOT a luxury brand at all.

Agree, but it is small. And it does have a lot of Greek island cruises that others were asking about.

You could also look at Celestyal Cruises. I haven’t cruised with them, but they specialise in Greek cruises. Not expensive.

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We just booked jewel of the Seas for April 23rd of next year. She starts from Civitavecchia (Rome is 1.5 hr drive) the to Crete, Mykonos, Rhodes, Santorini, Athens and back to Italy for a stop in Naples and the ends in Civitavecchia. I looked into others and decided on this because it fit us best. Everyone is different. Royal Caribbean was our choice. We will plan our own excursions from the ship with local guides. I am planning already. We didn't like the real small ships without food anytime you want or a good gym. We do not smoke and was also worried about that. You get about 12 hours at each port which sounds great.

We did our own. We island hopped using the ferry system. Stayed a few days on each island then moved on. Extremely relaxing.

I find this thread fascinating. Many travelers/cruisers become very set in their ways and just refuse to think out of the box. So they might look at the typical mass market monster ships and find their itineraries not to their liking. The last time we visited Santorini it was on an 800 passenger ship (with only 600 passengers) and we were the only ship that day! And it was actually a HAL vessel. But we went during the spring shoulder season. But visiting an island like Paxos on a 20 passenger boat is an amazing experience that can never be duplicated on a mass market ship...because none of those ships can ever visit that particular island. Even in the Caribbean there are some wonderful islands that are seldom to ever visited by the large mass market ships. But folks continue to go on the monster vessels and visit the same St Thomas or St Maarten with 20,000+ other cruise ship passengers :(.

We do not get it either. Feel the same way about the Croatian coast as well.

Santorini on the Behemoth of the Seas is my idea of Hades.

Our first trip to the area was in the mid 80's. Our children were small, my parents moved in and off we went. Istanbul, south of Turkey, Marmaris and Rhodes by ferry. Flew to Santorina for a few days, then Crete, then Athens and home. We have been back to the area numerous times-independent travel and four cruises.

Santorini was different. Few cruise ships. We had a place with a balcony overlooking the Caldera. It was inexpensive. We stopped at a place called Moma's for coffee. She yelled to come on in kids where are you from? After that she advised us where to rent a motorbike, how much to pay, and make sure we got a good one. Once she learned that our next stop was Crete she told us to come back the next day. We did. She had arranged accomodation Chania, told us what bus to take and that her sister would pick us up. Every night it was home made liquers, dolmates, etc. She toured us to her home village in the mountains. Advised us where to rent a car. We took her for dinner to a place she knew. It was fabulous. Don't know what all we had but it kept on coming.

Two years ago on Naxos we stayed in a small hotel a block from the beach. Home made liquers, coffee, sweets, and pastry would appear every night . The family would join the guests. One day, while walking we got caught in a rain shower. While sheltering under an balcony overhang we asked a gentleman next door who was busy painting some trim, where the nearest cafe shop was. He dropped the paintbrush, opened his front door and yelled something. Then he insisted that we come up to his home. His wife brought out coffee, desserts, and family photo albums. She spoke some French, as did I , and that is how we conversed for an hour until the rain let up. They wanted to know about Canada, we about their life on Naxos.

Bottom line....you just don' get to have some these experiences when you are on a big cruise ship that stops in port with three or four others for six or eight hours. The cruises were fine and we enjoyed them. You get to see some sights but you do not get a chance to really experience many places.

iancal-

I am with you. Much as we enjoy small ship cruises, it is those "take your time" stays that make great memories. We have done it in the Cyclades and elsewhere and really enjoyed it. We were in Santorini for 4 days when the meltemi winds really picked up and neither cruise ships nor ferries could get in the caldera for a couple of days. The first day there a cruise ship had brought in hundreds of tourists. Then, we thought we had the island almost to ourselves. Windy, but spectacular.

Next month we are going to the Dodecanese for a couple of weeks. Stay in a couple of places and take ferries for day trips to the adjacent islands. Can't wait.

We did most of our Med cruises in the 2009-2011 time frame. The world economy was slow and our dollar had a higher value vis a vis USD. We had no trouble getting balcony cabins on Celebrity at our target $100. per diem target price. This made cruising very attractive.

Times have changed. Cruise prices have increased and our dollar is in the toilet. Now independent land trips along the Turkish Med coast, island hopping in Greece, or touring the Peloponnese are all significantly less expensive than cruising for us. Instead of two weeks on a ship we can do five or six weeks on our own for the same expenditure. Different travel, but very enjoyable. We still cruise, but to places that are difficult to reach by land or just to get away from it all.

Happy travels!

And check out Leros, Lipsi and Kalymnos for really laid back places to stay.

Happy travels!

And check out Leros, Lipsi and Kalymnos for really laid back places to stay.

You forgot Antipaxos :). And how about Zakythos with its alluring Smugglers Beach. I sometimes think that the best part of the Greek Islands is that most of the islands are not accessible by large cruise ship (or any cruise ship). I have tried to convince DW that we should spend a few months just trying to move between some of the more obscure islands.

Hank

You forgot Antipaxos :). And how about Zakythos with its alluring Smugglers Beach. I sometimes think that the best part of the Greek Islands is that most of the islands are not accessible by large cruise ship (or any cruise ship). I have tried to convince DW that we should spend a few months just trying to move between some of the more obscure islands.

 

Hank

Not really forgotten about them. Right now my mind is on the other side of Greece thinking about next month's trip to the Dodecanese. As you said in a previous post, there are over 200 inhabited Greek islands. :cool:

Oh love the kindred spirits. We have spent time on a number of the islands such as Zakinthos, Kefallonia, Paros, Santorini, Skiathos and 6 weeks on Crete. Love all of it and specially the people! We were practically adopted last time in Crete in a small village. The only problem we haven't found an island we’d don’t like and there are so many to visit! Wanting to get to Meteora and Chios among others. We agree that so any miss out only seeing the name brand Sights! Same in Italy with the now sadly overrun Cinque Terre.

After reading these posts I wanted to share that I did check the ports we will be in and wanted to let you all know what other ships are in port. Athens is a crowded port with a celebrity ship there and two Celestial ships. Santorini there are no other ships in port till 5 PM. Rhodes there are no other ships in port. Mykonos has no other ship till 6PM. Crete we are the only ship docked. This was part of my research I did prior to booking. Just wanted to share. We also spend about 10 to 12 hours at each port. This will be a good start for us to see some of Greece.