Cruise Line Suggestion for Greek Isles -- please help!

[cmvan25]

Planning a cruise to Greek Isles in fall of 2005. Please advise as to which line you would recommend. Previous experiences on Princess and Royal Caribbean have been positive, but ships were so large (2600+) - really felt a smaller ship would be better with this itinerary. Thinking of Windstar or Oceania but are open to your suggestions. Please reply quickly as I need to get my plans secured. Thanks!

[theman1]

Maybe try Costa Cruises. I know they have Greek Islands during summer. Not sure about fall.

[Breezey]

Honestly, I would focus on the itinerary you want and not necessarily the line. We chose the Grand Princess because it was more Greece than the others. Plus we personally prefer the large ships. Never felt that there were all those 2600 people on board whenever we have been on a large ship.

 

You mentioned you want to cruise the fall of 2005. That is very soon. We booked our September 2005 cruise last September (2004).

 

Good luck

[samogirl]

I too, am researching a fall 2005 Greek Isles cruise.

What I found was that many of the mainstream cuislines are too large, and

are unable to stop at many of the smaller islands such as Naxos, etc.

 

I found a Greece based cruiseline -- Royal Olympian Cruises. Their ships have about 240 staterooms, and the itineary looks VERY interesting. However,

I have been unable to dig up any reviews or past customer commentaries.

 

Has anyone here heard anything about Royal Olympian or LOUIS cruises?

These are both European based companies.

 

Thanks,

Linda

[shmabbies]

There are a number of threads on Cruise Critic "other cruise lines" section about Royal Olympic and Louis, have you seen those? I haven't read them but I just noticed that they were there.

[cruiseerf]

Just back from a Turkey Greece trip and have some suggestions. We did much research on this topic prior to choosing. My suggestion to you is to define your objective.....Do you want the ship to be your "destination" or the ports to be your destination.....Cruise companies get rich as they make their ships more and more condusive to staying on board. Also what is your budget? Remember you must look at how much you are paying per person per day when you cruise. However, you will sacrifice with the big ships as many greek ports require those ships to tender and you can lose valuable time. My cousins were in Santorini on a mega ship and they had to park way out in the caldera.....They ended up with only 3 hours in Santorini and long tender lines in the hot sun.

 

The Greek local cruises are cheap small and make many stops. Food and service lacks but they should be viewed as "ferries" and not cruising as you know it. Cabins are very small and the ships are older and fit many people. However you can see many places in a limited amount of time sans luxury. (@$125 per person per day PPPD)

 

Windstar cruises which we just got off of was very nice. Only 158 guests and we were off the ship in two minutes at every port(6 stops in 7 days). Ship however was small with no elevators and only 4 passenger decks. Food was delicious and service was amazing. The ship opened their sails and the sunsets over the Greek Islands as we sailed along were spectacular. This cruise was also discounted so it did not break the bank. (@$300 PPPD)

 

Oceania I have not heard many great things about.....food service etc....Though if is a great itinerary I would go for it!

 

Silversea is also a great cruiseline but very pricey. This would be my choice if my budget allowed.....unfortunately they do not offer big discounts for these periods. These small yacht like ships go to some very obscure ports from Libya to Lipari, from Rhodes to Paros this is the way to go in small ship comfort and in style. Truly the best. (@$450-1000 PPPD)

 

I would save the big ships for the Caribbean and the Panama Canal and look for small and port intensive for the Greek Islands. If you have any questions feel free to email me.

 

Ciao and Enjoy they are beautiful.

[LHT28]

I would choose Oceania or Windstar depending on how many passengers you feel comfortable with.

Oceania is 680 ish

Windstar is 150 or 400

go for the best ports of call that interest you.

[TorontoTL]

I too, am researching a fall 2005 Greek Isles cruise.

What I found was that many of the mainstream cuislines are too large, and

are unable to stop at many of the smaller islands such as Naxos, etc.

 

I found a Greece based cruiseline -- Royal Olympian Cruises. Their ships have about 240 staterooms, and the itineary looks VERY interesting. However,

I have been unable to dig up any reviews or past customer commentaries.

 

Has anyone here heard anything about Royal Olympian or LOUIS cruises?

These are both European based companies.

 

Thanks,

Linda

 

I just got back from a Glorious Greece vacation package, this should be familiar to most Canadians. This included a four night cruise on the Calypso which is a Louis Hellenic cruise ship. As far as a cruise goes, it's very very basic and if you choose to go on a cruise like this, it better be more about the itinerary than the ship. The ships themselves are very old and it shows. You cannot expect the quality and comforts of the mass market cruiselines. As long as you keep that in mind, you will be okay. Just don't expect the quality of food or service that you get used to in most of your cruises. That being said, the ports are amazing of course. Greece is wonderful and I would recommend going to anyone who hasn't yet.

[Queenk2]

We are going on the Galaxy with Celebrity..it is not a huge ship, about 1800. We are going July 25th. I know that it will be hot, however as a teacher my time frame is limited. I would have chosen to go in Sept.Small ships might be too confining!

[bbqbears]

We will be taking our second Oceania cruise this fall from Athens to Rome (we did a 14 day Barcelona to Dover 2 yrs ago). We have also sailed on Radisson, Princess, Norwegian, and Carnival (many years ago when kids were young), and when price is considered, Oceania is our favorite. The accomodations, food and service are superb. Their itineraries can't be beat. We highly recommend Oceania.

Kathy

[cmvan25]

After much thought and research, we went with Oceania for April. Thought the Rome to Athens itenerary was good, especially we've not been to Europe before. 2 for 1 plus free air right now on Oceania - can't beat that! Now to decide on pre/post cruise and excursions. Thank you to all who gave input on helping me decide.

[cmvan25]

bbqbears -- I see by your countdown clock that we seem to have similar tastes in cruising! I'll be on the Monarch in a couple weeks and then on the Insignia Rome to Athens in the spring.

 

Since you've cruised on Oceania previously, please confirm we made a good cabin selection... 7116, an Aft cabin. TA convinced me the views from the rear of the ship would be great...

 

I'll be anxious to hear all about your excursions and tips.

 

-Cindy

[bbqbears]

cmvan- We have only stayed in room 7006, so have no experience with an aft cabin. My understanding is that it's a trade-off, i.e. large veranda, magnificent view, but more ship movement (in my mind, only a problem if you are prone to seasickness, or are going to be in rough waters), and more noise from ship's engines, anchors,etc. If you have not already done so, go over to the Oceania board and post the same question. You will likely get responses from people who have actually stayed in that cabin. Regardless of what cabin you choose, Oceania is a fabulous experience. If you like, you can email me directly at kathy@ebold.com. By the way, we also did the New England cruise on Princess (last fall). Great minds!

Kathy

[LHT28]

bbqbears --

Since you've cruised on Oceania previously, please confirm we made a good cabin selection... 7116, an Aft cabin. TA convinced me the views from the rear of the ship would be great...

 

-Cindy

 

We stayed in 7115 on the starboard side aft and did not notice any noise from the engines etc... we were in a gale in the Irish sea and only noticed a slight motion...slept like a baby! ;)

 

I am sure you will enjoy the cruise.

[realproperty]

We did Windstar--Istanbul to Athens and it was the most magical cruise we have ever done. First, it is a sailing ship (although it is often under motor) so there is a whole different sense of the cruising experience. It is not just a scaled down version of another big ship. When the sales are up, you think you have died and gone to heaven. They had an open bridge when we sailed. Just walk up to the bridge and chat with the captain. Second, it is casual all the time and intimate, only 148 passengers so you really get an opportunity to meet people. You really feel like you are experiencing and sharing something unique. The service is very special, classy in an understated way. Great food and service. Almost like eating in a great restaurant every day. It is the perfect ship for that location. Having a barbecue on the deck at night in the Santorini harbour is very cool. Pulling out of a port to classical music on the loudspeaker. Very impressive. It has a wow factor all its own. As my travel agent said, when she was on a bigger ship and saw the Windstar pull out of a port, everyone was jealous, even though her cruise was very nice.

 

Two things that may influence you: it is really a couples only cruise, no kids. It is for adults--Yuppies and post yuppies. It is also for fairly active people, no elevators. So the people who went on our cruise kind of self-select. If you need an explanation, you can respond.

 

Last word: give yourself at least 2 full days in Istanbul--it too is a very interesting and special city, get yourself a private guide and read up a little on its history. It is a history totally ignored in North America but was for a thousand years, the centre of the world.