Need some help! Variety Cruises Greek Islands

[kwren]

We've decided to try a small ship for our next cruise, hopefully in September, and Variety Cruises has two itineraries which interest us. We know we want to go to Santorini and Delos, but are not familiar with either of the two ships or other islands/stops. I'll list both and would love feedback - either positive or negative - for either.

 

We love nature, wineries, beautiful views, sunsets, and touring ancient sites, but I don't think that will narrow it down too much!

 

Panorama II - Ios (for a swim), Santorini, Patmos, Kudasei/Ephasis, Samos, Delos, Mykonos, Tinos, Kea, Sounion

 

or

 

Harmony V - Kea (after dinner - explore the port), Delos, Mykonos, Santorini, Rethimnon/Crete, Kythira, Monemvassia, Nafplion (for the evening), Hydra

 

We've never been to the Greek islands so there would be something to be said for going to the places which are the most touristy - they are touristy for a reason - but are also intrigued by going to Turkey or lesser known islands. Again - doesn't help much! Any comments would be most appreciated! If there is another cruise which might be worth looking into, we'd be interested in hearing about that too, but prefer sticking to the islands instead of starting in Rome or Venice (for example) so we can spend as much time as possible there. Thanks!

[malvinaki]

Hi Kwren! I see that the line you mention, Variety Cruises, also offers a Greek Islands and Turkey summer cruise which departs from Athens and ends in Istanbul or reverse. It;s called Aegean Mosaic cruise. The much-loved Greek Isles which you don't want to miss either such as Mykonos, Delos, Santorini are among the ports of call visited, but also some lesser-known islands such as Patmos and Samos. Also, Ephesus and a couple more historical sites in Turkey and then Istanbul. I think this is the itinerary which fits most what you describe as the ideal for you, especially if you want to combine cosmopolitan ports with hidden-gems of greece and also spend a few days in the Turkish coast :)

[malvinaki]

PS: The other two cruise itineraries which you mention also look great -but i would go for the first one if it was my first time in the greek islands.

[Hlitner]

We have previously posted on this topic. Several years ago DW and took a yacht cruise on Zeus Cruises, which has since been bought-out and folded into the Variety outfit. Although we cannot personally vouch for Variety (since we never actually cruised with this company) we did once walk by the Harmony V and she is a gorgeous yacht.

 

Small ship cruising is quite different. In our case we were on an old 150 foot schooner (the Sea Crown) which had 20 passengers and a crew of 7. 10 of the Passengers were German and the other 8 were from Holland. So we were the only native English speakers, although the Dutch did speak English (for our sake) and about half the Germans were pretty fluent in English. Most of the crew only spoke Greek with the exception of the Captain (educated in London) and one other person.

 

We cruised in the Ionian Islands and it was absolutely fantastic. We would often pull up to a desserted beach during the morning hours and just dive off the bow and swim-in to the sand. Afternoons usually found us at another populated island such as Paxos.

 

The two itineraries you posted both look fine and we would happily book either one.

 

Hank