Best Cruise for Greek Islands
 

We're looking for recommendations for a cruise through the Greek Isles for this coming May (we're not advance planners and know that this might limit our options). We are also cruise novices (we went on a Caribbean cruise with Royal Caribbean about ten years ago and really didn't like it, but thought that we should give cruising one more shot).

I had heard very good things about Oceania Cruises but their cruises seem to focus just as much on Turkey and Israel (possibly Egypt) as the Greek Isles. We are looking for one with an emphasis on Greece.

We'd like a ship with good food and rooms/suites with a balcony.

I just checked 9 different cruise lines today as I too am interested in the Greek Islands. I know you can book through Louis Cruise lines and take what you get.

I guess I will break my piggy bank and go for the Oceania as I want to see Delos and Corfu which are 2 of the stops.

Check out Louis Cruise Lines and see what you think. You can also just ferry from island to island and do it that way...but if the water is rough you will not sail on any given day...so there you are!!!

Oceania is quite high though the service and food are above what you get on mass market lines. As I recall RCI had some nice itineraries for the Greek islands but as May is quite close I suggest calling a TA pronto, esp. as you are cruise newbies. Louis cruise lines is a budget line so if you want to see the Greek isles and aren't particular about the ship then this is the way to go. However if you had issues with RCI then I doubt you would like Louis. In any case call a TA today if you can. Cheers, Larry :-)

It is sooooo easy to do the islands on your own. Ferries run often and when you get to an island, there are folks holding up hotel signs. Just pick one and you have a hotel for how ever long you want. You get as long as you want on the island, great food, wonderful people, an excellent bus system or you can rent a motor bike. So, so easy to do the Greek islands on your own!!!

The best will be NCL cruise out of Venice on May 14 going to Greece only (Santorini, Crete, Mykonos, Katakolon). Why? Because we'll be on this cruise :D

I hope it's not too late to find a balcony cabin, Trekker!

Southeastern - I am beginning to lean towards that option. We are usually very independent travelers, but I initially thought that a cruise through the Greek Islands would be easier. Now that I've called several cruise lines (Oceania, Seabourn, Sea Clippers) it seems like we can have a better experience for at least, if not less, than the cost of a cruise. So I guess I'll start directing my questions to the Europe forum board!

Usually find best deals and prices on Costa out of Venice

a wonderful place to go out of...

Almost booked one on Priceline.com this April at a GREAT

price ($299) 5 days but could not get my dates to fit.

Have had some great cruises on Princess a few years ago.

If you want lots of islands www.greecetravel.com into

Athens and hyrofoils around might work lots better for you

and cheaper. www.ferries.gr

www.cruisecritic.com many reviews on all ships.

Oceania is good for upscales also have done

www.traveldyanamics.com for smaller upscale cultural

historic cruises more my style if budget is very good.

Happy Hunting,

http://www.traveldynamicsinternation...=&voyageid=299

superintimate upscale uncrowded cruises

was a wonderful experience for me

my suite was 5K though not too cheap

The inter-island ferries are large and comfortable. It was easy seeing the Greek islands this way with several days on each island.

If you are still considering a cruise, you might look at Princess. They do one that focuses a good bit on Greece. We took it last fall and really liked it. We were looking to see a lot of interesting places and archeological sites, as well as several Greek islands and Athens; it was really good for that. It had long days in each port, so we had plenty of time to explore.

This was our basic itinerary: It began and ended in Italy, with one stop in Croatia, one stop in Turkey and six stops in Greece.
Venice
Dubrovnik
Corfu
Olympia (Katakolon)
Athens
Mykonos
Ephesus (Kusadasi)
Rhodes
Santorini
Naples
Rome

We were on Star Princess. We prefer Crown and Caribbean, but Star was fine - just a little older.

We used vacationstogo.com to book at the very last minute (just a couple of weeks before) and got a good price.

Wow!!! Great info!! We are wanting to do a Greek Island Cruise as well and it seems for Sept. the only 2 that work are Oceania and Celebrity.
I love the idea of travelling to the islands by ferry as well! We will have our motorcycle with us, just a maybe dumb question, but these ferries carry vehicles also or just people?? Thanks for answering this for me!!
If the ferry thing works then we will take the Istanbul=Istanbul cruise.........has anyone ever taken this one?? The itinerary looks great. any comments would sure help us!!