My husband and I are going on RC cruise this June to Greece. Do you advise touring the islands ourselves by hiring a local taxi or should we pay the high priced shore excurisons offered by the cruise ship? Our ports of call are: Athens, Corfu, Katakolon, Mykonos and Split, Croatia. We have always hired a taxi on our Carribean cruises and have had no problems and the best of tours.
Appreciate any advice.
Thanks,
Teresa

In most of these places, you'll do better on your own. Athens has great public transit. In Split, Diocletian's Palace is right by the waterfront, but if you want to got to Plitivice Lakes, I'd suggest a ship-sponsored shore excursion because of the distance (but you can drive ... there's a good highway now). I'm not sure about Katakolon or Corfu. But in Mykonos, you can get anywhere easily by scooter or rental car, or you can just stay in town and shop, stroll, and eat.

There is not much in Katakolon- a friendly small port town with shops (amazingly many are jewelry), cafe on the water & a tiny cigarette ashtray of a beach (though the sea is very nice to swim in) next to where the ship docks. You can walk right off to these things.There are a few taxis and a very small car rental. You may opt to do an excursion to Olympia on this one. In Corfu, however, there are lots of taxis waiting to bring you into town which is very close. Lots of self-guided sightseeing to do there so no need to spend big bucks on cruise tours. Have fun!

In Mykonos, walk around find Alexandras Restaurant have a bottle of wine and appetizers. Don't forget to look for the pink pelican. In Katakalon, there is only one street and dock side. Walk up the street, turn right at the end, find a dock side table and enjoy the local fare. Nice afternoon watching the fishermen roll up their trot lines. Word of advice - lots of passengers on RC ships, get off early to beat the crowds.

Teresa - Consider how much time you have in port. When we stopped in Athens, we had prearranged a taxi and driver for a full day to take my husband and I to the various sites. We even went to the Cape. By doing this, we felt like we saw so much more than others who relied on the public transportation for Athens. Not to mention the stress of figuring out what you're doing. Driver spoke great English and was great. When we told him we needed an extra bag, he stopped at a shop on the way to the port and we paid a lot less than at the shops right at the port. If you want the e-mail contact info, let me know.

HappyB is right on about Mykonos. You can walk to the windmills. We enjoyed dinner - and we saw the pelican!

go read what I posted on your question in europe forum