Smaller ship recommendations for Greek Islands
 

Would like Fodorite recommendations for smaller ships for a 10-12 day trip including Athens, Crete, Rhodes, Santorini, Mykonos and potentially up the Adriatic sea. Oceania has a nice one Venice-Athens, but that ship is 1200 passengers and seems offered only in the hottest of summer -- no thanks to that. Prefer late spring or early fall of 2017. Not interested in those itineraries back through Rome, Riviera, Barcelona, we've been there. We are rather newbies, having only cruised once in the Baltic. Not sure how many times our friends have cruised before.

Take a look at Variety Cruises and Ponant Cruises.

When you say smaller ships, how small? Are you talking about 600, 300 or 100 passengers? Do you want a mass market cruise line or a small local company? And are you comfortable with limited English on board?

Oceania (our favorite line) has a cruise leaving Oct 22 on the Nautica (~680 passengers) with 5 stops in Greece.

Size: Guess fewer than 1,000; or small enough not to require another boat to get to ports

Itinerary: Abram, planning for next year not this year, and do not want Rome and Malta and Sorrento where we've been; looking for Adriatic/Greece only. Loved the itinerary of 7/24/17 on Riviera but looking for cooler month.

Language: Want more than limited English on board

Keep these good ideas flowing if you can!





Thank you, will look at Variety & Ponant

Windstar may be what you're looking for. They have ships with about 300 passengers. Cruises between Athens and Venice are offered in September and October.

http://www.coolmediterraneancruises....arcruises.html

They are owned by an American company and English will be a primary language on board.

http://www.windstarcruises.com/desti...s/greek-isles/

Three weeks from tomorrow, we are embarking on Variety Cruises' Aegean Odyssey on Callisto, a *very* small ship (32 pax) for a seven-night cruise. We're scheduled to visit Santorini, Mykanos, Patmos, Kusadasi (Turkey), Tinos and Cape Sounion. I thought the prices were reasonable for a small, luxury trip. The ability to reach ports without tendering was one of my requirements. I've heard the clientele is mainly European, but English is the primary language. I will submit a detailed trip report upon our return home in October!

Tekweoter, Very interested in hearing about your cruise with Variety. I know they lease their ships to othwr tour companies too. We have been on several cruises with around 70 passengers and one with 265 but not with Variety yet. Can't imagine being on ship with a 1000 passengers.

You might consider Voyages of Discovery cruises. The ships hold 500 or less and they focus on providing included guided tours and guest speakers to provide a more comprehensive cultural understanding of the ports.

http://www.voyagesofdiscovery.com/