My friend is planning to go to Greece for her birthday this July. She originally was going on a cruise since it also had a port in Athens. Her travel mate was looking on using ABC tour verus cruise. Does anyone have any views on cruises versus a land tour. I personally think a cruise is a little less hectic since you only unpack once. They are each going to be 60. Thank you so much.

Depends on whether you like to spend most of your time on land, or at sea! By definition, a cruise won't get you to many of the best sites on the mainland. When stopping at a port, you'll maybe get six hours there, part of it taken up waiting for tenders to get you ashore and back aboard ship. That gives you only enough time for a snapshot view of the island.

Actually it's easy to plan your own itinerary in Greece, so you don't need a tour either! If you want a guide, you can take day trips at locations you visit, then have the rest of the time to yourself.

On a cruise, she won't be able to experience Greece, but will be rushed on and off the islands. They shoudl do it themselves as suggested above. Easy to work a GReek travel agent to make it all very easy.

My husband and I are both very early 60's and we've just booked a cruise for October, so I'll give you a counter-opinion.
We typically do NOT favor group anything, loving the planning and execution of an independent trip. Our only cruising had been CruiseWest - in Alaska - 110 passengers on the ships and we had enjoyed those. Then, this past fall, we got intrigued by the heavy discounts available right now and did a Rhine/Mosel trip (130 passengers) and were absolutely bowled over by the (1) unpack once - amazing. I never appreciated how nice that could be. (2) the sights when we were crusing - granted, seeing the small towns, castles and the people on the side of the river will be different from being in the Aegean so maybe I'll be disappointed in October. (3) economics: the industry has been hit so hard by the economy, that I really think it would be difficult for me to put together a similar trip, given the level of comfort and food that we got. (4) the great mix of people - mainly american, but you gotta love those Aussies! you learned to avoid the boors and had lots of time to enjoy each other, but made some good temporary friends, too. (5) Okay, even if you're relatively fit, and love to travel so are energized, once you hit the 60's your energy is just not as high as it was. It's wonderful to be able to relax and leave the driving to someone else!
We've just booked a trip for October that starts in Venice and 12 days later gets to Athens - we'll see Dubrovnik (on my list), Montenegro, Turkey (Ephesus is on my must list) and numerous islands in Greece. Yes, frequently we'll be more scheduled than we'd like, BUT the line we've chosen shows the typical stop to be from 8am til 5pm or 6pm, so we'll certainly be able to slow down and have at least a lovely lunch most days (we'll frequently do our own thing during the day rather than buy their tours - I'm already checking out ideas). I'm hoping we'll be off-season enough that the crowds won't be overwhelming (I know exactly what you all mean - I've been spots where the cruise people were in a panic to shop and get back to the ships on deadline - ick!) The ship has 684 passengers - larger than we've encountered, but still not a huge "ant farm" of a place, and I think we'll enjoy the variety of people. Also, while a cruise in for instance the Caribbean seems unattractive to us, the chance to hopefully see so much history and gorgeous views made us feel that this could indeed be a spot where a cruise ship works better for us than renting cars and catching ferries. I PROMISE to report back in October and give a final vote on how this worked out - but I do think your friends, at 60, may want to really consider both choices pretty heavily. (Oh - and one of my sisters did a cruise about 5 years ago - Greece & Turkey - and loved it. Crossing my fingers that we do, too!) Bottom line: it's a win/win decision, imho!

Just watch out for the Santorini stop... some lines are there only from 4pm - 8 pm these large ships can't go to dock, you must be tendered off .. not enough tenders, long waiting line, THEN you have to go up to top of island (where the villages are) on a small cable car, another long line ... it may take you an hour just from boat to village level ... and the people who sign up for the ships (overpriced) excursions are placed first in line (unless you speak up). Hope your cruise is not one of those 4-hour ones. Good luck and have fun!

Jo_ann, I respect your point of view. But I am older than you, and still prefer to do it on my own!

"Okay, even if you're relatively fit, and love to travel so are energized, once you hit the 60's your energy is just not as high as it was."

--- couldn't disagree more, unless one is a complete couch potato... since I hit 65, in Greece i have climbed (small) mountains, walked down Imbros Gorge, done 4-hour cliff walk from Loutro to Hora Sfakion... and since 70, countless hikes & walks of up to 5 miles each on 20 islands, all-night ferry rides, and trips that involve 3 bus rides & a ferry in one day, and moving hotels every other day. I hope I never get to the place where "unpack once" is a motivation to do a particular trip. I understand the ease, just don't feel the need for it.

"relax and leave the driving to someone else" --- i think there is a big clue here. Most Americans today have spent most of their adult life behind the wheel, not on their feet. Paradoxically, by living in big cities (NYC, Philly) for most of the past 50 years, I have been a major walker... whereas I have suburban friends who get in the car to go to the end of their driveway to check the mailbox. Therefore, I've stayed very active, simply by walking to & from work and to other places. I'm lucky so many places are walkable; 1 mile to my main library; 2 miles to the courses I audit at U. of Penn.

I just last night caught a glimpse on publlic TV of a "Rudi Maxa" Rhine boat tour... where boats glide from town to town & people get off to sightsee. It certainly looks easy and most of those on the tour appear to be retirees, not too active-looking. I respect their choice, and yours Jo-Ann, and it's nice that these relatively sedentary tours are available. However, like Heimdall, as long as I stay fit, I enjoy adventuring on my own. Now, gotta quit; meeting a friend at the gym.