WHAT TO DO at Ports of Call: Greek Isles & Croati + Messina Sicily extension
 

Hi! We welcome Tips on: What to do/where to go at each port for our August Cruise to Greece.

Passengers will be me & my husband (40's), 2 sons (13,14), and my Mother (77, and has to walk slow)

We are preliminarily thinking: Athens: a guided tour on history, etc.//// Santorini/Mykonos- see the beach/swim & sightsee, shop & dine / Croatia- Not sure.

7 Night Greek Isles Cruise on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas Ship. Itinerary:

Tips welcome on tours, beaches, sightseeing, shops. THANK YOU!!!!

(Plus, after our we are flying down to Silicly (a town in between Taormina & Messina for 3 days to visit family and see some sights if you have recommendations :) Day Port & Time

1 8/10- Ravenna, Italy / Departs 5pm.

2 8/11- Cruising Day at Sea

3 8/12- Santorini, Greece / 2pm-11pm (9hrs at port)

4 8/13- Mykonos, Greece / 8am-6pm. (10 hrs at port)

5 8/14- Athens (Piraeus) Greece / 7am-7pm (12 hrs at port)

6 8/15- Cruising Day at Sea

7 8/16- Split, Croatia / 9am-5pm (8 hrs at port)

8 8/17- Ravenna, Italy / Arrives 6am.
Link to our Cruise: (you can view detailed information about the port cities)

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruis...4-09-30#step=1

Go to cruisecritic.com. There answers there to all your question under Ports of Call. Joining is free. It is my go to website for anything related to cruises.

Aahhhhh, okay awesome, will check out the website for answers.

You may also book the shore excursions offered by Royal Caribbean

Santorini is not known for its beaches. Find beaches on other islands.

AH, OKAY. I'm at my "know very little about greece" stage. Looking forward to checking out cruisecritic for more tips too! Thanks!

You only will see two Greek islands and Mykonos has better beaches than Santorini. But don’t judg Greek islands by these two as there are many nicer Greek islands that hopefully you can visit on another trip, not a cruise.

Thansk! i posted a thread on Cruise Critic looking for tips/tours/places to see at each port :)

https://www.timetravelturtle.com/cro...lent%20museums.
Good information about visiting split.

Visiting Santorini from a cruise ship means 1.-being tendered to and from the ship to the tender dock (Skala), followed by either walking up a flight of 600+ steps (PLEASE DON'T BE TEMPTED TO RIDE THE POOR ABUSED DONKEYS!), 2.-taking the cable car up the cliff into the main village of Fira, or 3.-signing up for one of the ship's planned shore excursions which allows you priority timing to get off the ship to be tendered to a different dock (Athinios) where there will be buses waiting to take you on your tour. If you choose a DIY experience you will have to wait for the ship's tour passengers to debark before your turn comes. Also, there is no road down to Skala so your choices are as mentioned above. In August, depending on the day you arrive, there can be as many as 6-8 other ships unloading passengers, which can mean a 2-3 hour wait in the scorchingly hot sun for your turn in the 36-passenger cable car. If you opt for a ship's excursion you avoid all that hassle and wasted time, but don't have control of what to explore. And it will still be up to you to return to the ship via Fira's cable car or steps, as the excursions do not include a return by tender from Athinios. Regardless of your choice, adjust your expectations of the time you have ashore by at least 2-3 hours, to compensate for the time required to leave from and return to your ship.