Greek Island Cruise

[ShinyAppleDreamingOfTheSea]

Has anyone ever been on one?

What company did you use, what ship, and would you recommend?

Also - can anyone advise the best time of year ? Possibly anyone who's been to Greece may be able to advise here . I'm thinking possibly May or October - would want to avoid any storms / rough weather at sea but don't like it too hot .

Looking to 2025. Thanks .

Bump

I am interested in this too. Looking at April 2025, August 2025 or April 2026 at latest.

I think MSC cruises have quite good itineraries, from what I have gathered so far!

@ShinyAppleDreamingOfTheSea October is quite late for Greece. It would be great in May.

If you Google “small ship cruising Greece” you get loads coming up. Far far nicer than a behemoth of a ship with limited port access. Smaller ships are so much better. There’s basic ish ones to luxury. Or get the ferries!

I always recommend starting with what ports interest you and then find a cruise line or lines that go there and research if they meet your needs as a family.

We don’t like a lot of sea days. We much prefer port intensive cruises so that’s a factor for us to. We like getting on and off the ship every day if possible.

I think October is a bit late for Greece. I’d go with May.

We’ve done one with royal Caribbean, we went in May half term. The weather was glorious and the sea was beautifully calm, but I think it can be a little hit and miss still at that time of year. We started in Ravenna and visited Corfu, kefalonia, Montenegro, Mykonos and Athens. It was a relatively big ship (I think capacity was around 3500) and we were travelling with children.

Which company you go with will largely depend on your budget, who you’re travelling with and which itinerary you fancy.

P&O from Valetta. Sea day on the way to Athens, on to Mykonos, Heraklion, Chania and another sea day back to Valetta. We are just back - was about 23 degrees and calm seas. Wish I was still there!

Was that a week duration please? Sounds like what we might do.

Lots of boats to choose from, have a read about different cruise companies and watch some ship tours ('Ben and David' are good, and 'Emma cruises') - boats vary hugely and some and more formal than others. Do you need childcare, want evening shows? Black tie? Love dining or want lots of activities? Want peace and quiet? We don't wildly like too much, we want some childcare, good food, decent cabins and laid back atmosphere, we like P&O sometimes, and celebrity/princess others. May would be lovely but a smaller boat could be a bit choppy, summer will be hot but boat is air conditioned. Port-wise have a look at what you want, places to wander or ancient ruins or activities....have a look at cruise company excursions if that's your interest but then book separately (trip advisor has lots) as much cheaper, think about how much drinks packages and gratuities are on top of price, and finally flights there/back, we fly in at least day before, gives an extra bit to the holiday and means you can board before lunch and make most of 1st day on board - we love sea days for a quiet chill. Enjoy!!

We did a cruise a few years ago with NCL that stopped at Athens and Santorini, as well as a couple of stops in Croatia. This was during October half term, and the weather was beautiful - quite hot, but not baking. I don't know how typical that is of the weather at that time though, or if we were just lucky

I’ve been with Celebrity and Marella and on about her Greek cruise this August with NCL.

I think May or October would be good as would June and September.

It was this itinerary - they do variations. One includes Santorini, which is meant to be lovely. P&O have a few 7 and 14 night trips. They’re a good cruise line. https://www.pocruises.com/find-a-cruise/A420B/A420B