Odyssey - Greek Islands Oct 22

[Westiesheepie]

We are really excited to go on our first Seabourn cruise of the Greek Isles. Has anyone done this itinerary? What are your must excursions? We usually like to do our own thing and not go with the ship's excursions.

[Dartmoordan]

We cruised the Greek Islands this summer although sadly not with Seabourn all the islands we visited were easy to do independently the only excursion we did was Santorini and I really wish we had done that one on our own as it is so easy to go up in the cable car and we could have missed out the dreadful winery visit our cruise line arranged. Hope this is helpful

[Isklaar]

We are really excited to go on our first Seabourn cruise of the Greek Isles. Has anyone done this itinerary? What are your must excursions? We usually like to do our own thing and not go with the ship's excursions.

 

Seabourn had to make considerable changes to itineraries in the eastern Med this summer.

 

You may have more replies if you list your ports to help other posters to know your specific itinerary. Of course we could go to the SB website and look it up but that takes more time and effort, and for me at least the website has been up and down since Thursday as SB are tweaking it.

 

Agree iwth other poster, most Greek Islands are easy to do on your own.

 

List your ports for specific advice :)

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[Chairsin]

If you will list your ports of call i will be happy to give you some DIY suggestions as we have done over a dozen Med cruises on Seabourn and never taken a ship's excursion..

 

 

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[Westiesheepie]

Thanks for the replies. The ports on my cruise are:

 

Patmos

Megisti

Pathos, Cyprus

Rhodes

Santorini

Spetsai

[Chairsin]

Patmos -- visit the St John's Monastery spectacular setting high on a hill. We hiked there and back but you can take a taxi. Nice little cafe up there where you can have a light lunch or a cold drink.

 

Rhodes-- the old city is a five minute walk off the ship. No taxi needed.

 

Santorini -- they use local tenders here that drop you below Fira. You can buy a ticket to take the cable car up to the town or take a donkey ( or you can take the 20 minute hike up the path the donkeys use -- this is what we have always done). Once at Firs you can either take a bus or taxi to the north part of the island to Oia. Or as we have been there four times this last time we hired a private guide for a fascinating tour of some of the best wineries on the island.

 

Spetasi is a pretty place to just wander around.

 

 

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[Isklaar]

The town you're visiting in Cyprus is called Paphos/Pafos.

 

I know it well but have never been there on a cruise. Have never seen a cruise ship there, last visited around 4 years ago so maybe a terminal has been built.

Because I've never seen a cruise ship there, I'm not sure which area of the town you'll be closest to so I'll assume it will be around the harbour.

It's a touristy town and not too much of interest on initial impression.

 

If you're interested in seeing some ancient mosaics, there's a UNESCO World Heritage Site just by the harbour. There is also an ancient ampitheatre at the site.

http://www.visitpafos.org.cy/paphos_mosaics.aspx

 

 

How long are you in port? IMO the interior of Cyprus is more interesting than most of the coast which is overdeveloped but you may not have time to plan a trip out of town.

 

Agree with Chairsin about Spetsai - very pretty and nice to walk.

[mancunian]

We returned yesterday from exactly the same itinerary. All the ports except Rhodes were tender ports. Know some people do not like these but to us it usually indicates a more non spoilt island. The gem on this cruise to us was Megisti. No excursions there, a tiny place but we thought beautiful. Patmos we did the St John's Monastery excursion. Because I am disabled on Rhodes we did the panoramic drive round the island. Paphos was also a great day. A lovely drive up into the hills to a monastery with wine tasting, and on the way back drinks and Greek 'donuts' in a little village with a textile museum and workshop. If you have not been before to Santorini do not think you need an excursion - just go up on the cable car and wander around. We left there much later in the evening and dinner on the Colonade restaurant balcony at the back of the ship looking at the lights of Santorini was amazing. Spetses was probably our least liked island, but mainly because I could not get very far over cobbles with my rollator.

[Capri73]

We returned yesterday from exactly the same itinerary. All the ports except Rhodes were tender ports. Know some people do not like these but to us it usually indicates a more non spoilt island. The gem on this cruise to us was Megisti. No excursions there, a tiny place but we thought beautiful. Patmos we did the St John's Monastery excursion. Because I am disabled on Rhodes we did the panoramic drive round the island. Paphos was also a great day. A lovely drive up into the hills to a monastery with wine tasting, and on the way back drinks and Greek 'donuts' in a little village with a textile museum and workshop. If you have not been before to Santorini do not think you need an excursion - just go up on the cable car and wander around. We left there much later in the evening and dinner on the Colonade restaurant balcony at the back of the ship looking at the lights of Santorini was amazing. Spetses was probably our least liked island, but mainly because I could not get very far over cobbles with my rollator.

We are doing this trip next year on the Odyssey.Did you stay in a hotel prior to the cruise?If so which one?Did you get a taxi to the pier ?

Thank you

[Harleycat1]

My husband and I will be on that cruise as well. We have done many

of the Greek isles, but other than Santorini, this itinerary is new to us as

well. For the most part, we have found that doing our own thing is

preferable to the excursions. Thanks to the other posters for sharing

their experiences of these ports

[Capri73]

Any Hotel recommendations.

[Chairsin]

In Athens we very much like the Athens Gate Hotel. Wonderful location right by the Acropolis Museum and ashore walk to to the Acropolis itself. The bonus is the terrific rooftop bar/restaurant where you can have a nice breakfast or drink with impressive views. Recommended it to Seabourn friends who enjoyed their August stay.

 

 

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[Capri73]

Thanks so much.Did you get a private car to the pier or will a cab do?

Now if I could find an easy way to fly from Az we would be all set.

[Chairsin]

We used George's Famous Taxis both airport to hotel and hotel to port.

 

 

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[Westiesheepie]

Thank you everyone for your great responses! Really looking forward to enjoying the ship and I'm sure the ports will all be great! Very excited to visit Santorini! What time does Seabourn start boarding the ship?

[Chairsin]

You can usually board in the 12 to 12:30 timeframe and enjoy a nice lunch in the Colonnade until your suite is ready at 2PM.

 

 

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[jenidallas]

Thanks for the George's recommendation... booking now for the end of the month?

[mancunian]

Capri 123

 

Our offer in the UK for this cruise included one night (should have been Istanbul) but switched to Athens and was at the Grande Bretagne. Amazingly we also had a private car transfer from the airport. The next morning 62 of us were transferring from there to the dock and they had ordered 30 private cars/people carriers. Superb organisation.