Best Cruise Line

[Cobrakev]

What does everyone recommend as a good cruise line to see the popular Greek island? Doesn't matter where to start from.

 

Thanks

[CruiserBruce]

There is no one "best" cruise line for everyone. Everyone's tastes and desires are different. 

 

More specifics as to exactly what you wish might help us narrow down your options.

[SummmerInKefalonia]

Norwegian has great itineraries which includes the best greek islands  (Santorini, Mykonos, Corfu, Kefalonia, Rhodes). You can do all of these islands in one itinerary. Costa does cruises in Greece for many years so I think it has the most experience in organisation. MSC has the most ships in the area offering variety to the itineraries. Those three companies I think stand out with their itineraries on the greek islands.

[Quasar1011]

Is it me, or does NCL only visit the Isles, and not Athens? I would like to do Venice-Dubrovnik-Athens-Santorini, but can't find a cruise that does all 4.

[SummmerInKefalonia]

 

4 hours ago, Quasar1011 said:

Is it me, or does NCL only visit the Isles, and not Athens? I would like to do Venice-Dubrovnik-Athens-Santorini, but can't find a cruise that does all 4.

Norwegian Star 11-Night Greek Isles from Venice 7 July 2019:

Venice, Italy (07 Jul d1700); Split, Croatia (08 Jul 0800-1700); Dubrovnik, Croatia (09 Jul 0800-1700); Corfu, Greece (10 Jul 0800-1600); Santorini, Greece (11 Jul 1400-2200); Piraeus (Athens), Greece (12 Jul 0700-1900); Rhodes, Greece (13 Jul 1000-1800); Mykonos, Greece (14 Jul 0700-1500); Argostoli (Kefallinia), Greece (15 Jul 0800-1400); Kotor, Montenegro (16 Jul 0800-1600); Venice, Italy (17 Jul a1300(+1)disembark)

 

Norwegian Star 10-Night Greek Isles from Venice 18 July 2019:

Venice, Italy (18 Jul embark(+1)d1600); Split, Croatia (20 Jul 0800-1700); Kotor, Montenegro (21 Jul 0700-1700); Corfu, Greece (22 Jul 0700-1600); Santorini, Greece (23 Jul 1400-2200); Piraeus (Athens), Greece (24 Jul 0700-1900); Mykonos, Greece (25 Jul 0700-1500); Argostoli (Kefallinia), Greece (26 Jul 0900-1500); Dubrovnik, Croatia (27 Jul 0700-1300); Venice, Italy (28 Jul a0800)

Edited November 11, 2018 by SummmerInKefalonia

[travelingman]

21 hours ago, Quasar1011 said:

Is it me, or does NCL only visit the Isles, and not Athens? I would like to do Venice-Dubrovnik-Athens-Santorini, but can't find a cruise that does all 4.

 

VIking does Venice, Koper (Slovenia), Zadar (Croatia), Dubrovnik, Kotor (Montenegro), Corfu (Greece), Katokolon (Greece), Santorini, and Athens.

[Quasar1011]

Okay, thank you, that helps. Looking to travel in May-June 2020, and will have to remember to look for Piraeus as the port for Athens.

[TravelingAPor]

I was thinking of cruising Greece, this summer and wanted to try the MSC cruises.  What do you think of my decision?  Thanks for your feedback.  I've done Italy & Croatia before and MSC seemed the best for me.

[marazul]

25 minutes ago, TravelingAPor said:

I was thinking of cruising Greece, this summer and wanted to try the MSC cruises.  What do you think of my decision?  Thanks for your feedback.  I've done Italy & Croatia before and MSC seemed the best for me.

 

MSC is notorious for short port stops.  For example, this summer we were in Katakolon from 8 am to 6 pm (10 hours).  We saw an MSC ship arrive around lunch time and it was long gone before we left. That really cuts into sightseeing time while saving MSC a lot of money in port fees.  I would compare MSC itineraries with similar ones in other lines and compare port times in each of those ports.  

[TravelingAPor]

Thanks marazul for the info.  I need to do some reading and comparing.  

[Despegue]

MSC and Costa are basic cruise lines that offer cheap but mediocre and crowded experiences.

Food in the MDR on Costa is good though, and more refined than any  Standard American

Cruiseline.

For a somewhat better experience, look at Holland America Line and Celebrity, which has Greek roots but is expensive and has a Class-based product.

 

 

[Hlitner]

I have given this post some thought and decided to wait a few months to see what was posted.  We have visited the usual Greek Islands on several cruise lines (Princess, HAL, RCI, Celebrity, etc) and all was OK.  But with all the lines you have large ships, large crowds, hassles with cable cars (on Santorini), etc.    For something different we would recommend taking a look at a small Greek cruise company called "Variety Cruises."  

 

Hank

[TravelingAPor]

Thank you, Hank for the suggestion.

[caviargal]

I cruised to the Greek Islands with RSSC back in the 90s on their luxury catamaran. It was hands down fabulous in every respect.

 

I would never (1) sail on a mass market line, (2) visit in high season when there are far too many ships and people in every port.

 

DH has never been to Greece and I very recently booked an April sailing (pre season) on Crystal.  We are the only ship in port most every day and the ship is the largest we will sail, with under 1000 pax at capacity.

 

While smaller would be even better, we have been wanting to try Crystal and decided to do this cruise when our Scenic Eclipse cruise cancelled for the 2nd time.