When to stay on the ship

[TexasUSAcruiswr]

Hello!

I’m traveling with my mother and our Greek Island itinerary on Celebrity Beyond is jam packed. What port(s) would you suggest to skip and/or not do a shore excursion. I want to make sure she has an incredible time, but isn’t too exhausted at the end of the cruise. Any and all suggestions are welcome! Thanks in advance. 
 

Ports of Call

Athens (not missing this one)

Rhodes

Santorini 

Mykonos 

Nauplion

Argostoli 

Naples (not missing this one)

[jas283a]

1 hour ago, TexasUSAcruiswr said:

Hello!

I’m traveling with my mother and our Greek Island itinerary on Celebrity Beyond is jam packed. What port(s) would you suggest to skip and/or not do a shore excursion. I want to make sure she has an incredible time, but isn’t too exhausted at the end of the cruise. Any and all suggestions are welcome! Thanks in advance. 
 

Ports of Call

Athens (not missing this one)

Rhodes

Santorini 

Mykonos 

Nauplion

Argostoli 

Naples (not missing this one)

Tough to say, though I understand why. I don’t know Nauplion or Argostoli, but of the first 3, I would say Mykonos would be a good low key one. You could walk port area, maybe a picture or two of the windmills and call it a day (what we ended up doing). Also know Santorini is beautiful, but exhausting, so keep that in mind (and I consider it a must see as well). 

[Hlitner]

If we had to pick a single port to stay aboard it would be Nauplion.  

 

Hank

[CruiserBruce]

You have never been there? You need to be getting off in every port. But I am not opposed to a slower, walk around the port day, maybe in Nauplion.

 

No sea days on this cruise? Those are your relax days.

[TexasUSAcruiswr]

2 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

You have never been there? You need to be getting off in every port. But I am not opposed to a slower, walk around the port day, maybe in Nauplion.

 

No sea days on this cruise? Those are your relax days.

We do have sea days. She is in her 80’s so realistically it’s not going to be all day excursion everyday. Thanks for the recommendation of Nauplion. 

[Hlitner]

41 minutes ago, TexasUSAcruiswr said:

We do have sea days. She is in her 80’s so realistically it’s not going to be all day excursion everyday. Thanks for the recommendation of Nauplion. 

Looking at that itinerary (and we have been to all those ports) Nauplion quickly jumped out.  Argostoli would be another option but it comes at the end of the cruise and that port area has more charm than Nauplion.  So she could take the day off (and relax on the ship) when in Nauplion and go ashore in Argostoli but do a very limited day just enjoying the touristy part of town near the water and then head back to the ship early to get more relaxing time and get packed for the end of the cruise.

 

I do understand the comment about not skipping places you have never been, but I also understand about being a senior (we are in our mid 70s) and that we have a limited amount of energy.  We just finished our own 7 week trip which involved a 27 day cruise from the USA to Europe and about 3 weeks on our own.  The cruise had many sea days which really suited our style.  But planning a 24 day independent trip in Europe (involving a flight and a 2 week rental car) was tricky.  We decided to spend multiple nights in most of our destinations so we had plenty of time to relax as well as do the usual tourist stuff.  It worked out well because we did not overdo it and spent plenty of time with long lunches, frequent beer breaks (in the Czech Republic you drink beer), and long dinners.

 

I do think the mistake made by many cruisers (and land travelers) is trying to do too much in limited time.  The term "stop and smell the roses" is something that should be taken seriously.  Spending a port day on the ship is a good option for many (including us) as the onboard pace is slow, there are no lines, and one can just relax.   When DW and I started to spend more port days on the ship we were surprised to find that there were always plenty of other folks doing the same.  When we were young we pushed ourselves and usually needed a vacation after our trips :).  Now, we like to come home without being exhausted.

 

Hank

 

[TexasUSAcruiswr]

Thank you so much!!!!!! 

[cruisemom42]

I think it is difficult to answer such a question without knowing what you (and your mother) like and appreciate. Since you say that Athens and Naples are "must sees" then I am not sure I would recommend skipping Nauplion, or more specifically the sites near Nauplion -- Mycenae (arguably one of the most important archaeological sites in Greece, excavated by Schliemann, same man who "found" Troy) is another star of the Trojan War on a stunning site. And Epidaurus, site of one of the most beautiful Greek theatres.

 

I'd be 100 times more interested in visiting these places than a beach day on Argostoli....

 

 

[SummmerInKefalonia]

You could also check the roll call on the same cruise last month that was done by some people here.

From all the places the most ''negative'' reviews were for Mykonos (too much crowded and expensive), then Santorini or Nafplion (both tender ports). In my opinion Nafplion is better than Santorini. Most cruise lines make the mistake to add Mykonos and Santorini in almost every itinerary they have because they are the ''most famous destinations'' but in the end people who visit these places end up saying they weren't worth it.

[VMax1700]

If I had to make a 'stay onboard' day, because of the physical demands on a senior person, then I would pick  Santorini.

First it is a tender, then a queue for the cable car and arrive into an overcrowded tourist trap.  Returning to the ship is even worse as the queue for the cable car can stretch through the main square in the baking summer sun. Then the tender back to the ship.  More than a couple of ships there then to me it is a no brainer.

However,

The views from the ship are amazing.

[jas283a]

On 6/4/2022 at 8:05 PM, TexasUSAcruiswr said:

We do have sea days. She is in her 80’s so realistically it’s not going to be all day excursion everyday. Thanks for the recommendation of Nauplion. 

If you have sea days that helps. We didn’t, so we figured out the need to pace ourselves quickly. You will expend a lot of energy in Santorini like other posters said, might be with saving for Athens or Naples (both would be higher on my list than Santorini). 

[vjmatty]

On 6/5/2022 at 3:01 AM, SummmerInKefalonia said:

 Most cruise lines make the mistake to add Mykonos and Santorini in almost every itinerary they have because they are the ''most famous destinations'' but in the end people who visit these places end up saying they weren't worth it.

 

Sometimes I swear there is a racket going on that forces every Aegean cruise to visit Santorini, Mykonos and Kusadasi.  All great places to see once or twice, but not every year.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Actually there is a 'racket' that prompts the visits to Kusadasi:  the EU rule that unless you visit at least one non-EU port they have to charge VAT for all onboard purchases!