Need help deciding: Greek Island

[Ex-Airbalancer]

19 minutes ago, Cruiscs said:

What is worth seeing i Crete? Understand that the cruise port is far from chania old town

It is just a short bus ride for a couple of €

[di T]

On 1/26/2024 at 1:38 PM, villauk said:

 

Oh that it a shame, but I’m sure you’ll still have a great cruise. I’m of the standing now that ‘you win some, you lose some’ - it probably all evens out over time (not nice when it happens though).
 

We managed to get the flight offer with ours and booked it together with our friends as our TA was concerned the flight allocation may not be available for both reservations if she did it separately. Thank goodness she did because within a couple of days there were no ‘package’ flights available for our date and airport. I always book my own flights so this is going to be an eye opener for us too, seeing how X handle it 🫣.

What dates are you booked for?

[swigso]

I would choose Athens as it has so much to see and do if you have never been there. However please remember the port is about an hour away. We used welcome taxis in Istanbul they were fantastic. 

[villauk]

2 hours ago, di T said:

What dates are you booked for?

 

15th March. Are you on the same sailing?

[sofietucker]

On 1/27/2024 at 6:19 AM, Cruiscs said:

What is worth seeing i Crete? Understand that the cruise port is far from chania old town

It's a beautiful town! The old harbor is very picturesque. Wonderful beaches. Many great museums and antiquities. Central old town has been continuously occupied since Neolithic times.

The port (Souda) is 7 km away from Old Town, 15-minute drive (roughly 4 miles). For comparison, it's a mile further than from Port Everglades cruise port to Las Olas Blvd in Ft Lauderdale.

 

If you dock in Heraklion instead, you'll find the famous palace of King Minos and the minotaur at Knossos, among many other amazing sites. Everywhere in Crete, the countryside is wonderful and wild, lots of small villages, vineyards, farms and olives.

[di T]

On 1/27/2024 at 5:05 PM, villauk said:

 

15th March. Are you on the same sailing?

We are on that one and the one before😀will be first time on Infinity though have sailed many times on Connie so expect it to be very similar 

[cruisemom42]

The second itinerary is really the only one I'd consider a "Greek Isles" cruise. The other one hits a number of highlights but doesn't particularly include Greek Islands other than Mykonos and Santorini. The second itinerary adds Crete and Rhodes.

 

The overnight in Istanbul is a big plus. I was on an Azamara cruise last fall with an overnight in Istanbul (it was a BTB that also ended in Istanbul). Personally, I always find new things to do there, and it is a very unique city in terms of sights, sounds, smells, being half in Europe and half in Asia (both literally and philosophically).

 

I'm a big proponent of visits to Turkey in general. I frequent the Ports of Call boards and you would be surprised at the number of people who return from a visit to Kusadasi saying it was their "sleeper" favorite. Most don't realize how impressively grand the ruins at Ephesus are. 

 

Mykonos and Santorini, on the other hand, are very well known but really must be visited at least once, hopefully with as few other fellow cruise passengers as possible. As already mentioned, if you like history and ruins, it is easy to visit Delos from Mykonos and Akrotiri while in Santorini. 

 

I've visited Crete many times through the years (4 or 5 different ports, in fact; it is a very large island that cannot be seen in one go). I've never really enjoyed it as much as I thought I should, but it has many opportunities to see small villages, Minoan ruins (Knossos is a bit of a "theme park" ruin, but...), etc. Chania is a pretty town and can be a low key day just exploring its streets and having lunch or an aperitif overlooking the Venetian harbor. Or Celebrity usually offers some kind of "Greek villages" tour that provides some good photo ops of smaller and very charming places nearby.

 

Rhodes has the Grand Masters Palace and the Archaeology Museum (in what was the Knights' hospital) as well as some pretty strolling in the old city. Or you can visit a gorgeous beach (Rhodes has many) or go to pretty Lindos.

 

Definitely spend time in Athens before or after your cruise. You need about two days to visit the key sites in the city and another day to go somewhere on a day tour such as Corinth + Mycenae. (The temple at Sounion I'd give a miss....)

 

Silhouette is my favorite S-class ship, BTW. 

 

 

[Cruiscs]

23 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

The second itinerary is really the only one I'd consider a "Greek Isles" cruise. The other one hits a number of highlights but doesn't particularly include Greek Islands other than Mykonos and Santorini. The second itinerary adds Crete and Rhodes.

 

The overnight in Istanbul is a big plus. I was on an Azamara cruise last fall with an overnight in Istanbul (it was a BTB that also ended in Istanbul). Personally, I always find new things to do there, and it is a very unique city in terms of sights, sounds, smells, being half in Europe and half in Asia (both literally and philosophically).

 

I'm a big proponent of visits to Turkey in general. I frequent the Ports of Call boards and you would be surprised at the number of people who return from a visit to Kusadasi saying it was their "sleeper" favorite. Most don't realize how impressively grand the ruins at Ephesus are. 

 

Mykonos and Santorini, on the other hand, are very well known but really must be visited at least once, hopefully with as few other fellow cruise passengers as possible. As already mentioned, if you like history and ruins, it is easy to visit Delos from Mykonos and Akrotiri while in Santorini. 

 

I've visited Crete many times through the years (4 or 5 different ports, in fact; it is a very large island that cannot be seen in one go). I've never really enjoyed it as much as I thought I should, but it has many opportunities to see small villages, Minoan ruins (Knossos is a bit of a "theme park" ruin, but...), etc. Chania is a pretty town and can be a low key day just exploring its streets and having lunch or an aperitif overlooking the Venetian harbor. Or Celebrity usually offers some kind of "Greek villages" tour that provides some good photo ops of smaller and very charming places nearby.

 

Rhodes has the Grand Masters Palace and the Archaeology Museum (in what was the Knights' hospital) as well as some pretty strolling in the old city. Or you can visit a gorgeous beach (Rhodes has many) or go to pretty Lindos.

 

Definitely spend time in Athens before or after your cruise. You need about two days to visit the key sites in the city and another day to go somewhere on a day tour such as Corinth + Mycenae. (The temple at Sounion I'd give a miss....)

 

Silhouette is my favorite S-class ship, BTW. 

 

 

Thank you. We choose Silhouette and option nr.2. Hope not that Celebrity cancels Turkey

[cruisemom42]

6 minutes ago, Cruiscs said:

Thank you. We choose Silhouette and option nr.2. Hope not that Celebrity cancels Turkey

 

It would be silly of them to do so given the situation currently. But situations change; that's the nature of cruising.

 

On my very first visit (of many) to Istanbul on a cruise back in 2005, I nervously wondered whether we'd make Istanbul, as at that time a few cruises had canceled it. We did make it, but I was scouring reviews and posts ahead of time trying to get an idea of where the ship might divert if the itinerary changed. Thessaloniki and Kavala in Northern Greece would be one good alternative, if Turkey needs to be avoided. Just something to think about in case you want to formulate a Plan B....

 

 

 

[Pack Leader]

On 1/26/2024 at 1:12 PM, villauk said:

I think there will be a mass exodus from the U.K. over the next few months to the Greek Isles on Infinity 😁 - the prices were too good to miss 😉.

I am one of those. So cheap!

[Pack Leader]

I would recommend a tour in Istanbul which includes the Hagia Sofia, Blue Mosque and The Cistern. All amazing and must see. Local guide a good, cheaper option.

[Cruiscs]

On 1/30/2024 at 8:38 PM, Pack Leader said:

I would recommend a tour in Istanbul which includes the Hagia Sofia, Blue Mosque and The Cistern. All amazing and must see. Local guide a good, cheaper option.

Thanks

[gobblegobbletilluwobble]

On 1/26/2024 at 2:57 PM, NCMtnBoys said:

We did a seven night cruise last September round trip Athens which included Istanbul, Kusadasi, Rhodes, Mykonos and Santorini. Loved all of it! I was looking for a seven night sailing that included Athens, Mykonos, Santorini and Istanbul. We made all the ports and enjoyed our time in each port. We had booked a five port excursion bundle through a company and each excursion visited places I had wanted to go. Honestly, it was incredible to be in all those places. Seeing the Blue Mosque, Grand Bazaar, Ephesus, Oia, etc... one of the best trips ever.

We are looking for excursions for our 9-night cruise this September that includes Athens, Ephesus, Santorini, Mykonos and Chania, Crete. Could you please share the tour company you used? Do you recommend them? TIA.

[NCMtnBoys]

10 minutes ago, EmQ-CA said:

We are looking for excursions for our 9-night cruise this September that includes Athens, Ephesus, Santorini, Mykonos and Chania, Crete. Could you please share the tour company you used? Do you recommend them? TIA.

We booked a five port excursion package through shoreexcursions.com. Every excursion was fantastic. We didn’t get to choose the excursions in the package but each excursion visited the sights I wanted to see. I was very happy doing this and would recommend them. 

[gobblegobbletilluwobble]

2 minutes ago, NCMtnBoys said:

We booked a five port excursion package through shoreexcursions.com. Every excursion was fantastic. We didn’t get to choose the excursions in the package but each excursion visited the sights I wanted to see. I was very happy doing this and would recommend them. 

Cool! We'll check it out. Thank you so much! Getting excited, our first time to Greece. 😄

[NCMtnBoys]

28 minutes ago, EmQ-CA said:

Cool! We'll check it out. Thank you so much! Getting excited, our first time to Greece. 😄

You’re welcome. On that site they have a button you can click where you can input your cruise departure information and it brings up all the excursions for that cruise. We had been to Corfu previously but Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes and the two Turkey stops were new for us as well! Enjoy your cruise!

Edited February 5 by NCMtnBoys