12 night Greek isles Cruise

[RiRLPC-OG]

Is anyone else going on this particular cruise in June or have been before. We are looking for ways around the excursions and how to maybe get to Sicily. Any advice is appreciated greatly.

 

[starvenger]

I might be able to help out a bit as I did a cruise on Explorer of the Seas in 2024 that hit a couple of the same ports, and I've been researching for my upcoming cruise on Celebrity.

- Mykonos' cruise port is a bit of a distance away from the Little Venice area. There's a water bus that will take you there for I believe 4 EUR round trip.

If you like archaeological sites, the tour to Delos is a great excursion. Disney will likely have a transport + tour in their excursions, and will likely cost a lot more than what you can get at the docks or through GetYourGuide (about 80 EUR). You'll be back well before all aboard, so you can tour around the shops and cafes, whereas the cruise excursion will whisk you right back to the ship.

- If I'm reading the itinerary right, the cruise you're looking at stops in Messina. Messina is a nice place, but you'll probably want to visit Taormina, which is a lovely little town up in the hills. It has this lovely amphitheatre with some incredible views. In 2024 we took a train from Messina to Taormina because the ship had a late all aboard time. If the cruise has an early all aboard, I would recommend booking through Disney to guarantee getting back in time.

- Port of Rhodes, as near as I can tell, is a very walkable city.

- Haven't done Athens as a port city, only as an embarkation port. I can tell you that it will take a bit of time to get to the Acropolis from Piraeus, and it's about a one mile walk to the metro from the port.

Hope that helps a bit.

 

[RiRLPC-OG]

I might be able to help out a bit as I did a cruise on Explorer of the Seas in 2024 that hit a couple of the same ports, and I've been researching for my upcoming cruise on Celebrity.

- Mykonos' cruise port is a bit of a distance away from the Little Venice area. There's a water bus that will take you there for I believe 4 EUR round trip.

If you like archaeological sites, the tour to Delos is a great excursion. Disney will likely have a transport + tour in their excursions, and will likely cost a lot more than what you can get at the docks or through GetYourGuide (about 80 EUR). You'll be back well before all aboard, so you can tour around the shops and cafes, whereas the cruise excursion will whisk you right back to the ship.

- If I'm reading the itinerary right, the cruise you're looking at stops in Messina. Messina is a nice place, but you'll probably want to visit Taormina, which is a lovely little town up in the hills. It has this lovely amphitheatre with some incredible views. In 2024 we took a train from Messina to Taormina because the ship had a late all aboard time. If the cruise has an early all aboard, I would recommend booking through Disney to guarantee getting back in time.

- Port of Rhodes, as near as I can tell, is a very walkable city.

- Haven't done Athens as a port city, only as an embarkation port. I can tell you that it will take a bit of time to get to the Acropolis from Piraeus, and it's about a one mile walk to the metro from the port.

Hope that helps a bit.

Thank you. It's very helpful. I am on my way to go look at some of these things.

 

[Donna3271]

I might be able to help out a bit as I did a cruise on Explorer of the Seas in 2024 that hit a couple of the same ports, and I've been researching for my upcoming cruise on Celebrity.

- Mykonos' cruise port is a bit of a distance away from the Little Venice area. There's a water bus that will take you there for I believe 4 EUR round trip.

If you like archaeological sites, the tour to Delos is a great excursion. Disney will likely have a transport + tour in their excursions, and will likely cost a lot more than what you can get at the docks or through GetYourGuide (about 80 EUR). You'll be back well before all aboard, so you can tour around the shops and cafes, whereas the cruise excursion will whisk you right back to the ship.

- If I'm reading the itinerary right, the cruise you're looking at stops in Messina. Messina is a nice place, but you'll probably want to visit Taormina, which is a lovely little town up in the hills. It has this lovely amphitheatre with some incredible views. In 2024 we took a train from Messina to Taormina because the ship had a late all aboard time. If the cruise has an early all aboard, I would recommend booking through Disney to guarantee getting back in time.

- Port of Rhodes, as near as I can tell, is a very walkable city.

- Haven't done Athens as a port city, only as an embarkation port. I can tell you that it will take a bit of time to get to the Acropolis from Piraeus, and it's about a one mile walk to the metro from the port.

Hope that helps a bit.

I am on the 9 night, so this helps!!! I wanted to do the 12, but though it would be too long on the ship for my husband because we are staying in Barcelona before and a week in Rome after. Any more tidbits would be appreciated! I've been to Rome several times, but not Greece!!! TY!!!

 

[starvenger]

Well, I think the three sites to see in Athens are the Acropolis (duh), Hadrian's library and the Ancient (NOT Roman) Agora. Unfortunately I don't think you're going to avoid crowds at any of these.

If you wander north from Monastiraki Square you should find some slightly less touristy spots for food and such.

Santorini I still can't figure out what I'm going to do. But check to see how many cruise ships are in port, how many people could potentially be there and when they arrive. If it's a lot, it may be worth it to book a cruise excursion or private tour. Basically anything that allows you to skip the cable car.

In Barcelona, I did a nighttime tapas and drinks tour. Definitely recommend researching those if you're so inclined.

 

[SleepyDeb]

I am on the 9 night, so this helps!!! I wanted to do the 12, but though it would be too long on the ship for my husband because we are staying in Barcelona before and a week in Rome after. Any more tidbits would be appreciated! I've been to Rome several times, but not Greece!!! TY!!!

We're on the same cruise. Looking forward to it. Chose this one over the 12 night in the hopes that it will be a little cooler.

 

[Donna3271]

We're on the same cruise. Looking forward to it. Chose this one over the 12 night in the hopes that it will be a little cooler.

Deb,
My DSIL did this cruise and loved it. She mentioned to be aware of the BLINDING HEAT. I also read the Acropolis shuts down if the temp hits 107. I can't believe the activity window opens Jan 30!!!!

 

[starvenger]

Deb,
My DSIL did this cruise and loved it. She mentioned to be aware of the BLINDING HEAT. I also read the Acropolis shuts down if the temp hits 107. I can't believe the activity window opens Jan 30!!!!

lol it took me a second to realize you meant 107 F, because I saw that and thought "well, yeah, no one is surviving 107 C".

 

[Donna3271]

lol it took me a second to realize you meant 107 F, because I saw that and thought "well, yeah, no one is surviving 107 C".

OK, I guess you know I am American!!! LOL!!

 

[starvenger]

In fairness, I'm used to doing the approximate equivalents in my head, but I don't see people talking 100s all that often, so it threw me off. So if you had said 70s, 80s or 90s I probably wouldn't have thought anything of it!

But then, why would they shut down the Acropolis at that temp?

All in all, it was a good warning. I would recommend investing in a small portable misting fan. That will help.

 

[RiRLPC-OG]

Well, I think the three sites to see in Athens are the Acropolis (duh), Hadrian's library and the Ancient (NOT Roman) Agora. Unfortunately I don't think you're going to avoid crowds at any of these.

If you wander north from Monastiraki Square you should find some slightly less touristy spots for food and such.

Santorini I still can't figure out what I'm going to do. But check to see how many cruise ships are in port, how many people could potentially be there and when they arrive. If it's a lot, it may be worth it to book a cruise excursion or private tour. Basically anything that allows you to skip the cable car.

In Barcelona, I did a nighttime tapas and drinks tour. Definitely recommend researching those if you're so inclined.

what is the cable car and why do you want to avoid it

 

[starvenger]

what is the cable car and why do you want to avoid it

From what I've researched, Santorini is a tender port, and the tenders will drop you off in the old harbor, with the town of Fira up above.

The most logical way to get up to Fira is using the cable car... but you see your ship, a Costa ship, and some other cruise line anchored in the harbour. That means you've got over 4000 people looking to go to the same destination, and seeing that cable car as the most logical way to get there. I have no idea how many people those cable cars hold... but you could be looking at lengthy wait times going up, and going down.

Taking that into account, it may be worth your while to find something that will allow you to avoid that chaos. I'm not saying that you have to do this. But it never hurts to weigh all options before making a decision.

 

[RiRLPC-OG]

From what I've researched, Santorini is a tender port, and the tenders will drop you off in the old harbor, with the town of Fira up above.

The most logical way to get up to Fira is using the cable car... but you see your ship, a Costa ship, and some other cruise line anchored in the harbour. That means you've got over 4000 people looking to go to the same destination, and seeing that cable car as the most logical way to get there. I have no idea how many people those cable cars hold... but you could be looking at lengthy wait times going up, and going down.

Taking that into account, it may be worth your while to find something that will allow you to avoid that chaos. I'm not saying that you have to do this. But it never hurts to weigh all options before making a decision.

But I don’t think this cruise goes to Santorini

 

[starvenger]

I think the 9 night Donna was mentioning does hit Santorini.

But you're right, the 12 night cruise does not.

Regardless, I think it's probably good general advice for the island.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

But then, why would they shut down the Acropolis at that temp?

Because it's too hot and too exposed. When we were there at the end of a cruise in July 2023 during a heatwave the Acropolis closed for most of the day with the temps at that time being 115-117. People were passing out days before due to heat exhaustion and stroke. Many of the archeological sites will close down due to heat. The day we disembarked we had only about 1 hour or so at one of the sites before it closed for the bulk of the day and if it closes it may not reopen that depends on temperature, we spent some time that day after that site at the Athens Archeological Museum as it was one of the only things opened (as far as history sites though the Acropolis Museum was probably still open we saved that for the next day when we saw the Acropolis). We saved most of the sites for the following day because we were staying in Athens and could get to the Acropolis before it opened to get in line thus being able to get there before it could close as well as the other sites that has closed the day before. Most sites were closing between 10am-11am for the rest of the day or most of the day.

The OP is going in June heat wave is possible. Athens IMO is not a good port only city, it's good when you have several days either before (so embarkation but time spent before) or after (so disembarkation but time spent after) due to the sites locations and weather. FWIW Acropolis does now have a visitor capacity cap that was introduced but IIRC it was only marginally less people than were visiting before.

 

[starvenger]

I think you missed the context provided by the sentence before my statement there:

So if you had said 70s, 80s or 90s I probably wouldn't have thought anything of it!

The point was that the OP would not have mentioned the heat if temps were in the 2 digit range, so my confusion would never have happened in the first place.

Back on topic, I agree that Piraeus/Athens is not a good port city if your intention is to see the Acropolis etc. The times simply don't work well. And it was a big reason why we chose the cruise we did. Mind you, I'd have preferred a one-way cruise as opposed to a round trip from Piraeus, but it's something I could easily work with.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I think you missed the context provided by the sentence before my statement there:

The point was that the OP would not have mentioned the heat if temps were in the 2 digit range, so my confusion would never have happened in the first place.

No I got your context you were used to dealing with Celsius not Fahrenheit. But that wasn't what I was talking about.

I quoted specifically when you said

But then, why would they shut down the Acropolis at that temp?

As you had followed up with

All in all, it was a good warning. I would recommend investing in a small portable misting fan.

(which a misting fan won't do any good if the sites are closed but if it makes someone feel better normally then go for it)

The person you were quoting (not the OP) had mentioned they had heard the Acropolis will close at X temperature (I wouldn't be able to confirm the exact temp mentioned but they are indeed correct it will close for heat).

If you were not genuinely asking why they would close the Acropolis at X temp (doesn't matter what) then that would be where my confusion would have come into play as I took your question at face value.

 

[starvenger]

That's correct. I was not asking. It was more of a facetious rhetorical comment since, realistically, they're not going to close the Acropolis if it's a milder temp.

Apologies for the confusion there.

And the misting fan is just a good thing to have. Not a game changer by any stretch, but it's better than just having hot air redirected to your face.

(Side note: In Japan, hotels have small towels available for you to take so that you can wipe off sweat, or use in a manner similar to those "cooling" type towels. Kind of brilliant. Also seems like a huge waste of packaging and resources, but I digress.)

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Of the ports the OP is talking about we did Corfu and Athens

In Corfu we did not do our cruise line's excursion (we sailed with Seabourn) and instead toured it on our own.

We went to military fort right there although the highest point was closed for the day due to the temps, I don't think we missed much of what was closed, I believe Saint George's Church was there too. We walked around in Old Towne and nearby neighborhoods

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

And the misting fan is just a good thing to have. Not a game changer by any stretch, but it's better than just having hot air redirected to your face.

It can be useful but people want to make sure to not use it around other people as you could get them wet with the miss or otherwise annoy them (even without the misting feature not everyone wants the air right on them). We had a passenger do that to us on that 2023 cruise for some reason they thought they could use it when we were all in the same small space.

Hot air though on your face is no joke for sure though!