If you are coming to Greece this year and you want to see as much as you can, what better way to see the Greek Islands and the coast of Turkey then to go in style on a cruise ship? But here are some things you should think about.

For those planning to see the Greek islands on the massive cruise lines there are a few things to keep in mind. These ships were not made for the Greek islands. Thousands of people getting on and off a mega-cruise ship can mean long lines, chaos, endless waits for transportation and long journeys on tender boats because the ships are too big to get close to the ports. Cruisers who have their heart set on the beautiful island of Rhodes may be surprised to know that their ship is actually docking in Marmaris, Turkey 12 miles away (cheaper docking fees) and they can only get there by paying for one of the ship's excursions. Other holiday-makers dreaming of the white cliff villages of Santorini may discover their cruise does not even go there!

In March of 2008 I attended the NY Times Travel show and had a conversation with a cruise agent who was complaining about the giant cruise companies jumping into the Greek market. "These ships are on a scale that is totally innapropriate to the Greek islands. They dwarf them. Can you imagine that they are building a cruise ship that will be as big as the empire state building and plan to use it in the Aegean? This is sheer greed. And what will happen to these islands when thousands of people converge on them at once? And the reason they have chosen to extend their seasons from winters in the Carribean to summers in the Greek islands? They need the money. If it were otherwise they would have built ships that were suited to the Aegean Sea with its small harbors and quaint towns. Smaller ships."

For this reason I recommend the Greek Cruise companies. There are those who will complain because the smaller ships don't live up to their idea of what a cruise should be: life on a floating mall where your every desire is pampered to, even desires you didn't know you had. But the Greek cruise companies know the territory, the boats are not small but not so big that getting on and off them is a problem. You may not be able to hit golf balls off the upper deck into the beautiful blue Aegean but there is plenty to do on board and the Greek ships do most of their traveling while you are asleep. The Greek ships generally carry around 800 passengers compared to the big cruise ships which carry several thousand. If your purpose is to sit back like a pasha and use the Greek islands as a background for all the exciting activities offered on the ship then maybe the big international cruise lines are for you. But if your purpose is to see as many Greek islands, and as much of Turkey and Athens as you can in a short period of time then the Greek cruises are the way to go. If this is your once in a lifetime trip to Greece and the cruise does not include Santorini and Rhodes, find another cruise company.

Comparing the Greek cruise ships to the mega cruises is like comparing watermelons and raisins. But raisins are fine if you are not expecting watermelons. The Greek cruises are what they are, a cheap efficient way to see the Greek islands in a short period of time. Think of the boats as floating hotels, maybe not super luxury class but maybe A-minus or B-plus. If you read the comments on Cruise Critic they are from people who cruise for a living and care more about the boats and the service than the places they are visiting.

By booking through a reliable Greek travel agency you can get discounted rates for cruises in the Greek islands and you will also have a coach who will tell you which cruise is best for you and why.

Greek Island Cruise Video

This video was made by filmaker Andy Emery during his honeymoon in the fall of 2009. It gives you a pretty good idea of what an Easycruise of the Greek Islands and Turkey is like.

You can get discounted rates for this cruise by going to the cruise page at www.fantasytravelofgreece.com or if you want an inexpensive package that includes a 4 day cruise, 3 nights in Athens and Delfi see their 4 Day Cruise pages.

Greek Island Cruise Information

Greek Travel Agencies Specializing in Cruises

For more information on the cruises and to see Itineraries and dates for 3, 4, and 7 day cruises to the Greek Islands, Italy, Turkey and Egypt visit the Cruiseship pages of these two respected travel agencies in Athens:
Fantasy Travel at www.fantasytravelofgreece.com or
Dolphin Hellas at www.greecetravel.com/dolphinhellas

Economical Cruise Packages

Special offers for the 2013 cruise season by Dolphin Hellas:

• Variety Cruises: 25% discount for all passengers, on selected small ship cruise sailings, for reservations completed before May 31, 2013 ! (These are the next best thing to having your own private yacht!)

• Louis Cruises: Book early and get an at least 20% discount!

- Check their Greecetravel special offers page -

New Economical Cruise Packages: Fantasy Travel has put together a number of packages that offer quality accomodation for economical prices. Most packages that seem too good to be true are actually not as good as they seem, often using hotels that are in areas you really don't want to stay in, to keep the price down. But Fantasy's economy packages feature hotels in and around the Plaka in Athens and are all good quality hotels. I recommend Fantasy Travel's 8 day package that includes a 4-day cruise(Mykonos- Kusadasi- Patmos- Crete - Santorini) plus Athens-Delphi-Meteora which starts at 595 euros per person. For these and more visit Fantasy Travel's Special Offers Page

The Saronic Islands Cruise

The One-Day Saronic Gulf Cruise goes all year long and is a great introduction to the islands of Aegina, Poros and Hydra. This is one of the best daytrips in Greece and is great in combination with a couple days on the islands. See www.greecetravel.com/cruise/saroniccruise

Yacht and Sailboat Charters and Smaller Sail-Cruises of the Greek Islands

For Yacht and Sailboat Charters see www.greecetravel.com/sailing where you will find information on chartering boats with or without a skipper as well as cruises on sailing ships with twenty or thirty cabins that go on weekly itineraries to the islands, (like the cruise ships but smaller). You don't have to book the whole boat. You just book by the person.

Santorini Sailing: Greek-American Ted Stathis does charters around the island on his luxury Catamaran which includes gourmet meals, swimming in isolated coves, and a spectacular view of the island. You can take half-day, full day and overnight trips.  

Tours from Cruise Ships

Many cruise companies discourage the use of taxi and limo companies for private tours in destinations like Rhodes, Athens, Crete, Santorini and places in Turkey. Whether this is to 'protect' the passenger or because the cruise ships themselves offer tours I don't know (actually I do know and you can probably figure out why I can't tell you). I do know that you can get excellent service from taxi companies which offer personalized tours, many of whom charge by the trip and not by the person. These tours are like having a local host show you around the islands, towns and cities that they know. Instead of eating in some giant tourist trap that accommodates the dozens of people who take the bus tours, you can go to small tavernas where the locals eat, on quietstreets or on the sea.

These are some drivers I recommend:

In Athens of course there is George the Famous Taxi Driver who is now something of an international hero for his tours of Athens, the mainland and his ability to get customers from the boats to the airport or hotels comfortably and quickly. George, like the other drivers listed here is non-smoking, English-speaking, knowlegable and drives a very comfortable air-conditioned Mercedes. For groups of more than 4 there is his son Dennis, in the photo above, with his beautiful luxury Mercedes limo that seats 7 plus the driver. For even larger groups there is son Billy with their Mercedes Bus able to seat 12 people. You can e-mail them at georgetaxitours@yahoo.com

On the island of Rhodes Nick Axarlis and his brother Mike, two Greeks from Alexandria, speak 6 languages (English, Greek, Arabic, French, Italian, Spanish and German) and showed me places on the island that I would never have found on my own. Their company is called Private Tours and they do tours and transfers. Both are friendly, smart and funny and they have great taste in food. I spent much of my time with them and am ready to go back again.

On the island of Crete there is Lefteris Nikoforakis, who I spent a wonderful time with in Heraklion and is recommended by George the Famous Taxi Driver. Lefteris packs a lot into a day in his tours of Crete. Obviously as with the other drivers you can see a lot more when you don't have a large group slowing you down.

There are others private tour guides in Greece, Turkey, Italy, Egypt and around the Mediterranean listed in Mediterranean Cruises: Private Tours

For those who look for drivers and tours on cruise message boards be aware that some drivers plant positive reviews and in some cases plant negative reviews about other drivers. I don't know how common this is in other countries but in Greece this is done with taxi drivers and hotels which is a problem because it devalues the information found on these boards. Could the board administrators do something about this? In some cases they can if they are seriously monitoring the boards because some fake reviews are so obvious. But in many cases there is no way of knowing if it is a real review or written by a friend or relative or even a competitor. So use discretion.
You can find reviews for the above drivers at www.greektravel.com/testimonials

Seeing Athens on Your Own from the Pireaus Cruise Terminal

If you are good walkers you can leave the cruise terminal and walk to your left (with the city on the right and the sea on your left) until you come to a pedestrian bridge and that will take you to the metro. It is about a 15 minute walk. (There is a funny looking shuttle that can take you too though I don't know if it goes all the way to the cruise terminal.) Take the metro to Thission and when you leave the station you will see the Acropolis. Walk to your right and in about 10 minutes you will come to the road that leads to the entrance of the Acropolis. There are guides at the entrance and they charge about 75euros an hour. You can also print my Acropolis page out at www.athensguide.com/acropolis.html since you are going to forget about 95% of what a guide tells you anyway. You can also go to www.athensguide.com/athens-walking-tours and arrange a tour with them or if you want to splurge and not worry about getting back and forth on the metro hire George the Famous Taxi Driver or one of his drivers to pick you up at the ship, show you Athens and take you back, which will cost about 35 euros per hour which is not too bad when split among 4 people, (which is the number that can fit in a cab. With more you will have to take a limo. See www.greecetravel.com/limousine)

From the Acropolis you will see the Acropolis Museum below and you just walk down to the wide pedestrian avenue called Dionysiou Areopagitou south of the Acropolis and walk to your left till you get to it. After the museum you can walk a half a block and take a left on Vironos Street which will take you into the Plaka and eventually to Monastiraki if you follow Adrianou Street and from there you can take the metro back to the ship.

If you want to go to the Olympic Stadium and the Temple of Olympian Zeus you don't go left on Vironos, and instead continue on Dionysiou Areopagitou til you get to the big street which is Amalias Avenue and you will cross over and walk to your left to Hadrian's Arch and walk past it to Vassilissis Olgas Street which will take you past the entrance to the temple and all the way tothe marble Olympic Stadium. You can go back past the Zappion building or follow the signs through the National Gardens and that will bring you back to Amalias Avenue. You can either cross and follow the tourists who know where they are going into the Plaka, or you can go left and see the Parliament Building and Syntagma Square and the evzones (if there is not a demonstration going on), and from there walk down Ermou, the pedestrian shopping street which will take you right to Monastiraki Square where you can take the metro back to Pireaus after you wander around and check out the shops and the cafes and restaurants which border the ancient Agora. By the way your ticket to the Acropolis is good for all this stuff.

Give yourself at least an hour and a half to get back to the ship. Not that it takes that long but if you go in the wrong direction and then get back to Pireaus and don't see the shuttle you may have a heart attack running to the cruise terminal. Remember that wherever you are in Athens you just have to find the metro and get on the right train to Pireaus. And you should make sure you have a map of Athens before wandering off on your own.

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