Athens in 8 hours

You can take the X80 bus which departs from the cruise terminals and stops near the Acropolis Museum. Travel time to the Acropolis Museum: approximately 25 minutes

See description and map here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XOrzcYWNnDOyZOZac-CLd-Qb8QfbXaxV/view?usp=sharing

With the X80 bus ticket (4.10€) you can take all public transport in Athens within the same day.

The National Archaeological Museum is located north of Omonia Square, not really close to the Acropolis Museum.

There are ways to get there directly by trolleybus with lines 5 and 15 or by metro by changing lines at Omonia but if you are not used to public transport in Athens I advise you to take a taxi, that will go faster.

Allow 1h30 visiting the Acropolis Museum.

If you have enough time you can have lunch near the Acropolis Museum, it's full of restaurants (for tourists).
I don't know of any near the NAM where there isn't much nearby anyway

Then the journey Acropolis Museum → NAM takes 15 to 20 minutes.

Allow at least 2.5 hours of visit time at the NAM.
On Tuesdays the NAM opens at 1 pm, the Acropolis Museum is open every day.

To return to the port you can take a taxi.
Be careful to specify that you are going to the cruise port and not the ferry port. Allow about 40 minutes to return to the port.

It will be a rush but it's doable if you don't hang around too much and if you're efficient.

I visited the Acropolis about 30 years ago. Except for maybe moving some of the scaffolding, I imagine not much has changed. I’m leaning toward spending what time I have visiting the Acropolis museum and the National Archaeological Museum. I recall reading somewhere that the view of the Acropolis from the museum is pretty good - comments/suggestions/recommendations?

Yes, you can see the Parthenon from the 3rd floor of the museum, but to properly see the scaffolding you will have to choose another place.

I apologize for any misunderstanding. When I mentioned scaffolding I meant that I was pretty sure that the Acropolis hadn’t changed much in the 30+ years since I saw it last. And, that I was probably fine with skipping a visit up close. I plan to spend my limited time at the Acropolis museum and National Archaeological Museum unless there were significant changes/renovations on the Acropolis hill.

It's me who apologizes, I had no doubt that if you come back to Athens, it is not to see the scaffolding again :))

That being said, they are still there but in my opinion are no longer the same models. I was also in Athens 30 years ago, I would have to look at my old photos to confirm it