Greece, island hopping by cruise line in Mediterranean

Those standard Cruises, that cover 4-5 major islands in 4-5 days are essentially not "island-hopping." They are ocean cruises with short (sometimes VERY VERY short) stops at the few ports deep enough for a mega-ship. Getting the 2,000 - 3,000 passengers disembarked and on land sometimes takes more than 1 hour ... and ditto for re-boarding. Thus, there may be only 4 hours on shore ... just enough time to wander back and forth on busy port-town streets, take some snapshots, and eat an overpriced meal.

Actually island HOPPING originally described taking a ferry to an island, staying a few days, and than taking a different ferry to the next island. Granted, in 5 days you might only see 2 islands, but you'd have much more of an island experience. For example, one of the most relaxing and memorable experiences of a Greek island is sitting at a cafe table with 2-3 friends, right by the water, as the sun goes down, and the stars come out, sipping a drink and looking at a menu of new & interesting foods. If you are on a "cruise," by that time you've had to be back on board, indoors, eating an indifferent meal in a huge dining room with hundreds of people you don't know. And guess what? The "hopping" experience, off=season, can cost less than the so-called Cruise. Worth considering.

We did a Greek Island cruise by mistake in 2015. The ships itinerary was changed at the last minute and several Greek ports were added. We chose that cruise specifically because it only had one Greek port of call. Oh well.

Several of us here just love planning our own Greek vacations that's half the fun. I only say that to support Janets post about Island hopping. However a cruise is an excellent way to get a brief taste of several ports in order to determine if one wants to come back sometime in the future. Thats how we discovered Greece in the first place. But I digress.

The ship docked in Athens port. There were thousands of refugees being housed at the port. They were in a secluded area and there was no sign of them. It was calm and peaceful. I understand this continued through 2016. Most of these refugees eventually get moved to the old airport where there are more facilities.

We stopped in Mykonos, Santorini, Crete, Rhodes,and Kusadasi In Turkey. These islands are no where near the Turkish or Libyan coast, thus no refugees. There weren't any in Kusadasi either. No worries.

By the way unless you are on a very small cruise ship there are no port facilities at Paros. Are you sure that's a port of call?

Went to Mykonos, Santorini, and Kusadasi on a cruise three or four years ago and did not encounter any issues at all. If interested in Greek mythology, then take a short boat trip from Mykonos to Delos. Google it and see what you think.

My wife and I sailed RT out of Athens in October 2011. The Greek Island stops were Corfu, Crete, Mykonos. It worked great as a way to get a lot of places that aren't that easy to get to (being islands). I thought this was a pretty good way to see these places. I could see spending longer in Mykonos or Corfu, but I did not feel as if I had made a horrible mistake visiting by cruise. The stop in Crete had some nice sights but the town itself was not picturesque (I'm sure there are places in Crete that are though). A mid-sized ship like the ones Holland America generally operates can be a good choice. Sometimes when a tender is involved there can be a backup and people with paid excursions get priority, but I have never found this to be a huge issue. No issues getting off the ship, I can't really remember whether tender was required at any of these ports. We did miss out a stop on a Mexico stop on a Caribbean cruise once due to rough waters, but that's one port missed out of probably 40 on various cruises in the past twenty years. They will disclose in advance whether a tender is required, and also the time in port. You go into it knowing the hours in port so you can decide for yourself. I have found the actual time in port to be consistent with that's indicated on the itinerary.