Greek Islands cruise

Here's some info on cruises from Matt Barrett, a credible source. His website also has a section on the islands which may have more cruising info. I haven't done this so can't speak from experience but this link can get you started.

Pullmantur, a Spanish cruise line, has weekly 7 day cruises from April through early October. While marketed to a Spanish customer, the cruises are accessible to English speakers as well. The ships are older and smaller than typical American cruise lines - think 3 star quality but can be a good value if you have the right expectations. Looks like they would be similar in quality to the Celestyal Greek cruises on Barrett's site and may be less expensive.

Voyages to Antiquity also runs a few Greek cruises each year. They feature a small 350 person ship and all inclusive cultural, education tours as part of the cruise price.

Windstar, Azamara, Oceania - higher end cruise lines also offer occasional Greece only cruises.

Sea Dreams yacht vacations. Haven’t done one, but they have a Greek Islands tour. It’s pricey though.

Try Windstar. They do numerous and some 7 or 10 days in Greece. We have used them in Tahiti and loved them. Doing a back to back in Oct. 7 days rt Athens then repositioning from Athens, and we are getting off in Rome. This ship is also a sailing yacht with just 148 people.

Look at Variety Cruises.

I'm looking for exactly the same thing. We've never been to Greece before. We're planning to spend some time in Athens and then would like to cruise the Greek islands for a week or two.

Travelmom, if you have 2 weeks, and you have time to plan y our trip (i.e., going in 2019, not 6 weeks from now!), why do a cruise? They are best for people with more limited time, and sometimes limited mobility -- tho, since you call yourself travelmom, not travelgrandmom, I'm guessing you can get around fine. If you have 2 weeks and are willing to do a bit of homework, it's a piece of cake to set up your own itinerary. The ferry system in Greece is the best such in the world ... and using ferries (and perhaps a bargain domestic flight at the start), you can get to know 3-4 islands well in 14 days.

The way to have wonderful memories, is to be able to stand on your balcony, sipping coffee in the morning as you hear a rooster crow up on the mountain behind you .. . to be able to stroll through quiet villages and down country roads, to sit at a seaside cafe and watch the sun go down... and wander back to your hotel under the stars. A cruise -- even the longer ones, don't allow for that. The short ones compel you to be back on board by 4 pm or so, and at sea eating dinner indoors, long before sunset. And when you dock and go ashore, its in company with hundreds (thousands) of others, all crowding the streets of the port town, so many that you seldom have the chance for a personal encounter with ordinary Greeks. I remember for instance, on my first trip to Greece, I was ambling down a road in Paros outside of town, when I saw an elderly woman picking apricots from her front garden. She motioned to me, smiling, to come near. I did, and she made a cupped-hand motion, which I copied, and she filled my hands with ripe fruit. I stumbled a thank-you in incorrectly-pronounced Greek, and she just smiled and said 'Hair-eh-tay." I looked it up and found that "herete" is a sort of old-fashioned word that just means "be happy" ... and i was.

You can even now buy a bargain ticket for €99 Euros that is good for travel to a String of 4 islands -- Paros Naxos Ios Santorini - in 2 weeks, on modern large ferries of he Hellenic Line. To be completely time-efficient, onc could fly to the farthest island and "hop" your way back to the mainland. Or u may do as I do, just take the ferry that suits your fancy and your schedule. If you go somtime between mid-may and late June, the weather is ideal, everything's open, nothing is crowded, and the lodging prices are much better than high season.

Go look at some guidebooks, and think about it. Alas, R Steves books don't cover the islands, but plenty of others do. Go to the library and borrow an armful.. and browse. When you've found some islands you like, that are sensibly close to one another (DO look at a map), come back to this forum, and we can help you sort it out. Planning precedes perfection in a Greece trip!