Greek islands

You sound you want a cruise in the Greek Dodecanese Islands close to Turkey. They are rather close together so cruising at night would be brief. Ferries are so easy to use and then you would get a real experience of each island, staying in hotels, eating locally. I remember years ago seeing something about small expensive sailboat cruises of this island group. Some large cruise ships do go to Rhodes such as Oceania. Other smaller cruise lines may do this itinerary too. We really enjoyed these islands, especially Kos, home of Hipocrates.
Look at Variety Cruises and Dolphin-HellasTravel.gr, a well respected travel agency in Athens.

I would think that most cruise ships, big or small, focus on those most popular islands. Friends of mine who are into sailing have in fact rented a sailboat so they could really go wherever they liked. But then, you don't sound like you want to do the sailing yourselves?

One thing to consider is that the Aegean Sea can get pretty rough at any time of the year. If you - like me - tend to get seasick easily, I'd stay away from the smaller boats.

Personally, I'd prefer using the (large) ferries and getting accommodations on the island. You'll have so much more of a Greece experience. The cruise ship tourist radius usually is the rip-off radius for restaurants etc. in terms of quality and price.

Read this website for some good information on Greek Island cruises out of Athens, both traditional cruises on large ships and some alternate ideas on smaller ships. It might give you a starting point.

Your other option would be to use the ferries and/or interisland flights to visit some of the islands not on the traditional cruise itineraries. In the summer there are lots of ferries and flights to choose from so you can plan your own itinerary and how long you want to spend on each island. Read this article by Rick Steves for some good advice on doing that.

How long will you have for this trip? That will determine how many islands you can visit and how long to spend on each.

You might like to look at Celestyal cruises, they are not high-end cruise ships, but they are far better than a ferry! Their Greek itineraries are island-heavy, sometimes 2 ports a day & occasionally staying overnight at some ports. They run a variety of differing length cruises, many starting from Pireaus (Athens).

Hello,

I had gone on a cruise some years back and visited Mykonos, Santorini, Crete, Patmos, Rhodes and Kusadasi. However, I don't think that there is one that can combine both the Cyclades and the Dodecanese. The distance is huge. This is why the cruises make there schedules according to each island complex. The above cruise was for 5 days and cost me around 450 euros (12 years ago, the prices now might differ a lot), breakfast and dinner included. Going by ferry and getting one-way tickets will be more expensive for sure. You might want to check out a pass by Hostelbay called "Greek Island Pass" in collaboration with Hellenic Seaways. Another way to see the islands is to rent a sailing boat. If you can take some wave movement, it is a good option as well. Check on google for sailboat rentals. You can also rent a captain's services. No need to worry about knowing how to sail :)