Greek Isles Cruise Excursion Recommendations

[Karly]

My fiancé and I just booked a 7 night Greek Isle cruise on the Odyssey of the Seas for our honeymoon! Our destinations are Santorini, Ephesus, Mykonos, and Naples. Our departure/arrival port is in Rome.

There are so many excursions to choose from through Royal Caribbean. I like the idea of booking through them so we make it back to the ship on time. However, I am seeing mixed reviews!

Looking recommendations regarding which Royal Caribbean excursions are the best. Thanks in advance!

[cedricmr]

Congratulations !

RC excursions are convenient when cities are remote or when ports are not directly accessible (tenders). So Santorini, Mykonos OK. Ephese, I don’t know.
On the other hand, Naples arrives directly in the port in the city center. Everything is possible to do yourself. Can also take boat or ferry to go to Capri for example

[Riley]

Ephesus docks directly and is terrific. We took the longest tour we could find (under the theory we'd only get there once) and had a spectacular time. In Mykonos we took a tour of Delos and also enjoyed it.  You didn't say when you're traveling but we were there in May and it. was. hot.  Like ridiculously hot so prepare. Umbrellas for shade, plenty of water, sunscreen, think "blazing sun" and be ready.

As a note in case you're still planning, the Rome cruise port is about an hour away from Rome itself and you can taxi but it's expensive. You can also take a private car or do like we did and take the train, which was inexpensive and easy.

Have fun!

[TessFromFlorida]

We are sailing on this same itinerary. Typically, I would book all excursions through Viator or Get Your Guide, but decided to pay a bit extra and schedule all but one through Royal while on the cruise for the peace of mind. I cannot speak from experience quite yet, but did extensive research before booking. 

 

These are the excursions I chose for my family (one adult, 2 teens in high school):

- Mykanos- Delos with a mosaic workshop (1/2 day). Visiting Psarou Beach after the tour. 

- Naples- Small group tour of Positano, Sorrento, and Pompeii (full day).

- Santorini- Booked a small group tour of the island through Get Your Guide (1/2 day), will explore Fira the latter part of the day and eat in town. We did have a Sunset cruise booked through Viator that included dinner but decided to relax the itinerary a bit so we are not rushed. 

- Kusadasi- Ultimate Ephesus tour (3/4 day) followed by the markets outside of Port. 

We are spending two days in Rome prior to embarkation. We have an evening walking tour of Rome planned for the day we arrive (Viator), an Italian cooking class (Airbnb experiences) that afternoon. The following day, an early morning dome tour at St. Peters (Get Your Guide), Colosseum tour, and a Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel tour booked direct through Rome's tourism site. 

 

We are preparing for extreme heat and have purchased UV blocking umbrellas, dorky neck fans, and really comfortable, broken in shoes. We will fill one of our water bottles with ice too to keep water cold throughout the day. Coming from Florida, we are somewhat prepared for the heat.... I think..... I hope.

 

Happy planning and congratulations  

 

 

[AniJ1979]

I am doing the cruise in summer 2024.   So far, have only researched Santorini.    My current plan is to taxi from port to Perivolos Beach.   Swim, tan and have a glass of wine.   Then taxi to Fera, for shopping and more wine and sunset view.   I understand its very hot and will plan accordingly.    I not sure if its better to take the cable car to Fera and then taxi to Perivolos.    I would love to hear recommendations.   TIA,  Annie

[RafaellaCG]

On 6/28/2023 at 10:21 PM, AniJ1979 said:

I am doing the cruise in summer 2024.   So far, have only researched Santorini.    My current plan is to taxi from port to Perivolos Beach.   Swim, tan and have a glass of wine.   Then taxi to Fera, for shopping and more wine and sunset view.   I understand its very hot and will plan accordingly.    I not sure if its better to take the cable car to Fera and then taxi to Perivolos.    I would love to hear recommendations.   TIA,  Annie

The port is not accessible by car (at least, the old port isn't). So you have to take the cable car/path/donkey before and after the cab. It gets insanely crowded, leave plenty of time to get back to the ship (hours if you can't walk the path in a pinch) .

[KDK]

I just finished my cruise and Mykonos was a port that we found didn’t need an excursion unless you want to see Delos. We had an amazing time on our own. Disembark as early as possible and take the first  seabus to old town (4€ round trip per person no credit cards). The old town was empty and perfect for exploring the windmills, Little Venice and gorgeous streets. We took tons of amazing photos. Then we went to Giora’s Medieval Bakery (running since the 1400s) for amazing baklava and spanikopita! We had a delicious Greek lunch of tzatziki, Greek salad, grilled octopus and fresh grilled fish at Vegera in port. We then took the sea us back to old port and walked to Agios Stefano beach which had beautiful water and stayed there until time to return to the ship.

[Dutch Frost]

 

Congrats! I will be on the same cruise in August with my wife and daughter. 

here is what I have planned this far:

Santorini: Oia on our Own the RC excursion. Ill go back to fira with the car but Ill stay in fira the rest of the afternoon and have dinner at Le Moustache a greek restaurant we made reservations for. the goal is to see the sunset. 

As for Mykonos - I have booked  a car to take us to and from Elia Beach. I am researching to see if there are cheaper alternatives. Is there a ferry or taxi or bus that runs frequently?