Odyssey of the Seas - Greek Isles

Where this cruise calls, day by day

8 ports and 2 sea days over 9 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Rome (Civitavecchia)

   ItalyDepart

   Civitavecchia is a working port town on the Tyrrhenian coast, and it is not Rome - the city is about 80km southeast, roughly 80 minutes each way. Budget for that honestly: a Rome day is some four hours of transit bracketing whatever you actually see. The port has Fort Michelangelo on the quay and good fish-market lunches, a real option if you have done Rome before.

   • St Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museums, with a timed entry booked well ahead
   • The Colosseum and the Roman Forum, a short walk apart on the Termini side
   • The Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain on a walking loop of the centro storico
   • Fort Michelangelo and the Terme Taurine Roman baths, for a day that stays in Civitavecchia

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock in Civitavecchia and a free shuttle runs to the port gate at Largo della Pace, from where it is a short walk to the station and a 70-80 minute train into Rome.

   Best months

   Apr-Jun and Sep-Oct (Jul-Aug hot, and the Rome queues are brutal)

2. Day 2 · At sea

3. Day 3

   Chania (Crete)

   GreecePort

   Chania's Venetian harbour, with its Egyptian-built lighthouse and curved arc of waterfront houses, is the reason to come - but ships do not dock there. The berth is Souda Bay, a deep military and commercial harbour about 7km east, so the day starts with a bus. Western Crete's best beaches are genuine but far: Elafonissi and Balos are both long drives on poor roads.

   • The Venetian harbour, the lighthouse breakwater, and the old Turkish quarter behind it
   • The covered municipal market and the leather workshops on Odos Skrydlof
   • Elafonissi or Falasarna beach on the west coast, or the Balos lagoon by boat
   • The Souda Bay Allied War Cemetery and the Akrotiri monasteries

   Getting ashore

   Docked at Souda Bay, about 7km from Chania; ship shuttles, public buses and taxis all run in, 15-20 minutes.

   Best months

   May-Jun and Sep-Oct (hot and dry Jul-Aug; the Samaria Gorge is too long to attempt on a port day)

4. Day 4

   Santorini

   GreecePort

   Santorini is a flooded volcanic caldera, and the towns sit on the rim some 300m above where your ship anchors - which is the whole logistical problem. There is no cruise berth, so you tender to Skala below Fira and then queue for a small cable car, walk up 588 steps, or ride a mule. Arrivals are now capped to thin the crush, but the cable car remains the bottleneck in both directions.

   • Oia on the northern tip, and the caldera-edge path that walks there from Fira
   • Akrotiri - a Bronze Age town buried by the eruption and excavated under a modern roof
   • Assyrtiko tasting at the caldera-facing wineries, Santo Wines and Venetsanos
   • A caldera boat to the crater of Nea Kameni and the warm springs at Palea Kameni

   Getting ashore

   Tender to Skala, the old port below Fira, then the cable car up the cliff - queues of an hour each way are normal on busy days, and the alternative is 588 steps. Excursion tenders often land at Athinios instead, where coaches wait.

   Best months

   May-Jun and Sep-Oct (Jul-Aug is hot, packed, and Oia at sunset is shoulder to shoulder)

5. Day 5

   Kusadasi

   TurkeyPort

   Kusadasi is a Turkish resort town that exists commercially for cruise ships, and the terminal delivers you straight into a bazaar built around that. Almost nobody stays: ships call for Ephesus, one of the most completely excavated Roman cities anywhere, half an hour inland. Go early - the site is unshaded marble, and by midday several ships' worth of passengers are on the main street at once.

   • Ephesus - the Library of Celsus, the 24,000-seat Great Theatre, and the Terrace Houses
   • The House of the Virgin Mary on Bulbul Dagi above the site
   • Selcuk: the Basilica of St John and the single standing column of the Temple of Artemis
   • Sirince, a hill village of old Greek houses now given over to fruit wine

   Getting ashore

   Docked at Ege Ports (Scala Nuova) - never a tender port, with room for four large ships. The bazaar is ten minutes on foot; Ephesus is 15km, about half an hour, and is best walked downhill from the Upper Gate to the Lower.

   Best months

   Apr-May and Sep-Oct (Jul-Aug at Ephesus is brutal - no shade, hot stone underfoot)

6. Day 6

   Mykonos

   GreecePort

   Mykonos is the Cyclades at their most commercial - a whitewashed town that has been a fashion and nightlife destination since the 1960s, with prices to match. Most ships berth at Tourlos, about 2km north of Chora, though when the schedule is full some anchor and tender straight into the old harbour. For many passengers the real draw is next door: Delos, the uninhabited sanctuary island, is a 30-minute boat ride.

   • Delos - the ancient sanctuary of Apollo and its Terrace of the Lions, by boat from the old port
   • Little Venice, the Kato Mili windmills, and the church of Panagia Paraportiani
   • Beach time at Psarou or Platis Gialos, or the party beaches at Paradise and Super Paradise
   • Ano Mera and the Panagia Tourliani monastery, away from the crowds

   Getting ashore

   Two options: most large ships dock at Tourlos (New Port) 2km from town, with a paid shuttle bus or water taxi into Chora; when berths are taken, ships anchor and tender into the old harbour, which lands you in town on foot.

   Best months

   May-Jun and Sep-early Oct (Jul-Aug is crowded and expensive, and the meltemi wind can cancel Delos boats)

7. Day 7

   Athens (Piraeus)

   GreecePort

   Piraeus is Europe's busiest passenger port, and it is a port first and a place second - ferry berths, cranes, and cruise quays spread along a long waterfront. Athens is 10km inland, 30-45 minutes by road in traffic or about 25 minutes on the Line 1 metro. Almost everything you came for sits in one dense square kilometre under the Acropolis, so the day works if you pick a route and commit to it.

   • The Acropolis - the Parthenon, Erechtheion and Propylaia - and the Acropolis Museum below it
   • The Ancient Agora and the Temple of Hephaestus, the best-preserved Doric temple in Greece
   • The National Archaeological Museum, and the marble Panathenaic Stadium
   • Cape Sounion and the Temple of Poseidon, about 70km down the coast

   Getting ashore

   Docked. Terminals sit along Akti Miaouli, and ships shuttle to the port gate; the Line 1 metro ride into Athens is about 25 minutes, but budget close to an hour door to door once the shuttle, the station walk and the queue are counted.

   Best months

   Apr-Jun and Sep-Oct (in Jul-Aug heatwaves the Acropolis and the Agora now close from midday until late afternoon)

8. Day 8 · At sea

9. Day 9

   Naples

   ItalyPort

   Naples is one of the few big Italian calls where the ship parks in the middle of the city - the Stazione Marittima sits at Molo Angioino with Castel Nuovo directly across the road. That makes it a rare port you can genuinely walk out of, though most passengers spend the day at Pompeii or on Capri instead. The city is loud, sooty and unpolished.

   • Pompeii or Herculaneum, both on the Circumvesuviana line from Garibaldi station
   • The Museo Archeologico Nazionale, which holds the mosaics and bronzes lifted out of Pompeii
   • Spaccanapoli and the Cappella Sansevero, home of the Veiled Christ
   • A hydrofoil to Capri from Molo Beverello, a few minutes' walk from the ship

   Getting ashore

   Ships berth at the Stazione Marittima on Molo Angioino in the city centre, a ten-minute walk from Piazza del Plebiscito with the hydrofoil pier next door.

   Best months

   Apr-Jun and Sep-Oct (Jul-Aug hot and crowded, and Pompeii has almost no shade)

10. Day 10

    Rome (Civitavecchia)

    ItalyArrive

    Civitavecchia is a working port town on the Tyrrhenian coast, and it is not Rome - the city is about 80km southeast, roughly 80 minutes each way. Budget for that honestly: a Rome day is some four hours of transit bracketing whatever you actually see. The port has Fort Michelangelo on the quay and good fish-market lunches, a real option if you have done Rome before.

    • St Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museums, with a timed entry booked well ahead
    • The Colosseum and the Roman Forum, a short walk apart on the Termini side
    • The Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain on a walking loop of the centro storico
    • Fort Michelangelo and the Terme Taurine Roman baths, for a day that stays in Civitavecchia

    Getting ashore

    Ships dock in Civitavecchia and a free shuttle runs to the port gate at Largo della Pace, from where it is a short walk to the station and a 70-80 minute train into Rome.

    Best months

    Apr-Jun and Sep-Oct (Jul-Aug hot, and the Rome queues are brutal)