Greece cruise guide: Greek island cruises by line, port and month

Greek island cruises come in two shapes. Round trips from Athens (Piraeus) spend most of the week in the Aegean, often with a stop in Turkey. Longer Eastern Mediterranean routes from Rome, Venice-area ports or Barcelona give you two or three Greek islands alongside Italy or Croatia. If Greece is the point of the trip, start in Athens. For the wider picture, see our European cruises guide.

Best time to go

• April and May: mild, green and far less crowded. The sea is still cool, and a few island businesses open late in the spring.
• June: long days and warm sea, before the peak crowds. Our pick for a first Greek cruise.
• July and August: the hottest and busiest weeks, with the late-July to early-August stretch the hottest of all. The meltemi, a strong northerly summer wind that peaks in July and August, keeps the islands cooler than Athens but can make tender ports choppy and occasionally cancels a call.
• September and October: warm sea, thinner crowds and often lower fares. Our pick for couples.
• November to March: the rainy season. Very few ships sail the Greek islands, though Celestyal runs a longer season than most.

Lines compared for Greece

• Celebrity CruisesCelebrity Infinity spends summer 2027 on 7- to 12-night Greek Isles and Turkey routes from Athens, and Celebrity Ascent sails the eastern Mediterranean from Rome.
  From $850 per personChecked September 2026
• Royal CaribbeanFour ships on Greek routes in 2027 from Athens and Ravenna, and the only line with its own beach club on Santorini, which opened in summer 2026.
  From $441 per personChecked September 2026
• Virgin VoyagesAdults only. Scarlet Lady sails 7- to 11-night Greek Isles, Turkey and Adriatic trips from Athens in 2027, with late nights in port.
  From $1,750 per personChecked September 2026
• Norwegian Cruise LineNorwegian Viva sails 9- to 11-day Greek Isles routes from Istanbul, Rome and Ravenna in 2027, with late departures from Santorini.
  Fares change daily; check current prices
• Princess CruisesSun Princess and Enchanted Princess both start some 2027 sailings in Athens, and Enchanted Princess also sails from Istanbul and Trieste.
  From $2,418 per personChecked September 2026
• Holland America LineOosterdam sails 7- to 11-day Mediterranean routes in 2027 with Athens as one of four homeports. Calmer and older-skewing.
  Fares change daily; check current prices
• MSC CruisesLow fares on 7-night eastern Mediterranean loops, often with Mykonos or Santorini on the route. A mostly European crowd.
  Fares change daily; check current prices
• Oceania CruisesSmaller ships that reach smaller islands, with overnights in Istanbul and long days in port.
  Fares change daily; check current prices
• Celestyal CruisesA Greece-based line with two mid-size ships based in Piraeus: 3- and 4-night island hops and 7-night Greece and Turkey loops, plus overnights in Mykonos and Santorini on some routes.

For luxury and small ships (Silversea, Seabourn, Windstar and others do many Aegean sailings), see the best luxury and small-ship cruises. Adults who want a quieter ship should read our adults-only cruise picks.

Typical length and price

• 3 to 4 nights: Celestyal’s short island hops from Piraeus. Good as an add-on to a land trip in Athens.
• 7 nights: the standard Greek Isles round trip from Athens, usually four or five islands plus a Turkish port.
• 9 to 12 nights: Greece with Turkey, Croatia or Italy, common on Celebrity, Norwegian, Princess and Holland America.

Greek cruises cost more in July and August and less in April, May and October. Celestyal and MSC usually have the lowest fares; Virgin Voyages and Celebrity cost more but include more. Greece also charges cruise passengers a per-person fee at each island call, highest at Santorini and Mykonos from June to September (€20 per person, less in spring, autumn and winter), usually collected by the cruise line.

Departure ports

• Athens (Piraeus): the main Greek homeport, about 7 miles from central Athens. Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Virgin Voyages, Princess, Holland America and Celestyal all start sailings here.
• Istanbul: Norwegian and Princess start some Greek sailings here, often with an overnight.
• Ravenna, Trieste and Venice-Marghera: the Venice-area ports for Adriatic and Greek routes.
• Rome (Civitavecchia) and Barcelona: for longer trips that add Greece to Italy or Spain.

Cruise to Greece from the USA

There’s no direct cruise from the U.S. to Greece in regular service. Most Americans fly to Athens and spend a night before boarding. The alternative is a transatlantic crossing to Southampton on Queen Mary 2 from New York, then a flight; see our New York cruise port guide and transatlantic cruises.

Sailings snapshot

Ports of call

• Santorini: ships anchor below the caldera and tender guests ashore; the cable car queue is the bottleneck. The island manages daily cruise arrivals through a berth allocation system.
• Mykonos: ships use the port north of town or anchor offshore, so allow time for the shuttle or sea bus into the old town; lines that stay late or overnight get the evening.
• Crete (Heraklion or Chania): Knossos from Heraklion, the Venetian harbor in Chania.
• Rhodes: a walled medieval old town, a short walk from the pier.
• Corfu and Katakolon (Olympia): the Ionian side, common on routes from Italy.
• Kusadasi (Ephesus): the Turkish stop on many Greek Isles cruises.
• Athens: if your cruise starts or ends here, add a day for the Acropolis.

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