If you’re looking to explore some of the most beautiful and romantic destinations in Greece, look no further than a cruise with Celestyal Cruises. The 7-day Idyllic Aegean cruise took me on a journey through some of the most stunning ports in Greece, including Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, Milos, and even Kusadasi in Turkey.
The Itinerary
The 7-day Idyllic Aegean took us to 8 ports, starting in Athens Piraeus to Thessaloniki, Kusadasi (in Turkey), Rhodes, Heraklion in Crete, Santorini, Mykonos, and Milos. One of the coolest things about this cruise is that it’s kind of hop-on, hop-off style, with passengers joining and departing the cruise at each port (with the most popular starting point being Athens, of course).
Since Celestyal is a Greek company and the Celestyal Crystal is a smaller ship, it allowed us more time at ports than other cruise lines might get, and also access to ports bigger ships wouldn’t be able to come into, like Milos.
There was even a day on the itinerary where we visited two ports in a day, something I’m not sure big ships would be able to pull off. If you’re trying to see a lot of the Greek Islands in only 7 days, this itinerary might be for you.
“Experience the Cretan Countryside and Lifestyle” excursion
For me, the highlights of the itinerary were Kusadasi, Santorini, and Milos. Everyone had Ephesus as an included excursion in Kusadasi, Turkey, and the ruins there were my favorite I visited on the whole trip. The Library of Celsus (pictured below) is really quite magical.
For Santorini, I booked the excursion to Oia for sunset, which I recommend doing if you wanted to capture that famous Santorini sunset photo that everyone gets (otherwise, the port the cruise stops in on Santorini is Fira).
Pro-tip in Oia: go to the castle ruins at sunset to get the view pictured below. Just make sure to get there an hour or two early if you want a good spot as it is very crowded with tourists during the summer!
On Milos, I highly recommend booking the full-day boat tour that takes you to the most famous beaches on the island, like Sarakiniko which looks like a moonscape, and Kleftiko with its beautiful blue waters and white cliffs.
If you’re going to plan to swim at one stop on the cruise, make it Milos. My favorite part of the excursion was anchoring at Kleftiko and getting to swim there for over an hour. You can even swim into some of the caves in the cliffs!
Rhodes was another stop in which everyone onboard was given an included excursion to the Acropolis of Lindos. I really liked visiting the acropolis, and the views from the top were pretty incredible. After climbing up to the top and getting to spend a little time shopping in the town of Lindos below, they took us back for a walking tour of the medieval city of Rhodes.
The medieval town was located within walking distance of the port, which was super convenient. If you’re into medieval history, Rhodes might be your favorite stop with all there is to see here. Otherwise, there are lots of great local shops and restaurants to explore within the walls of the fortress.
View of the town of Lindos from the acropolis on Rhodes
Mykonos is another popular stop on Greece cruises, and we were at port here until 2 am, leaving plenty of time for ship passengers to hit up one of the famous beaches of Mykonos, spend the day shopping (this was definitely the best spot for lots and lots of shopping), dine at the local restaurants alongside the ocean, check out the Mykonos windmills (pictured below), or go out clubbing!
Onboard the Celestyal Crystal
The Celestyal Crystal is a medium-sized cruise ship, holding around 1200 passengers (though it wasn’t at capacity for my sailing). The size of the ship was great because it didn’t feel too crowded, but there were still plenty of people to meet and socialize with onboard. And being a Greek cruise line meant that about half the guests onboard were Greek, so it was a great way to meet locals and really get a taste of Greek life! I even visited a friend I made onboard in her hometown near Athens after the cruise.
Enjoying my time exploring the streets of Mykonos
There are plenty of places to relax on the Celestyal Crystal, including an outdoor pool and sundeck, a hot tub on the ship’s back deck, multiple bars and lounges, a small casino, a spa, and more. They offered nightly shows in the theater run by a Cuban circus production – my favorite by far was the ABBA-themed show! The stage is small, so these aren’t huge productions like some larger cruise lines have, but they’re still a lot of fun.
For food, there was a small buffet, your standard fine dining restaurants, and one Greek restaurant that you could book for an additional charge. I did a mix of dining off and onboard, which I recommend so that you can experience the local Greek food as much as possible.
I had a junior suite for my room, which is 15-16 square meters (about 170 square feet). While it was on the smaller side of suites I’ve had on cruises, the big win was having a balcony and a bit of extra space (the interior staterooms are about 11 sqm and the exterior staterooms are about 12 sqm).
The junior suites have a pullout couch, meaning you could fit up to 3 guests in one, so this could be a great option for families or if you just want more space to chill out in or for opening your luggage. If you want a lot of space though, you’ll be looking at the suites (25 & 34 sqm), balcony suites (~36 sqm), and grand suites (~43 sqm), which are double or triple the size of the junior suites.
I usually avoid things like the clubs on ships. Still, the most fun night I had onboard was going to the ABBA production in the theater, which was a fun singalong with a full audience, and then out to the club (one of the bars had a small dancefloor that gets converted into a club at night). I had low expectations, but it was actually quite the party with that small group of people! This just goes to show how great the passengers are aboard Celestyal and how much that contributes to the cruise experience.
Overall, I had a fabulous time exploring Greece with Celestyal. It was a great taster of the country, and I cannot wait for the opportunity to eventually go back and experience some of my favorite ports for an extended amount of time. If you’re looking to island-hop and really make the most out of only one week in Greece, this is the way to do it!
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