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In this week's episode of the Dreams Unlimited Travel podcast, John and Kevin discuss the itinerary on their Royal Caribbean Greek Isles cruise!

This cruise on Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas left from Venice, Italy and traveled to the following ports of call:

~Katakolon, Greece
~Chania, Greece
~Mykonos, Greece
~Santorini, Greece
~Kusadasi, Turkey
~Athens, Greece

Watch and listen as photos of these breathtaking locations are shared along with details on what to expect in each port. Enjoy the show!

 
Even though this was posted almost 2 years ago, I'm only now seeing it. Great podcast - thanks! I'm looking forward to my 9-night Greek Isles cruise on Jewel of the Seas in October 2019 - when it won't be quite so hot.
 
Even though this was posted almost 2 years ago, I'm only now seeing it. Great podcast - thanks! I'm looking forward to my 9-night Greek Isles cruise on Jewel of the Seas in October 2019 - when it won't be quite so hot.
We're going at the end of May 2019 on Rhapsody of the Seas and hoping to be there before the hot days. :)
 


We're going at the end of May 2019 on Rhapsody of the Seas and hoping to be there before the hot days. :)

I was just on the Rhapsody a few weeks ago and had a great time. I was surprised the heat wasn't as bad as I expected in the ports we visited (Katakolon, Santorini, Kotor, and Split). I don't know if we just were lucky or if it was because the Royal excursions I did were all early. Three of the meeting times were 6:45 a.m. and the fourth one was 7:15 a.m. and the excursions were finished by afternoon. This was my third Mediterranean cruise (Princess and Disney). I was much hotter in the ports I did on my two previous Med cruises, but the excursions on them were full day.

Hope you enjoy the Rhapsody and your itinerary as much as I did!
 
I was just on the Rhapsody a few weeks ago and had a great time. I was surprised the heat wasn't as bad as I expected in the ports we visited (Katakolon, Santorini, Kotor, and Split). I don't know if we just were lucky or if it was because the Royal excursions I did were all early. Three of the meeting times were 6:45 a.m. and the fourth one was 7:15 a.m. and the excursions were finished by afternoon. This was my third Mediterranean cruise (Princess and Disney). I was much hotter in the ports I did on my two previous Med cruises, but the excursions on them were full day.

Hope you enjoy the Rhapsody and your itinerary as much as I did!
Thank you so much! The only port we're doing the same as you is Kotor. What did you do there?

We're starting off in Venice (a couple of days), then going to Kotor - Corfu - Athens (full day tour already booked) - Mykonos - Argostoli, and then a sea day. Any/all advice & recommendations is appreciated.
 
It sounds like a great itinerary. In Kotor, we did the Montenegro highlights tour. I enjoyed the scenic drive. The tour had one of those requisite sales stops which was a Turkish leather shop.

It was set up as a fashion show which was fun to watch. Nobody bought anything as the price of the leather jackets (even though 50% off) were expensive. I am not into those gimicky sales stops but my brother was pulled up to model one of the male jackets so that made it fun to watch and the jackets were beautiful

I read beforehand to wake up early to watch the sail into Kotor because of how beautiful it is. I did do this and loved watching the sail in during sunrise from the top deck. We did have a balcony but the view was much better from up top.

Here are a few pictures from sailing into Kotor although I am sure they don't do it justice:
16131162-2EF8-4F8A-BBE0-3CE6A097334A.jpeg C6826CF2-E514-4596-BF11-D57664C2E0F2.jpeg BB79ED1B-627E-4F65-89D1-46EDEEC29219.jpeg

I have visited Athens and Mykonos on the Disney Magic. In Athens, we did a half day tour since on that cruise we had full day tours in most of the other stops.

In Mykonos, we did the ruins at Delos and then walked all around the town. Disney ran a shuttle from the town back to the ship, but I am not sure if Royal does this or if it docks in the same place.

I enjoyed the ruins of Delos. I highly recommend walking around exploring the side streets in the town if you have time. Mykonos was so beautiful! I also recommend finding a spot to eat along the water in the town. I have visited a lot of ports on cruises and Mykonos is top three for me.

Here are a few pictures from our stop in Mykonos when we were on the Disney Magic:
DB2977CC-9764-499D-81DC-0370A499A787.jpeg
6535A050-549D-4A5E-B470-3E2F25AAC7B5.jpeg A6D5BBF3-DDF8-4C21-A1CC-E0AC813438EA.jpeg

For Venice, I recommend that hotel location is important. I visited Venice years ago with my parents on a bus tour of Europe and we stayed by the airport. I have always wanted to go back and redo Venice and stay at a hotel right on one of the canals.

I am so glad we did this. The location of our hotel was wonderful. We could walk to all the main sights and to where we had to pick up the water ferries to visit other areas such as Murano.

Our travel agent had booked us a private water taxi that took us right to our hotel from the airport. There were 7 of us and lots of luggage so we were glad to have this.

However, we didn't realize beforehand that the private water taxi from the hotel to the ship had not been booked to pick us up directly from the hotel but instead the pickup was scheduled from the nearest pier. So we did have to drag our suitcases through St. Mark's Square to the pier.

It wasn't that far, but when you are going up and down the little bridges with luggage, it is inconvenient. If I ever did a cruise out of Venice again, I would prefer the water taxi to pick us up right from the hotel if possible.

I am not sure if you plan on riding in a gondola. The first time I visited Venice I did the gondola in the afternoon and it was so hot (especially since I was wearing jeans for entering churches.) I absolutely hated the gondola experience and couldn't wait to be done. So, this time I wanted to do the ride in the evening. I also was wearing a very light pair of capris. (I have learned how to pack better for visiting churches in hot climates over the years.) I had been waiting many years to redo and actually enjoy a gondola ride in Venice.

Hopefully, you find this post useful as you prepare for your cruise.
 
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It sounds like a great itinerary. In Kotor, we did the Montenegro highlights tour. I enjoyed the scenic drive. The tour had one of those requisite sales stops which was a Turkish leather shop.

It was set up as a fashion show which was fun to watch. Nobody bought anything as the price of the leather jackets (even though 50% off) were expensive. I am not into those gimicky sales stops but my brother was pulled up to model one of the male jackets so that made it fun to watch and the jackets were beautiful

I read beforehand to wake up early to watch the sail into Kotor because of how beautiful it is. I did do this and loved watching the sail in during sunrise from the top deck. We did have a balcony but the view was much better from up top.

Here are a few pictures from sailing into Kotor although I am sure they don't do it justice:
View attachment 346697 View attachment 346698 View attachment 346700

I have visited Athens and Mykonos on the Disney Magic. In Athens, we did a half day tour since on that cruise we had full day tours in most of the other stops.

In Mykonos, we did the ruins at Delos and then walked all around the town. Disney ran a shuttle from the town back to the ship, but I am not sure if Royal does this or if it docks in the same place.

I enjoyed the ruins of Delos. I highly recommend walking around exploring the side streets in the town if you have time. Mykonos was so beautiful! I also recommend finding a spot to eat along the water in the town. I have visited a lot of ports on cruises and Mykonos is top three for me.

Here are a few pictures from our stop in Mykonos when we were on the Disney Magic:
View attachment 346711
View attachment 346712 View attachment 346713

For Venice, I recommend that hotel location is important. I visited Venice years ago with my parents on a bus tour of Europe and we stayed by the airport. I have always wanted to go back and redo Venice and stay at a hotel right on one of the canals.

I am so glad we did this. The location of our hotel was wonderful. We could walk to all the main sights and to where we had to pick up the water ferries to visit other areas such as Murano.

Our travel agent had booked us a private water taxi that took us right to our hotel from the airport. There were 7 of us and lots of luggage so we were glad to have this.

However, we didn't realize beforehand that the private water taxi from the hotel to the ship had not been booked to pick us up directly from the hotel but instead the pickup was scheduled from the nearest pier. So we did have to drag our suitcases through St. Mark's Square to the pier.

It wasn't that far, but when you are going up and down the little bridges with luggage, it is inconvenient. If I ever did a cruise out of Venice again, I would prefer the water taxi to pick us up right from the hotel if possible.

I am not sure if you plan on riding in a gondola. The first time I visited Venice I did the gondola in the afternoon and it was so hot (especially since I was wearing jeans for entering churches.) I absolutely hated the gondola experience and couldn't wait to be done. So, this time I wanted to do the ride in the evening. I also was wearing a very light pair of capris. (I have learned how to pack better for visiting churches in hot climates over the years.) I had been waiting many years to redo and actually enjoy a gondola ride in Venice.

Hopefully, you find this post useful as you prepare for your cruise.

Thank you so much for all of your advice. We have a full-day tour in Athens, and nothing planned yet for Mykonos. Your suggestions sound so good. I'm not sure if we'll do any excursions in Kotor.

We're staying in an AirBnB in Venice near the Rialto Bridge. I think we have the transportation from the airport to the check-in and transport from the cruise to the airport fine, but we still need to arrange for a taxi to take us from the AirBnB to the ship. There are 10 of us with all of our luggage, so that will be interesting. :) We do want to take a gondola ride, so thank you for the advice on an evening, too.
 

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