car rental is cheap here and good!  From $20 up for the day and the roads mostly empty in autumn months.  did three wineries on our own and had lunch at a major beach.  do not miss Santos Winery even if you have to take a bus or taxi there.  ship tours are ridiculously expensive.

Santorini

Sail in is just spectacular...bring binoculars! However the town itself is less than stellar and only interesting for a few hours.  we should have taken the bus to Perast and gone to the two islands by water taxi but time was short.

Kotor

Gorgeous port from the sea with a wide promenade lined with pineapple palm trees and little cafes.  Diocletian's place beautiful and interesting.  they do walking tours right in front of it and free tours as well. The goods for sale are lacklustre for the most part and the people seemed a bit cold. However some interesting art and leather bracelets in the tunnel of shops as you enter Split. It's very much a meandering place.
They offer Segway Tours of the mountain park and we are so sorry to have missed that as the views are wonderful and there are little cafes along the way. find it on internet.  Also there is a city hop on bus in the port for $20 which included a walking tour later of the Palace. A good deal.

Split

No real tour..on our own which is all you need here.  the only reason we took this was because of the shortness of time.  Otherwise go without a tour.

fantastic boat trip commentary by an educated and interesting guide. However when we entered the glass factory there were too many people and many had to stand and could not see well.  Factory was then too crowded. Shouldn't have happened.

this is not worth the money or the long journey.  Stay in Athens.

do on your own if you dare.  you will be hassled to death and so confused you will want to flee.  I would only shop here with a Turkish friend.

Impossibly long lines and almost an hour wait no matter how you plan to see this.  A great deal of walking!!! Guide needed to make what you are seeing meaningful but ship horribly overpriced and there are great guides on the internet...check trip advisor.
Taxi drivers will rip you off up and down with every trick in the book.  they are merciless.  Do not get in a cab.

do this on your own.  only ten minutes...an easy tour.

terrific guide...she had to be because it was so hot and so much walking that one would drop out if she weren't. Of high interest. Boat trip enjoyable.
Never would go in Summer months. Take an umbrella!

Cabin 5015 was wonderfully roomy, attractive, and had tons of storage. Balcony beautiful but oddly one large, comfy chair and one small, not so comfy chair???? Bathtub and spacious bathroom. Hallway too dark. No plug in the bathroom. Convenient to the open bow deck which was opened for special sail-bys.

On evenings when the ship has an outdoor party planned on the Lido deck, forget altogether about the dining room as the menu then is lame and the service weak.The temperatures throughout the ship were uneven to say the least, frigid in the lounge close to the dining room and then sweltering in the dining room itself at times.

Nieuw Amsterdam Review

A few Highlights and Comments on our Venice cruise

Rating by category

Additional details

Cabin Review

Deluxe Ocean-View Verandah Stateroom

Find a Nieuw Amsterdam Cruise from $323