We arrived two days before the cruise and stayed at Hotel Adams in the Plaka which is in heart of old Athens. Our hotel was basic, clean, and in an excellent location. We were able to easily walk to all the historical sites. Our cost was 85 euros/nt including breakfast. We bought our multi site entrance ticket near Hadrian's Arch which was just along the street from our hotel. This avoided any lineups the next morning at the Acropolis. The new Acropolis museum was very good. We felt that two days was sufficient for us in Athens as locations of interest are contained in quite a small footprint.

We used Welcome Pickups to meet us at the airport and later from hotel to cruise port. They cost the same as a taxi but without the fare hassles and offer excellent service in your own cab.

This port requires you to tender ashore. We took the Princess tour to Oia and Fira which makes you first off & enables you to bypass the lineup for the cable car when you arrive. However, it was a little odd to have winetasting at 9am on the way to Oia. Oia is beautiful and we greatly preferred it to Fira although Fira is still in a stunning location. It took us an hour in the lineup to descend on the cable for the return to the ship. There are some decent cafes at the foot of the cable car where you can relax before heading back to te ship (& knowing that the cable car issue is behind you).

The ship ties up just along the quay from the entrance into the walled city. We explored the medieval palace and the walled city. Later we took a local bus out to the long sandy Faliraki beach. The bus terminates right at the beach where there are mini markets and cafes as well as loungers/umbrellas to rent. Rhodes old city is beautiful with many interesting alleyways to explore. Larger town to explore than some other islands but steeped in history with great shopping.

A favourite for us as a clean and pretty town. We took the "Sea Bus" ferry which is adjacent to where the ship ties up. This is a much better option than the Princess coach as the ferry takes you right into the old port/town. Fare is 2 euros each way but pay the return to save lining up again to pay coming back.

After exploring the town we took the local bus to Platia Gialos beach. The bus terminates at the beach. It cost 1.80 euros each way. The beach is sandy but the water was not yet warm at this time of year. We rented comfy loungers/umbrella for 15 euros. There is a minimarket and many restaurants at the beach. We took a break and streched our legs by walking the footpath along the headland to Shirely Valentine beach and the one beyond that. Certainly an island to reurn to.

The ship ties up within easy walking distance of the main town. We found Geo Travel just outside the port gates(they yell and wave their hands to get your attention) that charged 6 euros return for the coach ride to Olympia. You have to wait some time for the other passengers to sign up. The train was also running and for 10 euros return was reported to be slower but quite an adventure. We explored Olympia using the relevant extract from Rick Steves guide and felt that we had fully explored the site. We enjoyed Olympia and were surprised that you could use the original starting blocks in the original stadium. In Katakolon, there is a promenade with cafes where you can relax prior to the stroll back to the ship.

Kotor is situated at the head of a long fjord and the sail in/out is quite spectacular. The ship ties up a very short distance walking from the main gates to the town. The town is very old and wandering around is easy as the area is reasonably small. The prices here were cheaper than other ports of call. It was very hot on both occasions we were there. If you are really fit you head up the many steps to the church and fotress that loom above the town. We heard of a couple of people though that had stumbled and suffered minor injury on this hike.

The ship docked right in Naples. We took Italytours.eu tour to Pompeii, Sorrento and a view of the stunningly beautiful Amalfi coast. There were 11 of us on a minibus. We had a very good English speaking guide at Pompeii and our driver/guide for the whole tour was truly excellent. We were picked up at the port gates at 0815 and returned by 1730. This was a really great day and well worth the reasonable cost of 69 euros(Pompeii entry fee was extra).

We took the Princess tour Taormina on your own tour. This essentially gave a decent narrated coach trip to/from Taormina from Messina port. Taormina is in the hills with great views(including Mt Etna if not clouded in). Taormina is a very nice old Sicilian town and we really would have liked more time here to explore.