From the ship to the island we took a boat for €2 per person. Mykonos is wonderful and very easy to go around without any tour leaders. Many souvenir shops with really nice ceramics. Went back to the ship by the cruise bus.

We took the hop on hop off at a very reasonable price of €12 per person and children for free. We went around Athens and could stop wherever we wanted. We visited on a Sunday so most of the shops were closed.

Rhodes is really beautiful with really beautiful scenes. From the ship it is a small walk to the Old Town and went on to the city for some shopping. Really nice outlets at good prices and many sales during July.

From the ship to the island and vice versa we went by the tender boat. The port in Santorini is rather small and not suitable for cruise liners so you have to take the tender boat which is free and very well organized.

In Santorini you either go up the steps where you can see beautiful views of the island but not recommended when the weather is hot. Another option is the donkey but you will risk getting badly injured as happened to one lady who was cruising on the same ship. She slipped off the donkey and the poor donkey fell on her with the result of breaking one of her legs! The best option is the cable car which costs €6 per person. There are long queues but the service is quite fast. You can also hire a quad bike to go round the island.

Malta is our country.

Once you go down the ship you will either find a:

Taxi or a hop on hop off bus to take you around the island.

You can also go on a horse carriage to take you around the capital city Valletta.

Another option for the city is - as you go out of the port and few steps away there is lift which cost about €1.50 per person which takes you to the upper baracca where you can see beautiful views of the port and walk to the centre of Valletta. Many souvenir shops, restaurants, cafeterias, brand shops, shopping arcades, Nature Museum, The Prime Minister's Palace, The Old Opera House, St. John's Cathedral and many more.

Other places around the island are

1) Vittoriosa one of the 3 interconnecting old cities ( Cospicua/ Senglea/ Vittoriosa). To get there - once you go down the ship opposite the lift to take you to the upper baracca there is a ferry service every 15 - 30 mins direct to Vittoriosa and back to Valletta. Worth the visit if you like history - Inquisitors Palace, St Angelo's Bastions and 2 main Churches.

2) Marsaxlokk is the fishermen's village with really good restaurants specialising in fish.

3) Nice beaches like Pretty Bay in Birzebugga / Zurrieq another fishermen's village - there is also a ferry boat to take you to Blue Lagoon. / Paradise Bay North of the Island / Mellieha Bay etc...

4) Sliema / St. Julians and Paceville towns next to each other which are known for the night life - several night clubs, gentlemen clubs, luxurious hotels, cinemas, bowling, shopping, swimming etc.

5) Bugibba / St. Paul's Bay similar to Sliema and Paceville with nice areas for swimming, restaurants and night life.

We took a walk from the ship to the centre of Messina where we took the hop on hop off. Long queues in the sun to take the bus and organization is a total disaster!

The only attraction is at 12:00pm - the main tower clock.

As soon as you go down the port you are surrounded by guys who try to give you their very best prices to take you around. You have to be extremely careful cause few of them are really genuine. They quote price like €80 per person for a whole day and then you find another guy who will go down to €40 per person for the same tour. We found a guy who wanted €40 per person and children free. He took us to Pompei where we spent about 2hrs. Then he took us to the Amalfi Coast. He made several stops to take photos and explaining to us. Then we headed to Sorrento. He left us there, gave us his mobile number and told us to call him back once ready. We spent a couple of hours there. At 5pm he came back for us and drove us back to the centre of Naples to visit the Cathedral and then back to the ship. Payment was made once we arrived back to the ship. Really worth it!!! Two people we met in Pompei also from Malta told us that their taxi guy took €100 to take them for a 2hrs 30mins visit to Pompei and back to the ship. So pls be careful and negotiate with these people.