Let me share my final thoughts on this cruise and I will talk about the ports individually and compare it overall to the Baltics cruise and compare the Diamond overall to the Voyager.

I'll start easy...Diamond versus Voyager..since they both do this itinerary. If I were taking this cruise in "iffy" weather and were concerned about things to do on board, I would choose the Voyager. The Diamond is very stable and was able to tender in Mykonos and the Voyager was unable to do so, however. In good weather, either ship would be fine, it would come down to $. The Diamond is up to the RSSC calibre. The 7th floor hall has some issues that come with age and the plumbing as well. The dining room is one of the most beautiful that I have ever seen. There is not as much open space to meet and talk and the production shows are more limited. The pool is tiny and if you get rowdy teens or lots of kids it could be obnoxious. We only had 2 children (who were perfect). There are few ships that can boast basic rooms as nice as the Voyager, so we won't go there, but I had no issue with the room. I would just recommend to not take the front of the ship if you do not like the sound of an anchor waking you up.

Greek Isles vs Baltic Itinerary. Doug and I feel that the Baltic Itinerary is more varied and St. Pete is so rich it leaves you aching for more. So, the Baltics itinerary is a repete for this reason.

The Athens to Istanbul itinerary is a great one. It is less varied..ancient ruins and islands, but the Acropolis in Athens, Mycenae, Corinth, Ephesus and Santorini are must sees. We haven't hit Istabul yet and are very excited about this port too.

Athens...Acroplis and a city tour are the main events. We took a drive to Cape Sounion...pretty, but not a must do.

Nafplion ...Wonderful. Didn't know what to expect. But the town itself is just honky tonk. Do a tour. All tours were reported as excellent. We did full day tour which was well paced and took us to several sites in the beautiful countryside.

Santorini..you tender and come into the base of the island. You can walk up, take a donkey up or take a cable car up. The walk is long and you have to dodge donkeys and donkey excrement. Some folks loved the donkeys; The cable car is $3.50 euro each way and there are long lines, but it is efficient. At the top, there are stores. You can take a bus for 1 euro to the beach or to Oia. Don't miss Oia..lovely. It is a shame to miss the beaches. Many folks rented cars here and went to the winery and had a great time. It is a varied island and it is great to be able to see as much as possible of the varied scenery and beautiful volcanic beaches.

Mykonos. Another touristy and pretty shopping village with the same things for sale as every other island. A pretty place that would have been fine for 1/2 day. I would have liked to have seen Delos for 1/2 and then to have gone to the beach for the other half...nice beach..Paradise Beach..(12 euros round trip). Nice Naval museum here I heard.

Rhodes. A very interesting city with lots of nice package tours. Same stuff in shops..good museums and nice Acropolis site. Culture tour was supposedly excellent. Nice beaches.

Ephesus: A place to tour all day. Everyone did..just like in St. Petersberg. Ephesus is the best preserved ancient ruin in the world today and is extraordinarily large..several hours. Earliest artifacts are from the 14th century BC and date up through the 4th century AD. So, the breadth and wealth of history and architecture is tremendous. So much is intact, that you can actually walk through the site and imagine living in these times and picture what the city looked like. It was an Ancient History class that had come alive!

I would definitely recommend this cruise on either ship. Just be careful when you book and set your expectations accordingly. Do you want just an historic trip? Will it be spoiled if it is too hot? Do you want to enjoy the beaches?Will you be disappointed if you must spend all of your time bundled in sweaters and inside? Will the Diamond's limited size bother you then? If the "GODS" are with you, this can be a very exciting trip offering everything from beach, shopping, history; the the weather gods are not with you, there are compromises that you must mentally make to ease your disappointments.

We did have perfect weather for historical touring and were only cheated out of Delos. But no sundeck and swimming weather for us. Skies were blue and days a comfortable 65.