Originally Posted by
ged
We've done 2 such cruises, one a 12-night Holy Land cruise (Romes, Naples, Athens, Haifa, Ashdod (Jerusalem), Kusadasi, Rhodes, Chania) with Royal Caribbean and then a 7-night that started & ended in Genoa (Naples, Messina (Sicily), Tunisia, Barcelona, Marseille) with MSC. Both were great experiences, and like PP have stated, rather port intensive. I would definitely prioritize the itinerary you are most interested in and not worry too much about the ship/cruiseline (that being said, of the European lines, I'm not the most comfortable with Costa, and I don't like Carnival, for "American" lines). Also take a look at port times. Some are so short that you can't do much even while in port (e.g., we did not have enough time in Naples to make it to Pompeii and back). I've never visited Santorini, but I know when I was considering a cruise there, I made sure to only consider the ships that were there long enough the catch the sunset, b/c to me, that is imp. Of course, to each her own!
My next European cruise, if ever, will hopefully to Scandinavia/fjords...