Honeymoon Ideas: Cruising Greece and Croatia

In November, I shared on the blog the first half of our Euro-trip exploring Italy, and I finally got a chance to sit down and summarize the second half of our trip which involved cruising through Greece and Croatia. I know... it's taken some time, but it is finally here! If you are brainstorming honeymoon ideas and are considering doing a cruise, below is an overview of our Royal Caribbean 10-night Greece and The Adriatic Cruise experience.

Venice, Italy

We took a cab to the Venice port from the Venezia S. Lucia train station, and embarked on Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas. We had already done the online check-in and printed/stapled the luggage tags provided, so the boarding process was very easy.

Note: A cab was way cheaper than a water taxi, but we did have to drag our luggage up and down several steps until we reached the street.

Zadar, Croatia

Our first stop was bright and early to Zadar's Krka National Park. On the way to these gorgeous waterfalls, we were able to see the beautiful landscape, and once there we took a dip in the slippery and chilly (but amazing) waterfalls.

Split, Croatia

The following day we got to explore Split, one of my favorite stops! I love how this city had a mix of cute little towns by the water, amazing landscapes, and also beaches. On this stop we actually did the Cetina River Cruise & Split City Highlights tour, which started in Omis (photo below), a town 30 minutes away from Split which I strongly recommend visiting, and ended in a guided tour of Split's city.

Santorini, Greece

After a day sunbathing and partying at sea, we finally reached our first stop in Greece. To change it up a bit, we decided to do a catamaran and sail the Caldera. After our tour ended, we took the cable car and walked around the cute streets of Santorini meanwhile enjoying the mind-blowing views. Our visit ended with us experiencing going down the old Karavolades stairs back to the tender boat.

Note: Even though going down those stairs is a great workout, it is hard to enjoy the view when you are trying to not get run over by stinky donkeys and step on their waste. It was a unique experience, but let's just say I recommend taking the cable car back down.

Athens, Greece

We knew that we definitely wanted a guided tour in Athens to hit all the historic spots and learn more about this ancient city. It is definitely impressive to see Athens and I actually liked it way more than I thought I would. At the end of the tour, we decided to walk around the city and we came across the Acropolis Museum that has a glass floor with ruins and excavations below it.

Mykonos, Greece

Spoiler alert, this was my favorite stop! I'm a sucker for places by the water and Mykonos felt like a mix between Venice and Greece (they actually have a "Little Venice"). After a couple of hours of sun at Elia Beach beach, we went back to Mykonos town, walked around, and soaked up the view. I can't wait to go back, actually stay in Mykonos, and explore more.

Corfu, Greece

This was the last port of call and actually the only stop for which we didn't have a pre-purchased tour. After trying to figure out how to get the cheapest cab to Paleokastritsa Bay (photo below), we decided to split the ride with another couple and had so much fun seeing the beautiful views. We also took a boat ride to another island to maximize our time there, and we ended our self-guided impromptu tour at the Corfu village.

Venice, Italy

Finally, the cruise took us back to Venice where we spent a couple of days before heading back home.

To wrap up this amazing experience, I want to leave you with a couple of tips:

A 10-night cruise feels like the right amount of time on a cruise. More days might be too much and fewer days might feel too little.
It's not every day that you are in Europe. In our case we explored Italy before and after our cruise, and if you can, I encourage you to do the same. It is so worth it!
If you and your future spouse are looking for a relaxing vacation, where relaxing means waking up late and not doing anything, this honeymoon or vacation idea might not be for you. However, this is a great option for couples looking to do something active, exciting, and different every day.
Beverage packages can be upgraded at the cruise. My husband and I had the beer and wine package included, but once we saw the prices for cocktails, it made sense to upgrade my husband to the liquor package.
When you board the cruise, wear pool ready clothes since it takes a couple of hours for your luggage and room to be available.
We pre-purchased all of our excursions via Royal Caribbean. However, now that we have realized that getting off at each port is not as intimidating or overwhelming as we thought, we could probably have found cheaper excursions at each port. However, one advantage of purchasing the excursions through the cruise is that you do get priority when getting off at each port.