Variety Cruises Has Restarted Its Greek Island Cruises

After the coronavirus pandemic, the thought of escaping this summer on a Greek islands cruise may seem impossible. However, one cruise line has restarted sailing this idyllic destination.

Variety Cruises has restarted its Greek island cruises, sailing week-long itineraries island-hopping around the Cyclades.

The cruise line restarted sailings on 25 July, one of the very few cruise lines now operating on the world’s oceans.

The first sailing back took place on board 49-passenger Galileo, a classically designed mega-yacht with billowing white sails.

Taking passengers on trip around the Cyclades, the ship stopped at the islands of Folegandros, Paros and Syros, along with big hitters like Santorini and Mykonos.

Offering sailings on the itinerary up until 22 October 2021, the ship departs round-trip from Athens, operating on both Galileo and Panorama.

Variety Cruises was given the green light due to the small size of its ships, its flagship and largest ship, Variety Voyager, only carrying 72 passengers.

Greece recently announced plans to open six of its cruise ports to cruise ships from 1 August 2020.

These ports include Piraeus, Rhodes, Heraklion, Volos, Corfu and Katakolo.

Following on from the announcement, the Greek minister of tourism sent a letter to CLIA announcing details of the reopening, along with letters to Costa Cruises, MSC Cruises and Marella Cruises – the three largest cruise lines operating in the Greek islands.

As of now, Variety Cruises is one of the few ocean cruise lines currently in operation, with others including Hurtigruten and Dream Cruises.

Despite the resumption of operations and the green light given by the Greek government, British nationals are still not able to take an international ocean cruise.

While the Foreign Office has issued a list of countries deemed safe for Brits to travel to, Greece being one of them, it still advises against international ocean cruising.

Allowing Brits the chance to still get the chance to board an ocean vessel this year, a handful of cruise lines are now offering a selection of British Isles cruises.

Norwegian expedition cruise line Hurtigruten has launched a series of short break expedition cruises around this British Isles for September 2020.

Princess Cruises has also launched a huge British Isles cruise sale, offering fares from as little as £649 per person.