Your 2-Week Mediterranean Vacation Guide: Rome, Greece & Turkey Cruise

There’s something magical about waking up in a new country every few days while still having the comfort of unpacking only two times (once in Rome then once on the cruise). After spending 3 days exploring Rome followed by a 9-day Royal Caribbean Mediterranean cruise through Italy, Greece, and Turkey, I compiled all the little things I wish I knew beforehand — from what to pack in only a carry-on to navigating airport security, EES border control, excursions, and the best food stops along the way. If you’re preparing for your first international vacation or Mediterranean cruise, here’s everything that helped make our trip smooth, memorable, and surprisingly manageable.

Why This Type of Vacation Worked So Well

One of the best decisions we made was combining a few days in Rome with a cruise. It gave us the perfect mix of: Deep exploring relaxation days, seeing multiple countries without constantly repacking, and built-in transportation between destinations. In just two weeks, we visited: Rome, Crete, Santorini, Kusadasi, Mykonos, Athens, & Naples. And honestly? It never felt rushed.

Packing Tips: Carry-On Bag + Personal Item Backpack Only

We did this entire trip with just: One carry-on suitcase & One backpack/personal item each. And I would absolutely travel this way again.

Biggest Packing Advice

Bring clothes that are easy to wash and dry – Avoid anything that needs special care or hanging dry. Vacation laundry is already annoying enough.

Don’t pack “cute but complicated” clothes. Instead, pack lightweight basics, items easy to wash clothes that dry quickly, comfortable walking outfits. What worked best for me was leggings, capri jeans, basic shirts, comfortable tennis shoes (walking off the cruise- I wore Merrill tennis shoes and husband wore Keen – both are a type of hiking tennis shoe that has grip on the bottom.) and sandals (cruise days), and minimal bras/swimwear. I noticed a lot of people that work flat type shoes with no grip have trouble slipping around. Pretty much all the surfaces we came across are a smooth stone, which is prone to be slippery. We didn’t come across rainy weather, but I can’t imagine if it rained on those slippery stone surfaces. So grippy tennis shoes are BEST!

Also, one thing I wish I packed more of? Extra travel-size contact solution. One travel-sized contact solution bottle lasted 10 days. Thankfully, our cruise ship had some as well as a contact container. I use Clear Care and you can’t use any other solution, but Clear Care with their case. It was pretty expensive on the boat with $10 bottle of contact solution and a $5 case. So grab an extra bottle before traveling.

Pack more medicine than you think you need – I’ve never gotten seasick before… until this cruise. Dramamine became essential after one rough sea day. I also packed Tums, Midol, Tylenol, PepcidAC, and non-drowsy allergy meds in a travel medicine container I got on Amazon.

Hydration packets are underrated – Between flying, walking nonstop, heat, and salty foods, hydration packets saved us multiple times.

Bring backup payment methods – A backup credit card, some Euros, and notify your bank beforehand if needed.

The Most Important “Extras”

International Travel Essentials

–International plug adapters

–Extended battery (you will be using Google maps and taking photos like crazy)

-Neck pillows

-Hand sanitizer

-Sanitizing wipes for airplane trays

-Sunglasses & case

–Luggage tags for the cruise

–Hydration packets to help with airplane dehydration, cruise days in the sun, and long walking days through Europe

-Flushable wipes (especially helpful in busy tourist bathrooms that may run out of toilet paper)

-Backup credit card

-Euros/cash

-Passports

Don’t skip the international adapters – Bring at least two. Hotel outlet placement can be weird.

My Favorite Unexpected Travel Items

1. A comfortable Crossbody Purse – The Pebble Grain Deni Crossbody (looks to be discontinued) from Dooney & Burke/I LOVE DOONEY. It ended up being one of the best purchases for the entire trip because it: held a surprising amount, stayed comfortable during long walking days, felt secure in crowded areas, and worked for both sightseeing and dinner. The dimensions of the bag is 8-1/2”W x 6”H x 3”D.

2. Kindle – I traveled with my Kindle Colorsoft (a Kindle Basic is great too-I have the Matcha) for sea days and flights and it was AMAZING. I also brought: a kindle page clicker and a Kindle magsafe holder for the plane but also for the side table on the cruise. Game changer! Another great addition is getting a Ganinno Kindle case that is completely magnetic on the back and having a magsafe popsocket stand. Oh and don’t forget your headphones for immersive reading (audiobook+follow along on kindle)

3. An RFID Magsafe Wallet – This wallet carries 4 cards in it. It’s helpful when your on the boat to carry your SeaPass securely. The wallet attaches on the back of your phone via Magsafe and you can also put a popsocket on it so it fits nicely in your hand. Got this amazing wallet on Amazon. My magsafe popsocket is the one with the stand and it’s gamechanger too!

4. Extended Battery – having the extended battery helps so much to charge phones and your point and shoot camera. You will be using your Google maps like crazy to find locations. And taking sooo many photos.

5. Camera SD card to USB-C adapter – to get images FAST from camera to my Iphone, using this adapter was the best addition and used it every day after exploring. The Camera I took was a Nikon A900, which is a discontinued camera and very hard to find.

My Biggest International Travel Tips

1. Get TSA PreCheck – Worth every penny. If you travel even semi-often in the U.S., get it. The security line difference was HUGE. Especially coming home through JFK where our Touchless TSA PreCheck got us through in about 5 minutes.

Global Entry- Worth considering if: you travel internationally often and if you hate customs lines.

But honestly, TSA PreCheck alone still made a huge difference for this trip.

2. Book Major Attractions Early – Especially in Rome and Athens. Things book up quickly and if you book day of or walk up you will find yourself not getting in or waiting LONG lines taking away time to see other things. So buy the skip the line tickets in advance – it’s worth it!

3. Don’t Overpack – you can wash your clothes on the cruise (for a small fee, which is worth every cent) also carrying less made airports, hotels, and cruise transitions SO much easier. And less chance of losing luggage, especially if you have a checked bag. Putting everything into a carry-on and personal backpack made it happen where we didn’t have to worry about losing luggage. We came aross a couple that ended up having to buy new clothes for their cruise since their checked bag never made it to Rome. Don’t be them!

4. Build In Rest Time – Sea days and slow mornings saved our energy.

5. Expect Long Lines – Whether it’s EES border control, Santorini photo spots, airport security, and popular attractions. Even though you buy your ticket ahead of time there is sometimes a little bit of a wait to get in. Usually there’s two lines, one for buying tickets and then one to get into the place.

6. Google Maps – I did a bunch of research finding places to eat and amazing locations that other friends have been to and pinned them in Saved places withing the Google Map App. That way when you get there you can pull up your map and see all the pinned locations and get directions to it easily. The BEST thing I did when planning over a year. Also, I put the Rome area in an offline map just in case you want to keep internet usage to a minimum or lose service while traveling. We have T-Mobile and within our plan is 5gigs of fast 5G internet usage and until it slows down.

Understanding EES in Europe

When we landed in Rome on April 21st, 2026: we registered which is good for 3 years. And all you have to do is scan your passport, did fingerprint scanning, and take a facial photo. This is something you can’t do ahead of time (who knows if this is something that can be done ahead of time in the future)

A weird thing happened where both my husband and I were randomly flagged to manual border checks despite our scans working initially at registration (me in Rome, and then my husband when coming home from Rome) Thankfully it only added another 5–10 minutes.

Total time from registration to getting through was about 45 mins when we arrived in Rome from JFK. And then same thing happened with the weird thing coming back home in the Rome airport which total time from security (We didn’t have fast pass which is a fee to skip the long security line)

My advice is stay calm, follow signs carefully, and build in extra airport time internationally.

Rome Travel Tips

Stay near the main attractions

We stayed at the Mercure Roma Centro Colosseo – The location/room was amazing. It overlooked the Colosseum and the rooftop view at sunset that has a pool and a bar/restaurant is the perfect addition to the experience. The location was AMAZING for walking to all the major attractions.

Book Major Attractions EARLY

Especially: Colosseum, Pantheon, Vatican Museums, and Sistine Chapel. We booked combo tickets ahead of time through TripAdvisor and we were SO glad we did.

Hop-On Hop-Off Bus = WORTH IT

Especially after lots of walking days. We used a 48-hour pass mostly to: rest our feet, sightsee from the upper deck, and easily move between attractions. Instead of spending a good amount of money with an Uber. Only used Uber once to get to the Vatican from the hotel due needing to be at our meeting place at 7:30am.

Favorite Rome Food Stops

Pasta

Rosetta and Diddi Bistrot

Absolutely incredible pasta.

Gelato

Giolitti

Best gelato of the entire trip. We went back multiple times! And do the dining experience instead of the to-go line. Especially, if you want to sit down with your gelato. It’s the best experience!

Best View and Food

Rooftop Lounge & Bar – Trevi Rooftop

This view of the Trevi Fountain while eating pizza was one of those “this doesn’t feel real” moments.

Royal Caribbean Cruise 9-nights – Odyssey of the Seas

Cruise Highlights by Destination

Crete

We toured:

-An Old Monastery

-Olive Oil Tasting

-Wine Tasting

-A gorgeous beach visit

Lunch at: Gorgona Beach Bar & Restaurant was one of the most relaxing meals of the trip.

Santorini

Beautiful? Yes.

Crowded? Also yes.

The famous blue domes REQUIRED a LONG line for photos, so prepare for that mentally.

We also did laundry this day which honestly helped reset us halfway through the trip. We only washed what we needed to get us home.

Kusadasi

Touring ancient Ephesus was one of the coolest historical experiences of the entire vacation. And seeing traditional silk rug making was also fascinating.

Mykonos

This stop felt straight out of Pinterest.

Highlights: Little Venice, the iconic windmills, ferry rides between islands, and walking the tiny white streets.

We had lunch at Kazarma which was fantastic. I had the shrimp linguine which had full bodied shrimp on it. So cool!

Athens

We booked ahead of time: The Parthenon (Acropolis) and the Acropolis Museum through GetYourGuide App while we were on the cruise just a couple days before and it worked perfectly.

If your comfortable exploring independently, the “Athens on Your Own” excursion was great because it simply handled the transportation while allowing freedom.

Naples

The ancient ruins of Pompeii were unforgettable and absolutely worth seeing in person.

Overall Thoughts on the Cruise

They took care into the itinerary of this cruise cause having a sea day before Crete and then having a sea day after Athens before arriving in Naples was the best for preparing and resting. My husband and I have been on one other cruise with Royal Caribbean which was on the Explorer of the Seas on a 7 night Caribbean Cruise. The Odyssey of the Seas is a much bigger boat and therefore, the interior room was a little bigger. At least it felt like it. And the Odyssey has the best Solarium for adults only area. It is indoors surrounded by windows at the front of the boat with a cascading pool with two hot tubs and it was the best spot to be for relaxing. The Odyssey of the Seas is by far the best cruise ship I’ve been on to date!

Flying Home: What to Expect

Leaving Rome: We did the transportation bus through the cruise ship to transport to the airport and that was WORTH it!

-Arrive EARLY to the airport (we departed through the Leonardo DaVinci Airport – Fiumicino)

-EES lines can be unpredictable

-Security was straightforward

-Signs for U.S. Flights were easy to follow once inside Terminal 3 (heads up head to the left once entering building-we flew Delta)

We skipped Fast Track security because the EES line was still the bigger line. It doesn’t really get you through faster cause the EES line was longer than security.

At JFK:

-We went through U.S. Border control

-Took a quick photo

-Re-entered TSA security

Again, TSA PreCheck saved us even though we had a 5 hour layover.

Final Thoughts

This trip completely changed how I view international travel. Before this, visiting multiple countries in one trip felt overwhelming and unrealistic. But combining a city stay with a cruise made it feel easy, organized, and surprisingly stress-free.

If you’re nervous about planning your first international vacation:

-Book major attractions early

-Build in flexibility

-Expect some lines and confusion

-Stay hydrated

-Pack lighter than you think (especially if you don’t want the potential checked back getting lost)

-Give yourself downtime

And honestly? Some of the best memories came from the simple moments. Like reading on the pool deck at sea, watching sunsets form rooftops, wandering random streets, and eating gelato at night in Rome.

Those are the things I already miss the most.

Have the best time planning and enjoying all the sights and experiences on your Europe trip!