on’t you think we’re a bit young for a cruise?” my boyfriend said when I floated the idea a few months ago. Cruising is a bit Marmite: you’re either a mega fan or the thought of it makes your toes curl. But to me it seemed the perfect way to explore Greece — a country with almost 10,000 miles of coastline where tourists tend to congregate around the usual spots, such as Santorini and Corfu.

And there are a lot more tourists than usual. Greece has bounced back after Covid, leapfrogging Italy to become the second most popular holiday destination after Spain, with almost four million Brits visiting each year. Good news for the Greek economy, but bad for the rest of us. Venturing further afield for something a bit more “authentic” often requires MI6-levels of planning and navigation of hit-and-miss ferries.

But it’s doable if you have someone else to take care of the planning, which is where the cruise comes in. Especially as instead of choosing a 3,000-passenger ship we’re opting for a boutique cruise from the new company Elixir, which — with a maximum of 48 passengers — promises to feel more like a private yacht charter, without the five-digit price tag.