I have spent about a month in Odessa over the past 9 years ( married a native). I honestly can't say that there is anything especially interesting about the city (apart from the fact that it is former FSU). It's a nice enough place to live (especially if you HAD to live in the FSU), pretty in the summer, but lacking in "tourist" attractions. Yeah, the steps are OK, and old parts of town are quaint, but, nothing that will change your world there.

Rick

We were on a similar cruise last May. We did not stop at Sevestopol. We did spend a day in Odessa. We did a walking tour in the a.m. and found that the old town was very attractive. Unlike some other former communist cities, Odessa still has its elegant old buildings, a lovely promenade overlooking the sea, and the famous Potemkin steps. There is also a lovely park where street vendors sell their goods. After the walking tour, we had lunch on the ship and then spent the afternoon strolling through the town. We enjoyed Odessa very much.

I basically agree with takemealong, Odessa in the spring and summer is quite beautiful. The central core is nice, but it's not by any means old by European standards(mostly 19th century). The Opera is impressive. There's a great bazaar (prevost) just to the right of the Vokzhal (railway station) that will keep you amused. The park takemealong refers to is off Deribosovskaya, which is the main shopping street. I was kind of impressed by the WWII memorials (of which there are several). Again, IMO, it's a decent place for a day, probably beats going to Dneipropetrovsk, but doesn't have the patina of time that I think Sevastopol or Kherson might have.

Rick

For the record, I think Dnepropetrovsk is a great city. Maybe not for tourism, but it just depends on what you're looking for. And yeah, I think Odessa is probably only worth visiting in summer. As for Crimea areas... never been there before, but you may want to visit http://www.ukracom.org. There are people on that site that know a lot about those areas that may be able to offer additional advice.

I don't know if you have time for it, but in Sevastopol I really enjoyed taking a harbor tour with its submarines and other navy boats. There are several small boats taking off from the main drag of the waterfront, and it's very cheap, maybe 30-40 grv. They will do the commentary in English often.

There is also a very nice park right next to the waterfront, with a few stages for free local performances. Haven't been to the places you mentioned so I can't comment on those.

Doing my research about the Black sea ports before embarking on a cruise to see eastern med. here's a video clip i found about odessa's main sights http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A3CJYrT0qk&context=C38dc067ADOEgsToPDskLL_Y8ZYTqRAWRV2V7PpCay