Disembarkation time in Athens?

What time does everyone have to be off the ship? Our ship is due in port at 7:00am and disembarkation is supposed to start at 8:00am according to the schedule. We are planning to spend a few days in Athens, so no hurry to the airport this time.

I want to schedule a car service for us to take us to our hotel, but not sure how late to schedule it. I've been on a few Windstar cruises, but can't remember the disembarkment time. I think it's about the same on all of the cruises, no matter the location.

When we don't have to rush to the airport, we enjoy a leisurely breakfast and saying our goodbyes to crew members and fellow passengers. Last cruise, we set up a car service a little later than we should have and found ourselves waiting for 30 minutes on the dock, and passing up numerous taxis that we could have just grabbed had we not set up a driver. Unfortunately, I just can't remember what time we set that one up for either!

We had to be off by 8:30 on the Star Legend in San Juan last week.

We had to be off by 8:30 on the Star Legend in San Juan last week.

Oh this is very early! Amazing....

I have been reading some information on the web page of Windstar and they emphasize about being a luxury cruise line where the guests can have a great, relaxed time. At the same time they seem to have very rigid rules, unusual for a luxury line like "boarding only after 1:00 pm not earlier" and "to be off the ship by 8:30"....

I think it is more important to get the ship in tip top shape for the next group of people coming aboard. A turn around time of 4.5,( 8:30-1) hours is not much time. The people boarding want to be greeted by a lovely ship with everything in order. I see no problem with 8:30. Happy Sailing.

I think it is more important to get the ship in tip top shape for the next group of people coming aboard. A turn around time of 4.5,( 8:30-1) hours is not much time. The people boarding want to be greeted by a lovely ship with everything in order. I see no problem with 8:30. Happy Sailing.

Thanks for the good wishes. To have a good, clean ship for new guests is of course very important for every cruise line. However, even though other cruise lines like Azamara or Celebrity or MSC (the last two larger ships and not really in the luxury segment) request you leave your cabin by 8.00 or by 8.30, they do not request you leave the ship by that time. And they allow you to board at around 12.00 and have lunch and use the public areas. The cabins are made available at around 13.30.

Maybe Windstar has less personnal? Anybody knows what is the crew/guest ratio?

Windstar serves lunch on embarkation day from 1 until 4 pm I think. Staterooms were ready when we checked in at 1.

It does feel a little rushed to have to disembark at 8:30. There were 212 guests and per Windstar's website 153 crew on the Star Legend.

One thing I have to say I was impressed by on disembarkation day is that we saw crew members ashore after we left the ship and they said hi etc. I'm glad they had some time to attend to their needs and some well deserved time off. I think the early disembarkation time is to attend to the crew as well as the ship.

It doesn't really bother me, but I can see how some would find the last morning to feel rushed.

Suitcases outside your door the night before, groups called by color to disembark, breakfast has always felt like "OK, eat and leave now." Etc. It does feel a bit like "OK, great to have had you on board, now bye bye."

We have certainly stayed until the very end when we were on our own and had extra time before our pickup, often with a few others - service will stop so don't expect any more coffee, etc., but there is a point at which you'll be asked to leave. That having been said, many ports have a place where you can sit and wait. My biggest concern with being the last off if that your luggage can look very lonely and possibly prone to pilfering but we've never had an issue.

In terms of Athens, etc. I wouldn't cut anything too close, it is a very busy port and on at least one occasion we had to hang around outside port for at least on hour waiting for other traffic to clear before we were allowed to dock. I don't know how common that actually is.

Thanks for all of the inputs. We will plan our car service for 8:30.

We disembarked in Athens once before and had planned to take a taxi to our hotel but met up with new friends who had changed their plans and decided to take a tour that day but had pre-arranged a car service, so we took

their car service at their pre-arranged time (can't remember how early). Once we walked off the ship, we were glad we did it because it was a madhouse with everyone lining up for taxis and having the car service waiting for us was quick and easy.

Travelberlin: On bigger ship cruises, I remember always having to leave the cruise fairly early, out of cabin by 8:00 am and maybe you could sit in a lounge for awhile but it was always quite congested and not relaxing.

Keep in mind that the Windstar has much smaller ships than a Celebrity or even an Azamara, so there is much less public space for people to sit around after breakfast, and fewer dining facilities as well. The crew needs time to clean for the new group of passengers. Also, at Embarkation, you do not wait for your room to be ready, once you have completed the paperwork (sitting in the lounge with a glass of champagne in hand), a crew member escorts you to your room. Many times, my luggage is already there at that point or else it arrives a very short time later. So it takes a little time before guests arrive to get all of that organized.

Travelberlin, I have seen you use the word luxury often. I speak German and perhaps " Luxus " has a more formal meaning in German. I think of WS as being casual elegance. What I mean is superb, warm, friendly, service. Lovely ship, lovely service, immaculate, good, healthy food, and when the sailing ships are under sail people whisper. It is not waiters in tuxes, standing in the water serving champagne and carvier like you see on the Seabourne ads. It is not butler service. It is hard working friendly, crew doing a great job without being intrusive. A perfect example is the $ 109 laundry package, your laundry is done your way and in my experirnce perfectly, with a one day turn around, that is luxury and a price point bargain. I mention this to you because I do not know how you define luxury and I want you to enjoy WS as so many past, repeating guests do. Enjoy your time and happy sailing.

On our December cruise, we were offered some kind of fruit punch, not champagne when we boarded, which surprised me.

I also think of Windstar as very nice, but not luxury.

In the Caribbean the embarkation drink has always been a rum/fruit punch, everywhere else champagne. That has been our experience. Love both. We all have our own defination of luxury and elegance. I happen to love it all but I have never experienced any other cruise line we are hooked on small and WS. We took a river cruise once, nice but the food was grim. Happy Sailing.

However, even though other cruise lines like Azamara or Celebrity or MSC

 

Maybe Windstar has less personnal? Anybody knows what is the crew/guest ratio?

The Windstar ships all have a higher ratio than the other cruise lines you continue to mention, at least according to this site: https://www.cruisewatch.com/top-10/ships-passenger-crew-ratio/

Double post.

Travelberlin, I have seen you use the word luxury often. I speak German and perhaps " Luxus " has a more formal meaning in German. I think of WS as being casual elegance. What I mean is superb, warm, friendly, service. Lovely ship, lovely service, immaculate, good, healthy food, and when the sailing ships are under sail people whisper. It is not waiters in tuxes, standing in the water serving champagne and carvier like you see on the Seabourne ads. It is not butler service. It is hard working friendly, crew doing a great job without being intrusive. A perfect example is the $ 109 laundry package, your laundry is done your way and in my experirnce perfectly, with a one day turn around, that is luxury and a price point bargain. I mention this to you because I do not know how you define luxury and I want you to enjoy WS as so many past, repeating guests do. Enjoy your time and happy sailing.

Thanks again. I am sure I will enjoy the cruise with Windstar. I have enjoyed all my cruises. I am thankful to everybody that provides advise at cruise critics. In many ways it helps to adapt expectations.

Yes, 8.30 is perfectly normal although we have pushed it to 9 once and been the last off! Its not just Windstar, Seabourn is the same. I don't like it either but I appreciate that the crew have a lot to do. I would prefer to board a little later in the day and have a more relaxed final morning - just another extra hour or two would be great. However I'm sure there are others who want to board as early as possible. As far as embarkation is concerned its worth remembering that most hotels won't let you check in before 1 or 2 at the earliest, so I don't think that Windstar timings are that unusual - and again, Seabourn is the same.

Perhaps we were lucky but when we disembarked in Athens last year there was a long queue of taxis waiting - and no shortage of them in the city either, so I wouldn't bother booking ahead. However, when we have a whole morning to kill before check in we usually take the ships tour - which then delivers you to the airport or your hotel afterwards. I'm sure you will have a great time - Windstar is a fantastic line and amazing value. The crew are the best we have ever encountered.

It doesn't really bother me, but I can see how some would find the last morning to feel rushed.w

 

Suitcases outside your door the night before, groups called by color to disembark, breakfast has always felt like "OK, eat and leave now." Etc. It does feel a bit like "OK, great to have had you on board, now bye bye."

 

We have certainly stayed until the very end when we were on our own and had extra time before our pickup, often with a few others - service will stop so don't expect any more coffee, etc., but there is a point at which you'll be asked to leave. That having been said, many ports have a place where you can sit and wait. My biggest concern with being the last off if that your luggage can look very lonely and possibly prone to pilfering but we've never had an issue.

 

 

In terms of Athens, etc. I wouldn't cut anything too close, it is a very busy port and on at least one occasion we had to hang around outside port for at least on hour waiting for other traffic to clear before we were allowed to dock. I don't know how common that actually is.

Do you know if it is possible to keep you luggage instead of putting it outside the cabin the night before?

Do you know if it is possible to keep you luggage instead of putting it outside the cabin the night before?

Yes, we never place ours outside. I just carry it off when I leave.

On our Wind Surf cruise (final debarkation was Athens), luggage was put out the morning of debarkation, not the night before. Also we were told not to bring carry on's to breakfast, but were given time to return to the cabin to do a final sweep (needed after two weeks in the same cabin for peace of mind!) and grab our hand luggage. We all got off around 8:30.

I recall some odd rules about luggage in Athens, they put it into a big pile in the middle of the terminal and none of us were allowed to touch it until we were all off and they gave the go ahead. Very strange. I can't imagine if it had been a large ship, it could have been hours of people standing in a circle only a couple feet from their bag, but not allowed to touch.