Cruisin caper

Thank you so much.  Looks like you had an awesome trip.   

Thank you so much for posting these.  We are on the July 19th Millennium out of Vancouver.   Would love to see your full review of the cruise.   

On Thursday morning we arrived in Santorini (yay!). We had an early excursion meeting time of 7:30am so we got up at 6:15. We skipped breakfast as we would’ve had to get up around 5:30-5:45 for that to happen. The excursion we booked was called “Village of Oia on your own”. Now as I mentioned a little further up, the only reason we booked this excursion was because I was totally unsure about the status of the boat from Fira’s port to Oia. It tends to come and go due to local politics. I did not want to risk getting over to Fira, finding no boat, then have to cable car it up to Fira with possibly a long wait in line, to then have to catch a taxi or the bus to Oia. It was too complicated. So we booked the excursion. We went down to the theater a little before 7:30. It was already crowded at that time. And here is where the frustration began. We got our stickers and then waited... and waited... and waited. I didn’t realize until after we had been sitting awhile that our tickets said departure time of 8:15. (Even though online when I booked the start time was 8am) Not sure why we had to be at the theater 45 minutes in advance then. I guess it’s their way of crowd control on tender days. So they kept calling group after group starting at 40 and working down. We were group 28. At 8:20 they finally called our group to head down to the tenders. We boarded relatively quickly and then were off. Note that all Celebrity excursion tenders do not go to the pier at the bottom of Fira, you go further down the island to another port. We disembarked there at 8:45. Then it was on to a bus that would take us to Oia. The bus left after we loaded at 8:50. The drive to Oia took 40 minutes due to winding roads and traffic. The guide gave some history and cultural info about the island as we rode. So we arrived at 9:30. Then the guide walked us to the central square from the parking area. This took ten minutes due to the size of the group and because she stopped to show where ATMS and restrooms were. So it was at 9:40 that the group was free to wander but they had to be back to the bus at 11am. From there they would drive 20 minutes or so to Fira to catch the cable car back down. Tickets for the cable car are included in the price and given to you when you board the tender. So basically people only had 1hr 20 min. to explore Oia. Some people were angry and one couple started yelling at her saying that she told them earlier that they would leave at 11:30. I think that may have been the time she gave as the end of the tour, meaning when everything was done in Fira, and they misunderstood. Anyway, it didn’t matter to us as we are not going to return with the group but we’re going to stay longer in Oia and find our own way back. I told the guide this and at first she said no. But I told her we would find our own way back probably by taxi. She told us where to find one and said it would probably cost us 20 Euro per person which was outrageous. I figured we’d look into the bus later then as I knew it was much cheaper.

 

So I caution anyone wanting to book this excursion that you will have very little time in Oia and since they count the start time of the trip from the moment you get on the tender any delays you might experience along the way to Oia will likely take away from your time there. It might be better to take the risk that the boat to Oia might not be running and get off on your own early especially if you have priority tendering as Suite or Elite/Zenith. Especially since the price of this excursion is $69 per person. Definitely not a good value.

 

Will share photos and discussion of our day in beautiful Santorini shortly.

 

 

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Thank you so much for all of your great information. We are also booked June 8th trip on this excursion but are going to cancel. We are not elite or suite - do you have any idea what time the tenders go for people on their own? We are interested in an Oia experience from Olympic Traveller but meeting time is 9:15 in old Port. Thank you again. We love your updates. Anne and Rex

Thanks Adam

We are on the same itinerary starting June 8th and are excited to hear about your experiences. Anne

Hi everyone! My husband and I are on the Reflection 11/28. This is our first in 15 or so years, I'm sure a lot has changed since our last cruise! First time on Celebrity also, previously only sailed on Carnival.

 

We have been assigned cabin #8256 - balcony- is this a good location? From what I can figure out, it's the backside of the "hump" (that sounds kinda dirty LOL) and near the rear of the ship. So am I right that this is good? And that there's there's less wind here (and less of a forward view, but that's OK). It's also kind of near the elevators- is that a good or bad thing? And the hump balconies are a little bigger? Any insight is greatly appreciated

 

Also, is it common for the reservations page of the Celebrity website to be down? I've been trying to log in all weekend and it keeps telling me to "try again" in 20 minutes.

Thanks, Amy

Hi Newbie

We are also on Reflection 11/28. There is a problem with celebrity website. I kept getting "come back in 20 minutes" and called Celebrity 3 times. They told me to go in as unregistered instead of through sign-on. Hope we have a great cruise.

Anne

Hi everyone! My husband and I are on the Reflection 11/28. This is our first in 15 or so years, I'm sure a lot has changed since our last cruise! First time on Celebrity also, previously only sailed on Carnival.

 

We have been assigned cabin #8256 - balcony- is this a good location? From what I can figure out, it's the backside of the "hump" (that sounds kinda dirty LOL) and near the rear of the ship. So am I right that this is good? And that there's there's less wind here (and less of a forward view, but that's OK). It's also kind of near the elevators- is that a good or bad thing? And the hump balconies are a little bigger? Any insight is greatly appreciated

 

Also, is it common for the reservations page of the Celebrity website to be down? I've been trying to log in all weekend and it keeps telling me to "try again" in 20 minutes.

Thanks, Amy

Hi Newbie

We are also on Reflection 11/28. There is a problem with celebrity website. I kept getting "come back in 20 minutes" and called Celebrity 3 times. They told me to go in as unregistered instead of through sign-on. Hope we have a great cruise.

Anne