Miaminice

Here is all you need to know about navigating Santorini! How to navigate Santorini Santorini was one of the stops of our cruise last week. We have been there many times before and every visit it is still always a joy. However, on our last cruise I was surprised to learn how little guests on board know about the logistics of Santorini. And then complain - even to the Al Bacio staff 🙈 Here’s what you need to know: Santorini is a tender port. There is no dock for any cruise ship. No matter how small. So excursion or not, you’ll have to tender. The excursions involving bus tours, and only they, tender to the new port of Fira. That’s where the ferries dock and it’s the only port accessible to busses. All other tenders will bring you to the Old Port of Fira. It’s actually only a small pier. From there you’ll have multiple options to reach Fira on top of the cliff. #1 Cable Car Undeniably it is the most convenient option. However, the lines can be, and most probably will be, long. On last week‘s visit there were three ships in the Caldera. Not unusual for Santorini. People experienced lines taking 2-3 hours. That’s NOT the cruise line’s fault and there’s absolutely nothing they can do about it. So please don’t blame them or even staff! And do remember, there will also be a line to go down! So plan accordingly. #2 Stairs You can take the 588 steps up to Fira. We did it in a little over 20 minutes. BUT… it’s most likely hot and there’s no shade. The stairs are slippery in parts and you will be surround by or better immersed in the stench of the donkey droppings. So yes, you can do the stairs but be sure you are up to it. It’s not an easy task. #3 Donkey For the sake of completeness I will mention the donkeys. However, I would also ask you not to use them. Some consider it fun. Maybe… for anyone but the donkeys! Before I mention option #4 I will continue by recommending what to do once you reached the top. There are two major towns on Santorini - Fira and Oia. Oia is the one with the views known from the postcards. You can easily visit both towns and I would recommend starting with Oia. So once you are up in Fira, keep right until you reach the big white Metropolitan Cathedral. Turn left and go downhill. You will get to the bus station after 2 or 3 minutes. From There you can take a bus to Oia for just a few Euro. The tickets are sold on the bus during the trip. In Oia follow the people walking up a few stairs from the bus stop into Oia. Explore Oia by turning right on the little square until you reach the ruins of a small castle. From here you’ll have fantastic views. Then return to Fira and spend time there. The options of getting down to the port are the same. Going down the stairs is not as strenuous as going up, but beware - they are incredibly slippery. A few people, including Birgit, slipped on our last visit. Now I will give you option #4 - actually my recommendation for first time visitors. #4 Speed boat to Oia When you disembark from the tender boat (and the line for the cable car is too long) turn left on the pier. You will inevitably reach a ticket booth for the Speed Boat to Oia or Fast Line to Oia. The price of the ticket (around €25) includes the boat to Oia, a shuttle bus up the hill to Oia and a shuttle bus back to Fira. If you don’t feel like waiting for the shuttle, take the public bus back to Fira. Of course, once back in Fira you’ll have to get down to the pier as well. However, I think it’s a good and convenient way to manage the day on Santorini.

They might - and add 100% as commission 🙂

I go by the number of people here on CC and on FB almost boasting about removing grats. Some from European countries or UK where the gratuity system is different. Which IMHO is no excuse. Anyway - I had the feeling the number is higher. But in this case I´d love to be wrong.

I am a bit surprised that many many posters don´t get that the change is just for bookings made after October 4th - not sailings after that date! If already booked, you are safe. I am also surprised that noone (or I didn´t see it) mentioned that the OBC for Suite bookings is gone as well 🤔

I fear you are to optimistic about the mindset of most fellow cruisers. 😞 And again, the crew will pay the price.

No, you only gain the amenities of the higher class - like Persian Garden and Blu in Aqua. Access to Retreat and Luminae for Suite. All the perks like beverage package, Wifi, OBC, points per night etc. remain as originally booked. If you had no package, you will not get a package.

Mmmhhh, we had always heard that HAL would be equal to Celebrity. So we tried HAL on a Japan cruise for the better itinerary and the better price. We loved the cruise but were disappointed in HAL. Food in MDR was so so and repetitive after just a few days. Buffet was good though. We didn’t like the ship design at all and missed the open spaces inside and outside which we are used to on Celebrity. Although we are not party or bar people we were really surprised that we were asked to leave the bar at 9pm because they wanted to close. Bottom line: HAL wasn’t for us and didn’t live up to Celebrity at all.

No matter what you choose it will always be anytime dining on Edge class.

Regardless of what glitch happened on the ship the perk is still there and - unlike the happy hour - not excluded on embarkation day.

Thank you!

This is the way it used to be. I think it’s one of the reasons why they stopped doing the early – late seatings on E class. of course you were able to change. However, it wasn’t as easy as select dining.

The name change to "Prime" is just a sales pitch. Before it was just A1 and A2 - same thing without lipstick on the pig 🙂 Aqua is great - no matter if A1 or A2. On the contrary - on S class we decline the free upgrade because we prefer A2 locations over A1.

That´s not true! Aqua class gives you the right and option to dine in Blu. However, you are not limited to Blu. You can dine at the MDR any time you want. We almost exclusively book AQ - because of BLU. But every once in a while we dine at the MDR and made reservations. They were not cancelled. We walked up, mentioned the reservation... and went in.

The topic says Infinity

On S-class the A2 are better than the A1 staterooms, IMHO. We book A2s forward and choose a stateroom under the spa, Persian Garden, Salon etc. Very quiet!

When we sailed on Apex last time in October 2022 this was printed in the daily program. But there were no seatings. People who wanted to change early to late or late to early on the first day where told not to worry as there are no more seatings. it seems the times in the program are just as inaccurate as their IT system.

You also have that option when you book Aqua - and Blu doesn’t have seatings. it just shows the inaccuracies in their IT system. Celebrity stopped seatings on E-class because people were assigned a specific dining room when booking early or late. And of course that created a lot of work because guests wanted to change and also enjoy the variety. Anyway… if you prefer 6pm then choose 6 pm and/or just go at 6 pm if it’s anytime dining. No problem.

You are correct: Same rotating menu in all four dining rooms PLUS the regular daily classics PLUS singature items based on the theme of the restaurant. Menus can be found on the website or the app. Usually you can have dishes of one restaurant in the other. However, during peak times I heard them kindly refusing to do it. The are still dealing with a lack of staff. Early/late dining doesn´t exist on E-class anymore. They gave up on it after a while. It´s still in the IT system but not practised on the ships. You go any time you want. On all the E-class ships. BTW: the four dining rooms IMHO are a huge improvement over the big MDR on other ships and one of the great features of E-class. Love Apex - sailed on her 4 times - so enjoy!

I think first thing you need to know is that Eden and Eden Restaurant are different things. Same area but different decks. Eden Restaurant is fabulous. But it’s fine dining and you want to take your time - easily over 2 hours. Don’t choose a time which makes you rush to a show. It would e a wasted experience and waste of money.

To answer the easy part of your question first: You can let them know it´s your anniversary. I think even in the check-in forms. They will surprise you - most of the times with a cake after dinner. The card was a different story. I am trying to keep it short 🙂 I spoke to one of the lovely concierge ladies because of a totally unrelated matter. She looked up my room number, saw my name and saw that the booking was made in Germany which surprised her. I explained that the simple reason was that I am German and we live in Germany. She seemed even more surprised and said; "But you have no accent! I thought you were American." I smiled, we chatted a bit and I told her that we - my wife and I - had the same thoughts when we met many years ago. We met as seat neighbours in a plane from JFK in 2009 and started a conversation in English. We both have a 'history' with English, me American, my wife with British English. That time we chatted in English for three hours before we realized we could actually both speak German. While I chatted with concierge Katarina, concierge Crisha arrived and Katarina told Crisha with a big smile how my wife and I met. Since both loved our "fairy tail" story, I told them how the story continued... because my now wife and I said good bye after the flight without exchanging names and numbers. I still managed to find her again and now we are married for 12 years. Concierge Katarina and Crisha apparently both liked our love story and my wife and I later found the card in our stateroom. So the reference wasn´t to an anniversary but just to our time of being married. I know it is a long story - but believe me, this is the nutshell version 🙂

We usually use www.athens-mytransfer.de and have them pick us up around 8am. Last time in June from Infinity.

You´d think that some things don´t require signs but common sense 🙅‍♂️ Unfortunately there seems to be a lack of both...

Unfortunately not. I always used to take them home after previous cruises - just to throw them away at home. So this time I left them on board.

If you didn’t receive a positive info or found a charge on your credit card, don’t waste time on further inquiries. You didn’t get the upgrade 🤷🏻‍♂️

Well, I used to… when I was young 🤣 We live in the Black Forest near the Black Forest High Road which is a popular turf for motorcyclists. Many years ago I had a (real) motorbike as well and we often did tours to the nearby Alsace region and even to Tuscany once. Times changed, interests and hobbies changed and the motorbike just sat there without being moved for a year or two. So eventually I sold it. Even if we didn’t rent a standard motorcycle in Greece now, I have the license. So we were able to rent scooters with a larger engines - which was good in hilly terrain. And for Birgit sitting behind me, the larger scooters are also probably more comfortable than a standard motorbike. So in a nutshell - currently it’s just a holiday thing. And even then, this has been a first for quite some time. BTW in one of the shops Birgit overheard another lady mentioning that she was there by sailing boat. So I guess a charter.