Celebrity Eclipse Santorini port docking ?

We booked the 10-17-18 Eclipse sailing from Barcelona.

According to port schedules, we are the only ship in Santorini on 10-24-18. According to the Celebrity itinerary, it says the ship will be docked that day.

Wed Oct 24Santorini, Greece7:00 am6:00 pmDocked

Which dock to they use? I understand there is a dock near the cable cars.

We want to get to Oia asap on our own. I thought everyone was tendered.

Pretty sure there's no cruise ship dock at Santorini - all ships use tenders.

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Both ports (landing places) are tender only.

Ship excursions are normally tendered first at the ferry of Athinio, passengers doing there own thing are then taken / tendered at Fira, where you have three choices, cable car, donkeys or by foot.

No docks at Santorini. If you take an early morning ship's excursion, you will be first off the ship and tendered as G.M.T. Indicated above. We just got back from a Reflection tour and took the shortest ship's excursion that went thru Oia and then to a wine tasting. It dropped us off in Fira around 10:45 and we had the rest of the day there. Given that you're the only ship in port that day, fighting the cable car crowds might not be so bad.

You can also buy a ferry ticket straight to Oia. Easy Pleezy and a lovely view as you approach.

I guess it depends on what you want to do and if you are in a suite or not. There are many private and ship tours. If you are in a suite, you can quickly take a tender to the cable cars and then a cab to Oia or take the ferry. The ferry seems to have its own time schedule. The ship tours are quite large, but do have their own tenders. It just depends on what your wants are for Santorini, along with the weather. Parts of the island are very poor...however, other parts have the most beautiful scenery for photography. Enjoy...we are returning in May on the Reflection. Interesting about the “port docking.”

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Thanks for your comments. I thought the Celebrity's website was incorrect.

Celebrity has an Oia on your own excursion for $55 per person but it shows excursion time as 3 hours. Presently I am thinking of just doing Oia and Fira. But I am thinking that I want to spend more time in Oia.

The boat transfer to Oia sounds interesting, but it sounds like I would lose time waiting for the Do your own tenders. I hate paying almost double for a ship excursion but the gained time of the ship excursion maybe worth the extra dollars. Santorini is one of the reasons I took this cruise and I want to maximize my time there. With a five pm departure, I would want to be at the cable cars around three pm.

Thanks all. I am just starting to research the cruise and I have lots of questions.

We were there on the Constellation last year and were the only ship in port. It was a tender ashore. Because we were the only ship there were plenty of shore based tenders such that ships boats weren't required. Nor was there a need for tender tickets. One just lined up and away you went. At the dock were the salesmen selling ferry tickets to OIa, Cant remember the cost but as soon as the ferry was full it took off. It was breezy but lovely ride. Upon arrival a bus took us up the hill to the village and where we booked our bus to FIra. All this is included in the ferry ticket price. The ride to FIra took around 15 minutes and we walked down a narrow lane lined with shops to either the donkeys or cable car. The cost of both is extra. My wife took took the cable car and I rode the donkeys down. Silly move. One keeps leaning forward instead of backwards. Next time I may ride them up but never down. At the jetty at the bottom we caught the tender back to the ship. A full day out inexpensive but what views from the top of the cliffs at Oia. Plenty of restaurants in Fira to feed the inner man and nearly all had free wifi

....Celebrity has an Oia on your own excursion for $55 per person but it shows excursion time as 3 hours. Presently I am thinking of just doing Oia and Fira. But I am thinking that I want to spend more time in Oia.../QUOTE]

 

 

We did that excursion this September. I had planned to just miss the bus back from Oia (with info to the guide so nobody would be waiting for us.) But we got there early before any massive crowds, our time there was almost enough. A week or two would be nice, but 4 hours vs 3 hours isn’t that big a deal. IMHO.

 

 

 

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In your planning keep in mind that not all ships may be showing up yet on port calendars for late 2018 sailings, so it may turn out that you are not alone at Santorini -- just too early to be confident about that.

If you're getting the local bus from Fira to Oia be prepared. Accept that the locals can push to the front of the queue - that's only fair in my opinion. However you'll probably experience the rudest behaviour from some of your fellow cruise passengers as they blindly force their way on to the bus. Last time we were there, our son was four and some of them would have literally climbed over him to get on that bus :-(. Also be prepared to stand as the bus can be very crowded, but it's cheap and Oia is so beautiful that it's worth it.

If there is a big queue at the top for the cable car, don't be put off walking down the steps if you're able. It's not as far as you think and is an experience in itself.