? regarding Athens

[whatcruiseisnext]

Does anyone know if Princess has a shuttle into Athens from the cruiseport? If not, what is the cost of a taxi from the cruiseport to the Acropolis area?

[nordski]

Does anyone know if Princess has a shuttle into Athens from the cruiseport? If not, what is the cost of a taxi from the cruiseport to the Acropolis area?

Hi

 

Can't answer re: Princess transfer, but we were in Piraeus April 26th on the Eurodam.We used a taxi for three reasons: to arrive at the Acropolis before the tours, some concern that public transit might be subject to a strike and the HAL transfer allowed too short a time downtown.

 

We had pre-arranged for Andreas Kambas to pick us up initially at Piraeus to take us to the Acropolis and latterly, 5 hours later, to take us from the National Garden back to the ship. Plan worked like a charm and cost 20Euros each way regardless of number in taxi.

 

Hope this helps

[whatcruiseisnext]

Thank you so much! Exactly what I was looking for. I have sent him off an email.

[TLCOhio]

We used a taxi for three reasons: to arrive at the Acropolis before the tours, some concern that public transit might be subject to a strike and the HAL transfer allowed too short a time downtown. We had pre-arranged for Andreas Kambas to pick us up initially at Piraeus to take us to the Acropolis and latterly, 5 hours later, to take us from the National Garden back to the ship. Plan worked like a charm and cost 20Euros each way regardless of number in taxi.

 

Agree that with all of the current uncertainties in Athens with strikes, etc., that arranging for a cab would be your best option. It will be more time-efficient and with any luck, the driver will speak some English and give you some local color, insights, tips, etc. Plus, be more interesting!

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

[Fblack]

The taxi will cost about 22 Euros to the Plaka. Late last year on the return we had some problems getting a taxi. First they often refuse to stop. Then, some don't speak much English. Or pretend they don't. And then he had trouble finding our ship at the port. Since we had trouble once before, we had a postcard with the ships picture on it. He tried to drop us off at the wrong place and could not understand us. Luckily a security guard at the pier took care of explaining things to the driver.

[nordski]

Agree that with all of the current uncertainties in Athens with strikes, etc., that arranging for a cab would be your best option. It will be more time-efficient and with any luck, the driver will speak some English and give you some local color, insights, tips, etc. Plus, be more interesting!

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Thanks for the corroboration.

 

That's exactly how it worked. Andreas is formerly from Germany and speaks excellent English. As you state, local colour on the way in and out and, although there were only limited demonstrations that day, if anything more was planned I'm sure he could have helped us avoid it.

 

As an immigrant to Greece, he was also well informed about its political/economic challenges and, in particular, an interesting take on the theoretical return of the drachma.

 

It was money well spent.

[ShipOFools]

Does anyone know if Princess has a shuttle into Athens from the cruiseport? If not, what is the cost of a taxi from the cruiseport to the Acropolis area?

 

If Princess has one it is a big secret they are not sharing. I am considering taking taxi to Acropolis and the Metro back if we have a hard time flagging one down. Supposedly at the Piraeus Metro stop in the afternoon they have taxi's that take you the final 1-1/2 miles to the ship for 4 euro.

[golfcouple]

We are going to be in Athens on June 1 on the Crown Princess. We pre-reserved a shore excursion called Athens on Your Own. It is just transportation into Athens and back to the ship. It is $39.00 US. We were going to take the Metro, but were worried about the intermittent striking. This shuttle says it drops off at Syntagma Square, where the demonstrating has been taking place, but I am going to assume they would choose a different drop off place if that was happening!

 

This option came up on our cruise personalizer. I am not sure if it is listed as a shore excursion on the main website.

 

Hope this helps.:)

[ShipOFools]

We are going to be in Athens on June 1 on the Crown Princess. We pre-reserved a shore excursion called Athens on Your Own. It is just transportation into Athens and back to the ship. It is $39.00 US. We were going to take the Metro, but were worried about the intermittent striking. This shuttle says it drops off at Syntagma Square, where the demonstrating has been taking place, but I am going to assume they would choose a different drop off place if that was happening!

 

This option came up on our cruise personalizer. I am not sure if it is listed as a shore excursion on the main website.

 

Hope this helps.:)

 

$39 would be a deal if there was just one of us- but we are a family of 3 which would equal of course $117.

$40 round trip total taxi works better for us and we can come and go back when we want.:)

[sunsetbeachgal]

We have pre-arranged all of our transfers with a private service in Athens (we fly into and embark the ship in Athens...lucky us..:eek:)...have read too much in CC and travel guide books (including Rick Steves) about the Athens taxi drivers overcharging tourists, even when the price has been agreed upon beforehand...I just don't need that!

[mari10]

Hi

 

Can't answer re: Princess transfer, but we were in Piraeus April 26th on the Eurodam.We used a taxi for three reasons: to arrive at the Acropolis before the tours, some concern that public transit might be subject to a strike and the HAL transfer allowed too short a time downtown.

 

We had pre-arranged for Andreas Kambas to pick us up initially at Piraeus to take us to the Acropolis and latterly, 5 hours later, to take us from the National Garden back to the ship. Plan worked like a charm and cost 20Euros each way regardless of number in taxi.

 

Hope this helps

 

Thanks for the tip.

I emailed Andreas and he promptly answered. We arraigned for pick up at the port and return later on in the day from la Plaka.

One less thing to worry about.

 

Mari:)

[Mines]

There are two jewelery shops close to the Syntagma Square that are mentioned on the "Recommended Stores" part of the on-board shopping guide. They arrange taxis to take passengers back to the ship, with no obligation to purchase anything from their shops and they don't even do a hard sell. We were two and they arranged another couple to share the taxi, so we paid € 10 each couple. It worked very well and much faster than the Metro.

 

We took the Metro in the morning, in order to avoid the rush hour traffic. That worked well too at € 1 per person.

[nordski]

Thanks for the tip.

I emailed Andreas and he promptly answered. We arraigned for pick up at the port and return later on in the day from la Plaka.

One less thing to worry about.

 

Mari:)

Glad it worked out for you.

 

We were very impressed with Andreas' responsibility and knowledge. Hope you enjoy his services as much as we did.

[nordski]

Thank you so much! Exactly what I was looking for. I have sent him off an email.

Pleased the suggestion helped and that all goes as smoothly as our tour did.

 

Hopefully you and mari10 will post your experiences.

[Millerhm01]

Thanks for the tip.

I emailed Andreas and he promptly answered. We arraigned for pick up at the port and return later on in the day from la Plaka.

One less thing to worry about.

 

Mari:)

Mari,

 

We would like to see if we can arrange to have Andreas Kambas pick us up in Piraeus and take us to our hotel in Athens. Could you please share his email address with me?

 

Howard Miller

Millerhm01@gmail.com

[Millerhm01]

Glad it worked out for you.

 

We were very impressed with Andreas' responsibility and knowledge. Hope you enjoy his services as much as we did.

Nordski,

 

We would like to see if we can arrange to have Andreas Kambas pick us up in Piraeus and take us to our hotel in Athens. Could you please share his email address with me? Thanks.

 

Howard Miller

Millerhm01@gmail.com

[nordski]

Nordski,

 

We would like to see if we can arrange to have Andreas Kambas pick us up in Piraeus and take us to our hotel in Athens. Could you please share his email address with me? Thanks.

 

Howard Miller

Millerhm01@gmail.com

Hi

 

This should work http://www.taxidrives.gr

 

Sorry I don't do links well.

 

Enjoy Athens.

[stinesheri]

Hi

 

We had pre-arranged for Andreas Kambas to pick us up initially at Piraeus to take us to the Acropolis and latterly, 5 hours later, to take us from the National Garden back to the ship. Plan worked like a charm and cost 20Euros each way regardless of number in taxi.

 

Hope this helps

 

Hi! Could you give me Andreas Kambas' contact info? This sounds like exactly what we are looking for!

 

CS

[siouxcitysue]

Dennis at http://www.toursofathens.com can do this trip for you, too. Check with him.

[UlvaZell]

Does anyone know if Princess has a shuttle into Athens from the cruiseport? If not, what is the cost of a taxi from the cruiseport to the Acropolis area?

 

When we were there last summer the cost of a cab was 20 euros for the cab, not per passenger. If the cab driver balked at the price we turned around and walked away and they would come down. Cabs were plentiful both at the port in Piraeus and at the Acropolis.

 

However we were there on a Sunday so the crowds and the traffic was very light. We were able to travel between the two in about 20 minutes. I have been told on a weekday or Saturday it can take up to 1 1/2 hours to make the same trip because of the traffic.