Boat To and Bus From Oia

[Travel To Be Free]

I also just listed Santorini.

[HenryK]

Lemonjelly, I was unaware of that site. Thank you. I found that there is one other ship due in that day: the Seven Seas Mariner. That completes my ships in port information. Suznjune, great to hear that you are in Santorini that day. We are on the Zuiderdam. There are apparently just the 2 ships in port that day. I have often seen you on these boards and would love to see you on the 12th. Small chance but it may happen.

[suznjune]

Sorry I confused you HenryK. I am on Zuiderdam with you on Venice to Rome leg! :D

[HenryK]

I decided to check the in port details on cruisetimetables.com for my cruise. It starts in Barcelona on 13th August and leaves port on 14th August. But when I got to the calendar page for Barcelona, the 13th is omitted from the calendar! (So is the 18th and there are a number of other dates missing.) The calendar for the departures from Barcelona does list both the 13th and 14th but the site does not list the Zuiderdam as departing. In fact, the only mention of Zuiderdam being in Barcelona in August is found when you go to the cruise ships listing. I don't know how wide spread this sort of inaccuracy is on the site.

Edited April 7, 2015 by HenryK

[HenryK]

Suznjune, I should have realised you are on the Zuiderdam.

[lemonjelly]

Gday ! henry this is the timetable i found on the site for your sailing i see the omission of the 15th and 20th im guessing these are sea days . all the best lemonjelly im guessing the 13th is ommited because the ship doesnt sail till 14th

Cruise Schedule: Barcelona, Spain (13 Aug embark(+1)d2300); Saint Raphael, France (16 Aug 0800-2300); Monaco (17 Aug 0800-2300); Calvi, Corsica (18 Aug 0800-1700); Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Italy (19 Aug 0700-1900); Tunis, Tunisia (21 Aug 0700-1700); Palermo, Sicily (22 Aug 0900-1700); Naples, Italy (23 Aug 0800-1700); Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy (24 Aug a0700)

Edited April 7, 2015 by lemonjelly

[HenryK]

Thanks Lemonjelly (love the name).

[Ha-pealady]

looks like a few are looking at the option to get a boat to oia and bus back lets hope someone who has recent experiance can post a reply to help us all out ! maybe worth putting a post on some of the current roll calls asking for help

 

Hi, as I have posted above, there is definitely a kiosk on the harbourside where you can purchase tickets for the boat to Oia. As far as I know this is a permanent service run by local boat men but last year it was possible to prior book seats via Santorini Planet but this has now been stopped. It is by far the best way to get to Oia quickly once you arrive by tender. The boat ticket will include a minibus up to Oia and a ticket by bus back to Fira. This boat service only runs to Oia in the morning and there are buses on the hour back to Fira until about 2.00pm. There was a very long queue in Fira for the cable car back down and it was complete chaos but took about 30 mins. We did book online before they stopped doing this online service and I was worried that our ticket would not be honoured but we did not encounter any problem on the day and they honoured the tickets. We ended up going on an earlier boat than the one we had booked as this was not full. You should have no trouble getting on if you buy on the day. We shall be using this service again ourselves in October when we visit Santorini again.

[lemonjelly]

many thanks :) i will be there sept 15th

[HuggyL]

After reviewing/researching a great deal of posts on Santorini, I have come away with the feeling that if you are able to catch one of the first tenders off your ship (we will be arriving at 7:00 am) after the ship's excursions are tendered to their "special" port, that the lines should not be that bad for the cable cars. My main concern was the line for the cable cars returning to Old Port to catch the tender! With not wanting to end a great visit with an hour plus wait for a cable car in the hot sun (have done this way to many times in Disney!), I have opted to take the cable cars up to Fira, arranged a private 4 hour tour for our group of 12 ending in Oia for about an hour free time before being dropped off at Ammoudi port to catch a 2 hour charted boat tour which will end at Old Port, alleviating the need to wait in line at the cable cars at the end of the day. Hopefully all works out as planned! :)

 

 

Dolfans from Miami

I realize your post is old, but you have echoed my feelings about waiting for the Calble car down. Do you remember any of the details about the cruise you took at the end of your day? Was it good? Sounds exactly like what I am looking for. I don't understand why the boat to Oia does not run a return, but I don't think it does, which is very strange to me.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

[4cats4me]

I realize your post is old, but you have echoed my feelings about waiting for the Calble car down. Do you remember any of the details about the cruise you took at the end of your day? Was it good? Sounds exactly like what I am looking for. I don't understand why the boat to Oia does not run a return, but I don't think it does, which is very strange to me.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

 

We will be in Santorini in October and our tour organizer for our roll call has reserved two vans of 12 max for our group. She has also coordinated with the tour company to pick us up via private water taxi both to and from Oia

We will be touring the winery, other sights, and ending in Oia for a couple hours then water taxiing back to the tender port

[petal13]

We will be in Santorini in October and our tour organizer for our roll call has reserved two vans of 12 max for our group. She has also coordinated with the tour company to pick us up via private water taxi both to and from Oia

We will be touring the winery, other sights, and ending in Oia for a couple hours then water taxiing back to the tender port

 

hi 4-cats4me,

 

BTW I also have 4 cats. Are you able to tell me what tour provider you are going with as this sounds like a great option. I will be in Santorini in June and Santorini has me a little anxious.

Thanks

Michelle

[lemonjelly]

sadly i only have 2 cats at present ,chookyaldred and jinjomundy.we will be in santorini september 2015 any advice and feedback on your excursion will be greatly appreciated :)

[HuggyL]

We will be in Santorini in October and our tour organizer for our roll call has reserved two vans of 12 max for our group. She has also coordinated with the tour company to pick us up via private water taxi both to and from Oia

We will be touring the winery, other sights, and ending in Oia for a couple hours then water taxiing back to the tender port

The roll call for our cruise is not very active at all, and as first time cruisers I am hesitant to take the lead on shared excursions, but I may have to. What you have booked sounds perfect, would you mind posting the details of your Santorini tour and water taxi. Sounds perfect!!

Thanks so much.

Helen

[Ha-pealady]

Some people organised a tour last year with Captain Stathis https://www.santorini.com/sailing/anemos-boat/ We did not join them as the tour was full but they had a good time apparently. We ended up doing our own thing and it worked fine but this year on our stop at Santorini I am going to arrange the same guy myself as a variation to just simply going to Oia and back to Fira with cable car down. You may be interested in this tour guy who has good reviews on TA. I too was very cautious about organising any tours myself but once I took the plunge it was really good fun. This will be our 3rd cruise with Celebrity in September and I have organised several tours now and they were all enjoyed by everyone so I would encourage you to have a go!

 

The roll call for our cruise is not very active at all, and as first time cruisers I am hesitant to take the lead on shared excursions, but I may have to. What you have booked sounds perfect, would you mind posting the details of your Santorini tour and water taxi. Sounds perfect!!

Thanks so much.

Helen

[HuggyL]

Some people organised a tour last year with Captain Stathis https://www.santorini.com/sailing/anemos-boat/ We did not join them as the tour was full but they had a good time apparently. We ended up doing our own thing and it worked fine but this year on our stop at Santorini I am going to arrange the same guy myself as a variation to just simply going to Oia and back to Fira with cable car down. You may be interested in this tour guy who has good reviews on TA. I too was very cautious about organising any tours myself but once I took the plunge it was really good fun. This will be our 3rd cruise with Celebrity in September and I have organised several tours now and they were all enjoyed by everyone so I would encourage you to have a go!

Ha-pealady,

Thanks so much, will check out that tour. I think I have looked at this website before, but thought it would be cruising only and since we have not been to Santorini before, we would like to tour the island too. is that possible with this guy do you know? My husband was excited by the look of their website.

We are on the celebrity Reflection sailing from Rome on Sept. 11 and in Santorini

 

on the 17th. Are you by any chance on the same cruise? That would be neat!

Thanks for your help!

[Ha-pealady]

As far as I know this Capt Stathis owns a couple of boats so its only boat tours but he does drop you off and arranges the transport for you I think up to Oia. The alternative way as mentioned in my earlier post is just to get the boat from the tender at Fira and that includes the fare up to Oia and a bus back to Fira. We have been to lots and lots of Greek Islands and we are not really interested in touring the island as there is not that much to see compared to other Greek Islands. Its best known for Oia and the spectacular Caldera. We were on the cruise out of Rome early September last year so if you want any other tour company names for the other ports inbox me shirley@tlwilkins.com and I will be pleased to pass on the information for you. The Reflection is a beautiful ship and you will have the most fantastic time. We are on the Constellation this year out of Istanbul on 30 September. Kind Regards Shirley

 

Ha-pealady,

Thanks so much, will check out that tour. I think I have looked at this website before, but thought it would be cruising only and since we have not been to Santorini before, we would like to tour the island too. is that possible with this guy do you know? My husband was excited by the look of their website.

We are on the celebrity Reflection sailing from Rome on Sept. 11 and in Santorini

 

on the 17th. Are you by any chance on the same cruise? That would be neat!

Thanks for your help!

Edited April 14, 2015 by Ha-pealady

[4cats4me]

sadly i only have 2 cats at present ,chookyaldred and jinjomundy.we will be in santorini september 2015 any advice and feedback on your excursion will be greatly appreciated :)

 

The roll call for our cruise is not very active at all, and as first time cruisers I am hesitant to take the lead on shared excursions, but I may have to. What you have booked sounds perfect, would you mind posting the details of your Santorini tour and water taxi. Sounds perfect!!

Thanks so much.

Helen

 

Hi all,

The company is Private Santorini Tours.

As I understand it, our tour organizer has custom tailored the tour to things that we want to see and do. Best of all is the fact that we won't have to ride a mule or take a cable car thing up or down the mountain :eek:

[HuggyL]

Thanks so much,

[HuggyL]

From the research I have done, the boat and bus to Oia is no longer available. Just a heads up

[roothy123]

From the research I have done, the boat and bus to Oia is no longer available. Just a heads up

 

That's disappointing. I was thinking of using it this year. If you find out that it IS running, please let us know!

[LadyStone50]

From the research I have done, the boat and bus to Oia is no longer available. Just a heads up

 

I have a query into another Santorini tour company. We purchased tickets for July, but their website has been taken down. That does not bode well.

[mickeysgal]

From the research I have done, the boat and bus to Oia is no longer available. Just a heads up

 

That's really surprising. We took the boat/bus last year, they had a strong business.

 

I'd jump on a up coming roll call and see what others are saying. Perhaps someone that cruised recently will come and report back.

[Ha-pealady]

I have been informed by a tour company on Santorini that the boat to Oia that was running last year has been stopped as apparently it was illegal and the companies that were running the service have sued each other through the Greek courts. So, that should put the subject to bed I suppose which only leaves hiring a private tour boat as the only option of getting to Oua by boat. This information was given to me by Private Santorini Tours who have quoted 140 euros each way for a water taxi which can accommodate all guests in comfort but does not state maximum capacity. Hope this information helps.

[lemonjelly]

thanks for researching i recieved the same reply and 140 quote weirdly minites after your post do do do do do do do do (thats supposed to be twilight zone music lol ) so now all we need to do is find capacity and get a group together for our specific sailings :)