HELP-tips on tender to Santorini

[wedding96]

I will be on the Reflection in July and will be arriving in Santorini at 2 P.M. I've read a few things about ways to get onto the tender to the island ASAP (mainly trying to be the first in line when they distribute tender tickets early that morning). I also heard that if you book the excursion to Oia and Fira (which is what we were planning to do on our own), you will be first off, but $75 pp for this 3.5 excursion seems pretty steep. Does anyone have any experience they could share on this topic-I would be most appreciative. Again, the goal is to get off the ship and onto the island as soon as possible.

[nmg85]

Hi, When we were on the Solstice in Oct 2011 I believe all the people doing ship tours were taken off first and perhaps taken to another dock than those that were doing something independently. When we were there we had 4 ships in and all were quite large ones. A large majority of people seemed to be doing there own thing and the port had put on large local sailing boats with a higher capacity than the usual tenders. This was fine and we got straight on and waited 5minutes max before leaving, the main issue was the MASSIVE queue for the cable car. It was 27C degrees in Oct on that day and with no shade we made the decision not to wait for the hour+ to even get tickets for the cable car and to walk! Be warned this was not a pleasant experience and I would be apprehensive to do it again. The donkeys that rush up and down the fairly narrow pathway are dangerous and we saw numerous people get hit by them and my partner actually ended up standing infront of a couple in their 70's to protect them from donkeys flying round one of blind bends. The views were amazing and the way down was okay as wasn't so crowded but I would definitely put thought into this option. I know that the MSC ship that was meant to depart at 1pm delayed their departure as so many of there passengers were stuck at the top in the cable car queue. We worked out was another 1 and half wait which is why we had to walk down :-) Hope this helps.

[suec12]

Well I think you have a pretty accurate picture of the situation although if you happen to be an "elite"? captain's club member you may have priority access. Perhaps another poster will weigh in on that. If not on a tour, after you get off the tender, you must get up to the main part of the island, there is pretty much nothing at the base. So you will need to take the funicular / (cable car? I forget), this line can move pretty quickly tho it is a big ship, OR you can walk, up up up steps with donkeys and donkey droppings (nasty) OR ride a donkey up. I know many folks are very opposed to the donkey option but I'll admit, we went for it as the cable car line was looong. I was expecting a slow plod, but it was much more of a wild ride. THEN if you want to visit Oia, which many do, you have to get there by local bus (can't remember how accessible taxis are) SOOO....maybe the tour is not too bad of an idea?

[ghstudio]

I would check the web sites that list ships in port (hopefully they cover santorini) and I would use that as my guide as to whether to book a ship's tour.

 

We were there on the Eclipse and the only ship in town....there was no wait at all to get up/down the tram. Others have been there with multiple ships and it would be a horror show...well worth the cost of the least expensive ship's tour.

[Lastdance]

Remove this please!

Edited May 9, 2013 by Lastdance

[Lastdance]

I am sorry that you are not docking until the afternoon, but Oia and Fira are very nice. When we were in Santorini a few years ago, we dropped anchor in the morning and didn't have but a thirty minute wait from the ship to the top of funicular. Then, we had a private tour of the island, which i don't suggest doing. Several parts have been hit hard economically, but where you are going is beautiful and quite a photo opportunity! It will all work out, but you need to get your tender tickets early and be ready to go. Couple that with some patience and you will be fine! I had these concerns too.:cool:

Edited May 9, 2013 by Lastdance

[steve ch]

I will be on the Reflection in July and will be arriving in Santorini at 2 P.M. I've read a few things about ways to get onto the tender to the island ASAP (mainly trying to be the first in line when they distribute tender tickets early that morning). I also heard that if you book the excursion to Oia and Fira (which is what we were planning to do on our own), you will be first off, but $75 pp for this 3.5 excursion seems pretty steep. Does anyone have any experience they could share on this topic-I would be most appreciative. Again, the goal is to get off the ship and onto the island as soon as possible.

 

Because of your arrival time, I'd seriously consider the ship's excursion. Buses can't get to the base of the cable car, so tour passengers are tendered to another location where there is a road down to the sea. This is done before other passengers can go ashore. The ship's tour also avoids the queues going up and the wait for a bus, so you will get to Oia much sooner than you will on your own.

 

Either way, there can be a long wait to come back down in the cable car, as the ship's tour ends at Fira, not the jetty where you were picked up, so everyone is in the same slow moving line. Your time in Oia would be really short if you go on your own, given that you would have to leave early to get into the cable car line and avoid being left behind when the ship leaves.

 

Normally, ship's tour passenger's are protected form being left behind. The ship waits for them. I'm not sure if this applies in Santorini, where the tour ends in Fira, at the top of the cable car. You are given a cable car pass, but you have to make your own way back to the ship.

[ghstudio]

However, if the line is scarily long at the top, you can walk down which is much easier than walking up. My only caveat is that you might want to wear old shoes as you and the donkey's will be sharing the same trail...if you get my drift.

[Wine-O]

I've heard it called many things - Tram, Cable Car, and Funicular. Which is it. A Tram and Funicular are on some sort of tracks whereas a Cable Car is suspended on a cable.

 

I can get my wife on anything but a suspended cable car, so I think my only options might be to take the donkey up or walk. :eek:

 

I'm assuming they have commercial tenders as well as the ship's. If we anchor at 2:00pm will I be able to get up to the top for a private excursion at 3:00pm?

[kyriecat]

It's a cable car.

 

[kyriecat]

My husband and I stopped in Santorini from 2 - 10 onboard Silhouette in October. There were four ships there that day so it was crowded. We booked the ship tour to Oia but I'm not sure if we made the right call. We'd been to Santorini a couple times before so we were aware of the issues with the tenders and cable car lines.

 

We actually arrived about an hour early so the non-tour passengers were getting on the tenders before the tour passengers were scheduled for our tours. I heard from some passengers later that it took about an hour to use the cable car, but I don't know if they were among the first off the ship or a later tender.

 

Overall the tour ws pretty good. We stopped by a winery with a lovely view of the caldera and ships anchored. I would have liked a bit more time in Oia but we saw most of what we wanted to see during the free time that we had. We could have told our guide that we would make our own way back to Fira if we had really want to stay longer.

 

One really nice thing about being in Santorini that late is we were able to have dinner at a restaurant on the cliff-side in Fira and watch the sunset. It was a beautiful way to end the day. By the time we were ready to leave, two of the other ships had left. The lines for the cable car were still long - it took us about 45 minutes. We would have made it back to the ship quicker if we had taken the stairs, but the stairs are not well-lit at night and slippery with donkey doo. Neither my husband nor I were going to risk falling, especially in the first port stop of a 2-week vacation. Even waiting for the cable car, we made it onboard Silhouette in time to be treated to another fabulous vision - moonrise over the cliffs of Fira.

[Blighty770]

I will be on the Reflection in July and will be arriving in Santorini at 2 P.M. I've read a few things about ways to get onto the tender to the island ASAP (mainly trying to be the first in line when they distribute tender tickets early that morning). I also heard that if you book the excursion to Oia and Fira (which is what we were planning to do on our own), you will be first off, but $75 pp for this 3.5 excursion seems pretty steep. Does anyone have any experience they could share on this topic-I would be most appreciative. Again, the goal is to get off the ship and onto the island as soon as possible.

 

We took that excursion last August when the Equinox stopped there.

 

We were tendered off really early and taken directly to the area with the tours (not anywhere near the cable car). It was incredibly hot and the tour buses were very air-conditioned, so we were really thankful to have the cool respite. I only wish we had more time in Oia as it's so lovely, but we did enjoy a nice meal at a cliffside restaurant overlooking the water in Fira.

 

Coming back, the line for the cable car was a mere 10 minutes. We decided not to wait for sunset to return to the boat as we'd read about really long waiting times.

 

Once you're on the island you can wander and take all the time you'd like...providing you don't miss the ship's departure. It's a really lovely place. Oh, and try their local beer (Red Donkey/Yellow Donkey). We had it in a little cafe up on Oia. A real thirst quencher on a very hot day!

[lovestx]

I would DIY it so you have the most possible time in Oia.

 

We got together with a total of 23 people on our Roll Call last June. Were scheduled to be in Santorini from 2 to 10. Arrived around 1:30. Had Tender #7 (had waited in line about 35 minutes before the 10 o'clock distribution time to get that number). Got to the bottom of the cable line by 2:30. Were up on top at 3:05. Had arranged to meet the group at 3:30 and took a private bus/van to Oia with a return time of 7:30 p.m. Just terrific.

[Jetswdo]

We will be on June 28 sailing on Reflection. For the Santorini stop, I was orgionally going to book private tour. But, due to the reasons stated above, to maximize our time for the day, it is just alot easier, in spite of the extra cost just to go with Celebrity. DH and I just want to see Oia, Celebrity has a morning trip for this. Then we just want to spend afternoon on a pleasant beach. Celebrity has transfers for this. I strongly recommend just to let Celebrity have the business for this port. Just my two cents.

[Kellie Poodle]

Was in Santorini in October.

 

The people who booked tours with the cruise line go to a different place so you can't get on their tender.

 

Coming back, everyone has to take the cable car to the tender. Those who have taken a ship tour have a free ticket. If you are on your own, you need to buy your ticket. The line can be huge. There was only one other ship in port when we were there and the line was well over an hour long. It snakes through the town.

 

We had no problem with the tender as we had Elite priority tickets and got on the first one going to the base of the cable car.

 

We had a better schedule and a private guide who was absolutely fabulous. The island is gorgeous. We pretty much saw the whole island.

 

If you are just going to walk around town by the cable car, I guess you can do it on your own, but to see the awesome sights around the island, the guide was invaluable.

[houtbay]

I will be on the Reflection in July and will be arriving in Santorini at 2 P.M. I've read a few things about ways to get onto the tender to the island ASAP (mainly trying to be the first in line when they distribute tender tickets early that morning). I also heard that if you book the excursion to Oia and Fira (which is what we were planning to do on our own), you will be first off, but $75 pp for this 3.5 excursion seems pretty steep. Does anyone have any experience they could share on this topic-I would be most appreciative. Again, the goal is to get off the ship and onto the island as soon as possible.

 

We were on Equinox in fall and a group got together on roll call and arranged a trip directly from the tender dock to Oia. The cost included the boat Anemos that dropped us at Ammoudi where a mini bus took us up the cliff to Oia. We had about 3 hours to explore and see the sunset before returning to Fira on another mini bus. Total cost was about 20 euro a person.

I think we were 12 in the group and that was the boat limit.

We also got together eartly to make sure we secured early tender tickets.

[AndrewM]

Anyone know if there is a way of finding out what cruise ships are docked in Santorini on August 21st?

[bbappel]

We took the ship tour and think it was well worth it. We were able to enjoy both towns and the winery, but made an error in timing and didn't get in line in time to get back in time for our dinner reservations, so we walked down as the sun set. We were too busy enjoying the tomato fritters in a restaurant near the cable car. One warning - the spacing of the steps pushed me to step down on my right foot every time. My knee was swollen and I could hardly walk the next day in Athens and had to use a walking stick. I'm in my 60s though and not at my ideal weight (understatement that), so they were a factor, not just the step spacing.

 

Beth

[AndrewM]

didn't get in line in time to get back in time for our dinner reservations, so we walked down as the sun set.

 

May I ask you how long it took you to walk down to the tender from the top?

[nmg85]

We are in our 20's one of us with asthma and we made it going down easily within 30mins if not less. It depends on how many stops you need to do to let donkeys go past and how many times you stop for pictures :-) The Picture shows how steep and how big the steps are

Edited May 10, 2013 by nmg85

[nmg85]

Here is the pic -

Edited May 10, 2013 by nmg85

[Tiggertastic]

Get in line for tender tickets early, very early or wait til they stop issuing them

 

We did a tour, local boats take you to another dock where buses can get down

 

The other 3 times we did sanatorina we got tender tickets and queued for the cable car - it worked well 2 ways

 

1 we got in line 45 mins before and were on the 2nd boat

2 we waited until they went to open tender and no queues - 2 hours after docking

 

When we had mid way tickets we had to wait over an hour on the ship to be called.

[Kellie Poodle]

Anyone know if there is a way of finding out what cruise ships are docked in Santorini on August 21st?

 

 

http://www.cruisetimetables.com/cruises-to-santorini-greece.html

[nojoke]

We took the ship tour in Dec. 2012 on the Equinox. It was really nice to not have to stand in line for a long time. They took us by tender, then by bus to a wine tasting, then to Oia and then to Fira. The only complaint I have is the limited amount of time in Oia--it was less than an hour, and we felt really rushed--it is such a beautiful town. In Fira, we could stay as long as we wished, and it was picturesque--but not nearly as gorgeous as Oia. We used our tickets for the cable car back to the ship. If we were to go again, I still think we would do the ship tour, but leave the tour in Oia and take either the local bus or a cab back to Fira.

[AndrewM]

http://www.cruisetimetables.com/cruises-to-santorini-greece.html

 

Awesome thanks Kellie! And it looks like there will be few worries for our day in Santorini. There is only one other ship in port that day and it arrives 4 hours earlier and leaves 4 hours before the Reflection leaves. I hope that means easy access up the hill!