Itinerary Change for Journey 6/16

[glanders]

Just notified we will be going to Mykonos first on 6/21 and then Santorini on 6/22. Maybe they are trying to avoid all of the large ships there on 6/21. We have notified our Santorini tour company to see if we can change dates.

[grilljockey]

Thanks for the heads-up. I had not heard anything from our TA on this, but I see that in fact they changed the order on the website.

 

Not having been to either location before, any thoughts on the trade-offs to consider here? Looks like Mykonos is tendered now instead of docked, but its a long day from 8:00am to 10:00pm. Santorini unfortunately is only tendered from 8:00am-6:00pm.

 

We are planning to do the hike from Fira to Oia which I think should take around 3-4 hours. Then we were going to poke around in Oia a bit over lunch, and then bus back to Fira to look around. Should still be able to do all of this in the shortened day, right? I assume the White Nights party is in Santorini??

 

Frankly I was hoping for a bit longer in Santorini given the long hike occupying a chunk of our day. But if in fact it helps us avoid larger crowds in either or both locations, hopefully the tradeoff is worth it. Any thoughts from those experienced in both locations?

[Spursgirl]

Thanks for the information, we hadn't been notified.

 

If our itinerary has been amended to avoid lots of ships in Santorini it is a great move. Santorini would be totally overwhelmed with all those passengers.

 

Think our White Night evening will still be on the 21st when we are now in Mykonos.

[Lottie A]

Yes thanks for the info on the port change. We haven't been told by Azamara yet.

Seems a very sensible decision, given the amount of ship's in Santorini on the 21st. It will be overwhelmed with tourists.

 

H, we are now in Mykonos with MSC Sinfonia. I think we will still probably berth and they will tender, due to ship size.

 

Grilljockey....a 3-4 hour hike in the summer heat of Santorini? Wow, good luck....please take plenty of water. Mykonos is a shuttle bus from the ships berth to a local car park, then a walk along the sea front to Mykonos town. Takes about 20 mins at a normal pace from memory.

[Marmaduke]

Just incase the Summer heat of Santorini proves to much, there is a frequent local bus service from the bus station in Fira to Oia. Only costs a few euros and you pay on the bus.

[Spursgirl]

Just incase the Summer heat of Santorini proves to much, there is a frequent local bus service from the bus station in Fira to Oia. Only costs a few euros and you pay on the bus.

 

Thank you Marmaduke,

 

We are considering going to Oia but had thought we might take the boat from the quayside. But it's great to have options.

[grayjay]

Thanks for the heads-up. I had not heard anything from our TA on this, but I see that in fact they changed the order on the website.

 

Not having been to either location before, any thoughts on the trade-offs to consider here? Looks like Mykonos is tendered now instead of docked, but its a long day from 8:00am to 10:00pm. Santorini unfortunately is only tendered from 8:00am-6:00pm.

 

We are planning to do the hike from Fira to Oia which I think should take around 3-4 hours. Then we were going to poke around in Oia a bit over lunch, and then bus back to Fira to look around. Should still be able to do all of this in the shortened day, right? I assume the White Nights party is in Santorini??

 

Frankly I was hoping for a bit longer in Santorini given the long hike occupying a chunk of our day. But if in fact it helps us avoid larger crowds in either or both locations, hopefully the tradeoff is worth it. Any thoughts from those experienced in both locations?

 

(Bolding by me)

Just off the Azamara Journey: Being tendered in Mykonos is absolutely great! It was no hassle at all, there were so many tenders running that we only had to wait a few minutes at most. And you're being tendered right into the old port, whereas the bigger ships are on the dock outside and it's quite a walk into town. The shops, the cafés, the boats to Delos ( very recommendable) are directly where the tenders drop you off.

Santorini: Are there any hiking paths from Oia to Fira? I wouldn't use the road as there's a lot of traffic. We took the boat from the dock to Oia, hopped into the bus that waited for us after a short steep incline, walked around Oia and took the private bus back to Fira. Interesting museum right next to the cable car station in Fira ( some took the donkey path down). Cost: 15 Euros p.p. for boat/bus combination, 5 Euros for the cable car down.

[nordski]

In an off-topic suggestion concerning Santorini, I would highly recommend considering a tour going to Akrotiri, an archaeologic site that has recently reopened.

 

Although presenting little in the way of art-work, which has been moved to the Museum at Fira, it is an impressive and expansive excavation that presents important features of Minoan society prior to the great eruption. Although lacking grand architecture, you will be impressed with the sophistication of that society.

 

We also visited a nearbye town which shared much of the design of Oia without the obvious focus on tourism.

[Host Jazzbeau]

We were in Santorini this past Sunday, and did this hike -- or at least part of it. IMHO the hike from Fira all the way to Oia is too long, especially if it will be hotter than the low 80's we had. The path is not groomed like the hiking trails in the US -- in many places the footing is loose gravels and rocks that slow you down. And there is no shade. What we did to make it more manageable was hire a taxi in Fira to take us to the first three "photo op" viewpoints along the path. This cost us 60 Euros (shared between two couples), and cut out about half the walking.

 

When we reached Oia we were running late, so we didn't even have a chance to explore that town -- we found another cab to take us down to Ammoudi Port where we had chartered a boat for a cruise around the caldera. That was most enjoyable.

 

As to Mykonos -- you are better off being tendered than docked. We saw another ship that was docked -- way off in the distance. Their passengers had to pay 2 Euros for a water taxi, or take a long bus ride. Our tenders brought us right in to the same dock at the boats to Delos use, making it really easy to go over to Delos in the morning and then visit Mykonos when we got back.

[oddjob16]

Yes thanks for the info on the port change. We haven't been told by Azamara yet.

Seems a very sensible decision, given the amount of ship's in Santorini on the 21st. It will be overwhelmed with tourists.

 

H, we are now in Mykonos with MSC Sinfonia. I think we will still probably berth and they will tender, due to ship size.

 

Grilljockey....a 3-4 hour hike in the summer heat of Santorini? Wow, good luck....please take plenty of water. Mykonos is a shuttle bus from the ships berth to a local car park, then a walk along the sea front to Mykonos town. Takes about 20 mins at a normal pace from memory.

Johannes has done this before. When portload in Santorini gets too high he has rescheduled his arrival at least once in the past. Hopefully people with local guides and tours have time to re-book their itineraries. In the meanwhile

enjoy this http://www.santorini.net/live_webcam/

[tabatha1]

Thank you Marmaduke,

 

We are considering going to Oia but had thought we might take the boat from the quayside. But it's great to have options.

 

We did this last July when we were on The Journey. Very enjoyable-boat from dock, shuttle bus from port to Oia town, then bus back to Thira on return-all included in ticket price.

 

There was just one other smallish cruise ship there with us but it was still very busy so important to get timing right for the cable car as the queue can be very long and uncomfortable in the heat. The right timing for a short queue depends on the ship departure times so we made sure we got back before the rush and walked straight on.

[Spursgirl]

We did this last July when we were on The Journey. Very enjoyable-boat from dock, shuttle bus from port to Oia town, then bus back to Thira on return-all included in ticket price.

 

There was just one other smallish cruise ship there with us but it was still very busy so important to get timing right for the cable car as the queue can be very long and uncomfortable in the heat. The right timing for a short queue depends on the ship departure times so we made sure we got back before the rush and walked straight on.

 

I have experienced those long cable car queues. It is very unpleasant in the heat. Because of our itinerary change hoping Santorini will now be less frenetic

[Mrs Miggins]

Be thankful for this itinerary change. There were 4 ships in Santorini when we were there on 18th May. We took the boat service from the port to Oia (15 euros or 20 including the return cable car from Thira/Fira) That worked well with a coach up to Oia town from the boat then a return coach from Oia to Thira. BUT the cable car queue was at least one hour. Not pleasant at all. We have been to Santorini many times before and this was the busiest. Of course you could walk down if you are fairly fit, but again the path was busy with walkers and mules)

Regarding the hike we did the walk from Imerovigli to Fira on our previous visit. We got off the public bus after visiting Oia to check out The Grace Hotel, where my son was planning his honeymoon (and to buy him a surprise dinner with the Chef from Nobu, Mykonos). This was a good walk for those not inclined to 'hike'. There is a path and in some ways it seemed to be downhill.