SANTORINI - Holland America cruise

[CUnitJ]

Hello, I hope i'm asking my question at the right place here ! I couldn't seem to find the answer to my question anywhere...! 

I will be boarding the 12-Day  Ancient Empires Holland America cruise in october and was wodering about Santorini (Thira) port. Does the boat dock and leave the passengers at the port of Thira or do they offer the transfer to the port of fira to take the cable car? 

[CruiserBruce]

No ship docks at Santorini. It is a tender only port.

 

What will happen is the ship will pull up off a particular area, and people who have cruise line excursions will tender ashore, where they will meet buses for their tours. Then the ship will move over to Fira (the "TH" is commonly switched), and tender anyone else ashore there. If you are on your own, you will then take a cable car up to Fira, for whatever activity you are doing. Everyone coming back fro ship's excursions will also tender back to the ship from Fira and the cable car operation.

[CUnitJ]

@CruiserBruce Thanks for the quick reply ! 

I was so confusend since the are selling shore excursions to transfer to Oia and Fira. I see that there is a bus i can take to go from Fira to Oia (figured out why they don't promote the fact that the ship will actually take you to the cable car to Fira!)

Time isn't really an issue since the ship leaves port at 11pm.

Thanks a lot  !

 

[wheezedr]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

No ship docks at Santorini. It is a tender only port.

 

What will happen is the ship will pull up off a particular area, and people who have cruise line excursions will tender ashore, where they will meet buses for their tours. Then the ship will move over to Fira (the "TH" is commonly switched), and tender anyone else ashore there. If you are on your own, you will then take a cable car up to Fira, for whatever activity you are doing. Everyone coming back fro ship's excursions will also tender back to the ship from Fira and the cable car operation.

One small addition.  At the tender dock there are boats which motor directly to another dock below Oia.  Some visitors will opt for that approach. From there you will be bused up to Oia.  Others will take the cable car, the donkeys, or walkup to Fira. As Bruce notes all of the travelers will ultimately need to return back to the tender point below Fira.  Not everyone will take the cable car down as some will elect to walk down the steps .  

Edited April 10, 2019 by wheezedr
Add more info

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, CUnitJ said:

@CruiserBruce Thanks for the quick reply ! 

I was so confusend since the are selling shore excursions to transfer to Oia and Fira. I see that there is a bus i can take to go from Fira to Oia (figured out why they don't promote the fact that the ship will actually take you to the cable car to Fira!)

Time isn't really an issue since the ship leaves port at 11pm.

Thanks a lot  !

 

 

If you are saying what I think you are, let me add that Santorini is a bit different to other ports due to the tendering and the limited options for getting up the cliff.

 

Some people do prefer to take the ship's transfer to Oia rather than do it on their own. Why?  The ship tours depart earlier by quite a bit, due to the fact that only ship tour passengers can tender in to the first point (to meet tour buses), then the ship has to move and anchor prior to tendering passengers off to the point where you can get up the cliff to Thira.

 

Thus if you do Oia on your own, you have to wait for the first set of tenders, wait for the ship to move, wait for your turn on the second set of tenders, then either wait at the foot of the cliff for the cable car or walk up/take a donkey to top (Thira) to take a bus to Oia. Or take a private boat shuttle from the tendering point round the island to Oia.

 

All of these things take time and importantly, Oia can get very, very crowded with tourists if several ships are in port. Many people feel it is worth it to take the ship tour or transportation in order to get to Oia early before the worst of the crowds.

 

If you are going to Santorini off-season or on a day when there are not a lot of other ships, getting around isn't so difficult. But otherwise.....the island is small and the transportation infrastructure can only handle so many people without leading to long waits.

 

Edited to add:  There are destination forums here on Cruise Critic -- look for the one on the Mediterranean -- Greek ports.  Many discussions there on Santorini and options.

 

Edited April 10, 2019 by cruisemom42

[CUnitJ]

8 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

If you are saying what I think you are, let me add that Santorini is a bit different to other ports due to the tendering and the limited options for getting up the cliff.

 

Some people do prefer to take the ship's transfer to Oia rather than do it on their own. Why?  The ship tours depart earlier by quite a bit, due to the fact that only ship tour passengers can tender in to the first point (to meet tour buses), then the ship has to move and anchor prior to tendering passengers off to the point where you can get up the cliff to Thira.

 

Thus if you do Oia on your own, you have to wait for the first set of tenders, wait for the ship to move, wait for your turn on the second set of tenders, then either wait at the foot of the cliff for the cable car or walk up/take a donkey to top (Thira) to take a bus to Oia. Or take a private boat shuttle from the tendering point round the island to Oia.

 

All of these things take time and importantly, Oia can get very, very crowded with tourists if several ships are in port. Many people feel it is worth it to take the ship tour or transportation in order to get to Oia early before the worst of the crowds.

 

If you are going to Santorini off-season or on a day when there are not a lot of other ships, getting around isn't so difficult. But otherwise.....the island is small and the transportation infrastructure can only handle so many people without leading to long waits.

 

Edited to add:  There are destination forums here on Cruise Critic -- look for the one on the Mediterranean -- Greek ports.  Many discussions there on Santorini and options.

 

 

I will check thisnout thanks! The thing is that the transfer offered by the cruise is 1-expensive for what it is 2-only leaves us 4 hours to visit both Oia and Fira...

[cruisemom42]

13 minutes ago, CUnitJ said:

 

I will check thisnout thanks! The thing is that the transfer offered by the cruise is 1-expensive for what it is 2-only leaves us 4 hours to visit both Oia and Fira...

 

No argument there. But you can always ditch the transfer once you get to Oia and spend as much time there on your own as you want.

 

Expensive, maybe. But for some the thought is that this may be their only visit to Santorini and they don't want to waste a couple hours of their only day waiting to get started seeing it.

[paul929207]

We rarely take the ship excursions, so we took the tender to the dock, cable car up and then a bus to Oia. Had plenty of time and a wonderful day. The views are magnificent. 

[Hlitner]

If Oia is your goal, you would not want to go early in the morning when much is closed.   Keep in mind that your ship is scheduled for a very long port day in Santorini (8am to 11pm) so there is really no rush to get ashore.  Personally we would just take the tender and do things on our own.  Since you are in the port until late, you might want to consider going to Oia for dinner and watching the sunset from that location :).  With such a long port day we would normally rent a car which gives us the flexibility to go anywhere on the island.  If you plan on going to Oia on your own there are public buses that run between Fira and Oia...although the frequency of those buses leaves a lot to be desired.  There are also taxis on the island and they will usually want about 25 Euros (one-way) to Oia.  But if you do stay in Oia until after sunset it might be a bit difficult to find a taxi for the return, unless you have previously arranged for a taxi to pick you up.  Most of the island's taxis base themselves at Fira (there is a large taxi area close to the Fira bus station) and it is not common for taxis to just hang-out at Oia.  

 

If you rent a car, you have access to the entire island.  There are places to visit such as the ruins at Akritori (if it is open), wineries, beaches (we like Red Beach), etc.  

 

Hank

[CUnitJ]

21 hours ago, wheezedr said:

One small addition.  At the tender dock there are boats which motor directly to another dock below Oia.  Some visitors will opt for that approach. From there you will be bused up to Oia.  Others will take the cable car, the donkeys, or walkup to Fira. As Bruce notes all of the travelers will ultimately need to return back to the tender point below Fira.  Not everyone will take the cable car down as some will elect to walk down the steps .  

 

Since this stop is on the 7th day of our itinerary, i think i’ll wait and ask on cruise what are the best options to visit on our own, but motor boats from the tender port looks like a good one. Visiting in october shouldn’t be as busy as in the summer.

[cruisemom42]

6 minutes ago, CUnitJ said:

 

Since this stop is on the 7th day of our itinerary, i think i’ll wait and ask on cruise what are the best options to visit on our own, but motor boats from the tender port looks like a good one. Visiting in october shouldn’t be as busy as in the summer.

 

There are ways to check how many other ships are scheduled to be in port with you, if desired. 

[CUnitJ]

12 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

There are ways to check how many other ships are scheduled to be in port with you, if desired. 

Just did and looks like Koningsdamis the only cruise ship that day 🙂🙂

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, CUnitJ said:

Just did and looks like Koningsdamis the only cruise ship that day 🙂🙂

 

Excellent! 👍

[Hlitner]

15 hours ago, CUnitJ said:

 

Since this stop is on the 7th day of our itinerary, i think i’ll wait and ask on cruise what are the best options to visit on our own, but motor boats from the tender port looks like a good one. Visiting in october shouldn’t be as busy as in the summer.

Just be aware that the boats running from the tender pier (below Fira) to Oia are really a hit-miss thing.  They are operated by private companies and often do not have much of a schedule.  As one boat operator told us, "we will leave when we are full."  On one of our early season visits (in April) the boat operators never even bothered to operate.  A friend of ours waited around the pier for about 2 hours until the operator gave up for lack of customers.   I do think those boats are a good option and they will generally include a return bus ticket in their fare....but you need to push them on "when are you going to leave" and be prepared with a "Plan B"....which would be to take the cable car up to Fira and then either use a taxi, rental car, or bus.

 

Hank

[wheezedr]

Hank is quite right.  Rule A is to always have a “Plan B”.  That is true of virtually any port and especially if you are a do it yourselfer.

[CUnitJ]

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Just be aware that the boats running from the tender pier (below Fira) to Oia are really a hit-miss thing.  They are operated by private companies and often do not have much of a schedule.  As one boat operator told us, "we will leave when we are full."  On one of our early season visits (in April) the boat operators never even bothered to operate.  A friend of ours waited around the pier for about 2 hours until the operator gave up for lack of customers.   I do think those boats are a good option and they will generally include a return bus ticket in their fare....but you need to push them on "when are you going to leave" and be prepared with a "Plan B"....which would be to take the cable car up to Fira and then either use a taxi, rental car, or bus.

 

Hank

That is what i read in other forums. 

I think we will take the cable car and bus to Oia ... cab or bus to come back.

[zqvol]

On 4/9/2019 at 9:24 PM, CUnitJ said:

Hello, I hope i'm asking my question at the right place here ! I couldn't seem to find the answer to my question anywhere...! 

I will be boarding the 12-Day  Ancient Empires Holland America cruise in october and was wodering about Santorini (Thira) port. Does the boat dock and leave the passengers at the port of Thira or do they offer the transfer to the port of fira to take the cable car? 

 

You are tendered ashore to the old port and take the cable car or donkeys up the mountain.

[ldubs]

On 4/9/2019 at 7:38 PM, cruisemom42 said:

 

If you are saying what I think you are, let me add that Santorini is a bit different to other ports due to the tendering and the limited options for getting up the cliff.

 

Some people do prefer to take the ship's transfer to Oia rather than do it on their own. Why?  The ship tours depart earlier by quite a bit, due to the fact that only ship tour passengers can tender in to the first point (to meet tour buses), then the ship has to move and anchor prior to tendering passengers off to the point where you can get up the cliff to Thira.

 

Thus if you do Oia on your own, you have to wait for the first set of tenders, wait for the ship to move, wait for your turn on the second set of tenders, then either wait at the foot of the cliff for the cable car or walk up/take a donkey to top (Thira) to take a bus to Oia. Or take a private boat shuttle from the tendering point round the island to Oia.

 

All of these things take time and importantly, Oia can get very, very crowded with tourists if several ships are in port. Many people feel it is worth it to take the ship tour or transportation in order to get to Oia early before the worst of the crowds.

 

If you are going to Santorini off-season or on a day when there are not a lot of other ships, getting around isn't so difficult. But otherwise.....the island is small and the transportation infrastructure can only handle so many people without leading to long waits.

 

Edited to add:  There are destination forums here on Cruise Critic -- look for the one on the Mediterranean -- Greek ports.  Many discussions there on Santorini and options.

 

 

Does what you describe apply in general to RCI also?  

 

Thanks.  

 

 

[ontheweb]

On 4/11/2019 at 4:10 PM, zqvol said:

 

You are tendered ashore to the old port and take the cable car or donkeys up the mountain.

Or you can walk.

[cruisemom42]

45 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

Does what you describe apply in general to RCI also?  

 

Thanks.  

 

 

Yes, to all ships.