Anyone Start a Cruise in Athens ?

[molymoo]

We will be taking the Journey to Antiquities cruise this December.  We will start in Athens.  I have flights arranged with Viking that will get us into Athens at 1:30 PM (there will be a stopover in Vienna).  I am unfamiliar with either the Vienna or Athens airports so have no idea how difficult they may be to navigate.  We were unable to add any days to the front of this trip but would like to participate in an excursion the first night that is scheduled to leave at 5:00 PM.  Is it possible to get through the Athens airport and to the ship in time to take this excursion or should we skip it?  It is a night excursion so it isn’t offered after the first night.  It is a bit on the pricey side and I am guessing that there will be no refunds if we are late getting to the ship and don’t make it … should we try, it or play it safe? 

[RetroRod]

We arrived in Athens last year (April) for our cruise around 5 PM. We had the Viking transfer that took about 2 hours since Viking waited for the other folks flying different airlines to arrive. We hit rush hour traffic and the actual drive was about 45 minutes. It all depends if you are arranging your own transfer and local traffic conditions. You never know if there will be road construction that could further impact the drive. 

[RetroRod]

I failed to mention we didn’t have any problems getting through the Athens airport. It was pretty easy to navigate, at least the day we were there. 

[acwmom]

I assume you are flying on Austrian Air? We had this routing last month. Vienna is a smaller airport, but there is a lot of walking to get through immigration. Also, we had to go through security in Vienna, complete with carryon scanning, etc, before proceeding to our flight to Athens. For that departure, we were bused to the plane, and had to board via the stairs. 

 

We had a private transfer arranged on arrival in Athens. It is a very easy airport to navigate. We arrived to the port well in advance of the bus collecting passengers.  (I want to say we were there by 3pm)

 

Robin

[worldtraveler1234]

Toursbylocals or warmpenguin will pick up at the airport and will drop you off at the ship. You might want to check them out.

[workaholic1954]

If anyone ever faces this again, just take the Metro into the city, then change lines to get to the station closest to the port.  Just because Viking offers you a transfer included fare doesn't mean you have to take it.  You'll be on the boat at least two hours sooner.

[FlyerTalker]

24 minutes ago, workaholic1954 said:

If anyone ever faces this again, just take the Metro into the city, then change lines to get to the station closest to the port.  Just because Viking offers you a transfer included fare doesn't mean you have to take it.  You'll be on the boat at least two hours sooner.

 

Only attempt this if you have a small piece of luggage.  Metro rides, especially ones that involve a transfer, are not for those with a couple pieces of baggage and more.

 

That is, unless you actually enjoy the challenge of schlepping bags.  Or being extremely frugal.

 

Take a taxi.

 

 

[Mich3554]

How long you take might have a lot to do with what day of the week it is.  We sailed out of Athens, but arrived several days early.  We landed on Sunday, and there was NO traffic.  In fact, the cab driver said that the traffic was sparse even for Sunday.
 

I don’t remember Athens airport particularly difficult to navigate, but if you are landing on a weekday, it’s not going to take much of a delay and you’ll get stuck in rush hour traffic and make a short trip much longer.

[shadowlover]

The cabs are not expensive.  Take a cab.

[SM77]

When we sailed with Oceania from Athens to Barcelona in 2018, I arranged for a car to pick us up and take us to a hotel, and used the same company for a private tour of Athens the next day and then on the third day, had a car take us to the port.  Athens is less expensive than other cities to arrange for a private car - it was very nice that our driver spoke perfect English.  My understanding is that many Greek cab drivers do not speak English well.  

[donaldsc]

When we were in Athens we used Uber to get around.  Reasonable prices and easy to use.  Uber in Athens is different from Uber in the states although it used the same software.  Instead of people using their own private vehicles as Uber vehicles they are taxis that are also part of the Uber system.  

 

DON