Just off the Odyssey 8/14 some observations

[zebra]

On 9/9/2022 at 4:03 PM, springgrl said:

It would depend how early your excursion is.  The first tenders were taken up by passengers who had booked shore excursions through RCCL.  You have to wait in line early in the morning to get a tender ticket which will have a number.  We were tender 6 and we were probably called about a half hour after the first tender.  They have quite a few tenders and they are continually going so it would depend on where your tour is meeting you.  You are dropped off close to the cable cars.

Thanks for the reply. Our tour leaves the top cable car station at 10am.  We have been to Santorini a few times before but this will be the first time on such a huge ship (many more people)  So I was trying to work out what time to aim for to leave the ship taking into account the bottleneck at the cable car and the fact that we will not be the only ship tendering that morning.

[springgrl]

On 9/12/2022 at 9:57 AM, zebra said:

Thanks for the reply. Our tour leaves the top cable car station at 10am.  We have been to Santorini a few times before but this will be the first time on such a huge ship (many more people)  So I was trying to work out what time to aim for to leave the ship taking into account the bottleneck at the cable car and the fact that we will not be the only ship tendering that morning.

On our itinerary, we didn’t arrive in Santorini until 1pm and our wait for the cable car was only about 30 min.  The other ships were already in port so the line wasn’t bad.

[fishiecrackers]

On 9/13/2022 at 8:20 AM, springgrl said:

On our itinerary, we didn’t arrive in Santorini until 1pm and our wait for the cable car was only about 30 min.  The other ships were already in port so the line wasn’t bad.

I am looking at possibly switching to that same cruise for next summer as well, and was bummed at such a late arrival into Santorini. The itinerary we are on now is on a much older ship but arrives in Santorini at 7am, and I had hoped to get off early and into Oia before it got insanely hot and crowded. Did you find the late arrival to be an issue? Did you go into Oia, or stay closer to port?

[drjohn4]

35 minutes ago, fishiecrackers said:

I am looking at possibly switching to that same cruise for next summer as well, and was bummed at such a late arrival into Santorini. The itinerary we are on now is on a much older ship but arrives in Santorini at 7am, and I had hoped to get off early and into Oia before it got insanely hot and crowded. Did you find the late arrival to be an issue? Did you go into Oia, or stay closer to port?

I think the late arrival is much better, because then you get to experience sunset in Santorini.  Fantastic views.  Felt sorry for those on ships that arrived earlier and sailed away before sunset.

[seapad]

On 8/17/2022 at 6:15 AM, springgrl said:

We just returned from our wonderful cruise on the Odyssey of the Seas, 8/7-8/14.  It was our first post-COVID cruise and we were happy to be back!  Spent three days in Rome prior to the cruise and visited the ports of Santorini, Kusadasi, Mykonos and Naples.  Some observations:

Took the Shared Shuttle from Rome to the port.  Our check in time was 1:30 but we needed to vacate our Airbnb by 10, so the shuttle picked us up at 10:30.  After picking up another family, we arrived at the port by 11:30. We had fully intended to wait for our boarding time but we were told to check In immediately.  We were on the ship by noon!

 

We did Rapid Test and Trace for our pre-cruise COVID testing and they barely looking at it.  We did not have to present our vaccination cards either.

 

The ship was well-maintained and quite impressive.  Staff was friendly and helpful.  We had two balcony connecting rooms for ourselves and our two adult children.

 

We purchased the three night specialty dining package and we’re glad we did. The food in the main dining room was not good and I’m being kind.  After eating two nights there, we elected to go to Giovanni’s Wine Bar and get pizzas and charcuterie instead.  The other four nights we ate at Wonderland, Izumi, Chops and in port at Santorini.

 

If anyone has any questions, about the cruise, ports, transfers, etc., I’d be happy to answer them.  Our children are adults so I don’t have any insight into activities for younger children.

Never mind.... I see that you've stated already. Silly me. Thanks!

 

Thanks for the great info. Just wondering what time were you at the Civitavecchia Port for embarkation? Did you arrive earlier than your designated time? Thanks! 

Edited September 23, 2022 by seapad

[springgrl]

On 9/23/2022 at 1:18 PM, fishiecrackers said:

I am looking at possibly switching to that same cruise for next summer as well, and was bummed at such a late arrival into Santorini. The itinerary we are on now is on a much older ship but arrives in Santorini at 7am, and I had hoped to get off early and into Oia before it got insanely hot and crowded. Did you find the late arrival to be an issue? Did you go into Oia, or stay closer to port?

We did not go into Oia. We went to a winery in Fira and then explored the area where the cable car goes.  We loved being in Santorini for the evening; the sunset is truly spectacular.  I don’t think the late arrival would affect visiting Oia as many of the passengers of the earlier arriving ships should be leaving by the time you would arrive.