Royal Caribbean Santorini Excursions

[Thatmakes7]

Hi, I am booked on a Greek Isle Cruise for next summer (Odyssey of the Seas). I've been reading alot about the Santorini port and how it can be sort of a disaster if you don't have an excursion booked with the cruiseline. 

 

I am trying to decide between 3 options 

 

1. Akrotiri Ruins and Oia Village

2. Island of Santorini and Oia Village

3. Village of Oia on your own 

 

Can anyone who has completed either of these excursions speak on their experience? I don't have anything in particular I want to see. I'm really just booking the excursion to avoid horrendous cable car lines.

 

I wish there was a way to view reviews on these specific excursions. 

 

Thanks in Advance!

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, Thatmakes7 said:

I'm really just booking the excursion to avoid horrendous cable car lines.

Welcome to CC.

 

You can probably arrange to take one of the early ones yourself without an excursion or wait till the rush dies down. The worst backups might on the return where an excursion won't really help.

 

If in good enough physical shape, you can always skip it and walk.

Edited September 26, 2023 by Biker19

[TravelinTess]

1 hour ago, Thatmakes7 said:

Hi, I am booked on a Greek Isle Cruise for next summer (Odyssey of the Seas). I've been reading alot about the Santorini port and how it can be sort of a disaster if you don't have an excursion booked with the cruiseline. 

 

I am trying to decide between 3 options 

 

1. Akrotiri Ruins and Oia Village

2. Island of Santorini and Oia Village

3. Village of Oia on your own 

 

Can anyone who has completed either of these excursions speak on their experience? I don't have anything in particular I want to see. I'm really just booking the excursion to avoid horrendous cable car lines.

 

I wish there was a way to view reviews on these specific excursions. 

 

Thanks in Advance!

I was on this cruise last summer. We had the Key so could grab a very early tender. If you do not have the Key, I would suggest getting the earliest and least expensive option that includes a shuttle to Oia. Fira is where you will end the day and is totally doable on your own in a couple of hours. You definitely want to get off as early as possible as it does get crowded. We had an amazing time- enjoy your cruise!

[mapleleaves]

Look on youtube for video.  There is definitely video on the Akrotini tour.

I had planned to take the Oia on your own tour but it was sold out.  Like you, I was using the tour as a means to avoid the cable car going up.  So if that's your plan, don't wait too long !

We had a 2 hr wait for the cable car going up, but there was NO line on the way down.  Look carefully at the departing times of the other ships to help gauge the best time for you to return to the tender. 

[edinburgher]

17 hours ago, Thatmakes7 said:

I wish there was a way to view reviews on these specific excursions.

Have you tried googling (name of the tour) prefaced by the words Royal Carribean and followed by the word "reviews"? You never know your luck as you might find something helpful.

 

And as this is a RC specific question, you could try cross posting on the RC forum where pax who may have taken any of the tours would be more likely to see it and reply.

Edited September 27, 2023 by edinburgher

[budmeister]

This is not a jab, as you would not know, but there are multiple posts in the Greece forum about this. It is just faster to direct you than re-write experiences.

[Thatmakes7]

On 9/27/2023 at 2:28 PM, budmeister said:

This is not a jab, as you would not know, but there are multiple posts in the Greece forum about this. It is just faster to direct you than re-write experiences.

Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention. I am new to the site, but I did what you said and was able to find a plethora of information to answer my question. Thanks again!

[Host Bonjour]

On 9/28/2023 at 8:06 PM, Thatmakes7 said:

I am new to the site, but I did what you said and was able to find a plethora of information to answer my question

 

We're glad you're here! 

 

And yes, there are so many wonderful topics to search/scan for information that will be helpful with planning your upcoming voyage. 

 

When you want to narrow in on details that are specific to your visit, definitely come back to share your questions with the community. Everyone here is helpful and may be able to provide additional information to help you with planning the journey.

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic! 🙂 

[MrsHFQ]

On 9/26/2023 at 11:27 PM, Thatmakes7 said:

Hi, I am booked on a Greek Isle Cruise for next summer (Odyssey of the Seas). I've been reading alot about the Santorini port and how it can be sort of a disaster if you don't have an excursion booked with the cruiseline. 

 

I am trying to decide between 3 options 

 

1. Akrotiri Ruins and Oia Village

2. Island of Santorini and Oia Village

3. Village of Oia on your own 

 

Can anyone who has completed either of these excursions speak on their experience? I don't have anything in particular I want to see. I'm really just booking the excursion to avoid horrendous cable car lines.

 

I wish there was a way to view reviews on these specific excursions. 

 

Thanks in Advance!

We did the Village of Oia on your own RC excursion. It was a very early start (6.45!) but worked out well. Going on an RC excursion meant priority on the tenders. We had a coach to Oia, a short guided tour then time on our own. The coach took us back to Fira where we could spend as little or as much time as we wanted and we were given a cable car ticket to return to the tender that we could use at whatever time we chose. As it had been a very early start, we joined the cable car queue soon after 1pm and didn't really have to queue long at all for the cable car (got on to the 2nd one) or for the tender. It suited us and we enjoyed our day.

[CCW84]

On 9/26/2023 at 9:57 PM, mapleleaves said:

Look on youtube for video.  There is definitely video on the Akrotini tour.

I had planned to take the Oia on your own tour but it was sold out.  Like you, I was using the tour as a means to avoid the cable car going up.  So if that's your plan, don't wait too long !

We had a 2 hr wait for the cable car going up, but there was NO line on the way down.  Look carefully at the departing times of the other ships to help gauge the best time for you to return to the tender. 

What time did you go down on the cable car? 

[mapleleaves]

8 hours ago, CCW84 said:

What time did you go down on the cable car? 

 

We were in port from 1:30pm - 10:00pm, late Sept.

And one other ship was there, 7am -4pm ( 2700 pax on Costa).

 

With that information, you wouldn't expect a long wait in either direction for the cable cars.  But the cars only carry 36 pax for each run, so it's a slow process.  We waited 2 hrs to go up at 2pm, but no wait at all at 7pm for the return.  We chose 7pm so that we could enjoy the views and sunset from the ship.