CCJack Posted November 1, 2023 #1 Share Posted November 1, 2023 Our NCL cruise lists about 5 different excursions for Santorini. The descriptions are very poor in terms of telling you the logistics, and in Santorini the logistics are important. My understanding is all cruiselines tender their "non excursion" passengers to the old port and then you are on your own to get up the cliff to Fira via cable car, donkey, or walking the 600 steps. The "excursion" people are tendered to Anthinios so that they can board buses for their excursion. My question is, do the NCL excursions all end up at Fira, where you can spend some time on your own and then cable car down or walk down to the old port and tender to the ship, or do some of the excursions return you to Anthinios? I am considering booking an excursion just to avoid the possible 2 hour wait for the cable car but would still like to see Fira and walk down ourselves after the excursion. My guess is they all end up at Fira. Thanks for any insight here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsnotjustme Posted November 1, 2023 #2 Share Posted November 1, 2023 (edited) I was in Santorini in early September (back-to-back cruises). Cruise #1 we took the volcano hike excursion. The ship tender took us to the old port, where we boarded another boat to go to the volcano island. The boat returned us to the old port, and we tendered back to the ship. No donkey trail or cable car involved. Cruise #2 I did the beach excursion. We tendered to the new port with busses waiting. At the end, the bus returned us to Fira and gave us a cable car ticket down. The cable car line was near an hour even though I returned early afternoon, and our ship did not depart until 9PM! To my knowledge, non-excursion passengers tendered to the old port, and had to use the cable car or donkey trail (by donkey or by foot). I heard people talk of a 2-hour wait for the ride up! Years ago, we rode the donkeys up. We will not do that again. The donkeys live a hard abusive life IMHO. Years ago, we walked down. We won't do that again either. It was hot, smelly, slippery, and dangerous. The donkeys don't care where you are standing - they want to walk the edge of the train so it is least steep and will push you out of the way or into the wall. We witnessed a man slip and fall, scraping up his leg. The wound was full of donkey crap. Edited November 1, 2023 by itsnotjustme Editorial error. 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davencl Posted November 1, 2023 #3 Share Posted November 1, 2023 In august we took a NCL excursion. Dropped us off at new port to take buses on the tour then dropped us off in Fira with ticket for cable car. There was no line for the cable car going down. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hernando52 Posted November 1, 2023 #4 Share Posted November 1, 2023 We took an NCL excursion in late Sept. We tendered to the new port where we boarded a bus which took us to a winery, Oia, and then back to Fira. We were given the cable car ticket to go down to the old port to catch a tender back to the ship. We pretty much had no time to do anything in Fira as we had to get in the very long line for the cable car. The wait was about an hour and a half. We were lucky, as shortly after we got back to the ship, Santorini had a power outage which disabled the cable car. Ship passengers in Fira had to walk down the steep path in the dark to the old port...NCL waited for everyone to return before leaving. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mcmomny Posted November 1, 2023 #5 Share Posted November 1, 2023 In August we took the same excursion as @hernando52 did, but we had no line what so ever when returning to the ship via cable car. We walked right on. We were the only ship in port that day but the crowds were still crazy everywhere except the cable car! Everything I read before we sailed was that the crowds on the cable car would be hit or miss and we lucked out 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCJack Posted November 1, 2023 Author #6 Share Posted November 1, 2023 (edited) thank you all... these are all great inputs.. A couple questions... itsnotjustme... how was the volcano hike? We are not on B2B so if we do the volcano we will not go to Fira. Do you think Fira is a "don't miss" place? We are on a 9 day cruise with 8 ports so we will be busy and I am fine skipping some towns if necessary. Another option is the Oia excursion (without winery) and take our chances on the cable car down. It is listed as a 3 hour excursion that starts at 9 am, so I would assume we would be in Fira at noon with cable car tickets, then we could may be be in line for cable car by 1 pm or so. There are 3 ships in port that day but one of them does not arrive until 2 pm, so basically a 2 ship day for the morning / early afternoon. All ships stay until 9 pm. I am hoping a 1 pm line for cable car down would not be too bad. Edited November 1, 2023 by CCJack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanger727 Posted November 1, 2023 #7 Share Posted November 1, 2023 You can also arrange a Oia tour on your own. There are many tour companies right off the dock in Santorini that will take you by boat to Anthinios, bus then you to Oia. And then they have buses leaving at regular intervals to return to Fira. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoCruiseFan Posted November 1, 2023 #8 Share Posted November 1, 2023 Yes I am pretty sure that someone has! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsnotjustme Posted November 2, 2023 #9 Share Posted November 2, 2023 12 hours ago, CCJack said: itsnotjustme... how was the volcano hike? We are not on B2B so if we do the volcano we will not go to Fira. Do you think Fira is a "don't miss" place? We enjoyed the volcano hike. We are 59 years old, and while it was certainly a good workout, it was not too difficult. The path is moderately steep, and most of it is packed dirt and loose gravel - you need to watch your step. After the hike back down, the boat took us to another spot with natural hot springs. Those who wanted to (I did, my wife did not) swam about 100 meters from the boat to the shoreline where the springs were. Volcano Hike Fira is charming but can be way over-crowded taking away the enjoyment of it. If you have been to many Greek villages, it does not stand out from the others. IMHO. Another great place is the archaeological ruins at Akrotiri. Think of it as like Pompei, but far smaller. Same deal - a town buried in volcanic ash being excavated. Close to Akrotiri is the Red beach, accessible by a moderate walk then hike including steep rocky slopes harder but shorter than the volcano hike. We have done Akrotiri on our own using the public bus service from and back to Fira. Normally there are also excursions here. Akrotiri Red Beach 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OctCruise11 Posted July 9 #10 Share Posted July 9 Has anyone done the "Highlights Of Santorini By Land And Sea" through NCL ? Does it end up at Fira, where you can spend some time on your own and then cable car down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richg35 Posted July 9 #11 Share Posted July 9 Another formerly wonderful destination ruined by cruising. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zqvol Posted July 9 #12 Share Posted July 9 1 hour ago, richg35 said: Another formerly wonderful destination ruined by cruising. Saw a news report today that they are getting ready to cap the number of cruisers at 8000 per day. That will really help if it goes into effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KeithJenner Posted July 10 #13 Share Posted July 10 13 hours ago, zqvol said: Saw a news report today that they are getting ready to cap the number of cruisers at 8000 per day. That will really help if it goes into effect. This is one port that absolutely needs to cap numbers. The current situation results in a poor experience for cruisers and large crowds, especially in Fira, which impact on the non cruisers there. We have only occasionally gone ashore there lately and have decided that we will just view Santorini as a sea day from now on. There seems to be an assumption that Santorini is a must visit destination on Greek Island cruises, but as more reports of the experience filter through I hope that others will join us in thinking that not going there would be a positive, not a negative. Even better would be for the authorities to force the issue by limiting numbers, and 8000 still sounds too high to me. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCJack Posted July 10 Author #14 Share Posted July 10 On 7/8/2024 at 9:36 PM, OctCruise11 said: Has anyone done the "Highlights Of Santorini By Land And Sea" through NCL ? Does it end up at Fira, where you can spend some time on your own and then cable car down? I have not been on this excursion, however trying to decifer the description, I would guess that you do not go to Fira. It appears you tender to the new port (anthinios), then bus to Oia, spend some time there, then bus back to anthinios for a boat ride in the caldera. Then perhaps sail back to anthinios to catch a tender to the ship. Perhaps someone who has been on this can comment. I think it sounds like a good excursion if one wants to avoid the cable cars altogether. Unfortunately, it is sold out for our September 2024 cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedCruise_2022 Posted July 14 #15 Share Posted July 14 Santorini is one of our ports during our Eastern Mediterranean Cruise on Dawn this October (from Trieste to Athens/Oct 17-27, 2024). We booked the Santorini shore excursion: Let's Take a Selfie (4.5 hours, starts at 2:30 pm)- which begins in Oia, then visits an ocean-front restaurant, then goes to Fira (for more selfies, I suppose 😅). Has anyone taken this shore excursion? What was your experience-especially the logistics of going back to the ship? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julig22 Posted July 14 #16 Share Posted July 14 57 minutes ago, MedCruise_2022 said: Santorini is one of our ports during our Eastern Mediterranean Cruise on Dawn this October (from Trieste to Athens/Oct 17-27, 2024). We booked the Santorini shore excursion: Let's Take a Selfie (4.5 hours, starts at 2:30 pm)- which begins in Oia, then visits an ocean-front restaurant, then goes to Fira (for more selfies, I suppose 😅). Has anyone taken this shore excursion? What was your experience-especially the logistics of going back to the ship? Thanks! Yes, I took it but I suspect my experience was quite different than what people are finding now. I went in October, 2021, so early in the restart process. I think we were the only ship in port and probably less than 1000 passengers. So for me it was the perfect excursion, got to see the highlights of the island, then had sufficient time to wander around town afterwards. According to the description, the ticket for the cable car was included - it wasn't, not a big deal. But not much of a line, think the line was at the bottom of the stairs, definitely not hours long. But of course that would also depend on what time you are trying to return. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mapleleaves Posted July 14 #17 Share Posted July 14 38 minutes ago, MedCruise_2022 said: Santorini is one of our ports during our Eastern Mediterranean Cruise on Dawn this October (from Trieste to Athens/Oct 17-27, 2024). We booked the Santorini shore excursion: Let's Take a Selfie (4.5 hours, starts at 2:30 pm)- which begins in Oia, then visits an ocean-front restaurant, then goes to Fira (for more selfies, I suppose 😅). Has anyone taken this shore excursion? What was your experience-especially the logistics of going back to the ship? Thanks! How many ships are in Santorini with you that day? That is what impacts your ability to get around the island, esp the cable car line. So find out the # of ships, # of pax, arrival and departure times. And what are the Dawn's hours? cruisemapper is a decent source ie we were in Santorini, 2pm - 10pm. There was only one other ship with us and it left at 5pm, so when we went back to the ship around 7pm, there was NO line for the cable car! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedCruise_2022 Posted July 14 #18 Share Posted July 14 (edited) Thanks for your reply. There will be 5 ships on Oct 23 (2 NCLs)- based on Cruisemapper info. We are arriving 1:30pm, and departing 9:30 pm. I am (over)thinking of overcrowding/chaos on that day! I think 3 ships have earlier departures than us, but both NCL ships are leaving at about the same time. If the Tour excursion starts at 2:30 pm- and ends at about 7:00 pm-- then, we will have only about 2 hours or so to navigate the cable car and the tender boat back to the ship. Edited July 14 by MedCruise_2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedCruise_2022 Posted July 15 #19 Share Posted July 15 1 hour ago, julig22 said: Yes, I took it but I suspect my experience was quite different than what people are finding now. I went in October, 2021, so early in the restart process. I think we were the only ship in port and probably less than 1000 passengers. So for me it was the perfect excursion, got to see the highlights of the island, then had sufficient time to wander around town afterwards. According to the description, the ticket for the cable car was included - it wasn't, not a big deal. But not much of a line, think the line was at the bottom of the stairs, definitely not hours long. But of course that would also depend on what time you are trying to return. Thanks for the information. Glad that you had a wonderful experience in Santorini. The description of the shore excursion does not give much details except on the major places/sights to be visited. It does not say about the transport to and from Santorini- much less about a cable car ticket back to the port. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mapleleaves Posted July 15 #20 Share Posted July 15 Very helpful that the other ships leave before you ! I don't think you're overthinking the situation. I thought I was prepared but I was certainly caught offguard. I still don't understand our 2hr wait going up to Fira; the other ship arrived 5 hrs before us and we were on the 2nd tender! It's those unknowns that create havoc. I assume you and the other tour members will head directly to the cable car at 7pm when the tour ends? There will be NCL reps keeping an eye on the cable car situation. Luckily you are on an NCL tour so they will be aware of it's end time, and luckily the other ships will have departed. So you just have to worry about the number of NCL pax who might be in line ahead of you..... there's your unknown. BTW, we determined that walking down the donkey stairs was an option if we had another wait for the cable cars. Is that an option for you? P.S. if you want feedback on selfie tours, there were several LIVE CRUISE REPORTs that mentioned them. Good and bad. Type "selfie tour" with the quotation marks in the SEARCH box at the top of the page. Limit search to NCL Here ya go...... Showing results for '"selfie tour"' in content posted in Norwegian Cruise Line. - Cruise Critic Community 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy planning mom Posted July 15 #21 Share Posted July 15 On 10/31/2023 at 8:00 PM, CCJack said: Our NCL cruise lists about 5 different excursions for Santorini. The descriptions are very poor in terms of telling you the logistics, and in Santorini the logistics are important. My understanding is all cruiselines tender their "non excursion" passengers to the old port and then you are on your own to get up the cliff to Fira via cable car, donkey, or walking the 600 steps. The "excursion" people are tendered to Anthinios so that they can board buses for their excursion. My question is, do the NCL excursions all end up at Fira, where you can spend some time on your own and then cable car down or walk down to the old port and tender to the ship, or do some of the excursions return you to Anthinios? I am considering booking an excursion just to avoid the possible 2 hour wait for the cable car but would still like to see Fira and walk down ourselves after the excursion. My guess is they all end up at Fira. Thanks for any insight here. Yes, they end up back at Fira. I did Opa, the Greek Celebration excursion and enjoyed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedCruise_2022 Posted July 15 #22 Share Posted July 15 12 minutes ago, mapleleaves said: Very helpful that the other ships leave before you ! I don't think you're overthinking the situation. I thought I was prepared but I was certainly caught offguard. I still don't understand our 2hr wait going up to Fira; the other ship arrived 5 hrs before us and we were on the 2nd tender! It's those unknowns that create havoc. I assume you and the other tour members will head directly to the cable car at 7pm when the tour ends? There will be NCL reps keeping an eye on the cable car situation. Luckily you are on an NCL tour so they will be aware of it's end time, and luckily the other ships will have departed. So you just have to worry about the number of NCL pax who might be in line ahead of you..... there's your unknown. BTW, we determined that walking down the donkey stairs was an option if we had another wait for the cable cars. Is that an option for you? P.S. if you want feedback on selfie tours, there were several LIVE CRUISE REPORTs that mentioned them. Good and bad. Type "selfie tour" with the quotation marks in the SEARCH box at the top of the page. Limit search to NCL Here ya go...... Showing results for '"selfie tour"' in content posted in Norwegian Cruise Line. - Cruise Critic Community Thanks for the link to the discussions on "Selfie Tour". I will look into it. I have read "harrowing tales" about visiting Santorini--with some suggestions to stay put on the ship. We would like to visit Santorini very much--our first time. We are open to the option of walking down the donkey stairs-if need be. Some say the views are great from there (smile and wink)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zqvol Posted July 15 #23 Share Posted July 15 (edited) 2 hours ago, MedCruise_2022 said: Thanks for the link to the discussions on "Selfie Tour". I will look into it. I have read "harrowing tales" about visiting Santorini--with some suggestions to stay put on the ship. We would like to visit Santorini very much--our first time. We are open to the option of walking down the donkey stairs-if need be. Some say the views are great from there (smile and wink)! Coming down the path is really easy. The “steps” are wide and easy to navigate. You just have to be careful to avoid stepping in a mess. The views over the side, especially at the top are beautiful. I have ridden the donkeys (the are really large mules) up and that is a much better option than waiting on the cable cars. Edited July 15 by zqvol 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedCruise_2022 Posted July 15 #24 Share Posted July 15 12 hours ago, zqvol said: Coming down the path is really easy. The “steps” are wide and easy to navigate. You just have to be careful to avoid stepping in a mess. The views over the side, especially at the top are beautiful. I have ridden the donkeys (the are really large mules) up and that is a much better option than waiting on the cable cars. Thanks for this information! Walking the donkey stairs is then an option. So looking forward to our Eastern Med Cruise/Santorini visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mapleleaves Posted July 15 #25 Share Posted July 15 3 hours ago, MedCruise_2022 said: Thanks for this information! Walking the donkey stairs is then an option. So looking forward to our Eastern Med Cruise/Santorini visit. I don't particularly care for LIVE CRUISE REPORTs; too many photos of their luggage, their uber ride to the airport, every drink, every appetizer, etc etc, plus all the comments from readers. However, I will glance thru them for info on a new-to-me port. So ....the attached report was done just last month. Not good news for you I'm afraid. 😟 The Pearl and Epic were both departing at 10pm, they got in the cable car line at 7:30 after the tour bus dropped them off. They did the NCL Opa tour. HUNDREDS of people in line and they "heard" it was a 2 hr wait. After waiting an hr, they decided to walk down the stairs. Last tender is 9pm. They made it, and the ship left on time so everyone must have made it to the ship. Read the whole story. Excellent photos of the walk. TxTeach79's Pearl European Adventure LIVE - 6/24 - Page 108 - Norwegian Cruise Line - Cruise Critic Community 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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