Royal Caribbean and Greece Tender Ports???

[sjhanksaz]

We are booked on Voyager of the seas and they have stops in Santorini, Rhodes, Mykonos.

 

Looking at our itinerary I don't see anything stating any of them are Tender Ports.  

 

Will Royal tell us which ones are Tender Ports when we get closer to the cruise?  Right now it's about 90 days out.

 

Thanks

 

[RobInMN]

It's on the itinerary description page. Not sure if this one is your's but it has the 3 in question:

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruises/itinerary/9-night-mediterranean-highlights-from-málaga-on-voyager/VY09ATH-262375345?sail-date=2024-10-14&currency=USD&country=USA&search=startDate:2024-07-01~2024-07-31,2024-08-01~2024-08-31,2024-09-01~2024-09-30,2024-10-01~2024-10-31#step=0

 

[sjhanksaz]

Thanks - I see it there too.  Not sure why it does not show up on the PDF receipt they send out via email on the itinerary section..... thanks for pointing me in the right place

 

 

[RobInMN]

2 minutes ago, sjhanksaz said:

Thanks - I see it there too.  Not sure why it does not show up on the PDF receipt they send out via email on the itinerary section

I agree. I think it should be posted there also.

[Galveston Cruiser]

I am suprised at Mykonos,  There must be many ships sxheduled the same day,

We were there twice at the end of May docking both times.

[Merion_Mom]

12 minutes ago, Galveston Cruiser said:

I am suprised at Mykonos,  There must be many ships sxheduled the same day,

We were there twice at the end of May docking both times.

 

IIRC, one ship can dock; all others must tender.

[kitkat343]

Santorini is always a tender port.  Please also note that Santorini is a spectacularly beautiful port, but the disembarkment process there from all cruise ships across all cruise lines is a very challenging one.  First, you need to take a tender (and there's a huge fight to get it) and then your options are a cable car up, riding donkeys up or walking up the donkey path.  Depending on how many ships are in port, it could take hours to clear the cable car line.  Some people sign up for cruise ship tours that let you explore Oia independently to get priority disembarkation in Santorini.  In the past, there have sometimes been private water taxis running but I don't know if they currently are running.  Or discuss your options with a private tour operator prior to booking.

Edited July 1 by kitkat343

[sgmn]

5 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

 your options are a cable car up, riding donkeys up or walking up the donkey path.  

 

Depending on how many ships are in port, it could take hours to clear the cable car line.  Some people sign up for cruise ship tours that let you explore Oia independently to get priority disembarkation in Santorini.  In the past, there have sometimes been private water taxis running but I don't know if they currently are running.  Or discuss your options with a private tour operator prior to booking.

Another DIY option is to take the boat/bus combo from the where the tender boat drops you to the pretty town of Oia. The price includes a bus back to Fira (village at top of cable car) and then you can either walk down the steps back to the tender pickup or wait in the queue for the cable car (or take the donkey down).  It makes a big difference to the crowds on how many ships are in port (check out in advance on line). Oia gets very crowded so visit as early as possible.   More info on port pages of cruise critic 

Edited July 1 by sgmn

[sgmn]

5 hours ago, Galveston Cruiser said:

I am suprised at Mykonos,  There must be many ships sxheduled the same day,

We were there twice at the end of May docking both times.

The two times we've been there we anchored in the bay and were tendered to shore. Very organised and the tender drops you right in the centre of the port/town. 

[Simon-t]

9 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

Santorini is always a tender port.  Please also note that Santorini is a spectacularly beautiful port, but the disembarkment process there from all cruise ships across all cruise lines is a very challenging one.  First, you need to take a tender (and there's a huge fight to get it) and then your options are a cable car up, riding donkeys up or walking up the donkey path.  Depending on how many ships are in port, it could take hours to clear the cable car line.  Some people sign up for cruise ship tours that let you explore Oia independently to get priority disembarkation in Santorini.  

We’ve just finished seven days in the Aegean on Voyager. In Santorini we had the option of a tender to the New Port, then a bus transfer to Fira, booked on board through shore excursions. This avoided the very long walk up the donkey path or the lines for the cable car. The charge was €13 from memory, but a useful option. We got the transfer in the morning, and transfers then ran back to about 6.00pm. 

[ajtaylor29]

We visited Santorini last fall. Here's what we did (i read this from another poster and it made perfect sense for our day since we had a long day there!).

We booked the ship excursion "Visit Oia on your own", which got us priority tender and bus ride up the mountain to Oia. There, we informed the tour guide for our bus that we were leaving the tour and would get ourselves back to the ship.

We then spent time in Oia at our leisure, then i booked a private driver who picked us up and took us touring around the island (windmills, Black sand beach, lunch, etc.) After several hours, he dropped us off in Fira, where we enjoyed a cocktail and a little shopping before getting in line for the cable car ride down to the tenders.

It was a great day packed with activity and worked out great for our party of 6.

i will say - get to Oia as early as you can. It is gorgeous! But also very crowded. We were glad to spend our first 2-3 hours there and watched the crowds increase by the minute as more people made there way ashore! We were leaving to tour the rest of the island about noon. I can't imagine how crowded it must have been there the rest of the day!

[sjhanksaz]

Thanks for all the great tips!

[sjhanksaz]

38 minutes ago, ajtaylor29 said:

We visited Santorini last fall. Here's what we did (i read this from another poster and it made perfect sense for our day since we had a long day there!).

We booked the ship excursion "Visit Oia on your own", which got us priority tender and bus ride up the mountain to Oia. There, we informed the tour guide for our bus that we were leaving the tour and would get ourselves back to the ship.

We then spent time in Oia at our leisure, then i booked a private driver who picked us up and took us touring around the island (windmills, Black sand beach, lunch, etc.) After several hours, he dropped us off in Fira, where we enjoyed a cocktail and a little shopping before getting in line for the cable car ride down to the tenders.

It was a great day packed with activity and worked out great for our party of 6.

i will say - get to Oia as early as you can. It is gorgeous! But also very crowded. We were glad to spend our first 2-3 hours there and watched the crowds increase by the minute as more people made there way ashore! We were leaving to tour the rest of the island about noon. I can't imagine how crowded it must have been there the rest of the day!

 

Royal has an Oia & Fira Town for just $5 more than just the Oia on your own.  Sounds like they will also take you to Fira and give you a tram ticket back down that you can use at the end of your day.  

 

 

 

Edited July 1 by sjhanksaz

[ajtaylor29]

7 minutes ago, sjhanksaz said:

 

Royal has an Oia & Fira Town for just $5 more than just the Oia on your own.  Sounds like they will also take you to Fira and give you a tram ticket back down that you can use at the end of your day.  

 

 

 

They do, but for us - the bus to Fira was going to be too early. Seems like it only gave us 3 or 4 hours on the island then we would have to get on the bus to Fira. We were there maybe 9-7 (something like that) so we wanted to spend more time exploring.

[firefly333]

8 minutes ago, sjhanksaz said:

 

Royal has an Oia & Fira Town for just $5 more than just the Oia on your own.  Sounds like they will also take you to Fira and give you a tram ticket back down that you can use at the end of your day.  

 

 

 

This sounds like my pick. I'm waiting for excursions to drop for may 2025. 

[Cruising89143]

I like tendering in Mykonos as your dropped off at a better location than docking. In Santorini, we have never had an issue with using the cable cars up or down the mountain. The line moves quickly or at least it has for us. 

[Hoopster95]

5 hours ago, Simon-t said:

The charge was €13 from memory,

 

This is incorrect.  I just checked one of the upcoming Voyager sailings on the Royal app, it shows $84 per person. I believe on my sailing it was about $100 US from Royal's excursion desk.... "Santorini on your own", and the Royal website says "enjoy 90 minutes on your own". Such a rip off.

 

When you arrive by tender from the ship at the bottom of the cable car, there is a large office/kiosk with a big huge sign that says "Ferry to Oia". They sell independent tickets, just like Royal "On your Own", for 30 Euro. My boat left in 10min, the buses back leave every hour.

1/2 price of Royal. We had about 3 hours in Oia, and another 3 hours in Fira, including having an incredible Greek dinner in one of the many rooftop restaurants looking down into the caldera during sunset. 

Edited July 1 by Hoopster95

[livetravelcruise07]

We were just on Voyager in May. We tendered to Santorini and docked in Mykonos. 🙂Apparently Mykonos is also a tendered port, because Norwegian Cruise Line came in shortly after us and they were tendering guests to the dock. 

[Simon-t]

6 hours ago, Hoopster95 said:

 

This is incorrect.  

Err, it’s not incorrect - I did it on Saturday before getting off Voyager in Athens this morning! I am not talking about the Fira on your own shore excursion, which I agree is really bad value for money. This was a transfer which was not available before the cruise but appeared on the app while we were on board.

 

Cost was $13 per person (not euros as a I said in my first post). We transferred to Fira at 10.30. Return shuttle/tenders ran from 4.00pm to 6.00pm (although we decided to walk down the donkey path to the Old Port and get the standard tender back from there).

 

I assume it was not available pre cruise, as frankly nobody would book the Fira on your Own excursion.

Edited July 1 by Simon-t

[Hoopster95]

12 hours ago, Simon-t said:

We’ve just finished seven days in the Aegean on Voyager. In Santorini we had the option of a tender to the New Port, then a bus transfer to Fira, booked on board through shore excursions. This avoided the very long walk up the donkey path or the lines for the cable car. The charge was €13 from memory, but a useful option. We got the transfer in the morning, and transfers then ran back to about 6.00pm. 

 

10 minutes ago, Simon-t said:

Err, it’s not incorrect - I did it on Saturday before getting off Voyager in Athens this morning!

 

Ugh! I'm wrong... sorry about that. I thought the conversation at the time was about Oia, however you are speaking specifically only about Fira. I get it now ("new port" in Fira)

[pinkhatlady]

On 7/1/2024 at 6:03 AM, Simon-t said:

We’ve just finished seven days in the Aegean on Voyager. In Santorini we had the option of a tender to the New Port, then a bus transfer to Fira, booked on board through shore excursions. This avoided the very long walk up the donkey path or the lines for the cable car. The charge was €13 from memory, but a useful option. We got the transfer in the morning, and transfers then ran back to about 6.00pm. 

So you took a bus back to the new port and tendered back to the ship? Or did you walk down or take the cable car. We are sailing on Voyager in October. 

[pinkhatlady]

On 7/1/2024 at 11:44 AM, Hoopster95 said:

 

This is incorrect.  I just checked one of the upcoming Voyager sailings on the Royal app, it shows $84 per person. I believe on my sailing it was about $100 US from Royal's excursion desk.... "Santorini on your own", and the Royal website says "enjoy 90 minutes on your own". Such a rip off.

 

When you arrive by tender from the ship at the bottom of the cable car, there is a large office/kiosk with a big huge sign that says "Ferry to Oia". They sell independent tickets, just like Royal "On your Own", for 30 Euro. My boat left in 10min, the buses back leave every hour.

1/2 price of Royal. We had about 3 hours in Oia, and another 3 hours in Fira, including having an incredible Greek dinner in one of the many rooftop restaurants looking down into the caldera during sunset. 

How long was your wait to get back to the ship.

[Simon-t]

1 hour ago, pinkhatlady said:

So you took a bus back to the new port and tendered back to the ship? Or did you walk down or take the cable car. We are sailing on Voyager in October. 

Both options were available. Bus and tender back from the new port ran from 4.00pm to 6.00pm. We decided to walk down to the old port and take the standard tender back.

[Hoopster95]

12 hours ago, pinkhatlady said:

How long was your wait to get back to the ship.

 

There was zero.... yes, not a typo ... zero line at the cable car as our port stop was until 10pm (9:30pm final tender). We were the last cruise ship in the caldera. However we opted to walk down for the scenery and exercise.... took maybe 25 minutes from the restaurant we just finished dinner at.

 

As a caveat, when we took the 3pm bus back from Oia and we were walking through the alley ways of Fira, the cable car line I estimated to be about 30-45 minutes. There were two other cruise ships here and we watched them both sail away during our walk and then dinner

[mivama]

On 7/1/2024 at 9:29 AM, ajtaylor29 said:

We then spent time in Oia at our leisure, then i booked a private driver who picked us up and took us touring around the island (windmills, Black sand beach, lunch, etc.) After several hours, he dropped us off in Fira,

Who did you book for a private driver and about how much was that? Was it something you arranged before the cruise or just found someone when you were there. Thanks!!