Emerald Princess - Oia & Fira Ship Tour

[Juliadlf]

Has anyone done this tour? Feedback?

How many on the tour bus?

 

Village Of Oia & Santorini Island

Stroll the narrow lanes of Oia, a village perched on the caldera's rim. Taste wines produced from the rare assyrtiko grape, and take a guided walk to Fira's cliff top cable car station.

WHAT YOU VISIT

Oia Village - The small village perches atop cliffs at Santorini?s northern terminus. Your guide leads you up the narrow, cobblestone lanes, pointing out the brilliantly whitewashed buildings, shops, caf?s and domed churches. There will be some free time to explore on your own.

 

Local Winery - Enjoy a taste of Santorini with a visit to one of the local wineries. Santorini?s rich volcanic soil combined with the rare assyrtiko variety of grape grown here produce a wine unique to this island.

 

Fira - Santorini?s largest town is a village of whitewashed houses clinging to steep volcanic cliffs. Accessible only by foot, Fira?s narrow cobblestone lanes lead uphill past shops, homes and caf?s to a cable car, your final destination.

 

SHOPPING

During free time in Oia browse through the fine shops, relax in an open-air caf?, or enjoy dramatic views of the sea.

 

WHAT YOU SEE ALONG THE WAY

Transfer from the ship to the shore via tender. Board your motorcoach and drive north to Oia, passing picturesque small villages and enjoying dramatic views of sea, land and sky. Your tour concludes at Fira. Your guide will show you to the road that leads to the cable car and you may return directly to the ship or may opt to remain in town for independent sightseeing and shopping. At Fira, ride the cable car down to the old port (ticket provided) and board a tender for the return to ship.

 

 

 

Thanks

Julia

[kennetro]

Hi Julia.

 

I took this tour about 10 days ago while traveling on the Emerald Princess. It was our 2nd least favorite tour that we took. Princess immediately drives you (via bus with about 40-50 other people) to the winery. There you sit and watch an incredibly boring video about the volcanic activity a zillion years ago and the wine production of today. That takes about 30-45 minutes. Then you proceed immediately to a wine tasting room where they pour you 3 samples of wine. (1 "okay" & 2 bad) They never show how the wine is made or anything. It's an obvious "under the table" payback to Princess from the winery. I thouht it was a real waste of an hour and a half (& I love wine!).

 

Next you ride to Oia which is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! But they give you a whole 30 minutes to walk around (which is WAY too little time to see it).

 

Then....back on the bus and they drive you back to Fira, where they let you off, hand you a cable car ticket, and you have only about 30 more minutes to shop. (We were on the afternoon tour, so we had to be back on the ship by about 5:00 p.m.)

 

If I had it to do again, I would get off the ship, take the cable car up, and grab a cab straight for Oia. Both cab trips would probably still cost a lot less than the princess "tour".

 

Please don't take this as being so negative. I still LOVED Santorini, and we've already discussed going there (& no where else) for a week or two on one of our next vacations. It's incredibly beautiful.

 

Have a great trip!

[Juliadlf]

Thank you for the honest feedback.

 

Julia

[nomars_girl]

We rented a car there for about 45 euros and drove all over the island. It was amazing. If you just want to do Oia and Fira, take the public bus to Oia from Fira. it is 1.10 euro. There is no need for a guided tour.

[Juliadlf]

Thanks nomars girl.

 

Were there alot of taxis around?

 

Julia

[nomars_girl]

I really wasn't looking for taxis. We had planned to take the bus to Oia and asked directions to the bus stop from a nice woman who ran a shop. She told us to be sure to take the bus because the taxis were too expensive and took advantage of tourists. I think that can be true pretty much anywhere and is not unique to Santorini. I doubt they are any worse than anywhere else.

 

We were feeling very adventurous on this trip (and had a limited budget) so we used public transportation as much as possible. The rental car was a spur of the moment decision and I was glad we did it. It gave us the freedom to explore the whole island (which is beautiful) and the only timetable we had to stick to was departure time for the ship. The driving was not difficult there. There aren't many roads so you can't really get lost.

 

There's a link to our pictures in my signature if you are interested.

[iancal]

Having been to Santorini a number of times, I cannot imagine taking a ship tour. You DO NOT need a tour for Fira or Firastefani (connected). I too would recommend a rental car...Oia is loveley but there a number of other sites that can been seen by car/motorbike (we typically rent a motorbike). The island is beautiful. Don't spoil it by taking a tour with 50 other people on a bus.

[Juliadlf]

Thanks iancal.

 

We nixed the ship tour as soon as I saw it was 45-50 people bus and a less than stellar tour. Lessons learned from past experience.

 

Julia

[iancal]

And don't by any jewelry...I swear they put the prices up on those days when the cruise ships anchor. Enjoy a glass of wine looking out on the Caldera. One of our favorite places but we have never been there on a cruise ship-it has always been a destination vacation spot for us.

[Tina G]

DH is into photography, and he loved this tour. Oia is the beautiful Greek village shown in "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants". This tour is not for people who can't walk far. There is a long walk both through Oia, and again to get back to the cablecar that returns you to the ship. Santorini was not developed with tour busses in mind! Shopping on the way to the cablecar is fun. There is a bakery that is wonderful! Prices are better there than in Oia. Don't try to walk down the steps to the ship. Donkey poo is everywhere! :eek: