mapleleaves

I think the tender ticket process varies by cruiseline and maybe even by ship. On NCL Gem last Sept, tender tickets were made available the day PRIOR to arriving in Santorini. They said it would start at 8am but when we got there at 7 there were already 20 or so people in line. And yes there are quite a few cafes, bars, restaurants at the dock.

be sure to have some coins; most public bathrooms require a euro coin.

Sounds like Sandras is a middleman, like Viator . Viatour doesn't conduct any tours but sells tours provided by other vendors. It will be interesting to see which local company Sandras uses in Santorini since you never see a local vendor advertising this option. Perhaps someone finally organized the boats that provide the one-way trip from the dock to Amoudi for 30E. I always thought it was odd they didn't capitalize on the return trip. But this is a great option and desperately needed.

The bus dropped us just before a traffic light, next to Universitad Parc. (not really a park, but a large cemented area with trees). When we disembarked, we walked about 20 ft to the light and turned right onto the crosswalk. This took us past the 'park', and while still on that crosswalk we crossed another street. At the end of the crosswalk you don't quite meet up with the intersection so turn left for about 20ft and then you'll come to your street, Carrer de Pelai. Turn right and walk about a block, past an alley and a bakery. The hotel is on your right, It's really quite easy when you're there! My cousin reminded me that she arrived at 10pm and found her way in the dark. She thought it took 5 minutes.

Which cruiseline? you might ask this question on your cruiseline's forum. i recall a trip report from earlier in the summer, where NCL's intention was to dock close to Venice. The tendering process was a huge fail, so for subsequent sailings the ship overnighted in Trieste and pax were bussed to Venice.

Most definitely we disembarked at the University stop. The hotel was barely 2 blocks away. Enjoy your stay ... I'm jealous

There are several books specific to Med cruises that will be very helpful in your planning .... Rick Steves, Lonely Planet, Ann Vipond are a few. These books provide info on history, culture, popular sights, how to get around, tours, vendors, DIY, etc. Borrow from your library or buy. YouTube is a great resource too. You can search by port or by cruiseline. ie search "Mykonos cruise port", or " NCL Gem Mediterranean". LIVE cruise reports can be helpful but often they're bogged down with a lot of nonsense. If you bypaass the first 20 pages of them packing and skip to the day when they actually board the ship, you can find some good tips on vendors and DIY . There are some good port guides online, such as this one, All Cruise Port Guides and Reviews by IQCruising (2023), but they're not always current with the info. Have fun with your planning and research !

what specifically are you concerned about ?

That kinda happened by default the first week in August. I read this in an NCL trip report ....by 2pm there was such a bottleneck that tenders were stopped for an hour. When the hour was up, it was still a mess, so the tenders were cancelled and no one else left the ship. Yikes

Oh geez. It's past my bed time. Thx for correcting me! There is no storage at Lisbon cruise pier according to their web site. Faq Detail | Facilities at the Port | Lisbon (lisboncruiseport.pt) There IS storage at the airport. But google ' Left Luggage Lisbon' to see what else is available and which would be the most convenient location.

there is no luggage storage at the airport or the cruise terminal. You will probably be touring near the Placa Catalunya at the top of Las Ramblas, and there is/was a Left Luggage facility there. Google ' Left Luggage Barcelona ' to find their locations.

This is a view as we left Positano. Zoom in to see the details along the coast and up the mountains.

The views from the ferry really were spectacular ,,,,, as you leave Positano you're looking at the beach and the town and then all of a sudden you're drawn to all the homes further up in the mountains. Quite stunning. If you enjoy the sea, I believe you can do the Amalfi Coast via ferry from Naples. Skip a tour entirely. Perhaps cruisemom or euro cruiser can provide that info. Ravello is a bit in-land, so you would need a car, taxi, bus for that portion. I used Aldo Limo. They were good to work with as we sorted out the itinerary, and the driver was good about knowing photo ops and local info, and was always willing to stop. I knew ahead of time that drivers might take you to restaurants, shops or factories where they get a cut, so I shouldn't have agreed to the lunch idea. I still hold it against the driver though !

This was my experience from Sept 2019. There were 4 of us (mid 60's to mid 70's). We wanted to see Pompeii AND the Amalfi Coast, but there's only so much you can do in a day! We decided that the Amalfi Coast was our priority, and chose a private tour so that we could decide the itinerary. 400E. I had been to Cinque Terre previously and the highlight for me was viewing the villages from the sea, so we added a ferry to our Amalfi trip. The vendor suggested an early start to avoid as much traffic as possible, so we met our driver at 7:30am. We made several stops for photos along the way to our first destination, Positano. No crowds at all and we loved it ! Spent about 90 minutes there, then hopped on a Travelmar ferry to Amalfi. It was a beautiful day and the ferry ride was spectacular. We spent about 90 minutes in Amalfi then met our driver. Amalfi was getting crowded, esp around the cathedral. I wanted to sightsee and grab a quick lunch, but the driver suggested a nice restaurant outside Ravello. The others liked his idea so that's what we did. The meal was so-so but the views were great. We spent about 90 minutes in Ravello. Not many people around. The views from the Villa Rufalo were awesome. Best photos of the trip. We didn't retrace our steps back to Naples; went the back way thru the mountains. It was a fantastic day! I would encourage you to do some research on the various towns of the Amalfi Coast and come up with an itinerary that suits your interests. Borrow guide books from the library, view video on YouTube. Visit the Amalfi Coast Italy - Amalfi Coast Travel guide (amalfitanacoast.com)

Odd that the tour companies didn't offer you a private option. Some vendor names I've saved from past trip reports include: Joe Banana Limos, Rome in Limo, ItalyTours.eu, Aldo Limo, ItalyTourSharing, and TaxiMisterCabDriver.

Not recent but last October, credit cards were accepted for the cable car. And yes, people on a cruiseline excursion avoid the cable car going up to Thira but for the trip down they must stand in the queue like everyone else, even if they were provided with a ticket or voucher for the cable car.

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.

Didn't do this hike. We had a 2 hr wait for the cable car so we didnt get out of Fira! But there is a lot of information in this very long article from Santorini Dave. Fira to Oia Hike (with map) - Updated for 2023 (santorinidave.com) Keep in mind that sunset will be around 6:30pm so you don't have as much time as you think. The bus is KETL Santorini. Schedules will be on their web site. And on Santorini Dave's web site.

There is a solo lounge on the Epic. Its only accessible by people with solo cabins, so you'll need to have someone in a solo to be the name behind the gathering.

Maps & Guides - Visit Sitka

I think the 'arrangement" they refer to is..... a crew member is stationed in Fira to keep tabs on the queue and radio the ship about potential delays. The cruiselines are aware of the problem at the cable cars and the intent is not to leave anyone behind if they got caught up in a 2 hr queue.

you might want to include a link so that people can see the details of this excursion.

Got it. Just didn't want you to think the prepaid ticket was a skip the line kind of thing. Lucky you to be the only ship in port. Have a wonderful time !

There is only ONE line for the cable cars so having a ticket doesn't save you any time. But check the departure times of the other ships ... this will enable you to gauge when the line might be less congested.

Sounds like a lovely day! But, there is only ONE line for the cable car. There is NO bypass. My advice is to base your cable car descent on the departure times of the other ships If the other ships leave at 4pm,5pm and 6pm, and you leave at 8 or 9pm, you'll be ok. But if your ship leaves at 5pm, in the middle of the big exodus you'll have a long wait.