CruiserBrooke

I just booked a similar tour also for June 2019 (possible Jewel of the Seas neighbors?) and ours says we have to bring our passports on the tour. I would much rather leave them in the hotel safe than carry them around all day. I’ve been to the Colosseum twice before and this wasn’t the case so I am also curious to hear from those who have been more recently.

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The excursion that I have booked later in the day is a private boat that will actually drop us back at the tender point so we can bypass the cable car altogether. Sounds like there may not be as much value in taking the ship’s tour to Oia on the front end just to save a little time. Thanks everyone!

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I’m curious if anyone has visited Santorini via RCL recently and can give some intel on the tendering process. I’m seeing that some cruise lines have started taking their ship shore excursion customers to Athinos and then bussing them to Oia to try to avoid some of the back up at Fira. I prefer doing shore excursions on my own, but that might make the ship tour wo

Highly recommend not taking the ships tour for just Oia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped in Santorini May last year on Rapsody and again this year on Jewel.. this port is easy enough to do on your own if you just want to experience Oia and Fira.

 

 

 

Royal drops anchor and tenders pax to and from Fira

 

 

 

1. Ships Tender to Pier (Fira) this is where cable car is but ignore it if gong to Oia on your own.

 

 

 

Two companies offer the on your own excursions. - you will see signs..once you arrive in Fira after getting off the ships tender,

 

 

 

It’s a 10-15 min Ferry ride to Oia, Coach will meet you there to bring you to the top on the cliffs (5 mins) and park in the main parking lot, From there you are about 5 mins walk to the ocean / cliff front. You will have several hours, 4/5 and can have lunch in Oia, its wonderful. Suggest maybe head back to parking lot around 1pm then 20 mins coach back to Fira. another 5 min walk and your at the ocean front. Enough time to Browse Fira

 

 

 

The you have option to walk down or take the cable car. Factor in enough time here, if a lot of ships in port it can get busy. No way around it,

 

 

 

Will be back there in May next year as well on Rapsody.

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy. Scenery is breathtaking.

 

 

 

Thanks for the insight. We will also be on the Jewel. How was the process getting off the ship to shore? My main concern is losing too much time just getting to shore. We have a private excursion scheduled mid afternoon leaving from Oia so we won’t have more than an hour and a half to two hours get to Oia and wander.

 

 

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We’re supposed to be in port from 1pm to 10pm. Does anyone know if the ship tours tender earlier than that or do the non ship tours tender much later? Thanks.

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I’m curious if anyone has visited Santorini via RCL recently and can give some intel on the tendering process. I’m seeing that some cruise lines have started taking their ship shore excursion customers to Athinos and then bussing them to Oia to try to avoid some of the back up at Fira. I prefer doing shore excursions on my own, but that might make the ship tour worthwhile. TIA for your experience.

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Everything I've read says we have to buy tickets, etc. Seems more of a driver than a guide. We're looking for someone who will make all those arrangements. Thanks though.

They will arrange the tickets and the guide for you.

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RomeinLimo!! I’ve used them on 2 different trips in Rome, Florence & Naples and I’m planning to use them again next June. Great company and if you have a large enough group or find others on your roll call board it’s cheaper than ship shore excursions. They will pick you up at the port and because they are using a van instead I a bus they can drop you off right next to the attraction allowing for more time.

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We were in Santorini in June and I read many horror stories about the chaos when arriving in Port and I can say it was very stressful and a mess... we were a party of 6 adults who didnt want to ride a donkey or cable car so i did my research and found a private boat that picked us right up at the dock, no donkeys for us.....We designed our own trip, informed them we had to include Santorini as one of our stops, no problem, they arranged a private car to meet us once we sailed to a different area, the private car took us up the hill and dropped us off for a while to site site and drove us back to the boat.

 

 

 

We then sailed around the island, dropped anchor and we swam in the beautiful blue water while the captain went down into the gallery and prepared the most delicious greek specialty dishes..we got dropped off back at the pier where we took the tender back to the ship..Everyone was so envious of us ..Heard a lot of horror stories about long lines coming back down and people falling in poop of even being kicked by donkeys..do your homework so you get to enjoy the beauty!

Arduino- This option sounds amazing! I’m curious when you say that you stopped in Santorini what were you able to do with your time? Were they able to show you Oia as well? Thanks for the insight!

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