from 4--11pm in Santorini

[happy_travellers]

We will have an odd (time wise) port visit in Santorini. Any suggestions?

 

Would love to visit Oia however given the evening visit not sure we could do it on our own.

 

Would wandering around Fira and dinner make for a nice "birthday"day? Have heard Oia is the place for sunsets but wondering in we would get a good one in Fira? Any suggestions?

 

Thanks Karen

[tom_uk]

What time of year?

[Onessa]

You should be able to get a taxi to Oia at just about any time of day -- you may want to make arragements with the driver who takes you there to pick you up since it may be a bit of an "odd" hour.

[phantomjww]

Oia was the highlight of our 10 day cruise. Definately worth the time. When you get off the gondola lift there is only way to go. At the top of a little hill, there is a T intersection. On the left side is an outdoor restaurant. Just past the eating area, but still in the same building is a tour company associated with the restaurant. We took a tour of Oia with Phillip (also the restaurant Mgr.) It was 17 E. or so and was great. He showed us all the great OIA places in about 3 hours with a small group of people in a small bus. Oia is about 17 miles from the gondola so I think a taxi would be reasonable too.

[happy_travellers]

What time of year?

 

We are in Santorini on May 11th/10. We are love taking pictures so Oia of course was a place we were really looking forward to. However given our time frame thought that maybe Fira and dinner would be the way to go. Karen

[tom_uk]

While it's possible that the sunsets from Oia are the best, they're pretty good from Fira as well. You could, I suppose, get a cab up to Oia to see the sunset followed by a cab back, but it's all too possible that you'll be trampled by the hordes doing the same thing.

 

Perhaps the best thing would be to concentrate on Fira, as you suggest. You can spend quite a bit of time wandering around the lanes and alleyways looking at the shops, which range from those selling cheap souvenirs to those selling jewellery costing thousands: often next door to each other. There are a number of bars & tavernas overlooking the caldera. I'm not sure how good they are in culinary terms, but to be honest the point about Fira isn't the food, it's the stunning location. There are a couple of Santorini albums here. Also if you go here, you can find the address of some older images (CC prevents posting the address of these images).

 

Two more tips: a) in order to make the most of your time you'll need to get ashore as quickly as you can, so research how tender assignments are made on your cruise; and b) take a sweater! - it can be surprisingly cold in those caldera-edge bars & restaurants.

[VonChap]

We will have an odd (time wise) port visit in Santorini. Any suggestions?

 

Would love to visit Oia however given the evening visit not sure we could do it on our own.

 

Would wandering around Fira and dinner make for a nice "birthday"day? Have heard Oia is the place for sunsets but wondering in we would get a good one in Fira? Any suggestions?

 

Thanks Karen

 

Hi Karen,

 

I will be in Santorini on April 27th from 4PM-11PM on the NCL Gem. 16 from our Roll Call have hired Ocean Wave Tours to take us up to Oia and bring us back to Fira (plus include a few sites of interest) They have a mini van and it is about the same price as the ship tour that will be very crowded. We have enough time in Oia to see the sun set and grab a bite to eat.

 

Have a great cruise!

 

Kim

[Hlitner]

We continue to be baffled at the thinking of NCL with weird port times. While we would enjoy being in Santorini during the evening it certainly is not the ideal time for first time visitors. The late arrival makes it nearly impossible to enjoy the island outside of Fira and perhaps Oia. This timing issue rivals the short port times for Cannes that created issues for many travelers this year. It almost seems like whoever is making the Med itinerary decisions for NCL has no clue.

 

Hank

[happy_travellers]

Hi Karen,

 

I will be in Santorini on April 27th from 4PM-11PM on the NCL Gem. 16 from our Roll Call have hired Ocean Wave Tours to take us up to Oia and bring us back to Fira (plus include a few sites of interest) They have a mini van and it is about the same price as the ship tour that will be very crowded. We have enough time in Oia to see the sun set and grab a bite to eat.

 

Have a great cruise!

 

Kim

 

I will look them up and see it it works. Karen

[Freckles_51]

We will have an odd (time wise) port visit in Santorini. Any suggestions?

 

Would love to visit Oia however given the evening visit not sure we could do it on our own.

 

Would wandering around Fira and dinner make for a nice "birthday"day? Have heard Oia is the place for sunsets but wondering in we would get a good one in Fira? Any suggestions?

 

Thanks Karen

 

Glad you asked as we are in the same boat, so to speak :D

 

It will be our first cruise in Europe, let alone Santorini, and we don't want to miss the sunset that everyone raves about. Looking at the ship's tours, we could very well be on a bus at sunset and travelling during the dark, so we have ruled that out.

 

Another possibility is taking the bus to Oia and returning after sunset, maybe by taxi, but we're thinking the best idea would be to take our time getting off the ship and maybe take the donkey ride up the cliff, explore Fira before it gets dark, watch the sunset while sipping wine, then make our way back to the ship before the hoards return from Oia. ;)

[happy_travellers]

Glad you asked as we are in the same boat, so to speak :D

 

It will be our first cruise in Europe, let alone Santorini, and we don't want to miss the sunset that everyone raves about. Looking at the ship's tours, we could very well be on a bus at sunset and travelling during the dark, so we have ruled that out.

 

Another possibility is taking the bus to Oia and returning after sunset, maybe by taxi, but we're thinking the best idea would be to take our time getting off the ship and maybe take the donkey ride up the cliff, explore Fira before it gets dark, watch the sunset while sipping wine, then make our way back to the ship before the hoards return from Oia. ;)

 

Any chance your on the NCL Gem May8th? Karen

[Freckles_51]

Any chance your on the NCL Gem May8th? Karen

 

Sorry Karen no, we are on the Gem in September, so maybe you and Kim can come back and tell us all about it ;) :)

[dogged]

Getting a taxi from Fira to Oia is easier if you arrange a RT with the driver. We had trouble finding a taxi on a Sunday in August because we were looking for a one way trip. Ended up taking the bus which was an adventure we still talk about!

[Maddog2009]

We were in Santorini last June on the Celebrity Solstice and plan to go back this May on the Equinox. The ship will be in port from 2pm to 11pm. Our plan is to take a cab to Oia. We will shop a little, take pictures and have dinner around sunset. We had lunch in Oia last time and it was wonderful.

 

Hopefully, the same cab will pick us up and bring us back to Fira. We will shop some more. There is a jewelry store that my DW fell in love with last time we were there. Probably have one last drink in an outdoor cafe and head back to the ship.

 

The drive time to Oia is about 20 minutes. You can do the bus over (we did last time) in the time frame you have but definitely arrange for a taxi ahead of time to take you back. The buses are crowded and there is a chance you won't get on.

 

Good luck.

[sonogram]

We used the same travel agency as phantomww. Little hole in the wall place. We (6 people) had a van with a driver (Niko) for 3 hours. I think he charged us 20 euros pp It was well worth it. He took us to a few scenic stops and walked with us through Oia, explaining what we were looking at. Well worth the $. We would have never been able to see as much on our own.

[texancruzer]

We were there about the same time (May 6th) last year. Our port time was 2pm-10pm. Here is a tip !!!!

 

GET IN LINE EARLY FOR YOUR TENDER TICKETS. They are for certain time frames and the later you get in line and get them the later your tender time will be !

 

We did not and ended up getting off the ship around 3:45 :eek: Made the best of it and had a nice stay. But have to agree these weird port hours can cause stress in the planning process.

 

We took the donkeys up after getting off the tender (had a blast and once in a lifetime experience !) Then went straight back to the main street and caught a taxi to Oia. We negotiated a price where he took us, waited for us and then brought us back. I had read getting one back can be somewhat difficult when there are hordes of people all doing the same thing. We did not stay in Oia for sunset but opted to return to Thira - shop around a bit then find a nice table on the edge of the cliff and have dinner while the sun set there. Was pretty nice one too ! Then it was time to get in the infamous "cable line" which was pretty long even though we were the only ship in port. Went quickly and chatted with others and before you know it we were on the ship again.