To take tour in santorini or not?

[cruise kitty]

We were in Santorini late October last year. The trick is to be in line for the tender tickets at least an hour before they say to be... for example, if your time in Santorini says 7am to 7am, be in line & ready to go by 6, you'll get the priority tender tickets & will be one of the first on the island.

 

Even for a daytime arrival this works, if your arrival time is 2 pm, they'll probably start handing out tickets around 10 or 10:30, be in the line by 9.

 

Getting on the first tender means you basically walk right onto to chair lift.

 

We were in Oia hours before the bus crowds arrived & it was fabulous.

[ladylemondrop]

The most wonderful day we have ever had was on a ships tour in Santorini (from Solstice) we were taken to the Volcano, where we walked to the top to admire the incredible view of the caldera (and the ship!) then we got onto a Greek fishing boat, which took us to the other side of the island, and we jumped off the boat into the thermal waters, it was the most exhilerating and magical day of my life...:D

[curiouscat]

Ok.. this thread has gotten me even more confused on whether to take a tour or not... there is no consensus....:confused: Or even a majority...

 

I just may visit via land at this point...

 

 

CC

[GOWONSTOKE]

Hi there, we are also on this cruise. Visited Santorini couple of years ago with RCI. Santorini is a truly beautiful island but firstly let me get the bad news out of the way. All cruise ships tender off Santorini (no docks) so fingers-crossed that the sea swell is not great otherwise NOBODY will be allowed to leave the ship, we should have plenty warning of this and hopefully Celebrity will have a plan B, maybe another Greek Island. Fortunately we did get ashore from Splendour. They should start disembarking early, especially if you are on a tour of the Island from 0700 hr. As many have replied, return will be from the quayside we had to wait about 30 min for the funicular. you can walk down (paved but very steep and watch out for donkey droppings) bit smelly too. Have a good vacation!

[orchestrapal]

As many have replied, return will be from the quayside we had to wait about 30 min for the funicular. you can walk down (paved but very steep and watch out for donkey droppings) bit smelly too. Have a good vacation!

 

The walk may be all of those things but if your a photographer you'll never be able to get better views than from the walk down.;)

[DivasDare]

At the suggestion of one of the threads here at CC, I choose an excursion off the ship when we reached Santorini. And, I am glad that I did. Once we tendered over, there was a bus waiting to take us to the top and off to Oia. We were there first before any other buses or other private tours arrived. Thus allowing for some very quality photographs and retail therapy.

 

Afterwards the tour continued to the winery, which again we were the first there and enjoyed the time. I only wish our itinerary included the sunset.

 

Whichever you decide, enjoy the more beautiful place on earth.

[Bobal]

Here's my twopennyworth (and sorry it won't help the OP as the timings were different but a lot of people seem to be asking what to do).

 

We visited Santorini on RC Splendour a few years ago and, having heard that there were 3 ships in port and that queues for the cable car could be long, we opted for a ship's tour. We were off the ship and on to the other port quickly. The tour was good, including a winery and a tour of the island, but really the highlight is Oia. By the time we got to Oia at around midday (as bus 13 of 19 buses from our ship alone!) and along with buses from the other ships we were walking shoulder to shoulder down the pretty streets with thousands of other tourists (think approaching a big football game and the many people milling around).

 

When we got back to the cable car the line stretched 200 yds outside the building and people were pushing into the line and even climbing in the windows of the cable car terminal building. My husband had to leave me and the kids to go and help a poor woman with a husband in a wheelchair who kept being pushed out of the way. It took us an hour and a half to get back to the ship.

 

We're visiting Santorini again in the summer from 7.00 am to 5 pm (so unfortunately no sunset for us :(). This time I intend to wait until all the tours have gone, give them time to get to Oia and set off back and then make our own way there and enjoy it when it's a little less crowded. If the lines for the cable car are horrendous we'll risk the walk down.

 

It's SUCH a beautiful place - and a must-visit - but be aware there can be hassles.

[TMLAalum]

At the suggestion of one of the threads here at CC, I choose an excursion off the ship when we reached Santorini. And, I am glad that I did. Once we tendered over, there was a bus waiting to take us to the top and off to Oia. We were there first before any other buses or other private tours arrived. Thus allowing for some very quality photographs and retail therapy.

 

Afterwards the tour continued to the winery, which again we were the first there and enjoyed the time. I only wish our itinerary included the sunset.

 

Whichever you decide, enjoy the more beautiful place on earth.

 

Do you have contact information for your excursion off the ship?

As I understand your post there was a bus waiting for you at the base of Fira or did your tender take you elsewhere? Thanks!

[Lois R]

We were in Santorini late October last year. The trick is to be in line for the tender tickets at least an hour before they say to be... for example, if your time in Santorini says 7am to 7am, be in line & ready to go by 6, you'll get the priority tender tickets & will be one of the first on the island.

 

Even for a daytime arrival this works, if your arrival time is 2 pm, they'll probably start handing out tickets around 10 or 10:30, be in the line by 9.

 

Getting on the first tender means you basically walk right onto to chair lift.

 

We were in Oia hours before the bus crowds arrived & it was fabulous.

 

Hi there:)..seriously, get the tender tickets at 6am?:eek: I may have

to reconsider my plans.......

[vancojo]

Ok.. this thread has gotten me even more confused on whether to take a tour or not... there is no consensus....:confused: Or even a majority...

 

I just may visit via land at this point...

 

 

CC

Well, let's review the bidding so far--As I see it the people who got on the first tender and one of the first funicular cars (which hold just 36 people each) were happy with their experience. So were the people who took excursions from the ship (I don't think any of them said they wished they had skipped the excursion altogether, only that the towns got crowded).

 

Everyone else had some level of disappointment, anxiety or worse trying to get off the ship and into town. SO--what are your chances of being first, something that hundreds of people will be trying to do??

 

My research on this port for our upcoming trip caused me to book a shore excursion that leaves at 7:15 a.m.---the fact that it is even scheduled this early and will have us drinking wine at 9:30 is one more indication to me that the tendering is an issue. It is a 31/2 hour tour to Ojai so we will be in Fera by midmorning and then we can decide whether to go for a boat ride, eat lunch, wahtever. I thought this decision was a no brainer.

[Lois R]

Well, let's review the bidding so far--As I see it the people who got on the first tender and one of the first funicular cars (which hold just 36 people each) were happy with their experience. So were the people who took excursions from the ship (I don't think any of them said they wished they had skipped the excursion altogether, only that the towns got crowded).

 

Everyone else had some level of disappointment, anxiety or worse trying to get off the ship and into town. SO--what are your chances of being first, something that hundreds of people will be trying to do??

 

My research on this port for our upcoming trip caused me to book a shore excursion that leaves at 7:15 a.m.---the fact that it is even scheduled this early and will have us drinking wine at 9:30 is one more indication to me that the tendering is an issue. It is a 31/2 hour tour to Ojai so we will be in Fera by midmorning and then we can decide whether to go for a boat ride, eat lunch, wahtever. I thought this decision was a no brainer.

 

I have changed my plans too...but instead of going on an early tour

I booked one for noontime and yes it is with the ship....as always,

each one of us has to do what we are most comfortable with:).

And hopefully being Elite will get me that tender ticket too;)

[Lsimon]

I have changed my plans too...but instead of going on an early tour

I booked one for noontime and yes it is with the ship....as always,

each one of us has to do what we are most comfortable with:).

And hopefully being Elite will get me that tender ticket too;)

 

Lois: Elite do get priority tender tickets. But I'm not sure why you'd need a tender ticket if you have a ship's excursion. I'm not 100% sure of this but I believe that all of the ship's excursions in Santorini meet on the ship then tender to a different location than the regular tenders go to and meet their buses at a spot that you can not get to otherwise. So if you have a noon ship's excursion you might not want to go ashore earlier or you'd just have to return to the ship in time to start the excursion. You can confirm if this is the case or not with the excursion desk when you board the ship.

 

It seems to me if you want to do a ship's excursion and be on the island on your own you'd want to do the ship's excursion before, and not after, any time on the island on your own.

[Lois R]

Lois: Elite do get priority tender tickets. But I'm not sure why you'd need a tender ticket if you have a ship's excursion. I'm not 100% sure of this but I believe that all of the ship's excursions in Santorini meet on the ship then tender to a different location than the regular tenders go to and meet their buses at a spot that you can not get to otherwise. So if you have a noon ship's excursion you might not want to go ashore earlier or you'd just have to return to the ship in time to start the excursion. You can confirm if this is the case or not with the excursion desk when you board the ship.

 

It seems to me if you want to do a ship's excursion and be on the island on your own you'd want to do the ship's excursion before, and not after, any time on the island on your own.

 

Hi Larry, thanks for the explanation:) since it is my first time there

I had no idea how that worked...but you have now set me straight.:D

I am still sticking with my noon tour. I realize this is a very port

intensive cruise and will be up early every day in all the other

places......with only 2 sea days......I will relax on the ship before

going on the tour then;)

[NukeIT]

You guys are freaking me out.... We are doing a private tour starting at 9am (boat arrival 7am).... So hopefully that is enough time to get up the hill

[dl13]

You guys are freaking me out.... We are doing a private tour starting at 9am (boat arrival 7am).... So hopefully that is enough time to get up the hill

 

Hey NukeIT,

looks like we'll be lining up early for those tender tickets!

 

Does anyone know if Celebrity will let one person line up for the tickets for everyone in their group, or does someone from each cabin have to be present?

[NukeIT]

Hey NukeIT,

looks like we'll be lining up early for those tender tickets!

 

Does anyone know if Celebrity will let one person line up for the tickets for everyone in their group, or does someone from each cabin have to be present?

 

It does sound that way.....

 

I have heard conflicting reports about concierge class getting prioity tendering.. Does anyone have recent experience with this???

[ladylemondrop]

Hey NukeIT,

looks like we'll be lining up early for those tender tickets!

 

Does anyone know if Celebrity will let one person line up for the tickets for everyone in their group, or does someone from each cabin have to be present?

 

I would be really interested to know this too, we are docking in Split, Croatia, on Silhouette, and it is a tender port, I have made private excursion starting at 09:00hrs, for 16 of us, (all in different grades/cabins) do we all have to queue up individually for the tender tickets or can one of us represent our group? (and if so, can I use my priority tender to do so for everyone?!)

[4774Papa]

You guys are freaking me out.... We are doing a private tour starting at 9am (boat arrival 7am).... So hopefully that is enough time to get up the hill

You can always walk up the hill, just have to watch the piles of doo.

[4774Papa]

I would be really interested to know this too, we are docking in Split, Croatia, on Silhouette, and it is a tender port, I have made private excursion starting at 09:00hrs, for 16 of us, (all in different grades/cabins) do we all have to queue up individually for the tender tickets or can one of us represent our group? (and if so, can I use my priority tender to do so for everyone?!)

Tendering at Split is faster than in Greece, since Croatia allows the ships to use their own lifeboats to tender. Greece insists on using Greek tender boats.

[Lsimon]

You guys are freaking me out.... We are doing a private tour starting at 9am (boat arrival 7am).... So hopefully that is enough time to get up the hill

 

I wouldn't worry about this. I would think that any tour guide in Santorini would be extremely familiar with the possibility of someone running behind between the tendering and funicular ride. However if it was me I'd be sure to have the guide's cell number and that they had mine and that my phone had international roaming enabled.

[Iamthesea]

We have just returned from the Equinox sailing of the Med. The following was our experience.

 

We decided to book the Oia Village and Wine tour. Our ship arrived a little before 2:00pm and left around 10:00pm. The passengers booking tours were first to get off. In port with us that day were several ships but most had been in port since that morning, so the island was clearing off by mid afternoon.

 

I believe that our tour group was tendering and on the excursion buses by 2:15. :) Our bus first went to the winery, but other buses went to Oia first, and then the winery. We were lucky! After the winery, our tour went to Oia. We were given only one hour and 15 minutes to explore. Since I had been to Oia before (using the same tour) and knew we needed more time there, my DH and I told the tour guide that we would not be getting back on the bus to head to Fira. We stayed, shopped and explored every inch of Oia for 4 hours.

 

Then, we took the public bus back over to Fira where we spent about an hour. Although Fira is not as spectacular as Oia (my opinion) I would have preferred to stay longer, but my DH was afraid we would not get back down to the tenders in time. The lines at the cable care scared him. It was very, very long! After having a drink overlooking the cliffs and water, we decided to walk the 600 steps down to the tenders. Fun times dodging all the donkeys and donkey doo! We made it back in PLENTY of time.

 

Now, this is what I heard from fellow passengers that decided to do Santorini on their own. Many of the passengers did not get up to Fira until around 5:00pm because, they first had to wait their turn to get off the ship (priority tendering for Elite, AQ and Suites were first off.) Then they had to wait for their tender number. Once they were tendered over, they had a long wait at the cable car to get up.

 

After hearing that story, I was thankful that we booked the ships excursion. Well worth the $72pp, which included a cable car ticket if you wish to take the car down. If we go to Santorini again, we would do the same. If our tour bus goes to Oia before the winery, we would even skip the winery to stay in Oia longer and then have more time in Fira. Been to the winery twice now, and although the views are spectacular from there, the winery was a disappointment. Not at all like the wineries we are used to in the U.S.

[sooper]

We have just returned from the Equinox sailing of the Med. The following was our experience.

 

We decided to book the Oia Village and Wine tour. Our ship arrived a little before 2:00pm and left around 10:00pm. The passengers booking tours were first to get off. In port with us that day were several ships but most had been in port since that morning, so the island was clearing off by mid afternoon.

 

I believe that our tour group was tendering and on the excursion buses by 2:15. :) Our bus first went to the winery, but other buses went to Oia first, and then the winery. We were lucky! After the winery, our tour went to Oia. We were given only one hour and 15 minutes to explore. Since I had been to Oia before (using the same tour) and knew we needed more time there, my DH and I told the tour guide that we would not be getting back on the bus to head to Fira. We stayed, shopped and explored every inch of Oia for 4 hours.

 

Then, we took the public bus back over to Fira where we spent about an hour. Although Fira is not as spectacular as Oia (my opinion) I would have preferred to stay longer, but my DH was afraid we would not get back down to the tenders in time. The lines at the cable care scared him. It was very, very long! After having a drink overlooking the cliffs and water, we decided to walk the 600 steps down to the tenders. Fun times dodging all the donkeys and donkey doo! We made it back in PLENTY of time.

 

Now, this is what I heard from fellow passengers that decided to do Santorini on their own. Many of the passengers did not get up to Fira until around 5:00pm because, they first had to wait their turn to get off the ship (priority tendering for Elite, AQ and Suites were first off.) Then they had to wait for their tender number. Once they were tendered over, they had a long wait at the cable car to get up.

 

After hearing that story, I was thankful that we booked the ships excursion. Well worth the $72pp, which included a cable car ticket if you wish to take the car down. If we go to Santorini again, we would do the same. If our tour bus goes to Oia before the winery, we would even skip the winery to stay in Oia longer and then have more time in Fira. Been to the winery twice now, and although the views are spectacular from there, the winery was a disappointment. Not at all like the wineries we are used to in the U.S.

There's priority tendering for AQ?

[boricua2007]

Hey NukeIT,

looks like we'll be lining up early for those tender tickets!

 

Does anyone know if Celebrity will let one person line up for the tickets for everyone in their group, or does someone from each cabin have to be present?

 

Hi NukeIT & dl13!

 

I have no experience tendering with Celebrity, but my experience with other lines is like our fellow CC member says, if you go at least an hour prior to the time the cruise says, and ready to go, you'll have a higher chance of getting on the first tenders.

 

Also, I read somewhere on the Celebrity boards that everyone in your group has to be ready to go and present, when you go to pick your tender number. This was the case for us when tendering on the other cruise line. We got tender number 1, some people had left, and suddenly came a crew member (prior to the established hour) and took us to our tender!

 

On the bright side, if I did right the research, there is only another ship arriving with us in the morning that day (another one in the afternoon).

[NukeIT]

Hi NukeIT & dl13!

 

I have no experience tendering with Celebrity, but my experience with other lines is like our fellow CC member says, if you go at least an hour prior to the time the cruise says, and ready to go, you'll have a higher chance of getting on the first tenders.

 

Also, I read somewhere on the Celebrity boards that everyone in your group has to be ready to go and present, when you go to pick your tender number. This was the case for us when tendering on the other cruise line. We got tender number 1, some people had left, and suddenly came a crew member (prior to the established hour) and took us to our tender!

 

On the bright side, if I did right the research, there is only another ship arriving with us in the morning that day (another one in the afternoon).

 

One other ship doesn't sound too bad... Thanks for the research

[Lastdance]

Four of us took a highly recommended tour from MARCOS/Trip Advisor. Don't waste your money using him. There is the real Marcos and some impostors that he has hired. Also, due to the economy, a lot of the island shows signs of this distress. We did the entire island/lunch etc. Since our guide( if you can call him that) spoke VERY limited English, we had to follow his tour and could not do anything else. At least I have some beautiful photos!