Santorini DIY - Advice

[themutis]

Here are our tentative plans for Santorini - looking for any advice/changes/suggestions.

 

Arrive at 8:00am and all aboard is at 4:00pm. We are on a small ship and from the looks of it, it looks like there is a Seadream ship in port at the same time and then a larger ship is coming in around 3:30. I know there will be other ships, but a least the Allure of the Seas won't be there :).

 

• Ride the Donkey up
  
• Pick up a rental car (looking to make a reservation)
  
• Drive to Oia - walk around - have an early lunch
  
• Head to Red Beach and hang for an hour
  
• Santos Winery for Wine Tasting
  
• 3:00 Head back to Fira and if the line is small walk around a bit, and possibly walk down if need be
  

 

Is this doable? Any advice is most appreciated.

[tom_uk]

Why bother with the winery? The dessert wine isn't bad but the red & white table wines are not very good at all (IMHO, of course). Give yourself some time to stroll around Fira.

 

(After quite a few wine tastings during calls at various ports on cruises, we've realised that there's usually a good reason why little-known wines are indeed little-known....)

[DonRobertoSanJuan]

After having seen how the donkeys walk up and down, I would be scared to take them up or down.:eek: Besides, they are not treated very well by their handlers and you would do the donkeys a favor by not using them!:D We walked down the donkey path and that was very interesting. Just watch out for all the donkey poop.:)

[May B]

After having seen how the donkeys walk up and down, I would be scared to take them up or down.:eek: Besides, they are not treated very well by their handlers and you would do the donkeys a favor by not using them!:D We walked down the donkey path and that was very interesting. Just watch out for all the donkey poop.:)

 

Don Roberto, Mr. B. and I take the heel-toe express over any other form of transportation when at all possible. How tuff is the "stroll" up from the port area to Fira? Of course doing the same careful choosing of path for our feet. Very glad to hear you recommend the walk down again.

[Mexfolkart]

We took the donkeys up when the Cable cars weren't running due to the wind and our donket was very sweet. We petted him on the way up. I would recommend wearing tennis shoes or some sort as you do want to put your foot out to keep your knee from scraping the wall. We took the cable car down.

Suggest getting a driver instead of a rental car..easier by far and I am sure less expensive! Check out NST tours and travel.

Sherry

[bw333]

Themutis-we planned our trip last year in Santorini the same as yours, except we did not go to Red beach, and we climbed the stairs due to over crowding (watch out for donkeys)! Santos winery was great! The view and atmosphere of the winery high above the cruise ships was well worth the short drive. You should be able to keep to your schedule with no problems. Have a great trip!

[themutis]

Thank you all for your suggestions - we did look in to the tour company, but their price was way out of our budget (280 EU for 6 hours). So we will either rent a scooter for 15E or a car for 50E. DH had a motorcycle so he is very comfortable on a scooter.

[AJ W]

We took the donkeys up when the Cable cars weren't running due to the wind and our donket was very sweet. We petted him on the way up. I would recommend wearing tennis shoes or some sort as you do want to put your foot out to keep your knee from scraping the wall. We took the cable car down.

Suggest getting a driver instead of a rental car..easier by far and I am sure less expensive! Check out NST tours and travel.

Sherry

 

We do not recommend Ocean Wave Tours. Dimitris did not accommodate or respect my husband's disability. He was not at the cable car when we came. He had us walk uphill to get the van which was strenuous for a person who has difficulty walking. He was totally insensitive to our needs, and essentially self serving. The price was exorbitant, we expected more, and got less.

[zqvol]

We do not recommend Ocean Wave Tours. Dimitris did not accommodate or respect my husband's disability. He was not at the cable car when we came. He had us walk uphill to get the van which was strenuous for a person who has difficulty walking. He was totally insensitive to our needs, and essentially self serving. The price was exorbitant, we expected more, and got less.

 

 

People need to be aware that everyone has to walk uphill to the road if you are going by motorized transport, and can be strenuous for everyone.

[linh123]

Can you take the cable car up and back. So, is the town and shops at the top of the cable car.

[Susan-M]

[*]3:00 Head back to Fira and if the line is small walk around a bit, and possibly walk down if need be

 

Is this doable? Any advice is most appreciated.

 

With your ship leaving at 4, I would plan to be at the cable car by 3 ... so back in Fira around 2:30 to drop the car off.

 

Red Beach is a bit of a hike to access; be sure to wear shoes that you can hike over the rocks to get to it & count on about 10 - 15 minutes each way for the hike (from the parking area at the end of the road past ancient Akrotiri). Here's a link to reviews that might be of help.

 

linh123 - the town of Fira is at the top of the cable car.

[denisey]

Here are our tentative plans for Santorini - looking for any advice/changes/suggestions.

 

Arrive at 8:00am and all aboard is at 4:00pm. We are on a small ship and from the looks of it, it looks like there is a Seadream ship in port at the same time and then a larger ship is coming in around 3:30. I know there will be other ships, but a least the Allure of the Seas won't be there :).

 

• Ride the Donkey up
  
• Pick up a rental car (looking to make a reservation)
  
• Drive to Oia - walk around - have an early lunch
  
• Head to Red Beach and hang for an hour
  
• Santos Winery for Wine Tasting
  
• 3:00 Head back to Fira and if the line is small walk around a bit, and possibly walk down if need be
  

 

Is this doable? Any advice is most appreciated.

 

Hi Themus!

 

This is almost exactly what we did on our recent trip to Santorini. I don't remember our exact times, but they were close to this and I know we were back on the ship by 4.

 

We did get off the ship quickly and took the cable car up. We decided that morning to rent a car, so did not have one reserved. We followed some signs to Tony's rentals and they were great.

 

Tony's Rent a Car & Moto

Firostfani Santorini

22860 22863 phone

http://www.santorini.com/rentals/tonys

thiragr@otenet.gr

 

Our car was a small Chevy (I forget the model) and would have comfortably fit 4. The total charge was 45 Euro with insurance. They gave us a great map of the island, and we just zipped around. It is not a big island, so it did not take long or much gas.

 

The car was a manual transmittion and there were a lot of hills.

 

We did see a lot of ATV's and scooters. They do not go as fast as cars and did not look safe to me. The Greek drivers are used to going around them, but I'll have to say, some of the tourists were not following good driving sense (moving over when a car is behind...) and were causing trouble.

 

We then drove to Oia and had breakfast at a cute little restaurant just as you get into town. We got some great pictures, and wandered around the island to a winery and to Red Beach, stopping along the way anytime we saw a picture opportunity.

 

We got back to Fira at about 2 and wandered around to do some shopping. This is one place it makes sense to compare prices and bargain. I got a little silver donkey charm for 9 Euro that I saw for as much as 25Euro in another shop.

 

The line was long for the cable car, so we walked down. It took us about 45 minutes, but there were a lot of donkeys going up and down and we meandered rather than rushed. There is a lot of donkey poo! I wouldn't have wanted to walk up the hill, it would be quite a hike.

 

Have a great trip!

[lightning425]

I have heard that people not booked on tours have to wait for tour guests to tender in first. Result is a very late start in Santorini. Does anyone an opinion?

Is there transport by bus on the Island?

[denisey]

I have heard that people not booked on tours have to wait for tour guests to tender in first. Result is a very late start in Santorini. Does anyone an opinion?

Is there transport by bus on the Island?

 

We had priority tender since we are elite with Celebrity. We were on a tender within a half an hour of anchoring and it had a lot of non-priority people on it. I have the feeling, with Celebrity at least, if you head for the tender early enough (before the masses) you can get right on.

[MarLin527]

We had priority tender since we are elite with Celebrity. We were on a tender within a half an hour of anchoring and it had a lot of non-priority people on it. I have the feeling, with Celebrity at least, if you head for the tender early enough (before the masses) you can get right on.

Thanks Denise. We are going on the Celebrity Equinox in October. We dock at 7:00 am and leave at 6:00pm. We thought we would ride the cable car to the top and do a tour on our own by foot. Your thoughts.

Thanks,

Jeff

[cheffip]

I have heard that people not booked on tours have to wait for tour guests to tender in first. Result is a very late start in Santorini. Does anyone an opinion?

Is there transport by bus on the Island?

 

Our experience and probably that of many cruise passengers is that the ship disembarked passengers going on ship tours at Athinios. A fleet of buses is there to whisk people off on the various tours. When that process is complete the ship moves just off shore Fira. That's where the remaining passengers will tender off and walk, donkey-ride or cable car up the hill to Fira.

The island has a good local bus network going to most parts of the island. The bus station and terminus for all routes is in Fira.

[texancruzer]

I have the feeling, with Celebrity at least, if you head for the tender early enough (before the masses) you can get right on.

 

Not in our experience :eek: We were on Solstice and the crew was DEFINATELY checking tender tickets !!!!!!! They were not letting anyone on if their number had not been called. Period. We did not try to leave early but rather went down 2 numbers before ours to wait closer to the exit for the tender.... they shooed us back upstairs.

 

Get in line early for your tender tickets !!!!!!! We didn't and subsequently finally got off the ship at @ 3:45 ( we had the bone-head itinerary of 2pm - 10 pm)......

 

And I had a blast taking the donkeys up...... no way would I walk and the line for the cable car was L-O-N-G !!!!!!!! Here is a tip: the donkeys don't actually take you ALL the way up.....still some stairs where they let you off. Not a lot - but some.

[texancruzer]

We do not recommend Ocean Wave Tours. Dimitris did not accommodate or respect my husband's disability. He was not at the cable car when we came. He had us walk uphill to get the van which was strenuous for a person who has difficulty walking. He was totally insensitive to our needs, and essentially self serving. The price was exorbitant, we expected more, and got less.

 

Europe is a challenge for those with mobility issues no matter where you are. There is no ADA over there and most everywhere you go there will be old cobble streets -or- steps -or- steep inclines and no ramp or all of the above. Even most hotels/apartments/buildings with elevators (they are tiny!) have steps before you get to the elevator (many have them just to get in the front door).....

 

As for Santorini, in my memory there is no way to get from the cable car to the road (cars are not allowed in the pedestrian area) except by going uphill. You can't really blame someone for the topography of a place....especially when it is perched on the edge of a volcanic caldera...... can't comment on his attitude tho...... or his price (altho most tours are costly). Perhaps a ship tour that includes accommodations for mobility challenged would have been a better option.

[denisey]

Not in our experience :eek: We were on Solstice and the crew was DEFINATELY checking tender tickets !!!!!!! They were not letting anyone on if their number had not been called. Period. We did not try to leave early but rather went down 2 numbers before ours to wait closer to the exit for the tender.... they shooed us back upstairs.

 

Get in line early for your tender tickets !!!!!!! We didn't and subsequently finally got off the ship at @ 3:45 ( we had the bone-head itinerary of 2pm - 10 pm)......

 

And I had a blast taking the donkeys up...... no way would I walk and the line for the cable car was L-O-N-G !!!!!!!! Here is a tip: the donkeys don't actually take you ALL the way up.....still some stairs where they let you off. Not a lot - but some.

 

If you waiting until they were calling numbers, you waited too long. To get off quick, you have to be down there ready to go as soon as they finish anchoring.

[denisey]

Our experience and probably that of many cruise passengers is that the ship disembarked passengers going on ship tours at Athinios. A fleet of buses is there to whisk people off on the various tours. When that process is complete the ship moves just off shore Fira. That's where the remaining passengers will tender off and walk, donkey-ride or cable car up the hill to Fira.

The island has a good local bus network going to most parts of the island. The bus station and terminus for all routes is in Fira.

 

We only "parked" once and the tour groups left from one tender opening, while the regular folks left from the other door. I suspect they gave the priority to the tour folks, but did let regular folks off as they were able.

[texancruzer]

If you waiting until they were calling numbers, you waited too long. To get off quick, you have to be down there ready to go as soon as they finish anchoring.

 

There was no getting off WITHOUT a number. Tender tickets were handed out that morning (we arrived at 2 pm) and no one was let downstairs without a tender ticket. And no one was allowed ahead of their number. There was no "sneaking" down and jumping on a tender right after they anchored with out a ticket. Not sure if they are that "strict" on all ships, but it was the way it worked on ours.

 

I really don't blame them tho. On one of our Caribbean cruises we were visiting Belize City (tender port) and they were allowing everyone down stairs and the line was snaking its way down one corridor and then another....... very crowded and didn't seem particularly safe in the event of an emergency.

[firstcarib]

Not in our experience :eek: We were on Solstice and the crew was DEFINATELY checking tender tickets !!!!!!! They were not letting anyone on if their number had not been called. Period. We did not try to leave early but rather went down 2 numbers before ours to wait closer to the exit for the tender.... they shooed us back upstairs.

 

Get in line early for your tender tickets !!!!!!! We didn't and subsequently finally got off the ship at @ 3:45 ( we had the bone-head itinerary of 2pm - 10 pm)......

 

And I had a blast taking the donkeys up...... no way would I walk and the line for the cable car was L-O-N-G !!!!!!!! Here is a tip: the donkeys don't actually take you ALL the way up.....still some stairs where they let you off. Not a lot - but some.

Don't want to take those poor donkeys, don't want to queue for ages for the cable car, but also don't want to stay on the ship & miss the Santorini experience. Has anyone any experience of taking a Boat trip from the Old Port to Oia & then they minibus you back to Fira & you can get cable car back down..hopefully without too much hanging around!

[Sea42]

Don't want to take those poor donkeys, don't want to queue for ages for the cable car, but also don't want to stay on the ship & miss the Santorini experience. Has anyone any experience of taking a Boat trip from the Old Port to Oia & then they minibus you back to Fira & you can get cable car back down..hopefully without too much hanging around!

This thread talks about that option

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1636602

[rplc882]

We do not recommend Ocean Wave Tours. Dimitris did not accommodate or respect my husband's disability. He was not at the cable car when we came. He had us walk uphill to get the van which was strenuous for a person who has difficulty walking. He was totally insensitive to our needs, and essentially self serving. The price was exorbitant, we expected more, and got less.

 

 

I hope the above is not true as we are booking a group with him and have read nothing negative except the above and he did say he would meet us at the top. Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with him.