early flight from athens

[boardrep]

We will disembark in Athens and will be spending one night in a hotel before catching a flight at 8:00 am the next morning. I am wondering whether to take the post cruise hotel offered by oceania which is in city center and will provide transfers from ship to hotel and from hotel to airport (approx 45 minutes away) or book my own hotel adjacent to the airport and have a short taxi ride in the morning to airport? Has anyone had a flight this early and used oceania's post hotel and transfers and were they dependable in terms of getting you to the airport in time? If I book a hotel near airport I realize I will need a taxi to get from ship to hotel to drop off luggage and then again to get back to city center for touring and back again at end of evening. I would appreciate any recommendations.

[Andee]

In a similar situation, we hired Spiros from athens taxi dot net to pick us up at the ship, take us on a half day tour of Athens (which was wonderful) and drop us at our hotel. We spoke to him about taking us to the airport the next morning, but he encouraged us to have the hotel arrange for a cab, as that would be cheaper.

[What A Market]

We were on the Riviera in May for the MV. We disembarked in Athens and elected to do an overnight there before returning to the States. As with you, we had an early morning departure (8:30AM) the next day.

 

I chose to stay at the Sofitel that night because I didn't want to deal with any other form of transportation in the early morning. Although not cheap, the Sofitel is located immediately across the street for the Athens airport. It was an easy one minute walk with suitcases to get to the check in area for the flights. Not having to pay the cost for a taxi to the airport somewhat cost justifies the cost of the Sofitel.

 

Given this arrangement, I was in the same predicament as you with bags, etc. I was already planning to do a full day tour in Athens with a driver. We used Athens Minibus Private Day Tours (currently ranked 7th on TripAdvisor) for our transportation and tour needs. We followed their recommendation and kept the bags with the driver and the car for the day. That worked out perfectly and gave us more time in Athens for sightseeing. The people with Athens Minibus Tours were great.

 

After spending eight hours touring Athens we were happy to just head back to the hotel in the late afternoon and rest. When we got up the next morning (way too early!), it was great to just roll out of bed and stumble across the street to the airport.

 

BTW, the airport was very quiet that early in the morning. (At least on our day of departure.)

[boardrep]

We were on the Riviera in May for the MV. We disembarked in Athens and elected to do an overnight there before returning to the States. As with you, we had an early morning departure (8:30AM) the next day.

 

I chose to stay at the Sofitel that night because I didn't want to deal with any other form of transportation in the early morning. Although not cheap, the Sofitel is located immediately across the street for the Athens airport. It was an easy one minute walk with suitcases to get to the check in area for the flights. Not having to pay the cost for a taxi to the airport somewhat cost justifies the cost of the Sofitel.

 

Given this arrangement, I was in the same predicament as you with bags, etc. I was already planning to do a full day tour in Athens with a driver. We used Athens Minibus Private Day Tours (currently ranked 7th on TripAdvisor) for our transportation and tour needs. We followed their recommendation and kept the bags with the driver and the car for the day. That worked out perfectly and gave us more time in Athens for sightseeing. The people with Athens Minibus Tours were great.

 

After spending eight hours touring Athens we were happy to just head back to the hotel in the late afternoon and rest. When we got up the next morning (way too early!), it was great to just roll out of bed and stumble across the street to the airport.

 

BTW, the airport was very quiet that early in the morning. (At least on our day of departure.)

 

What a market, thank you very much! I think your user name is very catchy, I remember reading your other posts about the MV on Riviera and your pictures of the owners suite on the riviera were awesome, that was you right? Did you receive an upsell or upgrade to that suite or did you originally book it?

 

Thank you for the suggestions for hotel and touring in Athens, so happy to hear we can walk to the airport from the Sofitel. One last question, what time did you arrive at the airport for an 8:30 flight?

Thanks

[What A Market]

Yep, that was me.

 

I ended up receiving two upsells that put me in the OS. Penthouse to Vista, and then Vista to Owners. I thought the upsell values were excellent. I'm not sure, but I think having a great TA was the key. (Thank you to "She Who Must Not Be Named.")

 

I think we got to the check-in point for our British Air flight at 6:45AM. As it turned out, this was way earlier than need be. We did follow the advise of the concierge at the hotel though. Funny thing was, when we got to the gate it was already full of people waiting for the flight. So some people were obviously way early!

 

Side note on boarding in Athens: As in some other European cities, it is "every man for themselves." Although the gate staff tries to board by class and row, this is only treated as a mere suggestion. :)

[boardrep]

What a market, that's great, two upsells! Were you in PH 1,2,or 3 originally? And how close to sailing were these offers made? I'm in a PH3 and wonder if I should upgrade to an Oceania suite or take my chances and hope I will be offered an upsell. Final deposit is due in about 10 days. So far there are 2 remaining Oceania suites and 4 Vista's left on the cruise. Are they offered for half of the original price? Thanks

[What A Market]

I'm pretty sure I started with a PH2. We received the upsells well after the final payment. There is a lot of discussion on this Board concerning upsells. Use the Search feature to find. A couple of frequent posters (JimandStan and Hondorner) have made some great points on this topic.

 

My TA asked that I not comment on the upsell pricing. That being said, I don't think it is done as a percentage of the stated cost. Rather, it is quoted as a fixed dollar amount that is added to your existing booking if you accept.

 

Sure your TA knows you are interested in an upsell!

[Mura]

It's my feeling that quoting what YOU paid can be quite irrelevant to what someone else might pay. In 2005 we were "upsold" to an OS on Regatta from a PH (at the time I don't believe they'd yet divided PH cabins into three different classes so you paid the same regardless of location). As I recall it cost us $1,000pp. I considered it worth it (and since I blew out my knee the day before we boarded, I was right) but many people might not.

 

I've seen a lot of different quotes as to what people who have accepted upsells have paid. It may be partly a function of how much Oceania wants you to accept!

 

Mura

[hondorner]

We also stayed in Athens a couple of days after the Miaden Voyage, and also had an early morning flight (8:15 AM). We got a terrific deal through Starwood for the Grand Bretagne Hotel in downtown Athens (actually an almost ridiculously low fee plus points). I had already booked a lower-priced hotel but Jim and Stan clued me in on the GB deal, and we grabbed it. The four of us arranged for a car and driver through the hotel for the trip from the port to the hotel. I thought it was reasonably priced. When it came time to leave, Betsy and I had to make the early morning drive to the airport (J & S had a later flight, around Noon). I debated arranging a taxi, but read about surcharges for leaving before a certain time in the early morning, plus surcharges for luggage and tolls, and decided it was worth whatever small amount extra the hotel charged to arrange a car and driver. We left the hotel about 5:45 AM, had a fast, smooth trip with no traffic at that hour, and arrived at the airport in plenty of time -- about 1 hr 45 min ahead of the flight. Like What a Market, we wouldn't have needed to arrive that early, but doing so got us an ideal seat to be at the head of the "pile-up" when they started boarding.