Santorini 25th June

[gordylad]

We will be in Santorini on the 25th June on the Reflection. Have never been before and there will be another 3 cruise ships in as well MSC Fantasia, Seaborn Sojourn and Splendour Of The Seas

 

With the number of passengers I can only imagine the cable cars will be busy.

 

Can anyone provide advise as to whether we should go with a ship tour?

 

Thanks

[CruiserBruce]

Are all those ships going to arrive at 7 or 8 am? If yes, the cable cars will be busy. Chances are all aren't arriving at the same time.

 

I rarely advise ship's tours over DIY or private tours.

[eptice]

We will be in Santorini on the 25th June on the Reflection. Have never been before and there will be another 3 cruise ships in as well MSC Fantasia, Seaborn Sojourn and Splendour Of The Seas

 

With the number of passengers I can only imagine the cable cars will be busy.

 

Can anyone provide advise as to whether we should go with a ship tour?

 

Thanks

Hi Gordylad,

 

First, I have never been to Santorini, but I will be sailing there in October and I have read A LOT about it here on CC. I just want to state this as I have no first hand experience.

 

Using Cruisett.com, I found out the following:

• Seaborn is there from 8am - 6pm
  
• Splendour is there 7am - 5pm
  
• Fantasia is there 9am - 5pm
  
• YOU are there 2pm - 10pm
  

I believe this gives you an advantage, because you are there from 6-10 with only your cruise. Also, to touch on your cable car worries, I would say you don't need to worry about them, because when you are trying to get up to Fira, the other ships' passengers will be trying to come down, so you will only be waiting for your ship's passengers going up and down the cable car.

 

To answer your question about ship tour or not, here is my answer: It depends on what you want to do. For my wife and I, we want to visit Santo Winery, Oia, and go to Imerovigli for a sunset dinner. The only feasible way to do this to rent a car.

 

However, if you find a ship tour that you think you might enjoy, I say go for it. They will likely ferry you over to the Oia port, then bus you up to Oia to start the tour. This way you do not have to queue for the cable car at all going up, but will need to do so going down.

 

I hope this helps a little bit! :)

 

-Erik

[steph7021]

There is a 25 euro excursion that does the ferry and bus...then cable car down when you port at Fira. Can't miss it as you are pulling in on your tender. We did have to wait in line for about 30 min to ride the cars down and there were 5 ships there that day...but at least it was at the end.

[richfromhaw]

Steph7021:

Unfortunately we had a major issue when we used the service you show in your photo last week, here's the info:

 

CAVEAT EMPTOR---SANTORINI PLANET---BOAT FIRA TO OIA THEN BUS RETURN

A warning to anyone thinking about booking the Santorini Planet transfer, boat to Oia then a return bus back to Fira.

Having a reservation & having paid your money in advance means absolutely nothing.

Over two months ago I made a reservation for two people for the 9:45AM transfer on June 12 and had pre-paid for the excursion.

My wife and I arrived via Windstar on 6/12/14, tendered to shore then walked over the Boatmen’s desk ( who actually operate the transfer). They told us that no Santorini Planet tours were being run on that day.

The Boatmen’s got Chimenta Gianluca Manfredi (from Santorini Planet) on the phone and we spoke.

He told me that the transfer runs only when a minimum of 15 people are booked.

I asked him, if he knew that the tour was not going to be run, why he didn’t send me an e-mail so that I could make alternate plans.

Mr. Manfredi gave me a lot of nonsense on the phone about why he couldn’t do.

However, thank goodness Josuf (the person at the Boatmen’s desk) couldn’t have been more helpful.

He called for us and arranged for a taxi friend to get us to Oia (for 15 Euro total) then this person arranged a return transfer back from Oia in the afternoon ( again at 15 Euro). Thank you Josuf!

As far as Mr. Manfredi, you should NOT promote yourself the way you do, accept people’s money in advance and then not deliver on your commitment. Shame on you.

To readers of this posting , again Caveat Emptor!

[steph7021]

Steph7021:

 

Unfortunately we had a major issue when we used the service you show in your photo last week, here's the info:

 

 

 

CAVEAT EMPTOR---SANTORINI PLANET---BOAT FIRA TO OIA THEN BUS RETURN

 

A warning to anyone thinking about booking the Santorini Planet transfer, boat to Oia then a return bus back to Fira.

 

Having a reservation & having paid your money in advance means absolutely nothing.

 

Over two months ago I made a reservation for two people for the 9:45AM transfer on June 12 and had pre-paid for the excursion.

 

My wife and I arrived via Windstar on 6/12/14, tendered to shore then walked over the Boatmen’s desk ( who actually operate the transfer). They told us that no Santorini Planet tours were being run on that day.

 

The Boatmen’s got Chimenta Gianluca Manfredi (from Santorini Planet) on the phone and we spoke.

 

He told me that the transfer runs only when a minimum of 15 people are booked.

 

I asked him, if he knew that the tour was not going to be run, why he didn’t send me an e-mail so that I could make alternate plans.

 

Mr. Manfredi gave me a lot of nonsense on the phone about why he couldn’t do.

 

However, thank goodness Josuf (the person at the Boatmen’s desk) couldn’t have been more helpful.

 

He called for us and arranged for a taxi friend to get us to Oia (for 15 Euro total) then this person arranged a return transfer back from Oia in the afternoon ( again at 15 Euro). Thank you Josuf!

 

As far as Mr. Manfredi, you should NOT promote yourself the way you do, accept people’s money in advance and then not deliver on your commitment. Shame on you.

 

To readers of this posting , again Caveat Emptor!

 

 

Yikes! We just booked when we got off the tender so I guess they knew they'd have enough.

[cynbar]

I'm not discounting richfromhaw, that was his experience. But we had a seamless and very enjoyable tour last month by booking in advance with santorini planet --- we just presented our vouchers at the office, were given our tickets and directed to a waiting boat. Bus service to Fira was comfortable and efficient.

Edited June 18, 2014 by cynbar

[cleobella]

We usually avoid ships excursions but last week in Santorini we did the Winery and Oia tour and it was very good. We were let off the boat before the mass exodus, the tour was well organized and we had plenty of free time in Oia and Fira afterwards. I would recommend this as an option, especially if the port will be busy.