Santorini to limit cruise visitors?

[dutchclogs]

In the news (not sure if it is new news though)

 

http://news.gtp.gr/2016/02/29/santorini-limit-cruise-traffic-visitor-numbers/

 

Proposal to limit to 8000 cruisers per day to be introduced on pilot scheme this year, fully in 2017.

[Hlitner]

This is very good news....and we say this as avid cruisers who have been to Santorini many times (will be back in March). 10,000 in a day is ridiculous and the infrastructure just cannot handle that crowd (especially the cable car in Fira). But we think that even 8,000 is too many for this island and perhaps they need to be thinking no more then 5000 a day with a few special exceptions. When we visit next month we will be the only ship (with fewer then 800 passengers) which is truly heaven on this island.

 

Folks might want to consider that the entire population of the island is only around 15,000 (in the busy months). There are some days where the cruisers can darn near double the island population. And even with an 8000 limit you are talking about a 50% increase of folks which just strains the infrastructure to the breaking point. Anyone who has waited in a long queue for the bus at Oia....understtands. And we have been in Fira on some late afternoons where the queue for the cable car (down to the tenders) is over an hour long...and the ships are all delayed while waiting for their passengers to get down to the tenders. That cable car can only haul about 1200 folks per hour (if there are no delays) so just picture 8000 souls trying to get down about the same time in mid to late afternoon.

 

Hank

Edited March 2, 2016 by Hlitner

[Jefferson 912]

This is very good news....and we say this as avid cruisers who have been to Santorini many times (will be back in March). 10,000 in a day is ridiculous and the infrastructure just cannot handle that crowd (especially the cable car in Fira). But we think that even 8,000 is too many for this island and perhaps they need to be thinking no more then 5000 a day with a few special exceptions. When we visit next month we will be the only ship (with fewer then 800 passengers) which is truly heaven on this island.

 

Folks might want to consider that the entire population of the island is only around 15,000 (in the busy months). There are some days where the cruisers can darn near double the island population. And even with an 8000 limit you are talking about a 50% increase of folks which just strains the infrastructure to the breaking point. Anyone who has waited in a long queue for the bus at Oia....understtands. And we have been in Fira on some late afternoons where the queue for the cable car (down to the tenders) is over an hour long...and the ships are all delayed while waiting for their passengers to get down to the tenders. That cable car can only haul about 1200 folks per hour (if there are no delays) so just picture 8000 souls trying to get down about the same time in mid to late afternoon.

 

Hank

 

Hank,

I'm curious...Is there a way to find out how many ships will be in each port? I see that you know your ship will be the only one in Santorini next month. How did you find that information?

 

Therese

[bobalink]

There are a few websites that give information for ships in port.

 

The link below is mentioned often on Cruise Critic:

 

http://ports.cruisett.com

 

Find the country, then the port, and date. It's fairly easy to navigate the website.

 

Hope that helps!

[Keith1010]

Sites such as cruisett are ok but often they include mainly cruise ships that are oriented to those from North America sailing them and miss out on those that are focused on passengers from other parts of the world.

 

Thanks for sharing this article.

 

Keith

[KirkNC]

Yes, I have seen some pretty bad misses on cruisett.

 

I agree with Hank, I wish they would limit it more.

[dronnygirl]

Try cruisetimetables.com they give a lot more information than cruisett

[cruisemom42]

Here's my secret hope ....

 

If Greece gets real about enforcing limits on cruise pax in Santorini, and Venice actually implements limits on the size of cruise ships that can sail down the Giudecca canal and dock at Marittima, then perhaps cruise lines will build some SMALLER new vessels to accommodate this market better.

 

;)

[MNgardens]

There are smaller ships- Azamara, Pacific Princess, Windstar, etc. However non of them are the inexpensive ones that make travel accessible to the middle class.

[steve ch]

Perhaps one reason for the lower prices is down to the economy of scale a bigger ship provides.

[cruisemom42]

As a solo cruiser, I actually find that some of the lines that have smaller ships are not any more expensive for me than the mass market big ship lines.

 

Reason? The mass market lines have fewer (and lesser percentage) price breaks for a solo cruiser. Also, when you factor in what's included versus what you pay extra for on other lines, they allow me to cross for the same cost and sometimes even cost less....

 

Then again, even if they were more expensive, I'd scrimp in other ways in order to afford being on a smaller ship. When you do that, and cruise off season, it's a whole different experience than trying to get off a 4,000 passenger ship and up the hill in a place like Santorini.

 

(My favorite ship carries about 350 passengers, tops. ;))

[Mercruiser]

Here is the local cruise ship calendar

 

http://www.santorini.net/information/cruise-ship-calendar/

 

Cruisett shows fewer ships, making me question it's level of completeness, for example , compare September 1. Cruisett shows 2 ships, the local calendar shows 5. By the way , we will be the only ship there on September 2, which make me very happy.

Edited March 7, 2016 by Mercruiser