Transit times Pireus to Athens Airport

[forgap]

We are booked on Explorer in May '22 for a cruise that starts in Istanbul and ends in Athens.  We are booking our own flights using points.  The best flight out of Athens departs at 10:15am.   Our ship docks at 5am.  Will we have enough time to get to the airport?  From my research, it looks like we can get a cab to ATH and that will take about 35 - 40 minutes.   I'd like to have enough wiggle room so I'm not a bundle of nerves.  Is it a reasonable expectation to leave the ship by 7am and into a cab by 7:30 am?  Of course, we have no idea where we will be with pandemic protocols.  Hopefully, we will only need to navigate immigration and luggage.  Thanks.  Jennifer

[Gcto]

is it possible yes. Typical drive time is about 60 min, but that can be 30 min or less with a crazy taxi driver (we've seen it) or much longer depending time and traffic.  

Ship docks at 5 am, but disembarkation will be dependent on harbor clearance, inspection, customs and unloading (hope no strike).  If all goes well and you inform the ship that you need to get off as soon...all could work out, but if it's me....I wouldn't do it. Too much of a risk not making the flight. 

[GOARMY]

Our only experience was a few years' back on the Mariner.  We opted to stay at Athens for a few days before return to USA.  So, we were among the last off the ship.  Also, we had arranged for a private car service to our hotel.  As best I can recall,  the Cruise Director started calling out color codes for disembarkation at about 0900H.  There was no specific problem; just normal wait for Port clearance.  

 

Others will chime in here--particularly those  whose flights were scheduled out on the same day.  If I were in your situation--no way would I have a reasonable expectation of making a 1015H flight.  The cab/private car transport to the airport is one thing; the other big consideration is the airport process.  Again, from our experience, let me say that the check-in and security clearance processes were--conducted at a "leisurely"  pace.  

 

GOARMY!

 

 

[ronrick1943]

I agree with Goarmy, to much can happen.  Even if you clear the ship at 8:00AM, you have to find your driver, get everything in the car and no one knows what the airport will need like.  We always spend a night Nehemiah we can, if we can’t we take an later flight after 12 noon and sometimes that is tight.

Good luck…..

[pingpong1]

Having flown in, out, and through Athens many time in a "former life" with Uncle Sam....do not make the mistake of thinking that the Athens Airport, Greek taxis, or anything else in Greece actually operates like "other places" do, that you might be used to anywhere else!

 

I had many connections from, to, and through Athens (along with day trips over to Crete and back) that were simply and randomly "cancelled" at the last minute for no other reason than there "weren't enough people" booked on the flight to make it "worth their while" to run that particular flight on that particular day!  Or a gate agent who "over slept" that day and couldn't make it into work.  Or the cab I was in that had to turn around and go back to retrieve one of my suitcases, lying out in the middle of a city street, which had "fallen off" of the cab roof, where the driver was holding onto it with his left hand out the window, because the cab's trunk wasn't big enough to hold 2 suitcases!  Or the time when I missed my flight because the cab mistakenly dropped me off at the "main terminal" instead of at the Olympic Airways terminal...on the other side of the runway...for my flight over to Souda Bay.  Or the day the baggage handlers decided to go on strike at the last minute and I missed a connection in Rome back to the U.S, because our flight out of Athens left 3 hours late.  I could go on, but you get the idea!

 

Carefully heed the advice of the other posters (above) regarding the need to allow "plenty of time" to get to the airport, fight the completely disorganized crowds at the airport, and actually make it onto your flight!  Did I mention the time it took over an hour in the hotel lobby to check out of the hotel (on the morning of my flight), because there was no such thing as a "stand in line wait and your turn" protocol at the hotel's check-out desk?!  Try to avoid the stress and allow plenty of time to get to your flight out of Athens.  Regards.

[forgap]

I want to thank everyone for your most helpful advice.   We were faced with  late departing flights and ungodly connection times until I realized that we could book our preferred flight for the day after arrival.  So, we now have a leisurely departure from the ship and the opportunity to explore Piraeus for the day.   We will most likely make our way to the airport in the late afternoon, spend the night at the airport Sofitel, and then catch our 10:15 am flight back to Istanbul with only a 3 1/2 hour connection time before heading to Atlanta.   I appreciate the sage advice!