Santorini is stressing me out!

[Ashland]

1 hour ago, RCCL Fan said:

SO......   i should expect to ride in the cable car with others?  I'm claustropobic.  we're a group of 4 and I'm worried about being in there with just them, let alone others.

 

I might have to brave the donkeys

Careful with the donkeys....My DH walked down and I took the donkey. Our guide had to stop half way down to walk back and help someone and the lead donkey wasn't tethered and took off running pulling the rest of us along behind him. It took the guide sometime to finally run and catch up with him to stop him....Yikes....never thought my kids would understand mom killed due to a donkey. Next time I'll wait for the cable car.

[mapleleaves]

6 hours ago, RCCL Fan said:

SO......   i should expect to ride in the cable car with others?  I'm claustropobic.  we're a group of 4 and I'm worried about being in there with just them, let alone others.

 

I might have to brave the donkeys

And I'm scared of heights .  Oh, the things we do on vacation!

Do a search on youtube for 'Santorini cable cars'  and you'll get a good look at the cars.

They only hold 6 passengers but you're not squished.  And they're all glass.  Luckily the ride is less than 5 minutes.

 

Or, you can follow the donkeys and walk up the 600 steps, dodging donkey poop all the way.

Edited June 25, 2022 by mapleleaves

[Biker19]

19 hours ago, RCCL Fan said:

 

I might have to brave the donkeys

It's likely only an issue on the way up in the morning - very few going up/down in the afternoon. Just stay out of the main track and you'll be fine.

[Host Jacquelyn]

We have done Santorini twice.

 

First time, we took a boat from where the tender left us off (base of Fira, near cable cars) to the Oia side, then a bus up to Oia. To get back, we needed to take a bus to Fira, and then the cable car down. We heard of too many people getting injured by slipping on the stairs, we didn't want to risk it. Line for cable car was over 30 mins.

 

The most recent time, we were on a late tender. When we were buying tickets for the boat to the Oia side, we were told they wait for the boat to fill before leaving. Since we were on a late tender, he said expect to wait an hour, maybe 2, maybe longer. They would not leave unless it was worth it for them.

 

So instead we took the cable car up, and had to walk to the central bus station to catch a bus to Oia. It was at least a 10+ minute walk. The bus station was chaos, and the woman kept on promising the bus would arrive in 5 minutes. We waited over 20 mins for the bus, and there was a large queue ahead of us who had been waiting longer. They squeezed as many passengers into the bus as they could, many did not have seats. It was the same on the return.

 

 

[little britain]

On 6/22/2022 at 6:11 AM, firstsailor said:

We are on the July 23 sailing on Odyssey to Greek Isles. We “dock” from 1:00-11:00 in Santorini. Booked a private tour at 4:00-9:00. I am reading reports on FB about getting your tender tickets and how fast they “are gone to late times” and people not even being able to tender until 3:30-4:00, then the cable car line and the cable car line coming back and being back in time before the cable car closes… 🙀 I feel Ike I am going into full on panic mode a month ahead! Any good tips? 
I have looked at the other ships in port that day and we are the latest arrival and one other ship has the same departure time at 11 which is Oceana Riviera. There are 4 ships total in port. 
I think I’m feeling most stressed about being able to get off the ship to a tender in a timely manner. 
Taking all suggestions and helpful tips 😊 we are a group of 8 so the key is a little out of price range for all of us. 

In Santorini today on Odyssey. 
Go at 9 to go and pick up tender tickets (music hall) 

We arrived before 1 and they were calling first tender #1 at one and this continued at regular intervals up to tender #65 around 3:30. After that time no tender ticket needed. 
They were calling batches of around 7 numbers at a time eg: #10-#17

Only one other smaller Aida ship in today. 

[blonde375]

1 hour ago, little britain said:

In Santorini today on Odyssey. 
Go at 9 to go and pick up tender tickets (music hall) 

We arrived before 1 and they were calling first tender #1 at one and this continued at regular intervals up to tender #65 around 3:30. After that time no tender ticket needed. 
They were calling batches of around 7 numbers at a time eg: #10-#17

Only one other smaller Aida ship in today. 

Thank you, little britain!   Is ship time the same as on land??

[mil76]

Spent last week in Santorini. We tested positive for Covid in Copenhagen for our planned Voyager Baltic cruise, so we quarantined in a hotel and then headed off to Santorini to make lemonade from the lemons.  Interesting perspective being on the other side of the equation and cursing all of the cruise ship invaders rather than being one of them 😛. 

 

We stayed in Oia and I walked the Oia path up and down one day which is much shorter than the Fira path, and I don't recommend the up direction to anyone who is not in decent shape.  The donkeys are an option, but be prepared to smell like a donkey for the day.  It's already pretty hot and humid so I wouldn't want to add donkey smell on top of that.  I can't imagine going up and down that path all day every day so I understand why the donkeys are so grumpy.  Walking down isn't bad, but the path is not lit so I wouldn't do it after dark.  Just watch your step for dung as it is everywhere.

 

The bus is a great way to get around, but you need to be prepared for chaos.  We used the busses as our daily excursions to different parts of the island so we were pros by the end of the week, but the first time was a bit confusing.  The bus stop in Fira is the hub so you can get a bus to pretty much everywhere on the island, so there will be a bunch of busses in the lot and not very well marked.  The busses are tour busses, not your usual mass transit busses.  Some will have a sign showing their route in the front window, but not all of them.  Add to that dozens of clueless tourists and you have craziness.  The good news is everyone else will be just as clueless, so just ask other people if they know which bus they are getting on, or ask at the office or one of the workers in the lot.  The Oia busses are the busiest, especially later in the day as the most popular activity for people staying on the island is to go to Oia for sunset.  You will want to try to find which bus is going to Oia before they announce in the waiting area, or you will probably end up standing as the queue at the bus grows quickly once they make the announcement.  The cost is 1.80 euro each way, so it is the best deal in Santorini.  Busses to Oia generally leave Fira at :00 and :30, and to Fira they generally leave Oia at :20 and :50.  Plan to get to the station 10 minutes before that to get your bearings.  You buy tickets as you get on the bus, so don't worry about buying anything beforehand.  It's cash only.  They do make change, just try to have smaller bills.

 

If there is still a water taxi option to go from Fira port to Oia and take the bus back, I would recommend that if the timing works.  A local told me last week that they don't do the water taxi anymore, but from previous posts it sounds like it may still be an option.  That was what we did when we cruised to Santorini.  This picture from last week shows Ammoudi (actual name of the Oia port) at the bottom.  The road goes from the dock around the back and right into town. 

 

 

Odyssey last week viewed from Oia.

 

 

[little britain]

2 hours ago, blonde375 said:

Thank you, little britain!   Is ship time the same as on land??

Yes ship time went forward one hr last night 

[blonde375]

On 6/28/2022 at 1:02 PM, little britain said:

Yes ship time went forward one hr last night 

Little Britain, THANK YOU THANK YOU for replying!   This has eased my stress so much regarding our private tour guide.