Please help me figure out timing on my Santorini day!

[fishiecrackers]

I'm so sorry for this detailed post, but no one else in my traveling party really knows any of the details of Santorini, so I have no one else to run things by, and I would love some opinions. I'm traveling with my husband and 3 teenagers.

 

We arrive in Santorini on Saturday, June 17. We are on Royal Caribbean, and according to current schedules online, we are one of two ships that arrive at 7am, with two more following shortly afterwards at 8am. We currently have the "Oia on Your Own" excursion booked through RC. The excursion says it leaves at 7:30am and lasts 3 hours, with about 90 minutes in Oia. I assume the plan is roughly 7:30-8:15 Get to Oia, 8:15-9:45 Oia, 9:45-10:30 Back to Fira. Since we're in port until 8pm, I'd like to book something else as well, and I'm looking at a private tour, probably 3-4 hours of driving around seeing other sights on Santorini, flexible on when/where it leaves. Two of the ships leave at 3pm and 4pm, so I'd like to avoid getting back to Fira around that time, and aim for maybe like 6pm. 

 

Options:

A) Have the private tour meet us in Oia, don't come back with RC (obv tell them first). Benefit to this is that the tour guide could walk us around Oia and give us info or photo spots we missed. I would have no idea when to tell them to meet us. Maybe 11am? Is that too long in Oia?

B) Come back to Fira with the group, and take private tour from there. Benefit to this is that we wouldn't be paying the private tour the time it takes to drive from Oia to Fira, and that would maybe be more optimal for lunch planning (we could get back to Fira, walk around and have lunch, then head out on the private tour). Downside is we'd be locked into the 90 minutes in Oia, but that might be fine given how early in the morning we will be there?

C) Cancel the RC Excursion and just have the private tour person pick us up in Fira and include Oia. Downside is that then I feel like we'd be in cable car hell and I would have no idea when to tell them to meet us.

D) Don't do a private tour at all and just go to Perissa and spend the afternoon at the beach after getting back from Oia. Benefit to this is we're not out any money if we decide we're exhausted and just want to get back on the ship.

 

WWYD?

[John Bull]

Unless things have changed,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

- like all cruise ships, RCI passengers not on a ship's excursion are tendered to Firo "old port". Not a port as such, just a quay at the bottom of a steep cliff and with no road. From there you go up the cliff to Fira by cablecar or by donkey up the zig-zag path (walking up the zig-zag path is too strenuous for most folk) or a boat from the tender quay north to the quay at Amoundi, where a little bus takes you the short distance up to Oia. All of these options usually involve delays depending on numbers.

 

- passengers on ship's excursions are tendered south to Athinios, where a road (suitable for touring coaches) leads down to the ferry port. That's 14 miles, 40 minutes from Oia.

So the timing of that excursion is more like 1 hour 10 mins from ship to Athinios to Oia, 90 minutes in Oia, and 20 mins back to Fira.

 

So consider tendering to the non-excursion quay at Fira old-port and taking that privately operated boat from there direct to Amoundi/Oia.

Get to the tender ticket distribution location on the ship at least 45 minutes before the advertised time (only one of you need go) to get an early tender and ensure your seats on the Anmoundi/Oia boat. The downside is that the boat doesn't leave until its full - could be an hour.

Once on Oia there are things / places to see or eat or drink, so if you allow at least that hour for delays before your arranged meeting time with your guide (yes, 11 am seems about right) it should all pan out. But trade cell-phone numbers with your guide and mebbe phone him / her when the boat leaves the tender pier or when you arrive in Oia, to confirm or mebbe adjust the meet time.

 

At the end of the day, whether going DIY or on a tour or ship's excursion (unless ship's excursion says it returns via Athinios), you'll end up at the top of the cliff at Fira, with the only options for getting down to the tender pier being the cablecar or walking down the zig-zag path 

If everyone in your party is tolerably fit I suggest you get to the cablecar at least 40 minutes before last-tender time. If there's a long line, walk down the zig-zag path - the steps are quite shallow, beware any smooth and shiny stones (they can be slippery) and use the hand-rail or wall. Take it carefully (20 - 25 minutes), but there's zero risk of plummeting over the side 🙂. 

Last tender time is usually an hour before sailaway - that's when you need to be on the tender quay - not when you have to be back on the ship, not even when you have to be in a tender - if the line is still there at last-tender time the tenders will continue til they've mopped-up the line

 

JB 🙂

[MeHeartCruising]

Personally, I would do the full Oia excursion.  It takes care of the morning transport issue for you.  I think 90 minutes in Oia is plenty of time to soak in the sites and get your pictures.  It will be early in the morning, so very little will be open.  It is not a large village.  You'll just naturally find the right locations for the pictures you want.  Then meet your next tour in Fira.

[fishiecrackers]

4 hours ago, MeHeartCruising said:

Personally, I would do the full Oia excursion.  It takes care of the morning transport issue for you.  I think 90 minutes in Oia is plenty of time to soak in the sites and get your pictures.  It will be early in the morning, so very little will be open.  It is not a large village.  You'll just naturally find the right locations for the pictures you want.  Then meet your next tour in Fira.

That's kind of what I'm leaning towards if I keep the RC excursion. Thanks for the input.

[fishiecrackers]

5 hours ago, John Bull said:

Unless things have changed,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

- like all cruise ships, RCI passengers not on a ship's excursion are tendered to Firo "old port". Not a port as such, just a quay at the bottom of a steep cliff and with no road. From there you go up the cliff to Fira by cablecar or by donkey up the zig-zag path (walking up the zig-zag path is too strenuous for most folk) or a boat from the tender quay north to the quay at Amoundi, where a little bus takes you the short distance up to Oia. All of these options usually involve delays depending on numbers.

 

- passengers on ship's excursions are tendered south to Athinios, where a road (suitable for touring coaches) leads down to the ferry port. That's 14 miles, 40 minutes from Oia.

So the timing of that excursion is more like 1 hour 10 mins from ship to Athinios to Oia, 90 minutes in Oia, and 20 mins back to Fira.

 

So consider tendering to the non-excursion quay at Fira old-port and taking that privately operated boat from there direct to Amoundi/Oia.

Get to the tender ticket distribution location on the ship at least 45 minutes before the advertised time (only one of you need go) to get an early tender and ensure your seats on the Anmoundi/Oia boat. The downside is that the boat doesn't leave until its full - could be an hour.

Once on Oia there are things / places to see or eat or drink, so if you allow at least that hour for delays before your arranged meeting time with your guide (yes, 11 am seems about right) it should all pan out. But trade cell-phone numbers with your guide and mebbe phone him / her when the boat leaves the tender pier or when you arrive in Oia, to confirm or mebbe adjust the meet time.

 

At the end of the day, whether going DIY or on a tour or ship's excursion (unless ship's excursion says it returns via Athinios), you'll end up at the top of the cliff at Fira, with the only options for getting down to the tender pier being the cablecar or walking down the zig-zag path 

If everyone in your party is tolerably fit I suggest you get to the cablecar at least 40 minutes before last-tender time. If there's a long line, walk down the zig-zag path - the steps are quite shallow, beware any smooth and shiny stones (they can be slippery) and use the hand-rail or wall. Take it carefully (20 - 25 minutes), but there's zero risk of plummeting over the side 🙂. 

Last tender time is usually an hour before sailaway - that's when you need to be on the tender quay - not when you have to be back on the ship, not even when you have to be in a tender - if the line is still there at last-tender time the tenders will continue til they've mopped-up the line

 

JB 🙂

Lots of good points, thanks. Gives me more to think about. I thought only a few cruise excursions tendered to Athinios - is that ALL Royal Caribbean excursions?

[MeHeartCruising]

25 minutes ago, fishiecrackers said:

Lots of good points, thanks. Gives me more to think about. I thought only a few cruise excursions tendered to Athinios - is that ALL Royal Caribbean excursions?

 

I think any excursion that requires bus transport away from Fira will use the Athinios port.  And that's probably most, if not all, of them.  

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, fishiecrackers said:

Lots of good points, thanks. Gives me more to think about. I thought only a few cruise excursions tendered to Athinios - is that ALL Royal Caribbean excursions?

 Yes, I think so - and to the best of my knowledge, all cruise lines.

As per Me💗Cruising's post it's where tour buses can drive down to the port.

 

Celebrity are offering some excursions which also end at Athinios, avoiding the bottleneck getting down to the regular tender quay.

 

JB 🙂

[fishiecrackers]

Wondering about the crowds leaving the ship at 7am. The fiscally responsible part of me wants to just take my chances and cancel the RC excursion, and just take a longer private tour instead of paying for two separate things, but with the two anticipated 7am ship arrivals and two more at 8am, I keep having nightmare scenarios running through my head of insanely long lines for the cable car up, even early in the morning. Especially in June....

[tobyt]

Hello, I keep going round and round on the best option….cruise line takes away the drama of cable car in the morning as everyone scrambles off but it is such a minimal excursion I would much prefer a private tour.

Has anyone found that getting off later helps? If I wait a couple of hours does the crush get better? 
I was thinking wait a couple of hours after our 7am arrival and then go up wander around and take the bus over to Oia around noon….again wander and bus back. We would need to be to cable car by 4 ish with plenty of time for the 7 departure.

 

Appreciate any feedback, on if the delay would help, thanks!

[mapleleaves]

2 hours ago, tobyt said:

I was thinking wait a couple of hours after our 7am arrival and then go up wander around and take the bus over to Oia around noon….again wander and bus back. We would need to be to cable car by 4 ish with plenty of time for the 7 departure.

 

You've left out several important factors: how many pax on your ship? and will you have priority on the tenders? which other ships are in port with you? the number of pax on each and their arrival/departure times.

ie if you're the first ship to arrive and you have an early tender ,the cable car queue might be ok.  But if a ship with 3500 pax arrived  2hrs before you and you forgot to get a tender ticket, you might be waiting 3 hrs for the cable car.

Where are you planning to meet your tour ?

 

 

[tobyt]

Only two ships in port…we will be the 3500 and much smaller after noon, October so late in the season. We arrive at 7 depart at 7. We will not have priority tenders, I want to see as much as possible but the uncertainty is concerning. 

[ninjacat123]

DH and I will be in Santorini Oct 23 and I decided to not chance it and booked a cruise excursion (leaves at 8:15) to guarantee we would get to Oia (my main goal) then back for lunch in Fira.  Stand in line for cable car at 2:30 then tender (hopefully not last tender) to ship by 4:00.  Ship leaves port at 5.  Sounds like this is doable?

[Wishing on a star]

Has anybody heard of Princess excursions ending back at Althinios?

And, can we assume that we would then have to return to the shop right away after the excursion.  Not tender from Althinios later?

[mapleleaves]

7 hours ago, tobyt said:

Only two ships in port…we will be the 3500 and much smaller after noon, October so late in the season. We arrive at 7 depart at 7. We will not have priority tenders, I want to see as much as possible but the uncertainty is concerning. 

Keep in mind that there are only 6 cable cars so they only move about 700 pax per hour.  

If you wait until 9am you might get caught up in the crowd of people who wanted to have a nice bfast before their busy day.  It's so hard to predict. 

I'd be off the ship asap. Why waste 2 hrs, plus it will be cooler at that time of day, and fewer people around

I felt ok about our chances given that the only other ship in port was Costa with 2700 pax, and it was scheduled to arrive at 7am. We were scheduled for 2pm but arrived a bit early, at 1:30pm.  And we were on Tender #4.  Yet we didn't get to Fira until 4pm !!  Why we were in line for 2 hrs is beyond me!  That means about 1400 pax were ahead of us, yet we were the 4th tender.  So did Costa arrive late?  did their pax disembark late so they could have lunch on the ship? I don't understand it, which is why I would advise getting off the ship asap. 

[fishiecrackers]

11 hours ago, tobyt said:

Hello, I keep going round and round on the best option….cruise line takes away the drama of cable car in the morning as everyone scrambles off but it is such a minimal excursion I would much prefer a private tour.

Has anyone found that getting off later helps? If I wait a couple of hours does the crush get better? 
I was thinking wait a couple of hours after our 7am arrival and then go up wander around and take the bus over to Oia around noon….again wander and bus back. We would need to be to cable car by 4 ish with plenty of time for the 7 departure.

 

Appreciate any feedback, on if the delay would help, thanks!

Glad I'm not the only one going round and round on this. You could do what we're doing - an excursion to get off the ship, and then a private tour after that.

[fishiecrackers]

OP here - okay, I think this is the plan I've settled on.

 

7:30-10:30 - Royal Caribbean excursion to Oia, ending in Fira

10:30-1:00 - Explore Fira and have a leisurely lunch (this also gives us additional time to stay in Oia and take a bus back if we are just really not ready to leave after 90 mins)

1:00-5:00 - 4-hour private tour to see the south side of the island

 

The two previous ships should have left at 3pm and 4pm, and the next not until 8pm (my ship), so hoping that arriving back to Fira at 5 will give us a lull in the cable car crowds to get back on the ship. If not, maybe we'll eat dinner in Fira and then just walk down. 

 

This will be an expensive day, but I think it's worth the $250 for my family for the RC excursion to get us off the ship and get Oia out of the way nice and early. The biggest downside at this point is the risk of us all sleeping through parts of the private tour bc of the incredibly early morning, haha. Might keep this day's itinerary a secret from my teenagers until the last possible moment! Luckily the next day is Mykonos and that should be much more chill.

[mapleleaves]

@ fishiecrackers ..... sounds like a good plan.  And if the other 2 ships have left, the cable car lines should be easy for the ride down.  ( it worked that way for us)

Edited April 27, 2023 by mapleleaves

[MeHeartCruising]

14 hours ago, fishiecrackers said:

OP here - okay, I think this is the plan I've settled on.

 

7:30-10:30 - Royal Caribbean excursion to Oia, ending in Fira

10:30-1:00 - Explore Fira and have a leisurely lunch (this also gives us additional time to stay in Oia and take a bus back if we are just really not ready to leave after 90 mins)

1:00-5:00 - 4-hour private tour to see the south side of the island

 

The two previous ships should have left at 3pm and 4pm, and the next not until 8pm (my ship), so hoping that arriving back to Fira at 5 will give us a lull in the cable car crowds to get back on the ship. If not, maybe we'll eat dinner in Fira and then just walk down. 

 

This will be an expensive day, but I think it's worth the $250 for my family for the RC excursion to get us off the ship and get Oia out of the way nice and early. The biggest downside at this point is the risk of us all sleeping through parts of the private tour bc of the incredibly early morning, haha. Might keep this day's itinerary a secret from my teenagers until the last possible moment! Luckily the next day is Mykonos and that should be much more chill.

 

This seems like a perfect plan.  Have a great trip.

[fishiecrackers]

Thanks, guys! Appreciate being able to get input from others on the logistics! I'll report back how it went!

[ninjacat123]

Just now, fishiecrackers said:

Thanks, guys! Appreciate being able to get input from others on the logistics! I'll report back how it went!

Please do!  Looking forward to hearing all about it!😃

[TKATeacher]

So funny that I am working on plans for the exact same excursion from a Royal ship on June 22 with my husband and 2 teens.  I have bounced all around on this one with very similar options to you.  I think (at least at this moment) we are doing your option 3 - keeping the RC excursion, having lunch in Fira and then heading to Perissa for a beach afternoon.  Royal even has another excursion for later in the day that is just the beach.  I thought about booking that (it will let me book both excursions), but I am not sure where transportation would intersect.  Does anyone have a recommendation on how to get to and from the beach? I have read that a taxi may not be easily had on the island these days. 

[fishiecrackers]

9 hours ago, TKATeacher said:

So funny that I am working on plans for the exact same excursion from a Royal ship on June 22 with my husband and 2 teens.  I have bounced all around on this one with very similar options to you.  I think (at least at this moment) we are doing your option 3 - keeping the RC excursion, having lunch in Fira and then heading to Perissa for a beach afternoon.  Royal even has another excursion for later in the day that is just the beach.  I thought about booking that (it will let me book both excursions), but I am not sure where transportation would intersect.  Does anyone have a recommendation on how to get to and from the beach? I have read that a taxi may not be easily had on the island these days. 

I was watching a video on YouTube about the bus system in Santorini (the creator is Greece Explained and he has lots of good stuff) and it seems like it would be pretty easy to take the bus? I think I've axed that from my list of possibilities bc for us the next day is Mykonos and I think we'll do a beach day then. Have a great time with whatever you decide!

[TKATeacher]

10 hours ago, fishiecrackers said:

I was watching a video on YouTube about the bus system in Santorini (the creator is Greece Explained and he has lots of good stuff) and it seems like it would be pretty easy to take the bus? I think I've axed that from my list of possibilities bc for us the next day is Mykonos and I think we'll do a beach day then. Have a great time with whatever you decide!

Thanks for this info!  I will check out the videos and bus. We had planned our beach day for our stop in Mykonos, and then Royal switched up the itinerary with Mykonos dropped and Athens added.  We are excited to visit Athens, but it does have me looking for some beach time on this trip

[southern reader]

On 4/25/2023 at 5:45 AM, John Bull said:

Unless things have changed,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

- like all cruise ships, RCI passengers not on a ship's excursion are tendered to Firo "old port". Not a port as such, just a quay at the bottom of a steep cliff and with no road. From there you go up the cliff to Fira by cablecar or by donkey up the zig-zag path (walking up the zig-zag path is too strenuous for most folk) or a boat from the tender quay north to the quay at Amoundi, where a little bus takes you the short distance up to Oia. All of these options usually involve delays depending on numbers.

 

- passengers on ship's excursions are tendered south to Athinios, where a road (suitable for touring coaches) leads down to the ferry port. That's 14 miles, 40 minutes from Oia.

So the timing of that excursion is more like 1 hour 10 mins from ship to Athinios to Oia, 90 minutes in Oia, and 20 mins back to Fira.

 

So consider tendering to the non-excursion quay at Fira old-port and taking that privately operated boat from there direct to Amoundi/Oia.

Get to the tender ticket distribution location on the ship at least 45 minutes before the advertised time (only one of you need go) to get an early tender and ensure your seats on the Anmoundi/Oia boat. The downside is that the boat doesn't leave until its full - could be an hour.

Once on Oia there are things / places to see or eat or drink, so if you allow at least that hour for delays before your arranged meeting time with your guide (yes, 11 am seems about right) it should all pan out. But trade cell-phone numbers with your guide and mebbe phone him / her when the boat leaves the tender pier or when you arrive in Oia, to confirm or mebbe adjust the meet time.

 

At the end of the day, whether going DIY or on a tour or ship's excursion (unless ship's excursion says it returns via Athinios), you'll end up at the top of the cliff at Fira, with the only options for getting down to the tender pier being the cablecar or walking down the zig-zag path 

If everyone in your party is tolerably fit I suggest you get to the cablecar at least 40 minutes before last-tender time. If there's a long line, walk down the zig-zag path - the steps are quite shallow, beware any smooth and shiny stones (they can be slippery) and use the hand-rail or wall. Take it carefully (20 - 25 minutes), but there's zero risk of plummeting over the side 🙂. 

Last tender time is usually an hour before sailaway - that's when you need to be on the tender quay - not when you have to be back on the ship, not even when you have to be in a tender - if the line is still there at last-tender time the tenders will continue til they've mopped-up the line

 

JB 🙂

Hi John, our NCL cruise excursions for Santorini are all full so we have to tour it on own.  We would like to go up to Oia.  Any suggestions?  We are in port 1pm-9:30pm on Monday July.  I understand we will not be able to disembark until all of the excursion passengers are gone, though how we will know when we can go I do not know.  Assuming we can get off the ship by 2 or 2:30pm (I hope), where would we find tickets to the cable car or that boat to Amoundi, and how do we find both the cable car and that little boat?  Also once we dock on that boat is there a public bus or something we can take up to Ois?  And last but not least we plan to find an atm for euros when we land at the Rome airport, but if that fails do the cable car and or boat take credit cards?  Thanks

[southern reader]

Two more questions, any idea what time the businesses start to close in Oia, and is there anything else to see in Santorini?  Thanks