Santorini excursion with elderly relatives

[boatlife]

Our Msc cruise will be stopping sta Santorini and while we are not booking excursions in advance for most ports we were advised that it is advisable for Santorini so we don't have a long wait for the cable car. We are cruising with elderly relatives who are not able to manage challenging walks so will need the cable car.

[MeHeartCruising]

It is not clear what you are asking, as you first indicated you don't want to wait for the cable car, but then indicate you need the cable car.

 

If you book a ship excursion,  you will ride a tender boat to a level area where you will meet a tour bus which will take you up to the populated top of the crater to wherever your excursion goes.  There will not be a cable car.  However, you will need to walk a short distance to the shuttle bus.

 

Generally ship excursions do NOT return you to that same location to re-board the ship later in the day.  Instead, they give you a ticket to the cable car and drop you off in Fira, the town with the cable car.  You will need to walk thru that town a little bit to get to the cable car.  You will need to wait in any line that may be there at the cable car (this will depend on how many people are in port, time of the ship departures, etc.).  Then you ride the cable car down to a dock area where a tender boat will take you back to the ship.  Again, there will be some walking involved down at the water level.

 

SOME cruise lines (like Celebrity) seem to be starting to have some of their excursions return to the same place where the passenger boarded the bus.  They then tender back to the boat from that location.  This avoids the cable car entirely -- both in the morning and in the afternoon.  But this is a relatively new happening (last year was the first year, I believe).  It is unclear if that will continue this year and it doesn't seem that most cruise lines do this.

 

Without doing a ship excursion, you will be tendered to the location of the cable car, where you wait in line and ride it up the hill. You would also ride the cable car back down -- waiting in line if necessary.

 

 

Edited April 26, 2023 by MeHeartCruising

[boatlife]

51 minutes ago, MeHeartCruising said:

It is not clear what you are asking, as you first indicated you don't want to wait for the cable car, but then indicate you need the cable car.

 

If you book a ship excursion,  you will ride a tender boat to a level area where you will meet a tour bus which will take you up to the populated top of the crater to wherever your excursion goes.  There will not be a cable car.  However, you will need to walk a short distance to the shuttle bus.

 

Generally ship excursions do NOT return you to that same location to re-board the ship later in the day.  Instead, they give you a ticket to the cable car and drop you off in Fira, the town with the cable car.  You will need to walk thru that town a little bit to get to the cable car.  You will need to wait in any line that may be there at the cable car (this will depend on how many people are in port, time of the ship departures, etc.).  Then you ride the cable car down to a dock area where a tender boat will take you back to the ship.  Again, there will be some walking involved down at the water level.

 

SOME cruise lines (like Celebrity) seem to be starting to have some of their excursions return to the same place where the passenger boarded the bus.  They then tender back to the boat from that location.  This avoids the cable car entirely -- both in the morning and in the afternoon.  But this is a relatively new happening (last year was the first year, I believe).  It is unclear if that will continue this year and it doesn't seem that most cruise lines do this.

 

Without doing a ship excursion, you will be tendered to the location of the cable car, where you wait in line and ride it up the hill. You would also ride the cable car back down -- waiting in line if necessary.

 

 

Thank you so much for your detailed response. I guess I had misunderstood how things work in Santorini in terms of the excursions. Now I understand what to expect so we can make the best decision for our group. I will check with the cruise line regarding the details of the excursion. Many thanks.

[Hlitner]

I do think we need to be bluntly honest and suggest that Santorini is not a good place for most with severe walking limitations.  Most excursions include both Fira and Oia, each of which can only be explored by walking (a scooter can work although there will be some limitations).

 

Just getting on the cable car (to get down to the tender port) can be difficult for some folks since the station involves walking on some sloping areas and negotiating some steps.  Once at the bottom you still need to walk from the cable car station to the tender pier.

 

Hank

[boatlife]

4 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I do think we need to be bluntly honest and suggest that Santorini is not a good place for most with severe walking limitations.  Most excursions include both Fira and Oia, each of which can only be explored by walking (a scooter can work although there will be some limitations).

 

Just getting on the cable car (to get down to the tender port) can be difficult for some folks since the station involves walking on some sloping areas and negotiating some steps.  Once at the bottom you still need to walk from the cable car station to the tender pier.

 

Hank

In that case maybe we will simply split into groups on that day so that those who find walking hard can decide to stay onboard if that's better. I just thought there was an advantage in taking the excursion but perhaps not. MSC have listed the excursion as "moderate" so maybe it is too much. Thanks for your feedback.