tours in Santorini

[ep1080]

I am going on NCL Gem  and one of the port is Santorini. I am torn on whether I should join the NCL excursion or an outside tour company. The positive thing about NCL excursion is that I can get off the cruise ship earlier because they give priority to tender for those who join NCL tour. However, the description of their Oia tour sounds "skimpy" and there is no mentioning that the tour even brings the group to Fira. Does anybody have experience with the cruise ship Santorini tour?

The outside tour group says it will pick the tourists up from the FIRA PORT. I wonder if that means once I get off the tender boat, the bus is by the harbor? I do not have to take the cable car to Fira town in order to board the bus, right? Because if I have to, that means a long wait for the cable car, and other people in the same tour group might be even more delayed and hence the exact time to drive to Oia might be really delayed. Any input?

Thanks for any input you can give us. 

BTW, I think I saw somewhere one way to circumvent this cable car up is to join a tour that takes you from cruise tender port to Oia first ( by boat) so I  assume  you start with Oia and then come back to Fira which is closer to the ship's docking area. ? If there are tours like this, can someone give me their name . If we are not allowed to mention any names here, please let me know and I will give you my e mail so you you can send it to me. thanks 

[KeithJenner]

The Oia excursion takes you by tender to Thira port where you move to a coach which takes you to Oia. You have about 90 minutes there before going back to Thira town where you are left with a cable car ticket. You can obviously spend time in Thira before heading back to the ship.

 

We did the excursion last time and have it booked again because the morning is much better than queueing up for tenders and the cable car. The excursion is not bad value if you have free at sea (even better with free at sea plus).

 

Some people on our excursion opted to stay in Oia and make their own way back to Thira.

[MeHeartCruising]

To clarify a bit.  Fira/Thira does not have a port that supports buses.  Fira is perched on a high cliff.  The port below Fira is referred to as the "Old Port".  Motorized vehicles cannot reach this port.  This is the port where tender boats drop you off from the ship when you are not on an excursion.  You then ride the cable car or a donkey up to Fira.  It is possible that some boat-based excursions can begin here.  There are usually private boats here that can take you over to Oia for a fee.  But be aware that the common complaint is that the boat will sit there for quite a long time until it is full.  People have complained about how long this process takes.  When you do take a boat over to Oia, it drops you off at a port and then they provide a bus up to the top where Oia sits.  

 

There is a second port called Athinios, which DOES support buses.  This port is a mile or 2 south of Fira, so not far.  But technically, it is not the Fira port.  This is where tender boats drop you if you are on a SHIP excursion that is met by a bus.  Generally, you cannot ride a tender to this port from a ship without being on a ship excursion.

 

To the OP, it is confusing what the private tour is telling you.  If they say they pick up at FIRA PORT, that sounds like the Old Port.  Which would mean that they are taking you to Oia by boat with no buses involved in that part of the trip.  They probably provide you with a private bus or a ticket for a public bus to get from Oia back to Fira.  But you should ask about that portion of the trip.  You would then ride the cable car back down to your ship.  If they are saying they would pick you up at Athinios port, then your issue is that you can't get there without being on a ship excursion.  I would ask the tour company for clarification.

 

There are many discussions on this topic in the Greece port forum.  You should read thru them if you have not already.

Edited July 14, 2023 by MeHeartCruising

[sanger727]

You also don't have to pre-plan this if you are looking for transportation only. When you get off the ship there are a number of local boat/tour companies where you can purchase transportation. As stated, they ferry you by boat to a different port where the buses can pick you up. They drive you to Oia. You are on your own, and then they have a pickup point with buses that take you back to Thira. You then have to take the donkey or cable car back down.