Santorini

[Host Hattie]

There is a sticky on the Greece Ports board which might help. We didn't use excursions in Santorini, we got the boat to Oia with bus back to Fira.

 

 

 

 

[mapleleaves]

5 hours ago, Bell Boy said:

I guess I'm on the same Cunard cruise ( departing 1st Oct 2022) 

Excursions for Santorini  ( Oct 10th) are now available in My Cunard. I have just booked a trip that will take me up to Fira by coach rather than  battling the crowds for the cable Car.

I understand there will be five ships in port that day.  

The coach may take you to Fira, but at some point so you have to take the cable car to return to the dock for your tender.

[Bell Boy]

2 hours ago, mapleleaves said:

The coach may take you to Fira, but at some point so you have to take the cable car to return to the dock for your tender.

Yes you are correct. The tour is several hours including lunch etc, however, It also includes a ticket TO BY PASS lines to return down 😉 This was the attraction for me. 

[mapleleaves]

1 hour ago, Bell Boy said:

Yes you are correct. The tour is several hours including lunch etc, however, It also includes a ticket TO BY PASS lines to return down 😉 This was the attraction for me. 

Sounds like a lovely day! 

But, there is only ONE line for the cable car.  There is NO bypass. 

My advice is to base your cable car descent on the departure times of the other ships   If the other ships leave at 4pm,5pm and 6pm, and you leave at 8 or 9pm, you'll be ok.   But if your ship leaves at 5pm, in the middle of the big exodus you'll have a long wait. 

 

 

[ballroom-cruisers]

On the 10th October, there are three other ships due to be there. The MSC Divina with about 3500 passengers is scheduled to leave at 4pm. QV is scheduled to leave at 5pm with just over 2000 passengers, and then Costa Deliziosa with just under 3000, and Seven Seas Voyager with about 700 later into the evening. So I guess mapleleaves' comment is relevant to the possible queues for the cable car descent to get back to the tenders.

[NE John]

Good luck to you all! It’ll be a rough day there with MSC and Costa in port at the same time. 
Enjoy the QV pool deck and views of the caldera. 

[techteach]

@Bell Boy I’m going to hold out hope, one my trademarks, that there IS a By-pass line and you don’t have to stand in that horrible long line in the heat. Enjoy Santorini!

[Bell Boy]

12 hours ago, techteach said:

@Bell Boy I’m going to hold out hope, one my trademarks, that there IS a By-pass line and you don’t have to stand in that horrible long line in the heat. Enjoy Santorini!

As understood it, Cunard shoreside tours department indicated that the 'cable car Ticket' is Part of a 'Cunard shore side Tour', arrangements will be made for everyone to be able to return to the ship well in time before departure. I'll be expecting confirmation of this when I'm onboard - if I have any doubt I'll be expecting a full refund of the tour. 

[Solent Richard]

On 9/12/2023 at 9:38 AM, watsonbeau said:

On QV next year and Santorini is the tender port on 22 May.  Looking at the cruise port schedule there are a number of cruise ships that day, totalling 8000 passengers approx. 
 

Any experiences of Santorini? Not keen on wandering round Fira if it’s going to be totally rammed - which seems likely from watching YouTube!  From past visits/experiences - what’s it like if thst busy re cable car etc ?  Does anyone know if Cunard have maybe organised a boat trip round the Caldera as would maybe do that ? Or could just stay on QV and enjoy the view of the Caldera from the ship…! 
 

Thank you

Apologies for the late response but I've been on a week's exploration of Yorkshire and time was far more important savouring the delights there rather than online.

 

So, better late than never I guess, how's about this for a Santorini DIY guide, all my own work....

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2017/07/14/one-way-to-do-santorini/

 

And yes, I've done it on Queen Victoria as well...

 

[watsonbeau]

Good information- thank you 

[mapleleaves]

On 9/20/2023 at 5:26 AM, Bell Boy said:

As understood it, Cunard shoreside tours department indicated that the 'cable car Ticket' is Part of a 'Cunard shore side Tour', arrangements will be made for everyone to be able to return to the ship well in time before departure. 

 

I think the 'arrangement" they refer to is..... a crew member is stationed in Fira to keep tabs on the queue and radio the ship about potential delays. The cruiselines are aware of the problem at the cable cars and the intent is not to leave anyone behind if they got caught up in a 2 hr queue.

[moses0]

On 9/13/2023 at 9:23 PM, techteach said:

@moses0 Be sure to be in a good spot on the ship so you can watch the sail in. The houses on the crest are white and it looks like snow from a distance. Really beautiful.

thank you will remember that 

[moses0]

On 9/19/2023 at 5:23 AM, Bell Boy said:

I guess I'm on the same Cunard cruise ( departing 1st Oct 2022) 

Excursions for Santorini  ( Oct 10th) are now available in My Cunard. I have just booked a trip that will take me up to Fira by coach rather than  battling the crowds for the cable Car.

I understand there will be five ships in port that day.  

sorry our trip is may 2023

 

[Bell Boy]

11 hours ago, moses0 said:

sorry our trip is may 2023

 

Edited to to read. October 1st 2023 

[moses0]

7 hours ago, Bell Boy said:

Edited to to read. October 1st 2023 

so sorry I meant our trip is May 20th 2024 🙂

[watsonbeau]

That’s the one I’m on - May 2024 !

[Jack E Dawson]

On 9/25/2023 at 4:16 PM, watsonbeau said:

That’s the one I’m on - May 2024 !

watsonbeau,

I happened to stumble on to this topic and was wondering how your visit to Santorini went. We will be there on May 21st of 2025. Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Jack

[moses0]

3 hours ago, Jack E Dawson said:

watsonbeau,

I happened to stumble on to this topic and was wondering how your visit to Santorini went. We will be there on May 21st of 2025. Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Jack

It was absolutely horrible. I would never go again knowing what I know today. If several other ships are in port then my advice would be most certainly give it a miss. We took the chair lift up and at the top found ourselves among a multitude of people. Like being at a football match after full time trying to get out of the ground. We promptly got in line for the chair lift down as we were told the line  was  2 hours long. In line with some semi hostile people who were annoyed  by people cutting in. To the joy of  others inline one fellow was even removed by an officer for cutting in. Very disappointing for it was one place my wife really wanted to see.😒

[NE John]

2 hours ago, moses0 said:

It was absolutely horrible. I would never go again knowing what I know today. If several other ships are in port then my advice would be most certainly give it a miss. We took the chair lift up and at the top found ourselves among a multitude of people. Like being at a football match after full time trying to get out of the ground. We promptly got in line for the chair lift down as we were told the line  was  2 hours long. In line with some semi hostile people who were annoyed  by people cutting in. To the joy of  others inline one fellow was even removed by an officer for cutting in. Very disappointing for it was one place my wife really wanted to see.😒

Most of the topic has been about how bad Santorini is as a port stop for a cruise ship. My, and fellow passengers, horrid experience in Santorini almost put me off for cruising for good. I reiterate my initial advice and stay on the ship and hang out near the pool, have a few adult beverages, and enjoy the beautiful weather and scenery inside the caldera. 

[King Amo]

It's been many years since I've been, but the two times I visited were wonderful. I guess a major advantage that we had when we were there was that we were significantly younger and fitter than most cruise passengers so could do the walk with no problem (no need to queue for the cable car), were early risers so could get round Fira before most of the crowds, then stride out further afield to get the views away from the ever increasing crowds. I recognise too that ships have got significantly bigger since we were there (we were on Crown Odyssey in 2004, and then Summit in around 2007 or 2008)

 

It's a beautiful stop for staying on board too though. Would be very difficult to put the ship in a more picturesque setting with pretty much guaranteed perfect weather. 

[Sekhmet]

It's a good while ago, but on one of our visits to Santorini, we picked up a local boat trip at the tender dock which sailed up the coast to Oia, supposedly be the most photographed village in Greece. A bus then carried us up from the jetty to the village, and after we’d walked around for an hour or so, it took us back to Fira.  After spending some time there, we opted to walk down the 600ish steps back to the tender dock, a long walk but some spectacular views.

This does avoid the cable car difficulties, and might be worth investigating something similar.

[Jack E Dawson]

2 hours ago, Elephant1151 said:

We returned a few days ago from a 21 day cruise on Queen Victoria - Mediterranean Booked two excursions before we sailed and others onboard.

Elephant1151,

We are on the Istanbul, Greek Isles QV cruise next May. Did your recent 21-day cruise stop in Santorini and, if so, do you have any recommendations (pro or con) on any specific excursions? Sorry Babe, I apologize for asking an off topic question.

Jack

[rog747]

8 hours ago, Jack E Dawson said:

Elephant1151,

We are on the Istanbul, Greek Isles QV cruise next May. Did your recent 21-day cruise stop in Santorini and, if so, do you have any recommendations (pro or con) on any specific excursions? Sorry Babe, I apologize for asking an off topic question.

Jack

During high season, Santorini port welcomes over 80,000 guests per day who are tendered ashore by small boats and ushered to the old port at the base of the Caldera Cliffs in Thira/Fira, the capital of Santorini.


For Santorini, you can do it on your own.
Take the Tender over to the little old port where you will find boats to OIA. buy a ticket from the kiosks on the dock, and they take you by boat to Oia,**** here on arrival at the little dock you will be taken up by mini bus to the lovely village (free time) and your ticket includes a transfer back to Thira (main town) and they will give you the time of their bus to go back, or get the local bus back to Fira yourself.

**** If however you want to stay longer down at the pretty little arrival port of Amoudi (sits below Oia) for a swim, if you follow the path, past the tavernas, that ends up in an awesome diving area with crystal clear waters,
or have a coffee or an early lunch (so very pretty here and much quieter) then ask the taverna to call a taxi to take you up to Oia village. (or you can walk up 300 old steps lol) 

Once back in Thira, to go back to the ship take the cable car down (if the line is not too long) to the old port for your Tender, or do the 100's of steps down if you can manage that.....beware of the donkeys and the poop.

Or,
take a ships tour - One I recommend is to volcano island 

amoudi bay

Edited July 14 by rog747

[Sekhmet]

11 minutes ago, rog747 said:

For Santorini, you can do it on your own.
Take the Tender over to the little old port where you will find boats to OIA. buy a ticket from the kiosks on the dock, and they take you by boat to Oia,**** here on arrival at the little dock you will be taken up by mini bus to the lovely village (free time) and your ticket includes a transfer back to Thira (main town) and they will give you the time of their bus to go back, or get the local bus back to Fira yourself.

Once back in Thira, to go back to the ship take the cable car down (if the line is not too long) to the old port for your Tender, or do the 100's of steps down if you can manage that.....beware of the donkeys and the poop.
 

Glad to hear this is still running - we did it some years ago (including walking down at the end - long walk, but great views) and had just recommended it to someone as a possibility to investigate, but wasn't sure it was still an option.

Edited July 14 by Sekhmet

[TouchstoneFeste]

15 hours ago, Jack E Dawson said:

Elephant1151,

We are on the Istanbul, Greek Isles QV cruise next May. Did your recent 21-day cruise stop in Santorini and, if so, do you have any recommendations (pro or con) on any specific excursions? Sorry Babe, I apologize for asking an off topic question.

Jack

Jack, I've been pondering whether or not I should reply. I can't comment on any specific shore excursions, but you may want to "cruise" through the Greece Ports forum

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/463-greece-ports/

where the topic of touring Santorini is discussed to exhaustion. It may give you some tips on what to look out for in excursion descriptions.

 

It's a delightful, beautiful location - I would go back in a second - but be warned that nearly all the discussion on Greece Ports is about how there are too many tourists (so you can't enjoy the beauty) and getting around can be difficult (so you may wait literally for hours to take the cable car down from the top). @rog747's suggestion gets around the latter problem, at least.