Transfer from Cruise to Ferry

[scseas]

Arriving at 6:30 with a 7:30am disembarkation into Piraeus on Virgin Voyages. I would like to catch an 8:45 or 9:00 am ferry. Is this doable? The distance is too far to walk with luggage, especially with a tight schedule. It appears the only option is a taxi. Is this correct? I am worried that taxis might be hard to come by and that a driver might not be willing to take us such a short distance. Any advice?

[Hlitner]

Since you are not specific with the actual piers I will give you a generic answer based on our own experience,  In a similar situation we had no problem getting a taxi to take us for the short haul (less then a mile) although we did offer him extra (I cannot recall the amount but it was no more than 15 Euros).  Like you, we had some concern that the taxis would refuse a short haul, but negotiation (before getting in the taxi) easily avoided any issue.

 

The ferry company may require that you check-in early (I recall we had to do this about 45 min prior to departure) so you need to check the details  Our ferry left from a across the street from the train station and we had extra waiting time.  There was a cafe (inside the ferry port) where we stopped to relax and have some coffee before boarding our ship.  

 

Just keep in mind there are multiple ferry piers (at Pireaus) with several different entrances.  It is helpful to know the exact pier (and entrance) in advance  Otherwise, you and your taxi driver may need to do some investigation which can waste valuable time.

 

Hank

 

[scseas]

VV comes into Cruise Terminal C, which looks like it is the most remote terminal. We are heading to Naxos, which I believe departs from gates 6-8. This looks like a 2.5km distance. I have read conflicting information about how early to arrive. My question is it like airplane boarding where the gate might close, and they won't let you on unless you show up XX minutes before boarding? 

 

And to confirm, in peak summer travel, there will be plenty of taxis right when the ship allows disembarkation around 7:30am. Also, do you know what kind of luggage can fit in taxis? We have two large checked bags. We are only two people. 

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, scseas said:

VV comes into Cruise Terminal C, which looks like it is the most remote terminal. We are heading to Naxos, which I believe departs from gates 6-8. This looks like a 2.5km distance. I have read conflicting information about how early to arrive. My question is it like airplane boarding where the gate might close, and they won't let you on unless you show up XX minutes before boarding? 

 

And to confirm, in peak summer travel, there will be plenty of taxis right when the ship allows disembarkation around 7:30am. Also, do you know what kind of luggage can fit in taxis? We have two large checked bags. We are only two people. 

We also travel with two large checked bags (and two backpacks) and had no problem getting everything into a taxi  Just make sure to have some Euros, as cash does talk :).  Interesting that you are heading to Naxos, because that is exactly where we went the last time we grabbed a ferry in Pireaus,  After a few days in Naxos we took a ferry over to Paxos for a few more days before heading back to Pireaus.  You should be at the ferry terminal in plenty of time since there is no telling if there will be some kind of security check.  I do not recall them closing the gates real early, but better to get over there early than have something go wrong and miss the boat.  

 

Keep in mind that you will need to drag your own luggage on and off the ferries,  We had a luggage cable lock and put the in luggage racks downstairs and than locked them to a rail,  One of our ferries had walking passengers using outside stairs (to get on the boat) which was not practical with our luggage, so we simply crowded our way up the ramp (used by cars) so we could roll our luggage rather than lift it up steps :).  We got some dirty looks from the crew/security, but we ignored them and moved aboard.  There were others doing the same thing and also mobility challenged folks using the ramp.

 

Hank

 

 

[scseas]

6 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We also travel with two large checked bags (and two backpacks) and had no problem getting everything into a taxi  Just make sure to have some Euros, as cash does talk :).  Interesting that you are heading to Naxos, because that is exactly where we went the last time we grabbed a ferry in Pireaus,  After a few days in Naxos we took a ferry over to Paxos for a few more days before heading back to Pireaus.  You should be at the ferry terminal in plenty of time since there is no telling if there will be some kind of security check.  I do not recall them closing the gates real early, but better to get over there early than have something go wrong and miss the boat.  

 

Keep in mind that you will need to drag your own luggage on and off the ferries,  We had a luggage cable lock and put the in luggage racks downstairs and than locked them to a rail,  One of our ferries had walking passengers using outside stairs (to get on the boat) which was not practical with our luggage, so we simply crowded our way up the ramp (used by cars) so we could roll our luggage rather than lift it up steps :).  We got some dirty looks from the crew/security, but we ignored them and moved aboard.  There were others doing the same thing and also mobility challenged folks using the ramp.

 

Hank

 

 

That’s great to know about luggage fitting into a taxi. In the US, we need an Uber XL to fit two full size suitcases. One (hopefully last) question. Is there an all aboard time listed on the tickets? Some of the travel bloggers say show up 30 minutes before. I found one website for a ferry we might use that says show up an hour before. This is the 9am departure (or was this past summer). There was an 8:45 with no such verbiage on their website. Showing up an hour early for the 9am will be hard especially if there is a customs line. But we’d prefer the 9 be 8:45 departure for more wiggle room if there was no such hour pre-arrival. I emailed the ferry company a few weeks ago but did not get an answer.

[Hlitner]

5 minutes ago, scseas said:

That’s great to know about luggage fitting into a taxi. In the US, we need an Uber XL to fit two full size suitcases. One (hopefully last) question. Is there an all aboard time listed on the tickets? Some of the travel bloggers say show up 30 minutes before. I found one website for a ferry we might use that says show up an hour before. This is the 9am departure (or was this past summer). There was an 8:45 with no such verbiage on their website. Showing up an hour early for the 9am will be hard especially if there is a customs line. But we’d prefer the 9 be 8:45 departure for more wiggle room if there was no such hour pre-arrival. I emailed the ferry company a few weeks ago but did not get an answer.

Customs, in Pireaus, is generally a big nothing!  It is generally a matter of getting off the ship, grabbing your luggage (or taking it off yourself) and going out the terminal door to where there is a parking area with taxis.  I am not sure if the ferry check-in differs depending on the ferry company, so cannot be sure how early you need to arrive.  But you are talking about less than 10 minutes to get from either cruise port over to the ferry area (I assume you will be going to the ferry gate near the train station).   Just make sure to book your ferry tickets, in advance, as some of these ferries can actually sell out!  We actually had "issues" getting the ferry from Naxos to Paxos (our preferable ferry was sold out).

 

I think things are probably going to be easier for you than when we last took a ferry (August 2021), since there were still all kinds of COVID protocols in place at that time.  We actually had to go through a COVID documents check (done by the Greek Coast Guard) which I am sure has since ended.  That Coast Guard check added to the hassles getting on ferries, during COVID.

 

Hank