Azamara excursion in Santorini questions

[crewsgirl]

We are planning to be in Santorini on Azamara Onward in early May, and would love to hear your experiences with the ship's excursions to Santorini. Is there an excursion that you booked that was well guided and executed? We are fine with some walking over difficult terrain, but not sure I want to experience the donkey trail with crowds and crowds of people. Interested in your experience with Azamara's excursions vs third party tours that you would recommend. I don't care to visit the ruins, but definitely want to see Oia, of course. Water taxi is fine if available. TIA 

[CruiserBruce]

What excursion would require using the donkey route?

[crewsgirl]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

What excursion would require using the donkey route?

I have read many accounts of tours starting at the top of the cable car and those lines can be 2 hours long, so the only alternative is walking up the steep path that includes the donkeys. Lots of YouTube videos document tours that start at the top of the cable cars. Have you been to Santorini and had a great excursion experience? 

[CruiserBruce]

22 minutes ago, crewsgirl said:

I have read many accounts of tours starting at the top of the cable car and those lines can be 2 hours long, so the only alternative is walking up the steep path that includes the donkeys. Lots of YouTube videos document tours that start at the top of the cable cars. Have you been to Santorini and had a great excursion experience? 

Ship's excursions don't usually start at the top of the cable car. Ship's excursions usually start at the secondary port.

 

Yes, we have been there, and DIY'ed it. We got in at 8am, and were among the first to the cable car. But, depending on arrival time and number of ships in port, the line can be very long.

[edinburgher]

On 10/11/2024 at 1:58 AM, crewsgirl said:

definitely want to see Oia, of course.

Ship shorex will usually take you by coach  TO OIA and definitely not require you to meet at the top cable car station, but for the return will mostly drop off in Fira from where you make your own way down to the tender dock, either by cable car or by walking or on a donkey.

 

if you buy tickets for OIA from the boat/bus operators at the tender dock, my understanding is that they also bus you up to OIA but once again, for the return, drop off  in Fira giving you the same choices to get back down.

 

Have you already read past threads about Santorini, or looked at the informative "pinned" thread at the top of this Greek Ports Board.  It will be full of FAQs, info and suggestions you may find helpful, although I don't think your options will be any different from those already given.  For past threads for Santorini, Oia and Fira, use the search tool.

 

Pinned thread here

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2739131-find-it-here-santorini-firá-and-oia-q-a/page/12/#comment-67680679

 

Edited October 13 by edinburgher

[crewsgirl]

Thanks @edinburgher. That thread did lead me to an independent tour company called Karavas travel, and it has great reviews. It definitely states the group meets at the top of the cable cars. And they are also not responsible if the lines are long and you miss the meet up time. 

 

And, yes, it looks like the ship's excursion uses the bus to go up the mountain, and drops you in Fira to make your way back to the tender at your leisure. In this case, that is the route we are going to do just for the convenience factor. We will be in port with 2 huge Celebrity ships and I know it will be chaos. 

 

Thanks for all the helpful tips, have a great day. 

[edinburgher]

25 minutes ago, crewsgirl said:

It definitely states the group meets at the top of the cable cars.

That will be because it is an independent operator and not an official ship shorex. And to not guarantee to wait for late arrivals given the uncertain timing of tender and cable car lines is, IMHO not customer friendly and not worth the risk.   In this instance a ship shorex would be preferable especially as you mention two other large ships will also be joining you that day. Hoping you all three are scheduled to arrive and depart at different times.

Edited October 13 by edinburgher

[JL87]

We were on an Azamara cruise two years ago that stopped in Santorini. We did a ships tour that started and ended at the new port. Never saw the cable car except from a distance. It did go to Akrotiri which I wanted to see but also included a winery, lunch, and Oia. Very easy trip. We don’t normally do ships tours but this one was for the convenience factor. I don’t remember the name but it will describe the logistics if you read carefully. 

[CCJack]

On 10/13/2024 at 9:57 AM, crewsgirl said:

And, yes, it looks like the ship's excursion uses the bus to go up the mountain, and drops you in Fira to make your way back to the tender at your leisure. In this case, that is the route we are going to do just for the convenience factor.

We did a ship's excursion similar to this.  It went pretty well.  

 

On the return, we walked down the mule path from Fira, it was not a bad walk at all, pleasant walk and not all that crowded.   If you are on a Greek Isle cruise, you will be walking a lot everyday, and Santorini was one of our lower "steps" days even with the walk down.  

 

The trickiest part of our day was getting back to the bus in Oia in time.  Not because we forgot the time but the pedestrian traffic was so crowded we were literally stopped and could not walk in any direction at times.   Many people had trouble making it back to the bus in time.   All that said, I am glad we went.  Oia is beautiful and you likely will only be there 90 minutes or so so you are not fighting these crowds all day, just for a bit.   Fira was not as crowded as Oia.  

 

2 big ships is not necessarily a busy day for Santorini.  We had 3 big ships, and other days there are even more. 

 

Have fun...

Edited October 15 by CCJack

[crewsgirl]

On 10/13/2024 at 11:19 AM, JL87 said:

We were on an Azamara cruise two years ago that stopped in Santorini. We did a ships tour that started and ended at the new port. Never saw the cable car except from a distance. It did go to Akrotiri which I wanted to see but also included a winery, lunch, and Oia. Very easy trip. We don’t normally do ships tours but this one was for the convenience factor. I don’t remember the name but it will describe the logistics if you read carefully. 

Yes, thank you, I think just for the convenience factor we will do the ship's excursion to get the early tender and wander longer in Oia afterwards. I'm not opposed to walking the path, just don't want to be in hordes of people while doing it. Can't wait to see gorgeous Santorini though!