Mykonos and Santorini

[escruise]

My fiancee and I will be on the Millenium mediterranean cruise for our honeymoon in June.

We've booked most of our tours in the bigger ports. I'm not in the process of researching some of them. I was wondering if anybody has tips on what we should do in Mykonos and Santorini. Any tips on Dubrovnik would also be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Doris Baker]

My husband and I are going to Santorini and Dubrovnik on the Star Princess. There are some readouts from cruiscritic which I printed. They say that Santorini and Dubrovnik can be done on your own. I know that there are shuttles from the pier to Dubrovnik and it's a charming, walled city and can definitely be done on your own. As to Santorini, the Akrotiri site is supposed to be interesting, so we are taking a tour there but plan to take a bus or taxi to Oia which is in the north part of the island and is supposed to be very beautiful. If you look for older messages, I think you can find more information.

[SheilahMcA]

Santorini is built on very steep lava and ash cliffs overlooking a volcanic caldera which the sea has filled in. It is speculated that Santorini was ancient Atlantis, and there are two acrchaeological sites and a wonderful museum devoted to Minoan culture and towns that were buried when the volcano blew up half of the island. You take a cable car or donkey from the port up the cliffs to the town, which has amazing views, nice shopping, and cafes. You can easily get a taxi there to take you to the sites.
Mykonos is a sophisticated european vacation spot, with a very picturesque waterfront, cafes, etc. We spent the day at the island of Delos just off Mykonos. The entire island was sacred to the Greek Delian league, and the whole island is an amazing outdoor museum of ancient greek temples, statues, etc., that you are literally walking on. It is completely unregimented-you just wander where you want on a gorgeous island. You can get a boat to Delos from the port where your tender will dock.
Have a wonderful time!
SheilahMcA

[tritsi]

Try to contact Dimitri at [email]info@oceanwavetours.com[/email] he is very good in Private Tours in Santorini and will be more reasonable if you share the tour with another couple or two.

[geekgirl23]

Sheilah- Do you happen to remember how often the ferry runs to Delos (and back)? And how much it costs?

Thanks!

[zelker]

FYI, Akrotiri is closed this year so you'll have to find other things to do on Santorini. Big disappointment as we were supposed to tour it in 3 weeks. We're renting a car for the day instead.

[johninbelltown]

How did you find out that
Akrotiri was closed? Holland
America is offering this as a tour on the sailing on the Westerdam sailing from
Venice on April 24th. I can't imagine a cruise lines offering a tour to a closed destination.

[Doris Baker]

I read your message about Akrotiri. We are sailing on the Star Princess and will be there on April 27th. I had reserved a half day tour via the ship for Akrotiri and received an e-mail from the ship that the tour has been cancelled because Akrotiri will not be open to the public.

[zelker]

I had been communicating with a private tour company on Santorini and she told me that they were 99% sure it wouldn't be open this year. I emailed her again last week to see if she had more info, and she said it was for sure not going to be open. I called HAL and they said they "weren't sure yet" and that we could either wait and see when we get there or go ahead and cancel. I cancelled. I think it would have been nice if they would let people know so they can make other plans. THree out of four of the HAL shore excursions go there.

[zelker]

I received an email from the same person on Santorini this morning -- she said that the archeologist has decided to reopen Akrotiri after all. Not sure of date.

[ebbtide]

johninbelltown

Check on the Roll Call for HAL to find others on the 4/25 Westerdam cruise.

[Shadow]

Hi All,
We will be in Santorini in June and would apreaciate it if you guys that are going in April would post when you return and let us know if Akrotiri is open or not. If not see if you can find out when it will reopen. I really wanted to go there. Thanks, in advance for the information. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Millennium - 6/2/04 - Mediteranean
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Infinity - 12/5/04 - Hawaii - Infinitinis
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[stngfn]

Does anyone know what the admission costs (if any) there are at the various beaches. Doesn't have to be specific, just want to know a range. Thanks!

[Hlitner]

The beaches are public and have no admission charge! If you go to beaches with facilities (such as Paradise Beach) you will be able to rent chairs and umbrellas. The normal procedure is to just sit down on unoccupied chairs, and a beach boy/girl will soon be around to collect the fee. The price does vary, but it is in the ballpark of $10 - $20 for 2 chairs for the day. I mention Paradise because it is one of the main beaches with many facilities (including a pool). This means its crowded, but its also good if you want lunch and enjoy people watching. You can even buy beer for lower prices than on most cruise ships!

Hank

[Live the good life]

In case you need a driver/tourguide for Santorini, here is the web link for a tour company that we have booked and will be using for our Celebrity Millie 06/26/04 cruise. We are extremely impressed with the manager's (Mrs. Anna) responses to e-mails and accomodations to our requests. They agreed to take us all around the island in 6 hours, including all the stops that we would only be able to visit if we had taken 3 separate ship tours...We will watch sunset on our own at the end of the tour. Here it is: [url="http://www.santorinidaytours.com"]www.santorinidaytours.com[/url] Enjoy the island! Kim

[volleyballfan]

We are also very interested in Akrotiri. We have contacted Aegean Thesaurus Travel on 4/23 and they said that Akrotiri was supposed to reopen on 4/24. I can't say for sure if it happened. She said she would check with her vendors to see when they would be running tours again. We are on the 5/21 Millie so hope it is fully operational by then. They have a great website, but I don't have first hand experience with them. Here is the tour website:
[url="http://www.thesaurus.gr/tour_jtr_see_santorini.asp"]http://www.thesaurus.gr/tour_jtr_see_santorini.asp[/url]
Bill

Volleyball Fan

[MSBYRDY]

No reason at all to hire someone for Santorini, it's the most doable island of them all on your own. We rented a car for the day for 35 Euro and drove it all on our own. I believe it's only 14 miles long, so save your money for guides for somewhere necessary.

Dubrovnik is equally doable. The free shuttle takes you right into the heart and you walk it all.
Marilyn

[DianneH]

We were in Santorini April 19th. Akrotiri had not reopened yet. It is closed on Mondays as are most museums in Greece. We rented a scooter for 10 euros a day and toured the island, that included helmets and insurance. We put 2 euros in gas in. It was wonderful. It is easy to get around and the roads were good. They will give you a map with the suggested places to see. The views are awesome. We saw the Black & Red beach, Light House, drove to Acient Thira & Akrotiri,(closed on Monday [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif[/img]), Oia and the fishing village below it and still had shopping time before boarding ship. We would do the scooter again for sure. Lots of fun. We took the cable car up and down. Some did ride the donkeys. Santorini is one of the most beautiful places we have ever seen. ENJOY!!

[bnkrpzlawr]

I just got an e-mail from my driver in Santorini, Paul, and he says that Akrotiri is presently back open and, as far as he knows, will stay that way.

[Makita]

DianneH
where did you find the scooter rental, is it near the dock, or did you go into town? Thanks, Beth

[DianneH]

Hi Beth,
We took the cable car up to Fira made a left out of the cable car station and walked up the little road to the main road and made a left. It is next to the Harley Clothes store and is called..Ancient Thira Tours. There are tons of places to rent scooters. These guys were really nice and helpful and spoke very good english. Here is their email...adoinspa2003@hotmail.com We got a brand new Peugot Trecker that was peppy enough to ride both of us around at a decent speed. It really was so much fun. I have some pics of the store and some places we rode if you would like to email me. [email]hartle2@aol.com[/email]

Dianne

[Shadow]

Diane,
If we rented a scooter and went to Akrotiri would it be safe to leave for awhile?

Millennium - 6/2/04 - Mediteranean
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Infinity - 12/5/04 - Hawaii - Infinitinis
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[DianneH]

We left our scooter at a few differnt sites and when we went to Oia. The scooter locks with key and has a nice size storage compartment under seat that locks also. Our rental people were not worried about theft of scooter, but said we would not be held responsible if it happened. They gave us a card with a number to call in case we had any trouble, such as bike trouble etc and someone would come to our rescue. I never felt unsafe anywhere we went on the island and we cover pretty much all of it. There are lots of scooters there, we left our helmets on the bike and they were always there when we got back. Remember where you park or have something to identify yours, like I said there will be others that might look like yours. The rental has to give you a helmet, but you dont have to wear it. I just hooked mine onto my hip pack when we were riding. I have to tell you it was a blast!!!!

[cowboycork]

We were in Santorini on 15 April, and rented a car from Hertz for 30 Euros. Put 5 E in the tank and drove the entire island.

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[carmendmun]

ESCRUISE, what day is your cruise?? I am also on MIllie in June (14th from Venice). If we are on the same one maybe we can arrange a few things together?? MY husband and I are travelling for our 15th honeymoon[img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]