Getting off the Nautica

[Bowie MeMe]

Our flight has just been changed from 2:45 to 5:00 PM on September 21 in Athens going to Madrid. What time will we be "invited off" Nautica? What can we do with luggage -- does Oceania transfer bags to airport for a fee? How does one get reunited with luggage after O cruise? Would a private van (there are 4 people) for the day be a good option? Any hints on the Athens airport and ease of use. Thanks. I love learning from others and NOT having to make every mistake myself.

[tropicalkerry2002]

All I can help with is the time you'll be "invited " off. I think everyone is off by 0900, as folks start boarding at 1100, and my husband and I are 2 of those people!

Enjoy your cruise, we are so looking forward to it!

[tropicalkerry2002]

oh, reuniting with luggage seemed quite easy to me. It seems we had coulour coded cards, and our luggage had the same colour tag, and there may have been numbers as well as colours, eg: red3. When off the ship in Barcelona, there was a huge room, and groups of luggage sorted by colour and number.

I was crying so hard, I may not be remembering quite correctly...hated to get off!

[Rickey 88]

You will be "invited off" the Nautica in the morning, but all passengers are asked no later than 9 am. (They have the entire ship to clean before a new group arrives!)

 

All luggage will be taken off the ship and placed on the dock in groups according to your travel plans. Just before arrival in Athens, you will be give a form to fill out with your details. Later colored luggage tags and further information will be delivered to your stateroom.

 

With a group of four, I'd suggest a private van or large limo - taxi's in Greece tend to be on the small side. If you do, your luggage will be placed in a group of "Independent" travelers. Otherwise, you could take Oceania's bus to the airport, and travel with 30-40 others.

 

The Athens International Airport is relatively new, built for the Olympics but can be quite busy. I'd suggest that because of your luggage, you check in with your airline, and then have the afternoon free. There's not much in the nearby area, but don't stray too far, as traffic is a bear! Just relax, and prepare yourself for your return flight after a wonderful cruise!

 

:cool:

[Andee]

I'd suggest hiring a van to pick you ip at the ship, take you (and your luggage) on a day tour of Athens, then drop you at the airport two hours before your flight. Two of us used Spiros from athens taxi dot net, but I don't know if he has a vehicle larger than the car we used.

 

You may find recommendations of drivers with vans on the Ports of Call boards.

[Fair Man]

Well simple. if you want to stay in Pireus, where is the port area you can leave your bags there. right at the terminal they have a baggage holding area for a few euros a piece.

as you will be taking of by 5pm, you have have not much time to go out and bout in athens, come back for the bags and go back to the airport.

the airport is located on the way to athens.

or the best option, get a taxi and tour Athens for a couple of ours and then go to the airport. this could cost you about 50-60 Euros per hour.

[drwong]

Think of the route as an inverted pyramid - Piraeus is at the bottom, Athens is in the upper left corner, and the airport is in the upper right. Most cabs will head east along the coast highway to get to the airport, rather than through the city and all the traffic. You can hire a cab to take you downtown enroute to the airport, but you'll be paying for those additional miles.

 

Or you can hire a driver-guide for the day. Unfortunately though, most of the driver-guides we found only had sedans, which can barely fit two persons and their two-week cruise luggage (they'll bungee-cord the trunk down, but it's not a condition I'd recommend if you were to be touring the city and leaving the cab unattended). Likewise, I don't know how you'd feel about leaving your suitcases in an open van while you toured the city.

 

There's a convenient Metro line that runs from the airport into downtown. If you hire Oceania's shuttle service to take you to the airport, you can check your luggage at the airport and take the light rail system to Syntagma Square and spend the day wandering around downtown Athens. Just give yourself enough time to get back to the airport and its multiple layers of security!

[CintiPam]

There's a convenient Metro line that runs from the airport into downtown. If you hire Oceania's shuttle service to take you to the airport, you can check your luggage at the airport and take the light rail system to Syntagma Square and spend the day wandering around downtown Athens. Just give yourself enough time to get back to the airport and its multiple layers of security!

 

FYI, the metro line that runs from the airport to Syntagma Square (downtown Athens) is closed until at least October. However, the X95 bus runs every 10-20 minutes from the airport to Syntagma Square and vice versa for just over 3 Euros per person, and takes the same amount of time as a taxi which will run about 40 Euros per ride. The metro line from Pireaus to downtown is working, except at the moment the Thissio stop (near the Acropolis) is closed, but Monastiraki stop is open.