Santorini on Reflection

We have a ton of on board credit for our honeymoon and trying to figure out what excursions we should take.

We were thinking of not doing any excursions in Santorini originally just walking around the island enjoying the sites.

However we are reading that taking a Celebrity excursion for Santorini gets you off the ship faster etc.

We are also in a suite so not sure if that has any bearing.

Thoughts?

Santorini is beautiful. Was there in May.

As you are tendered there, ship excursions typically get off first and therefore get up the cable car first. What you can do to go it alone is to purchase a ride on a ferry over to Oia from a pierside vendor for a few Euros. The ticket will get you a bus ride back to Fira and then you can catch the cable car back down or walk the winding path. To be honest the line for the cable car goes quite quickly.

I took a private tour with Santorinitours.net

Absolutely wonderful..... we got to see so much....

Link to my pics are here There's rather a lot.

Linda

it all depends on the time you get there and how many other ships will be in the caldera. Fira can be shoulder to shoulder people by late early afternoon.

I would take the ship tour and get to Oia as soon as you can. then walk around and I heard you can even walk back to Fira along a ridge if you have time and are hearty. When we were there in early Sept was about 95 degrees. :eek:

Second time I did a cruise with this port I stayed on the ship and had a spa day. It was mid November and in the 70's.

One of the most spectacular islands to visit. I really would recommend a tour be it private or through Celebrity. As a suite guest you will get priority tendering once the early excursions have left, just speak to the concierge.

I would also recommend on returning to the ship to walk on deck and look in all directions remembering you are in the caldera of a Bronze Age volcanic disaster. Truly amazing scenery.

I would book a ship's excursion that includes Oia --- Fira is lovely too but nothing compares to the views you'll see in Oia, these are the pictures often used to describe the Greek islands. If you don't book an excursion, the tender will leave you off at the bottom of a cliff leading up to Fira, and you then either have to take a cable car, book a donkey or walk up the steep donkey path. On our visit to Santorini, there were 9000 cruise passengers in port, I heard the lines for the cable car were 2 hrs at times standing in the hot sun. Some passengers gave up and just went back to the ship, which was really a shame (Santorini was a highlight for us despite the crowds.) If you take a ship excursion, they take care of everything, you are tendered separately to a different spot where you pick up your tour bus. Most tours end up in Fira where you can take your time, and descend the cliff at your convenience .

We have a ton of on board credit for our honeymoon and trying to figure out what excursions we should take.

 

We were thinking of not doing any excursions in Santorini originally just walking around the island enjoying the sites.

 

However we are reading that taking a Celebrity excursion for Santorini gets you off the ship faster etc.

 

We are also in a suite so not sure if that has any bearing.

 

Thoughts?

We r always renting car in Santorini. It's easy drive - wineries, black and red sand beaches, Oia, lunch on the cliff.

You have some choices. We did the ship tour and it was one of the most reasonably priced offered in ports. Took us to a vineyard with fantastic views including the ship before heading to the beautiful Oia. Plenty of time to walk around and a good guide. There was a Greek buffet and we ate in the aft sailing away as the sun was setting, enjoying the view and dolphins following!

Oia is beautiful, and might be easier with a ships tour in terms of disembarking etc, but, bear in mind, it is a tiny place, with a lot of visitors.

We have been three or four times to Santorini, you can either -

Go up the cable car to Thira, and wander the little streets and shops etc, admiring the view.

Do a ships tour, my favourite is the Volcano hike, and thermal springs, you disembark the ship on to a greek fishing boat, which takes you to the volcano, you hike up the volcano, learning about the history of this amazing island, and getting great views, then, back to the boat, to sail around the caldera, to a spot where you can dive into the warm spring waters, and swim, which was wonderfully surreal! We are taking this tour again we loved it so much.

A private tour company that offer a great experience is SAFOWI - Santorini food and wine, the guide is Phoenix, from California, she now lives in greece and takes you to vineyards and explains their unique growing methods, then to taste the wines, then to Kamari beach for greek cookery demo at Nichteri restaurant - its amazing food, michelin star standard greek fare, fresh seafood etc, tomato fritters. Wine flows, and so does conversation. Great tour.

Whatever you decide, I am sure you will fall in love with this port.

Santorini is rather unique, everyone other than the Cruise ship's tour have to disembark at Fira, the Old Port, then its either cable car, walk or the cruel donkey ride.

The advantage of the ship's tour is you disembark at Athinios, the main ferry port and there is a switchback roadway up to the cliff top so you avoid all the hassle especially when more than one large cruise ship is moored off Fira.

Yes suite passengers get priority tender tickets but you still have the hassle getting from the port area, highly recommend you take one of the ship's tours to avoid the queuing and the intense sun without any shade.

Plus 1 for what Mickey89 and some other said. Take the ship's tour, get off well head of the others, even with your suite perks you still have to deal with the cable car lines or the donkey path. If you decide to walk up the path is not an easy walk and it is filled with donkey droppings. Those who rode the donkeys on our trip ended up with some nice leg rashes :(. Lots to see, time is limited so get a jump on your day with the ship's tour. I am not a fan of the big bus tours but this is one place to just bite the bullet. There is almost always a line for the cable car going back down at the end of the day, just be prepared for it and do some window shopping as you move with the line. We had a 2pm arrival and a 10pm departure. We got back to the ship around 7:30pm in time to enjoy the sunset colors from the lawn. It was stunning on a day with a lot of clouds.

I know there are at least 4 ships in port when we are there in October so I am concerned about getting up and down the hill. Think it is probably good advice as suggested to do a ship sponsored tour here. And believe me, a donkey does not want to find my fat rear end on him!

By all means, do a tour. We just got back a month ago. We were on the Equinox and booked the early morning tour with Celebrity on the advice of the shore excursion staff. It was perfect. We got to see a lot and then had plenty of time to walk around Fira and shop, eat Gelato, take pictures,etc. we had no wait for the cable car, but there was only one other ship in port. I will say that 2000 people in the town of Fira can feel like 10,000, so go early.

Santorini is rather unique, everyone other than the Cruise ship's tour have to disembark at Fira, the Old Port, then its either cable car, walk or the cruel donkey ride.

The advantage of the ship's tour is you disembark at Athinios, the main ferry port and there is a switchback roadway up to the cliff top so you avoid all the hassle especially when more than one large cruise ship is moored off Fira.

 

Yes suite passengers get priority tender tickets but you still have the hassle getting from the port area, highly recommend you take one of the ship's tours to avoid the queuing and the intense sun without any shade.

Yes I remember seeing tenders leaving the ship and going to 2 different places. At the cable cars area they do not have buses or cars. Last month we took the cable cars. We didnt have any lines. It was great. I had a fish pedicure. Dont get me wrong. I have see long lines for the cable cars.

We DIY'd Santorini. We were on the first tender into port; and if not the first, then the second to board the tram up. A quick walk through Fira to the local bus to Oia ... we were in Oia well before the tour groups from the ship arrived and had the town to ourselves with just a few other DIYers for most of the morning. Now, this was in November, and Constellation was the only ship in port as I recollect, your mileage might vary if there are multiple ships in port. We'll be visiting again in September and plan to do the Fira-Oia hike on our own and take the bus back to Fira.

If you're interested, here's my blog post for our visit (http://2totravel.blogspot.com/2014/05/santorini-classically-thera-officially.html) Part two of the blog post is mostly photos (http://2totravel.blogspot.com/2014/05/santorini-oia-photolog.html).

Have a terrific time.

My advice would be to check the timetables for cruises & see who's in port with you & at what time.

We were first in port with only a small Azmara ship & I believe the Constellation much later in the day, got in line for priority tender tickets at the crack of dawn (you won't have to do that, as your suite gives you priority) we were in the first group off the ship, took the cable car up, & rented an ATV in town, what a fantastic day! We hit up Oia, & relaxed, took photos, had a couple of beers & a snack at a restaurant with a fantastic view, & were leaving Oia, headed for the black sand beach as the hordes ( & do I mean hordes) pile into town off the cruise tour buses. ( can you tell I'm not a fan of ship tours?) We also visited the winery, & spent a great deal of time just puttering around on the ATV, had lunch at a tiny restaurant owned by a local family, & were back on the chairlift before the crowds returned, all in all, a magical day!

Ok, a little off the subject, but if you have "tons" of onboard credit, I assume it's from your travel agent and not Celebrity. If it is, you do realize you don't have to spend it because it's most likely refundable. If it is it will go right back on whatever credit card you gave them. We usually get over $1,000 of onboard credit but we only spend the non refundable part which is usually only a couple hundred bucks from Celebrity.

Just wanted to make sure you knew that before you signed up for excursions you didn't really want,

I know that Fira's climb to the top is hard, and that we can find local boats that serves between Fira and Oia docks. I wonder if the hike to Oia is as exhausting as to Fira... Has anyone arrived at Oia by boat and done the climb?

I know that Fira's climb to the top is hard, and that we can find local boats that serves between Fira and Oia docks. I wonder if the hike to Oia is as exhausting as to Fira... Has anyone arrived at Oia by boat and done the climb?

We would be interested in this also . We are being droppoed off at Oia Port - Amoudi , and need to get up to Oia town . Does anyone know if there is transport up or must we hike it ?:(