Ferry to Oia

Another option we have read about, is taking a ferry to Oia once we get off the tender from the ship.

Which brings us to a question, why doesn't the cruise line offer a tender to Oia?

Is it possible to make a reservation? Does anyone have a website for ferry options?

A little search on the board reveals:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1646939&highlight=oia+ferry

Besides the thread you did a few days ago with some info on it.

The one linked indicates the boat to Oia is a fast ferry that takes 20 minutes. So if tenders were running from ships as well at to Fira, that would be a serious commitment of tenders.

Lastly, not sure you are aware the ships are required to use local tenders at Santorini. They are not allowed to use ship's tenders.

When you get to the tender landing area there is a row of shops---look for the blue sign reading "United Boatmen of Santorini"----that is where u buy your ticket---it includes the boat to Oia--a mini bus ride up to the village --and a bus ride back to Fira.

From Fira you find your own way back down to the tender area. The boats are not scheduled--they wait until they collect about 20-30 to depart so if your one of the first off you can have a bit of a wait---no advance ressies

hope this helps

Paul

I look forward to a return to Santorini as there was no ferry service when we were last there.

Is the bus that returns to Fira also not on a schedule but runs when it gets full?

When you get off the bus in Oia, the driver tells you what time(s) to return. They have one bus back to Fira every hour or so.

We choose the wrong ferry operator. When you get off there are two companies offering the service. One one the right - says fast line to Oia and one on the left that has an orange sign and says transfers to Oia by speed boat and mentions 15 minutes. We choose the first one on the right and were promised it would leave at 8:20. It did not. Then they assured us it would leave before the other one - it did not. The excuse was that their boats were ferrying people back and forth to the cruise ships and one would be available soon. The one on the left had dedicated boats. They also had ones where you could sit up top which would have been better.

I have not experienced the bus trip that the other firm offers from Oia to Fira but I would think it would be at least as good as the one we took. Lots of people gathered at the door prior to the departure time but the driver arrived a few minutes late to let us in. Would have been nice if he was there a few minutes early so we could get into the bus and out of the sun.

Oia was definitely worth the trip and is so much more beautiful than Fira which to us appeared to be one long narrow road with merchants along it. Plan to catch the first Ferry that leaves about 8:30 so you get to Oia before the crush of people in tour busses arrive.

Very important. Try to get on the gondola down before 12:30 as we had no line up but by 1:00 it was approaching an hour according to others we spoke to.

Hope this helps. I told the person I was dealing with who lied to me twice about the departure time that I would post this to cruise critic which I am now doing. The power of social media.

I told the person I was dealing with who lied to me twice about the departure time that I would post this to cruise critic which I am now doing. The power of social media.

Well, to be fair, we caught the other one - the one on the left as you leave the tenders and with the outside seating area on top (which was nice).

We were told a departure time and when that time passed kept being told it would come soon, it was probably half an hour to 40 minutes later than the original departure time by the time it left.

I wouldn't hold much store by what either of them tell you ;)