Will lines be long at Santorini cable cars with one ship in port

We are planning to be in Santorini in early May on Noordam - total pax ~1900. Checked 2 different port schedules and it looks like our ship will be only one in port.

Looking for opinions on whether the lines will be long with just 1 ship for the day (8-6pm) at cable cars returning from Fira to old port. At 36 people a set - I can't imagine having 3 large ships there :eek:

Steps are not an option given mobility issues for our party of 4 - standing in line for an hour or more really isn't good either. I'm debating whether to concentrate on trying to get a transfer from new port to old port (with or without tour) or just roll the dice and hope that we don't have an hour+ wait at the cable cars coming back.

Thanks!

A certain times there could easily be a line...like the initial rush off the ship.

None of the port schedules are known to be 100% accurate. I would check the Santorini port website. That is going to be the most accurate.

This site will have the ships listed,but only a month in advance http://www.santorini-boatmenunion.com/index.php/en/ :)

When I visited Santorini there was supposed to be three ships in port; when we docked there were five. Two ships could not dock on Mykonos due to high seas so they came to santorini. bottom line, you really won't know until you arrive in port.

We are planning to be in Santorini in early May on Noordam - total pax ~1900. Checked 2 different port schedules and it looks like our ship will be only one in port.

 

Looking for opinions on whether the lines will be long with just 1 ship for the day (8-6pm) at cable cars returning from Fira to old port. At 36 people a set - I can't imagine having 3 large ships there :eek:

 

Steps are not an option given mobility issues for our party of 4 - standing in line for an hour or more really isn't good either. I'm debating whether to concentrate on trying to get a transfer from new port to old port (with or without tour) or just roll the dice and hope that we don't have an hour+ wait at the cable cars coming back.

 

Thanks!

You can never tell but when we went to Santorini there were 4 ships in port and we didn't have to wait in line, we did come back an hour before the ship was due to leave though, just to be sure! The cable cars are very quick and the lines don't take long to go down. There are steps down to the port where the tenders leave from but there are lots and lots of them and they are quite steep. Ok if you are fit and have good knees!

Santorini does get very busy but it's worth every minute of the crowds to look out over the sea where once there was land. If you walk out of the town along the coast pathway there is a nice cafe overlooking the sea but be warned you won't want to leave.

Enjoy

What is more important, then the number of ships, are the arrival and departure times. Since Santorini is a tender port, the numbers that can get ashore, in a short period of time, are limited by tender procedures. We once did a little math and estimated that the cable car could only move about 600 per hour (max) in each direction. So as long as the tenders do not land folks faster then that, the cable car lines are manageable. The real crunch comes if a couple (or more) ships are scheduled to leave about the same time. You then can get a rush or over 1000 people all trying to get down at the same time.

One dirty secret is that cruise ships are aware of this problem and generally make adjustments. They will often have a crew member (or staff) stationed at the upper cable car station to make sure nobody gets stuck waiting. When it gets all backed-up the ships will usually delay their departure. That being said, we do not want to be the folks stranded at the top when a cruise ship Captain decides he is going to leave on time :).

Hank

Yes as Santorini is a tender port, you will arrive by tender which probably accommodates max 100 passengers.

I did not join the cruise excursions -- decided to do my own sightseeing.

I had breakfast leisurely, let all cruise excursions set off first, then took a tender at 10am. When I walked up to the cable car station, there was hardly anyone.

Had a nice walk in the town, had light lunch and coffee, at 2pm, took the cable car down, again no queue. Only problem was that I could only visit Fira. Didnt' know how to take the local bus to other sites.

I read somewhere that Santorini requires cruise lines to use local boats as tenders rather than the cruise ship's life boats. Is this true? This could potentially slow things further down in case there are multiple ships in port.

I read somewhere that Santorini requires cruise lines to use local boats as tenders rather than the cruise ship's life boats. Is this true? This could potentially slow things further down in case there are multiple ships in port.

It is true. However, they have MANY tenders. Shouldn't slow anything down. The limits are dock time, both at the port, and the side of your ship.

It is true. However, they have MANY tenders. Shouldn't slow anything down. The limits are dock time, both at the port, and the side of your ship.

Thank you, maybe it's even an advantage then...

Update - Santorini was one of our favorite ports. We were only ship in town for most of the time and had no issues with the cable cars - we left ship after the big rush and then came back and sat by the water for an hour before departure. People are funny - perhaps 15 of us lined up to go down a little more than an hour before last tender and suddenly we looked back and a sizable line had formed out of seemingly nowhere... not sure if it was seeing people in line or just everyone had the same idea :rolleyes:

I would recommend booking a roundtrip to Oia - we didn't - it wasn't easy finding the taxi stand that had 1 taxi - we were lucky - we had left plenty of time for any mistakes - not have transportation back from Oia had potential written all over it. But all worked out. Would go back in a heart beat.