AlaskaGoer

I'd say the only port that is giving me a bit of stress is this one. I'll probably take the boat to Ori instead of taking the cable car (unless for whatever reason the cable car has a line that moves quickly, ha ha). The only upside is our ship is the last to dock and its hours after the other 2 or 3 have docked. The downside is our cruise ship is still over 4500 passengers. Coming back isn't a problem for the cable car. We'll just walk down if the line is ridiculous.

@cruisemom42 Appreciate the information. I saw after booking a 10am reservation for Acropolis we have a 15 minute window before and after to get in. With that said, you recommended using a taxi vs bus to get to Acropolis to ensure we get there in time. What time should we be off the ship? 830? I assume there are plenty of taxis waiting at the port to take folks? I assume taking the X80 bus going back should be sufficient?

Does this apply to the majority of ships or just his specific one?

Hi, could you explain #2 a bit more? I thought you needed tickets if you weren't latitude level gold and above?

Writer has a gift for words.

My 2 cents. Bring cash, but if places use cards, use it to save the cash.

I'll browse, thank you.

This is where having a balcony, (even better an aft) handy. We thoroughly enjoyed the views and even had our family we were traveling with over on the balcony to watch.

Stupid question, but the water transports are probably easy to find? Do you buy a ticket while getting on the boat or is there a kiosk or booth?

Are they available X amount of hours prior to each port? We only have one excursion booked through NCL. I'll be responsible for the others.

Getting back to the ship via the cable car doesn't worry me, we'll just walk the steps if needed. Getting off the ship with the ability to hop on a bus or taxi to Oia is a bit more stressful. I'll look for the water taxi when we get off the tender. Cross my fingers.

Been on a few NCL crusies.. and by luck, never had to tender. I know you can get the tickets ahead of time for the ports. I've read you can possibly grab them on the app? I tried looking for the area on where they might be, and can't find the category. Any advice?

I've never even heard of a cruise like this before...

I did. https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/santorini-island-port-69?month=2024-06#schedule We are in on the 10th. We get in around 1, and leave around 9. One of the big ships leaves at 6. Compared to other days, it doesn't seem that crowded? Obviously our ship is a good size tho...

I reached out to that tour group via their website. How quick do they get back? We have some time and I got a confirmation email they received my request.

I've done public transit (solo) in Europe before. But me missing a train vs more than myself doesn't seem appealing. I think the service from the airport to the hotel was about 70 euro, and the hotel to the pier about 140? Once again, I go on vacation to try and de-stress. Not imagine new curse words in my mind as it goes sideways. 🙂

I was gonna wait till NCL posted the excursion list, but I might look into them instead. Obviously my huge worry has been getting back to the ship on time.

NCL stated they will be posting the excursions on May 8th. Is there a set time or do they roll the dice on when they post it?

Docking in Santorini in June. Oia seems like a decent place to check out, but I know it can be a bit rough to get too. This guide seems to suggest taking the bus etc. from Fira over. https://zeweekendtraveller.com/index.php/europe/greece/seeing-santorini-in-a-few-hours/ Knowing the mass chaos of people trying to get off the ship etc, is it better just to grab a taxi? And if so, how easy is it to grab one and where...

Appreciate the lengthy post. I did end up posting in the port of call, and got recommendations on hotels. I booked last night and I'm squared away. I also booked a car service from FCO to the Hotel as well, so I appreciate the insight. I looked into the train, but as I am traveling with my better half, I'd rather not worry about taking it and just book a car service, as I did also. Peace of mind sometimes is worth its weight in gold. I imagine this won't be our first time through Rome, not sure about cruising through again, but we definitely want to go back for a more lengthy stay to explore.

Thanks for the help, again! For the Acropolis, I probably don't need to do the combined tickets right? https://hhticket.gr/tap_b2c_new/english/tap.exe?PM=P1P&place=000000002 I assume the general admission will burn up plenty of time. Are taxis a plenty in getting around from the pier to Acropolis and back? I'll be booking the excursion for Olympia once they go live.

I assume the combo ticket is probably a bit of overkill for cruise stoppers of only one day unless we start really early and continue to late afternoon? Wife and I like to take our time and enjoy things. lol

First, I can't thank this board enough for information. I love to travel, but cruises sometimes can give me a bit of anxiety as there is a lot of information to digest. Santorini From what I understand reading other threads, the coming back to the ship can be tricky. The Village of Oia seems nice, and someone posted a link to https://zeweekendtraveller.com/index.php/europe/greece/seeing-santorini-in-a-few-hours/ that shows the quickest method to get there via the cable car / bus. Is there anything else that is worthwhile as opposed to Oia? We dock around 1:00pm and leave at 9:00pm. I understand its not a huge amount of time, and according to Cruise Mapper, there is one other ship leaving with about 2500 passengers also at 9:00pm. (Gulp) My wife and I are in good shape, so taking the 20 minute trek down instead of the cable car is doable if we start stressing on the lines. Athens We have about 12 hrs here, and would like to make use out of the time we are there. Acropolis is probably on the short list of things to do. I originally tried to the Temple of Poseidon excursion through the cruise line, but it got booked so fast I didn't realize it was that popular. Any thoughts? How easy is to get around Athens if we even wanted to do both the Temple and Acropolis? (I know the Temple is about a 45 minute drive away) Browsing other threads some felt if you were gonna be only in Athens for a day, better to stick with Acropolis as you'll spend quite a bit of time driving to reach the temple. Katakolon This stop was originally Corfu, which in a twist of life, was a place I did have an excursion booked. We only got told this three days ago, and the excurcions haven't been posted yet. With that in mind, is there anything that is a must? I did very little research into this one ahead of time as I wasn't counting on this stop.

I'll grab the app. Thank you.

How much time should I give myself when booking the Shared Shuttle after getting off the plane? An hour between luggage etc.? Any recommendations?>