We-R-Off

I was wondering if this a port call that we can find tours on arrival in Bergen.  I understand there is a HOHO too.

I would appreciate any recommendations of companies offering tours that we can book pre-cruise.

Thanks

All the ships early tours went to this other 

port. The later tenders were to Fira. 

I did notice that the tenders that were used on our cruise were operated by the Santorini authorities & not the ships lifeboat tenders. I actually went back on an afternoon tender without queuing for a little stroll around the old port & to see the extent of the queues to go up. That’s when we saw that there were local vendors  selling tours by boat to Oia, transport to Fira & cable car return. 
Our tender did not take us to Fira port, it was another port where our buses waited for us to take us to Oia. Our trip was the first that left the ship & we were there at 8:45. The shops were just opening & our tender was the first of the day. We had 90 minutes in Oia before transport to Fira. 

On 9/29/2023 at 7:33 PM, ninjacat123 said:

I have 2 very small ships at 8am (under 200 passengers) and 2 large cruise ships at 8am (ours which is Carnival Pride and MSC, I think) then 2 big ships at 9am.  Our ship excursion is scheduled to finish in Fira at 12:45pm. I'm hoping to have a drink and a nibble with a view and then stand in line for the cable car at 2:30pm. Our ship leaves at 5pm but I think last tender for our ship is 4:15pm🤞

Quite honestly once you’ve walked around a little, if it’s crowed it’s best not to hang around. Most of the shops are much like each other. When we got to Fira we made our way straight to the cable car. We didn’t wait even a minute. We got on straight away. We enjoyed a little stroll around Fira old port before a short wait for our tender. 

3 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

Wow!  Good to know.  Right now, I have lunch reservations at Volkan on the Rocks in Thira for 1:00 for Oct 23.  An hour wait at 2pm sounds bad.  Hmmm, rethinking my strategy...

I’d definitely reconsider. According to the schedule your one of 5 ships. I suppose you could always walk down slowly. By mid afternoon it could be less crowded.

What time is sail away? 

6 hours ago, kleibo said:

Ninja.  Just did the Oia & Thira yesterday.  Going to the old port first was perfect.  We got to OIA early and we’re able to get our pics without much trouble.  Go right to the dome pics as they back up quickly.  We also had time to shop and even had a drink overlooking the caldera 

 

we did a bit of shopping when we got back to Thira but we were on the cable car by 1 with only a 20 minute wait.  Friends waited an hour at 2 and it got up to 3 hours forcing many to walk down.  And yes. We had people miss the ship.  
 

the schedule said only 2 ships would be in port and 4 were in port - it was packed 

 

there was much more uphill walking than I realized and one woman fell coming back to the busses.  We also heard a woman fell on the stairs when they couldn’t wait any longer for the cable car 

Glad that it worked out well for you. Sounds like a nightmare. When we were in Mykonos there were 5 ships in port, two of which were very big ships.it was horrendous but thankfully the queues were only for the water taxis which were frequent. 

That’s what I thought. They do from Celebrity to RCCL. I was hoping that maybe things had changed. 

We have OBC for our upcoming cruise. 

Can we book tours using this OBC pre-cruise? 

I don't want to pay extra knowing that we have a nice OBC.

We recently booked a cruise on the Millennium & the only staterooms available were the V2 GTY veranda.  I presume allocation is only after final payment, but how much before sailing will we know our stateroom number?  Does our Captains Club status influence the stateroom that will be selected for us?

I know that our Captains Club points are transferrable to RCCL Crown & Anchor, but does Celebrity still not accredit the Crown & Anchor to the Captains Club?

We didn’t of course, as we were Any Time Dining.  However, I was informed that it was the acceptable wiggle time by the Head floor Waiter. 

I realized only by the middle of the cruise that if we’d gone to the set time for 18:00 & turned up at 18:30, it was acceptable. That way we would have had our regular table the full length of the cruise. It’s important both for cruisers & staff to have the same table. 

Thanks. I was very dissatisfied with the SD on the last RCCL, we were given terrible seating & even neglected. Twice we were sitting by the kitchen exit. We were moved around table-less until I discussed it with the Captains Club Concierge - after which we were seated & attended too with the service we’re used to. 
As we have not sailed Celebrity since 2020, I just didn’t want to make sure that we won’t have that bad experience again. 
 

Thank you. However, the reservation is already locked on Anytime & is not opening for me to chose a time.
if we decide to take Early from 18:00 is there a wiggle time allowed for turning up?

I think this is what we should have done on RCCL. 

We have mainly cruised Celebrity in the past, but our last 2 cruises were with RCCL.  My understanding of My Time was that we could book whenever it was convenient for us.  This was so last year with RCCL & we booked our convenient time for the whole of the cruise & had the same table each evening.

We've just returned from a RCCL that Any Time Dining was from 19:30 only.  This was very inconvenient.

We will be cruising on the Millennium in February, If we booked "My Time" will we be able to book the time that is convenient for us?

2 hours ago, Nebr.cruiser said:

The description of our On Your Own tour says 3 hours in Oia.  Not sure we need that much.  We do need a specialized private tour as we want to visit Kamari, since my sister lived there for awhile in the early 70's. and she'd like to see it again.  We have found a tour operator, but haven't booked yet.

It sounds good to visit Kamari, you definitely wouldn’t need 3 hours in Oia unless you were planning to eat in a restaurant. 90 minutes was more than enough. 

Just now, We-R-Off said:

I believe that the Tourist season begins April/May until the end of October. 

😳🙄🤞

I believe that the Tourist season begins April/May until the end of October. 

20 minutes ago, erby2283 said:

Thanks for checking back in and posting. Still haven't booked anything yet at either Mykonos or Santorini.  

From what I saw you can certainly use the local tour from Fira port to Oia port as mentioned.

I don’t know how many ships will be in port when you’re in Mykonos but we were tendered there too.

The only ship that was at the port was MSC mega ship the other 4 were tendering.

we were rendered to the new port & had to get a water taxi to the old port for €4 return. 

I hope they’ll be less ships when you’re there. 

37 minutes ago, Nebr.cruiser said:

We booked the Oia on your own just to bypass problems getting up to Fira, even though there only seems to be our ship in port that day.  I hope it stays that way!  Thanks for letting us know that it worked well.  Nice to be on the first tender and not even have to go ashore in Fira.

 

We have been to Santorini before, but will do another tour in the afternoon (private).  How much time did you spend in Oia on the tour?  We might not go back to Fira when the tour does, but meet our other guide in Oia, or possibly Fira.  

 

 

We had 90 minutes in Oia.
There were people that got the Ship’s tender to Fira, took a local tour which included water taxi to Oia, bus from port to the town, transfer to Fira & the cable car down. It cost them €30-40. That was a really good deal. I saw them selling this tour when we returned via Fira.
The non ship tour passengers were not given tender tickets until 8:30.
We were in Oia at 9:15 just as the shops were opening. 

I forgot to mention that it was the ship’s Oia & Fira on your own tour, hence we got off the ship on the first tender. It was certainly worth it. Mykonos was a

We had our ship tour cancelled so we took the Oia & Fira on our own. We were the first tender to get off & see Oia. It was empty. Fira was quite empty, we walked straight into the cable car without queuing. The queue to go up was quite bad. By the afternoon it was long as there were 3 ships in port. Mykonos was far worse. There were 5 ships in port, 2 were mega ships. Around 12,000 people walking around. Really too many people to enjoy this very pretty port. 

7 hours ago, mapleleaves said:

 

Your "Oia and Thira" tour sounds like the basic NCL tour I tried to book, $75.  I think the tours sell out quickly because it's well known that Santorini is a mess and a tour guarantees a visit to Oia.  Sorry to say, but having 2 ships dock ahead of you by one hour is not a good sign. I'd book a tour.

 

If you want to try DIY, I think the boat that leaves from the tender dock is a good option,. Even it sits there for an hr waiting for additional pax, you know it will eventually get you to Oia, plus you will also have a bus seat back to Thira. It was only 25 or 30E.   Good luck !

 

 

I would agree with you.  We will be there this coming Tuesday, so I will let you know the current situation. 

We're all packed ready for Sail away tomorrow.

It's the most comfortable cruise we've ever taken as we only have an hour train ride to the cruise port.  

We used the MRT & buses too.  We only used a taxi to the airport but I don't remember the cost.

MRT travel is so clean & accessible.  I think you have much more interesting experiences travel on local transport.

On 8/15/2023 at 2:26 PM, agape01 said:

You can get more information about sights about my country from this thread which was asked earlier.

Also want to mention if there is anything in there that you are wondering about, please do reach out to ask.
 

 

The Gardens are amazing both in the day or at night & very accessible from the cruise port.  China Town is always interesting.  We enjoyed walking around the Warfs which have lovely restaurants.

The Botanical gardens are very beautiful but if you are pushed for time, don't bother because the Gardens at the Bay are just amazing.

If you want a touch of decedance, enjoy afternoon tea at the famous Raffles Hotel.  There is a dress code & punctuality is critical.  It's a bit expensive but a little bit of extravagance at this unique hotel is quite special.  It is the home of the Singpore cocktail.

Bangkok has horrendous traffic problems.  If your're not overnighting you should probably take a ships tour.  If you've been to Bangkok before Pataya isn't that far from the cruise port.