Confused about cable car, donkey, walking being only option

Everyone keeps saying there are only 3 ways to get back to the ship when in Kotor... donkey, cable car or walking. But... how do you get dropped off there after excursions to Oia? Bus, right? So, can't you take a bus back somehow and get back to port? Just confused. Sorry if it's an obvious thing and I just don't get it.

You are talking about Santorini, not Kotor. Yes, when you leave Oia you take a bus to Fira (the main town). Fira is on the edge of a sheer cliff so the only way back to your ship is cable car, donkey ride (they are actually mules) or walk down the same path that the mules use. There would be no point in taking a bus back to Oia since there is no way to return to your ship from Oia. The boats to Oia only run one way. The first time I went to Santorini I too kept wondering why the boats don't also run back from Oia to the tender area. Most cruise people go to Oia first and then continue to Fira afterwards so perhaps it is simply lack of demand for boats from Oia. Hope this lessens the confusion.

As the Travelling2some's post, the problem is that Fira is at the top of the sheer cliff, and the tender jetty is marooned at the bottom of the cliff with no road down to it. Taking a bus from Fira to the tender jetty would require an exceptionally large parachute :D .

Hence, other than taking the boat from the jetty to Oia (where there'e a road down to that little harbour) or ship's excursion which tenders to the little ferry harbour at Athinos, the only way is up by cablecar or the little zig-zag path (donkey or walk, but you'd need to be a damned-sight fitter than most of us to walk :eek:)

Getting back to the tender jetty everyone has to use the cablecar or the zig-zag path (much much easier to walk down, about 20 - 25 mins) since the little Oia ferry-boat only operates in the one direction and even ships' excursionists are dropped at Fira.

Celebrity are experimenting with returning their excursionists via Athinos - that's long-overdue & hopefully it will be successful & copied by other cruise lines.

Another way to avoid the delays returning to the ship would be a boat from Oia to the tender jetty - I'm surprised that some enterprising local boat owner hasn't offered that service, there's surely enough demand.:confused:

JB :)

Yes, I wondered the same thing - why we couldn't spend the day in Oia and take the boat back to the tender area.

I've always wondered if perhaps the winds and currents make it difficult for small boats to do the return from Oia to the tender point? Perhaps that's why it isn't done.

And for the OP -- there are two tendering points. One of them seems to only be used for arrivals that are taking bus tours. Tenders drop off passengers who board buses for tours. But that tender point isn't used (or is rarely used) for departures back to the ship.

The tender point used in the afternoon has no road by which buses can get to it.

I've always wondered if perhaps the winds and currents make it difficult for small boats to do the return from Oia to the tender point? Perhaps that's why it isn't done.

And for the OP -- there are two tendering points. One of them seems to only be used for arrivals that are taking bus tours. Tenders drop off passengers who board buses for tours. But that tender point isn't used (or is rarely used) for departures back to the ship.

 

The tender point used in the afternoon has no road by which buses can get to it.

I've always assumed that is the reason. There would be a huge demand for such a service - and it would take so much pressure off the cable car - that I am sure they would provide a service if it was feasible

The only way I can see that they could potentially solve the big problem is if they limit the time at which ships arrive to say 2pm and then after tenders have dropped excursion people off at the tender port they then open that port so that they do the reverse route and take people back down to the port to be tendered back to the ship. It will never happen though!

I've always wondered if perhaps the winds and currents make it difficult for small boats to do the return from Oia to the tender point? Perhaps that's why it isn't done.

There must be a reason - but the small boats have to get there in the first place.

Can someone who goes to Santorini and uses that boat promise to ask the captain??

Thank you all for your help.. I get it now! [emoji846]

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I've always wondered if perhaps the winds and currents make it difficult for small boats to do the return from Oia to the tender point? Perhaps that's why it isn't done.

 

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Maybe that is true at times, but we just tendered back from Oia On celebrity, and we had no problems. I hope that they continue to offer this, although I know it was just an experiment