Royal Caribbean Santorini Excursions - Older mother, Please Help.

My mother does not use a wheelchair or scooter, but does use a cane due to some hip issues which does not allow her to walk extremely long distances, or do a lot of steps or really rough surfaces.

We want to do a ship excursion for her, but having a hard time choosing one. If anyone has been on RC can they confirm a few things

My understanding is that if you do the ship excursions you tender to the main port instead of the thira port and catch your coach there. And then after tour everyone goes to Thira (no matter what excursion) and takes the cable car down. I also understand that it is about 1/2 mile from coach drop to cable car in Thira. I think she could make this ok.

What I don't understand is this:

1. The tour to the beach is rated "mild" and says

• Guests must be able to walk one-half mile on their own in Fira Town to reach cable car station.
  
• Guests must be able to walk uphill for 450 feet to reach Mitropolis church.
  
• One-way cable car ticket from Fira to tender loading included. Expect waiting and queuing time at cable car station. In Fira Town, escort leads you past Mitropolis Church to cable car station for descent to tender pier and return to the ship.
  

2. The tour for oia on your own takes you on a coach to Oia for 90 minutes and then drops you in Thera and says:

• Guests must be able to walk approximately 1 mile over uneven cobblestone surfaces, with inclines and about 10 steps and extended periods of standing.
  
• Walking in Oia and Fira is at guests’ discretion.
  
• Guests in wheelchairs and others with limited mobility should not select this tour.
  

Where is this mile of walking on the "Oia on your own" tour if walking is discretionary in Oia and Thera?

It seems like all the tours that go to Oia first have this language, but ones that go elsewhere do not. For instance, the Akrotiri/Oia one says coach to akrotiri, then coach to Oia and then they drop you in Thera and you have to walk the 1/2 mile to the cable car to get back to cruise ship.

Can anyone who has done Santorini clue me in? Thanks much! I have read a ton and cannot figure this out. I may end up calling, but I swear that is last thing I want to do today .. ha!

The trip to Oia drops you at the coach park then you walk over the road and uphill on uneven surfaces around Oia. When you return to the bus it takes you to Fira where you have to walk about 1/2 mile to the cable car.

It is beautiful but not good if you have mobility issues

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Thanks for the info, although the Akotiri/Oia tour does not say the same thing (about the mile in Oia). It just mentions the 1/2 mile in Thera. Maybe they just left that part out? Their inconsistent descriptions are driving me nuts!

Another question, sorry.

When you get to the Oia coach place, can you hail a taxi right near there to take you down to Amoundi Bay and avoid walking?

Oia and Most of Santorini was very challenging. Lots of up and down and uneven surfaces everywhere we toured.

We are not mobility challenged but some people who were going totour with us dropped out beforehand when they learned of the challenges.

Once in Oia there was lots of up and down, lots and lots of stairs and steps to get up to everything.

Steep little streets

When I think of Santorini, I think of lots of climbing and lots of uneven surfaces

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Another question, sorry.

 

When you get to the Oia coach place, can you hail a taxi right near there to take you down to Amoundi Bay and avoid walking?

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Instead of an excursion consider taking the cable car to Thira. There are several restaurants steps away from the cable car on the cliff overlooking the sea. After a nice lunch take the cable car back down.

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Thanks for the info and suggestions,

Sounds like Oia is out for her. Does anyone have any cautions about this potential plan:

My sister and her family are doing "Oia on your own" so they should be back in Thera around noonish, so think they are going to meet with mom at top of cable cars and have lunch and a short walk so she can see a blue domed church (that is her one goal for that stop) then head back down with her after lunch. Looks like they have a couple of those churches in Thera. I will have to take a look at google maps and see if possible for her to walk to at least see the top of a blue domed church. (any suggestions here?)

Hopefully the cable car lines will have died down by then to go up. There are three ships in port in the morning, and then two more come in afternoon. I have to look at the times the two afternoon ships come in, so she doesn't have to wait too long at bottom to get up for lunch.

Does anyone have any cautions about this potential plan?

Just another viewpoint. My mum also walks with a cane (in her early 80s) and has done ships excursion twice to Oia. From the bus park to centre of Oia we take our time and then make sure we give her plenty of time to get to the bus. In Fira we take our time again walking from the bus - we don’t hold anyone back. We go for lunch and then take the cable car back down.

Hopefully the cable car lines will have died down by then to go up. There are three ships in port in the morning, and then two more come in afternoon. I have to look at the times the two afternoon ships come in, so she doesn't have to wait too long at bottom to get up for lunch.

Where did you find the information on other ships in port at the same time?

Cruisetimetables.com will show ships in port that day and times.

With 3 ships in port and 2 more in the afternoon, the cable car will be a mess. We were in Santorini last week with 3 ships in port in the morning and I think all the ships were set to leave at the same time, 5pm. We arrived back in Thira from Oia around noon to 1pm and headed towards the cable car area to see how bad the lines were. The line was nuts and it snaked around the streets forever! We decided to brave the walk down and I heard the wait was over an hour and a half. Just plan accordingly for your mom since the lines will be long and there may not be sitting areas while waiting for the cable car.