Santorini Question

I’m curious if anyone has visited Santorini via RCL recently and can give some intel on the tendering process. I’m seeing that some cruise lines have started taking their ship shore excursion customers to Athinos and then bussing them to Oia to try to avoid some of the back up at Fira. I prefer doing shore excursions on my own, but that might make the ship tour worthwhile. TIA for your experience.

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We did it last year and took the ship tour for exactly that reason. We took the tour in Spanish because it was half the price and our Spanish although not fluent by any means is OK.

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I’m curious if anyone has visited Santorini via RCL recently and can give some intel on the tendering process. I’m seeing that some cruise lines have started taking their ship shore excursion customers to Athinos and then bussing them to Oia to try to avoid some of the back up at Fira. I prefer doing shore excursions on my own, but that might make the ship tour worthwhile. TIA for your experience.

 

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It's been that way for quite some time.

Buses leave from Athinos and end their tour at Fira.

Two things that are probably still true. The tenders are run by locals, not RCI. The wait for the funicular at Fira could be over an hour.

Is there anywhere you can see at which harbour Rhapsody OTS will end 17th October 2018?

Are there public buses from Athinos to Thera? Or to any other places? Are they expensive?

Take with the ship tours, it Can Be Very stressfull coming back to the ship by your self, if many ships are visiting Santorini the same Day.

Take with the ship tours, it Can Be Very stressfull coming back to the ship by your self, if many ships are visiting Santorini the same Day.

Thank you for your advice

Do not try to do Santorini on your own, the crowds and the public transportation will make it a nightmare. Unless you hire a personal driver for the day

We’re supposed to be in port from 1pm to 10pm. Does anyone know if the ship tours tender earlier than that or do the non ship tours tender much later? Thanks.

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This may help with some of your questions.

https://www.santoriniport.com/

It's complicated by who has control of the tenders.

Check on how many ships are porting at the island for the day before you get concerned. On the Jewel last year in late May we were the only ship in port. Since you are going to be there in October, you may find you are similarly lucky. We took the local tender to Oia, which included a bus ride back to Fira in the purchase price. We didn't run into any congestion, and our pictures of Oia are happily devoid of the crowds most people deal with in high season. as for the cable car back down, we walked right on … no line in early afternoon.

I’m curious if anyone has visited Santorini via RCL recently and can give some intel on the tendering process. I’m seeing that some cruise lines have started taking their ship shore excursion customers to Athinos and then bussing them to Oia to try to avoid some of the back up at Fira. I prefer doing shore excursions on my own, but that might make the ship tour wo

Highly recommend not taking the ships tour for just Oia.

 

 

 

 

We stopped in Santorini May last year on Rapsody and again this year on Jewel.. this port is easy enough to do on your own if you just want to experience Oia and Fira.

 

Royal drops anchor and tenders pax to and from Fira

 

1. Ships Tender to Pier (Fira) this is where cable car is but ignore it if gong to Oia on your own.

 

Two companies offer the on your own excursions. - you will see signs..once you arrive in Fira after getting off the ships tender,

 

It’s a 10-15 min Ferry ride to Oia, Coach will meet you there to bring you to the top on the cliffs (5 mins) and park in the main parking lot, From there you are about 5 mins walk to the ocean / cliff front. You will have several hours, 4/5 and can have lunch in Oia, its wonderful. Suggest maybe head back to parking lot around 1pm then 20 mins coach back to Fira. another 5 min walk and your at the ocean front. Enough time to Browse Fira

 

The you have option to walk down or take the cable car. Factor in enough time here, if a lot of ships in port it can get busy. No way around it,

 

Will be back there in May next year as well on Rapsody.

 

 

Enjoy. Scenery is breathtaking.

I’m curious if anyone has visited Santorini via RCL recently and can give some intel on the tendering process. I’m seeing that some cruise lines have started taking their ship shore excursion customers to Athinos and then bussing them to Oia to try to avoid some of the back up at Fira. I prefer doing shore excursions on my own, but that might make the ship tour wo

Highly recommend not taking the ships tour for just Oia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped in Santorini May last year on Rapsody and again this year on Jewel.. this port is easy enough to do on your own if you just want to experience Oia and Fira.

 

 

 

Royal drops anchor and tenders pax to and from Fira

 

 

 

1. Ships Tender to Pier (Fira) this is where cable car is but ignore it if gong to Oia on your own.

 

 

 

Two companies offer the on your own excursions. - you will see signs..once you arrive in Fira after getting off the ships tender,

 

 

 

It’s a 10-15 min Ferry ride to Oia, Coach will meet you there to bring you to the top on the cliffs (5 mins) and park in the main parking lot, From there you are about 5 mins walk to the ocean / cliff front. You will have several hours, 4/5 and can have lunch in Oia, its wonderful. Suggest maybe head back to parking lot around 1pm then 20 mins coach back to Fira. another 5 min walk and your at the ocean front. Enough time to Browse Fira

 

 

 

The you have option to walk down or take the cable car. Factor in enough time here, if a lot of ships in port it can get busy. No way around it,

 

 

 

Will be back there in May next year as well on Rapsody.

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy. Scenery is breathtaking.

 

 

 

Thanks for the insight. We will also be on the Jewel. How was the process getting off the ship to shore? My main concern is losing too much time just getting to shore. We have a private excursion scheduled mid afternoon leaving from Oia so we won’t have more than an hour and a half to two hours get to Oia and wander.

 

 

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We’re supposed to be in port from 1pm to 10pm. Does anyone know if the ship tours tender earlier than that or do the non ship tours tender much later? Thanks.

 

 

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The ships tours and the normal tenders go to two different places and will start tendering around the same time shortly after you arrive. The ships tours take you to Athinos (and have done for many years) and the normal tenders take you to the cable car stop below Fira. There is no public transport from Athinos - it's just a turnaround point for ships' tours.

Whilst taking a ships tour means you get onto the island without the potential delay of taking the cable car up, the real problem, if there are a lot of ships in port, is that everyone has to come back down to the tenders and if there are long lines this can be an issue. Taking a ship's tour will only get you onto the island and away quicker. The return will be by tender along with everyone else, they do not return from Athinos. Your tour will end in Fira.

We took a ship's tour the first time we visited Santorini 11 years ago and since the tour visited a winery first by the time we got to Oia it was unbelievably crowded. Since then we have visited many times and the crowds have just got worse. If I were to visit again I would take the boat from the tender dock to Oia then you can spend as much time as you want there and just build in enough time to get back to Fira and down to the tender.

Took a ship tour in June which bussed us to Oia , then to Fira and included a cable car ticker back . While it wasn't bad value , if I was doing it again (and we plan to as we absolutely loved this cruise and will repeat some version of it) I would just get the tender to Fira and make my own way from there. I would not worry about losing to much time - those not taking a ship your were actually off before us , as it took so long to call all the tour groups.

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Take with the ship tours, it Can Be Very stressfull coming back to the ship by your self, if many ships are visiting Santorini the same Day.

As it looks, 4 other ships (+ Rhapsody) in Santorini on the 17th of October: https://www.cruisetimetables.com/visitingsantorinigreece-17oct2018.html

Take with the ship tours, it Can Be Very stressfull coming back to the ship by your self, if many ships are visiting Santorini the same Day.

Agree it can be stressful getting back to the ship if a lot of ships are in port but taking a ship's tour won't help with that. The tours all end in Fira and you have to make your own way back to the ship, along with those who haven't taken tours

The excursion that I have booked later in the day is a private boat that will actually drop us back at the tender point so we can bypass the cable car altogether. Sounds like there may not be as much value in taking the ship’s tour to Oia on the front end just to save a little time. Thanks everyone!

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You do not need a RCL excursion and it's extremely easy to do Oia on your own without feeling rushed whatsoever. However, if you worry about being back to the ship on time and suffer from anxiety with regard to getting around... and maybe if you're not savvy figuring things out in a foreign city, then yes possibly a RCL excursion is for you.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=54116383&highlight=how+to+get+to+Oia#post54116383

I've also done this on my own by heading up the gondola to the Fira public bus station (3-4 block walk from the tram) and taking public bus to and from Oia.