Time from Oia, Santorini to Ship

[valawmom]

We will be in Santorini on our 25th wedding anniversary and have reservations at 7 pm at Ambrosia in Oia. Our ship (Norwegian Gem) is docked from 4 to 11 in Santorini.

 

Does anyone have advice about the latest we should leave Oia to make sure we make our tender? I'm thinking 9:30. We've rented a car to make sure we're not subject to bus schedules or difficulty finding a taxi.

 

Thank you for any advice.

[valawmom]

I've been reviewing other posts on similar topics and now think (hope?) if we are in the rental car back to Fira by 8:30 (arriving in Fira by 9 or so) we should be back on the ship in plenty of time for the 10:30 all aboard.

 

Thoughts?

[Susan-M]

When we rented a car on Santorini, the latest return time was 8 p.m. Not sure if this is the case for other rental agencies (we rented from Tony's) but it's something that you might want to look into, if you haven't already.

 

I would aim to be at the cable car by 9:30 at the latest, earlier if there is a chance of long lines at it, so if you can leave Oia by 9, that will give you a bit more leeway.

 

It sounds like you've planned to be in Oia for the sunset, so the other consideration is driving back after dark...we did this, and it wasn't a problem until we got into Fira and realized we hadn't paid close enough attention to driving directions back to the rental agency (since we had walked to it from the cable car). Had it been daylight, it would have been easier to find, but looking for it after dark made it a bit more challenging.

[Susan-M]

Sorry, just looked back at your original post and noticed that you are only there from 4-11 (I thought you were there from 7 a.m. - 11 p.m.) ... in which case your car rental return will probably not be as early as 8 p.m.