Tendered in Greek Islands

[lmags0923]

Hoping to get some clarification on how tendering works, more specifically on Celebrity. I will be on the reflection for the June 7th sailing. We are arriving at Santorini on June 13th (7:00-600) and i am trying to schedule a tour. Im not sure what time to schedule the private tour at. For those who have not utilized the ships excursion, how are the other passengers handled for the trip onto Samtirini? I know when we get to Santorini we have to take the cable car up to Fira. is there generally a long line for the cable car? Can you walk the same "donkey path" in case if a long wait. What is the "norm" for time allotted to head back to the ship? Sorry for all my questions.

[CruiserBruce]

Hoping to get some clarification on how tendering works, more specifically on Celebrity. I will be on the reflection for the June 7th sailing. We are arriving at Santorini on June 13th (7:00-600) and i am trying to schedule a tour. Im not sure what time to schedule the private tour at. For those who have not utilized the ships excursion, how are the other passengers handled for the trip onto Samtirini? I know when we get to Santorini we have to take the cable car up to Fira. is there generally a long line for the cable car? Can you walk the same "donkey path" in case if a long wait. What is the "norm" for time allotted to head back to the ship? Sorry for all my questions.

 

All of this is discussed frequently here. I would not book the private tour prior to 8am. The vender will wait if you are a little over 8am. The ship will put pax off at the site for the ships excursions first. Some ships- mostly Princess- have started offlaoding to both sites at once, but that is new.

 

The line for the cable car can be long, depending on how many ships are in that day. Yes, you can walk up the donkey trail.

 

I would allow at 30 minutes top of cable way to ship, but this also varies by crowd size.

[lmags0923]

All of this is discussed frequently here. I would not book the private tour prior to 8am. The vender will wait if you are a little over 8am. The ship will put pax off at the site for the ships excursions first. Some ships- mostly Princess- have started offlaoding to both sites at once, but that is new.

 

The line for the cable car can be long, depending on how many ships are in that day. Yes, you can walk up the donkey trail.

 

I would allow at 30 minutes top of cable way to ship, but this also varies by crowd size.

 

Thanks, I have tried searching previous forums but kept coming up with Non European ports, or people offering private excursions etc. never really gave me an idea time wise.

 

I appreciate the response.

[Hlitner]

Santorini is a wonderful island but the tendering situation is somewhat unique. Generally, the ship will come to a stop a few miles from their usual anchorage and they will take off those that have booked some excursions with the ship. This group of folks are tendered ashore to a different port then the remainder of the ship...where they have access to tour buses at the tender port. The ship then moves a few more miles to their anchorage just off of Fira and then start the normal tender operations. Again, there will be some ships tours that get priority as do the Elites and some Suite passengers. The remainder of the passengers have to go to a lounge to get the usual tender tickets and then wait their turn. The process of getting ashore can easily take 1 1/2 hours and once ashore you will need to get up to Fira via the Cable car or donkeys. Yes, you can walk up the donkey path although its quite a hike and you have to certainly watch where you step to avoid donkey poo. If you do arrange for a private tour you will probably meet your guide up in Fira. Arranging to meet a guide around 10 would be a pretty good bet...with 9:30 being a bit tight (but often possible). You should also give consideration as to whether you need a guide. If you want to simply spend your time in Fira, or even go to Oia, a guide is almost a waste of money. If you want to explore more of the island beyond those two primary cities (more like villages) then you would want a tour or perhaps just book a rental car (driving on this island is quite easy).

 

Hank

[KirkNC]

Hank has described the process pretty good, Santorini is a pretty frustrating tender operation for those not taking ships tours. On our last stop there it took almost two hours from the time we actually arrived until we were in Fira. Given a 7:00 arrival I would think 9:30 is quite doable.

[lmags0923]

Thanks! I was thinking of a tour at 10:00 just to play it safe. I appreciate the info, this definitely helped me out, much appreciated!

[Chloe1500]

You may not need that much time. The cruise ships don't move from one location to another to let passengers off in two places as described above, but do anchor off shore in one location. The tenders then take passengers to two different harbors, with those on ship excursions to the new port south of Fira where buses pick them up, and the others, to the old port where they head up to Fira via the cable car or donkey ride. If docking at 7, I'd suggest a 9 am private tour.

[KirkNC]

You may not need that much time. The cruise ships don't move from one location to another to let passengers off in two places as described above, but do anchor off shore in one location. The tenders then take passengers to two different harbors, with those on ship excursions to the new port south of Fira where buses pick them up, and the others, to the old port where they head up to Fira via the cable car or donkey ride. If docking at 7, I'd suggest a 9 am private tour.

 

Every time we have been there the ship does in fact move from the location where the ships excursions are dropped off to back off of Fira. Also the ships never anchor, the water is too deep there, they use there thruster to maintain position. I guess it might depend on the line you choose.

[CruiserBruce]

You may not need that much time. The cruise ships don't move from one location to another to let passengers off in two places as described above, but do anchor off shore in one location.

 

Every time we have been there the ship does in fact move from the location where the ships excursions are dropped off to back off of Fira. Also the ships never anchor, the water is too deep there, they use there thruster to maintain position. I guess it might depend on the line you choose.

 

The ship moved we we were there also, and no, they don't anchor, as it is too deep. As mentioned, they use thrusters to remain in place.

 

I did see one mention that a ship had stayed in one place, and run tenders to both drop off locations. As it was only one mention, not sure if this is a new policy, or the poster was confused.

[Chloe1500]

The ship moved we we were there also, and no, they don't anchor, as it is too deep. As mentioned, they use thrusters to remain in place.

 

I did see one mention that a ship had stayed in one place, and run tenders to both drop off locations. As it was only one mention, not sure if this is a new policy, or the poster was confused.

 

No, not confused. not senile yet, thank you. Yes, the ship stayed in one place while tenders took folks in two directions.

[quelah]

I was in Santorini last October on the Crown Princess. The ship stayed in one place and the tenders went to both harbors. Maybe other cruise lines handle it differently.

[CruiserBruce]

As I mentioned back in post #2, I had heard Princess was possibly doing this. Others- HAL, Costa, Celebrity, I know for a fact don't, unless a very recent change.

[KirkNC]

No, not confused. not senile yet, thank you. Yes, the ship stayed in one place while tenders took folks in two directions.

 

Hopefully all the cruise lines will pick up on this as it would be a big improvement over the way we have seen it done on our stops there. It would make everyone get where they are going much quicker.