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tendering into Santorini

tuppence

By tuppence,
in Celebrity Cruises

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tuppence

tuppence

Posted
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Hi can anyone help please, we are going on Reflection 30/09/13 and our first port is Santorini is there any problem waiting to get off the ship as it seems we are tendering and we arrive there at 14.00. We wanted to visit the village on the cliff by taxi maybe and wondered if anybody had done this? Thanks Linda:)

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PinkUK

PinkUK

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Hi Linda,

I think the village you plan to visit is Oia. As you get off the tender there are several companies offering fast boats with coach connections to Oia and in my opinion this is a great option avoiding any wait for the cable car. When you have finished in Oia included in the price you pay is the coach back to Fira and your cable car ticket down. We paid 20 Euro each for this service and it was very reliable. Hope that helps.

 

Karen

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Iamthesea

Iamthesea

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This is the first that I have heard of an outside company being able to take you from the cable car dock to the other dock for a coach to Oia. That's great! We always take the ships excursion to the winery and then Oia. Once in Oia, we leave the tour and spend extra time on Oia. Then we return to Fira by public bus or taxi. We even walked half way during one stop. Can you recommend a company for my next visit? At least I am hoping to take another cruise where we visit Santorini. :)

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WELSH WIZARDS

WELSH WIZARDS

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What a waste of a really lovely destination docking at such a late time !!

The tender trip itself is not a problem, but as most of the 1000's of passengers will want to get ashore more or less at the same time , then later back aboard again , unloading and reloading is definitely going to be problematic and time consuming.

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PinkUK

PinkUK

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This is the first that I have heard of an outside company being able to take you from the cable car dock to the other dock for a coach to Oia. That's great! We always take the ships excursion to the winery and then Oia. Once in Oia, we leave the tour and spend extra time on Oia. Then we return to Fira by public bus or taxi. We even walked half way during one stop. Can you recommend a company for my next visit? At least I am hoping to take another cruise where we visit Santorini. :)

 

I'm sorry I can't remember their name and I did try to email them to book (no need) before our holiday but they didn't respond. I thought the ships excursion to a winery and Oia was very expensive and since our ship arrived at 08.00 a little early for wine tasting even for me! Just head towards the cable car the companies are just there, you can't miss them.

 

Karen

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Christine Frances

Christine Frances

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What a waste of a really lovely destination docking at such a late time !!

The tender trip itself is not a problem, but as most of the 1000's of passengers will want to get ashore more or less at the same time , then later back aboard again , unloading and reloading is definitely going to be problematic and time consuming.

 

We were there on the Silhouette in June and I sure wish we arrived at 2 and stayed late so we could be there for sunset. Our ship sailed at 5:( Did make for enough time to see Fira and Oia but I would have traded that for sitting at a cliff top bar at sunset:)

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

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jody75

jody75

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Totally agree that the best time to visit Santorini is 1400 - 2200, ideal with enough time to see Fira, Oia and to see the world renown sunset.

Get an early tender ticket aboard and when you get to the Old Port (beneath the town of Fira) you have a few options. The obvious options are cable car , donkey (if you are a sadist) or walk the track. You can take a boat from the tender dock to Oia (http://www.santoriniplanet.com) cost about 20 euro/pp and as previously mentioned your take the bus/taxi back to Fira for the return decent to the tender. The other option is take a boat from the same tender port to the new port of Athinios. From Athinios there is a public bus every 30 mins to Fira and onto Oia. The best option will depend on whether the Cable Car is working or has long queues, but the water route should be considered especially if the weather is HOT.

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ariawoman

ariawoman

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What a waste of a really lovely destination docking at such a late time !!

The tender trip itself is not a problem, but as most of the 1000's of passengers will want to get ashore more or less at the same time , then later back aboard again , unloading and reloading is definitely going to be problematic and time consuming.

 

I initially thought the same thing - but then maybe their departure will be late enough that they can see sunset on the village of oia. That i'd love to see!

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Nebr.cruiser

Nebr.cruiser

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We did this port last year, with that time-table. It was great to see the sunset--which we did at a stop between Oia and Fira on our tour.

 

If you are not on a ship excursion, which get the first tenders, then watch the newsletter for the time to line up for tender tickets. For us, they were to be given out at 9AM the day we arrived in Santorini. We got down there about 8:30, maybe 15 people ahead of us, and got the early tickets. Even though they said one person couldn't pick up all the tickets for their group, they actually let people do this.

 

We were on the first regular tender and the lines for the cable car were fairly long, but maybe less than 20 minutes. I (my husband wasn't feeling well and went back to the ship:( )had a great time on our private tour of Santorini. We got back to Fira about 8, no lines on the cable car at all. It was a perfect day, except that I would have rather wandered around Oia with my DH.

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Iamthesea

Iamthesea

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I'm sorry I can't remember their name and I did try to email them to book (no need) before our holiday but they didn't respond. I thought the ships excursion to a winery and Oia was very expensive and since our ship arrived at 08.00 a little early for wine tasting even for me! Just head towards the cable car the companies are just there, you can't miss them.

 

Karen

 

Totally agree that the best time to visit Santorini is 1400 - 2200, ideal with enough time to see Fira, Oia and to see the world renown sunset.

Get an early tender ticket aboard and when you get to the Old Port (beneath the town of Fira) you have a few options. The obvious options are cable car , donkey (if you are a sadist) or walk the track. You can take a boat from the tender dock to Oia (www.santoriniplanet.com) cost about 20 euro/pp and as previously mentioned your take the bus/taxi back to Fira for the return decent to the tender. The other option is take a boat from the same tender port to the new port of Athinios. From Athinios there is a public bus every 30 mins to Fira and onto Oia. The best option will depend on whether the Cable Car is working or has long queues, but the water route should be considered especially if the weather is HOT.

 

Thanks to you both! Saved in My Favorites. ;)

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giraffe65

giraffe65

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We were on Reflection in June 2013 in Aqua class. Discovered Aqua and above does not require tender ticket.....we waited in line for a ticket as this was not explained. We took cable car €4 then walked through Fira and found local mini buses and taxis waiting...€10 return in comfortable mini van to Oia...an absolute must see. The driver gave us a lovely commentary and stopped at must do photo opps. Enjoy!

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jody75

jody75

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We were on Reflection in June 2013 in Aqua class. Discovered Aqua and above does not require tender ticket.....we waited in line for a ticket as this was not explained. We took cable car €4 then walked through Fira and found local mini buses and taxis waiting...€10 return in comfortable mini van to Oia...an absolute must see. The driver gave us a lovely commentary and stopped at must do photo opps. Enjoy!

 

Priority tender tickets are only available to Elite Members and passengers in Suites. Aqua class cabins do NOT get priority tender tickets only if it is an Aqua-Class Suite. The Cable Car price is 5 euro/pp

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yukongold

yukongold

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This is the first that I have heard of an outside company being able to take you from the cable car dock to the other dock for a coach to Oia. That's great! We always take the ships excursion to the winery and then Oia. Once in Oia, we leave the tour and spend extra time on Oia. Then we return to Fira by public bus or taxi. We even walked half way during one stop. Can you recommend a company for my next visit? At least I am hoping to take another cruise where we visit Santorini. :)

 

First I have heard about it also. Thanks for the tip!

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