Santorini Shore Excursion Question

[CalTexCruiser]

If booked on Celebrity's Santorini shore excursion, would we be taken to a different dock where we can get on a bus to Oia directly, without having to go to the dock at the base of the cable car?

 

I seem to recall someone mentioning that on these forums, and just wanted to confirm that is still the case.

 

If that is the case, would it be more convenient to book Celebrity shorex instead of an independent tour since we won't have to do the cable car up to Fira?

[Mr. Click]

Yes, they tender ship's tours off first to the old ferry dock and then they take others to the cable car dock.  On your return you will have to do the cable car or walk down the donkey path.  The ship's tours give you free time in Fria at the end and then you are on your own getting back down.   In the time of Covid things could change but that was the old way.

 

[PelicanLvr]

Yes, if you book a ship tour (to Oia or elsewhere) you get off first and are tendered to a dock that buses and car can get to.  You will not have to do the cable car to Fira going to your tour.   At least that's how it used to be.

[Jim_Iain]

I took the ships tour and it avoided the cable car.    You had the option of taking it down, walking or bus back to the tender for return to the ship.

[vickykay]

Enjoyed this excursion.   Plenty of time in Fira to shop and have lunch.  

[DrKoob]

Want to save a bunch of money? We had booked the X excursion and were telling one of our favorite crew members about it in Cafe Al Bacio the day before. She whispered..you can save a lot of money if you take the cable car up and for less than 2 Euro, take the local bus to Oia. You go the same route as X's bus but you do it for less than 75% of the price. We had an awesome time in Oia then came back on the bus to Fira and had an awesome dinner with the money we saved.

[Mr. Click]

25 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

Want to save a bunch of money? We had booked the X excursion and were telling one of our favorite crew members about it in Cafe Al Bacio the day before. She whispered..you can save a lot of money if you take the cable car up and for less than 2 Euro, take the local bus to Oia. You go the same route as X's bus but you do it for less than 75% of the price. We had an awesome time in Oia then came back on the bus to Fira and had an awesome dinner with the money we saved.

The draw back to her plan is the long line to use the cable car going up.   We opted to pay the $40 pp to avoid the lines.  Even on vacation my time has real value to me.

[kathynorth]

On our last visit to Santorini we purchased a transport ticket directly from the water taxi company for E21 per person. When we arrived in port jumped on a tender as quickly as we could, then hurried to the ticket booth that is right across from the dock and purchased tickets on their water taxi to Oia. The ticket included the water taxi to the dock below Oia, a bus trip up to the Oia bus terminal, the bus from Oia to Fira, and the cable car down to the dock. We ended up on the same water taxi used by Celebrity and were actually able to make it on the first trip to Oia. After we spent hours in Oia we took one of the buses from the bus terminal back to Fira where we were able to shop. My DH and I took the cable trip down while my son walked the donkey path. Although the cable line looked verrry long it moved quickly and we made it to the bottom before my son did. This cost significantly less than the Celebrity excursion and was exactly the same route. 

[CalTexCruiser]

7 minutes ago, kathynorth said:

On our last visit to Santorini we purchased a transport ticket directly from the water taxi company for E21 per person. When we arrived in port jumped on a tender as quickly as we could, then hurried to the ticket booth that is right across from the dock and purchased tickets on their water taxi to Oia. The ticket included the water taxi to the dock below Oia, a bus trip up to the Oia bus terminal, the bus from Oia to Fira, and the cable car down to the dock. We ended up on the same water taxi used by Celebrity and were actually able to make it on the first trip to Oia. After we spent hours in Oia we took one of the buses from the bus terminal back to Fira where we were able to shop. My DH and I took the cable trip down while my son walked the donkey path. Although the cable line looked verrry long it moved quickly and we made it to the bottom before my son did. This cost significantly less than the Celebrity excursion and was exactly the same route. 

 

We'd love to do the water taxi to Oia, but it is unclear whether the water taxi is operating with reduced cruise passengers these days.

[dani negreanu]

40 minutes ago, CalTexCruiser said:

 

We'd love to do the water taxi to Oia, but it is unclear whether the water taxi is operating with reduced cruise passengers these days.

 

In "normal" times (4-5-6 ships in port), the wait time for taking the cable car UP was ~40-50 mins. Same for going down.

 

So we opted for the water taxi --> dock & up with bus to Oia, free time in Oia, and bus to Fira. Ticket was 25 Euro pp in 2014. For the cable down we were on our own.

 

Now, with the reduced capacity, I assume that the wait time for the cable UP is minimal, so the option of the local bus is appealing.

 

If you have limited time in Santorini, and you value your "vacation time", take the ship's excursion. No worries then 😉

 

[Miaminice]

9 hours ago, CalTexCruiser said:

 

We'd love to do the water taxi to Oia, but it is unclear whether the water taxi is operating with reduced cruise passengers these days.

It is operating! Passengers of current cruises confirmed. 
We will do it in two weeks when we are on board.

 

 

Edited August 28, 2021 by Miaminice

[dani negreanu]

3 hours ago, Miaminice said:

It is operating! Passengers of current cruises confirmed. 
We will do it in two weeks when we are on board.

 

Thank you !!

 

Hopefully, we'll be in Santorini again on board of the brand new Beyond next year June, and I was really interested in this updated info.

 

The last time we were there, only 3 options were provided back to Fira -- at 11am, 12am or 1pm. We opted for noon, and it was very crowded and many didn't get to board the bus.... We were in line 20 minutes before, and the line was already long. No shade and hot, very hot.

 

I'd be grateful if you could come back and report, or tag me with your updated experience.

 

Thank you again, and enjoy your cruise 🌼

[Miaminice]

21 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Thank you !!

 

Hopefully, we'll be in Santorini again on board of the brand new Beyond next year June, and I was really interested in this updated info.

 

The last time we were there, only 3 options were provided back to Fira -- at 11am, 12am or 1pm. We opted for noon, and it was very crowded and many didn't get to board the bus.... We were in line 20 minutes before, and the line was already long. No shade and hot, very hot.

 

I'd be grateful if you could come back and report, or tag me with your updated experience.

 

Thank you again, and enjoy your cruise 🌼

When we did it last time we also did not want to wait for the included bus. So we simply took the public bus for € 1.60 or so when we felt like it. Overall it was still the best way to get around easily… and we have been to Santorini many times.

 

Personally I‘d never do a cruise line shore excursion in Santorini. 
Having to follow a number in the small alleys is never fun - but there is downright kills the whole experience IMHO. 🤷🏻
 

 

[dani negreanu]

12 minutes ago, Miaminice said:

Personally I‘d never do a cruise line shore excursion in Santorini. 

 

100% agree.

 

Personally, we don't do cruise line shore excursions.

 

Only exceptions were in Lanzarote, where there was no option of hiring a car for doing the moon landscape we wanted to experience, and in St. Thomas, where we wanted to visit the neighboring St. John, and didn't want to rely on the island's ferry....

 

One of our cancelled cruises included Naples, where we've been many times, also in land vacations.

This time we planned to visit Ischia for the 1st time, and booked a ship's excursion, only because it involved a ferry too....

 

[Miaminice]

@dani negreanu

👍 maybe this helps… we did it without a tour. It’s the same ferry.

http://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/Reflection-Eastern-Med-01/Reflection-Eastern-Med-11/reflection-eastern-med-11.html

[dani negreanu]

7 minutes ago, Miaminice said:

@dani negreanu

👍 maybe this helps… we did it without a tour. It’s the same ferry.

http://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/Reflection-Eastern-Med-01/Reflection-Eastern-Med-11/reflection-eastern-med-11.html

 

Thank you, Oliver, much appreciated.

 

Copied to my files, since the Beyond itinerary includes also Malta, Mykonos, Rhodes and Athens, which you cover too. 😁

[sanger727]

We also took the water taxi from the cruise ship dock to the one with the buses. We were really happy with this choice and didn’t feel that we spent any time sitting around, waiting; except for the cable car to return to the ship. That was quite long a line. One thing to be aware of if that the water at the bus dock can be rough. Someone with mobility issues would have had trouble getting off the ferry. The end of the boat dipped away from the dock with every way and you had to time off and just about jump off when the boat and dock were level.

[Miaminice]

59 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

We also took the water taxi from the cruise ship dock to the one with the buses. We were really happy with this choice and didn’t feel that we spent any time sitting around, waiting; except for the cable car to return to the ship. That was quite long a line. One thing to be aware of if that the water at the bus dock can be rough. Someone with mobility issues would have had trouble getting off the ferry. The end of the boat dipped away from the dock with every way and you had to time off and just about jump off when the boat and dock were level.

The port to which the “water taxis” take you is another one than the one where the cruise lines take you.

 

The water taxi goes to Oia, the cruise lines go to Fira’s new port.

Edited August 28, 2021 by Miaminice

[CalTexCruiser]

6 hours ago, Miaminice said:

It is operating! Passengers of current cruises confirmed. 
We will do it in two weeks when we are on board.

 

 

 

Wonderful! We'll cancel the tour we booked and do the DIY option

[Antropos]

We are also going to do the DIY option to Oia. But I see that at the dock there are two companies offering the exact same thing... The one on the left in my screenshot is the one mentioned above in this thread and charges € 20. The one on the right is Aegean Traveller and charges (according to their website) € 15. Does anyone know the difference between the two offerings (besides the obvious answer of € 5)? 

[dani negreanu]

20 minutes ago, Antropos said:

The one on the right is Aegean Traveller and charges (according to their website) € 15.

 

We went with this one. They only provided 3 options from Oia to Fira -- at 12.00, 1.00 or 2.00.

 

Too much people for one bus.

 

Might check how many options they give for returning to Fira.

 

[Antropos]

2 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

 

We went with this one. They only provided 3 options from Oia to Fira -- at 12.00, 1.00 or 2.00.

 

Too much people for one bus.

 

Might check how many options they give for returning to Fira.

 

That is good info! Thank you. Only three rides back doesn't allow for much flexibility.

Does anyone have a similar experience with "the one on the left"?

[CalTexCruiser]

11 minutes ago, Antropos said:

That is good info! Thank you. Only three rides back doesn't allow for much flexibility.

Does anyone have a similar experience with "the one on the left"?

 

I guess worst case we can take a taxi back from Oia to Fira--does anyone know how much a taxi costs for that segment?

[DrKoob]

On 8/27/2021 at 10:11 AM, Mr. Click said:

The draw back to her plan is the long line to use the cable car going up.   We opted to pay the $40 pp to avoid the lines.  Even on vacation my time has real value to me.

I get that. We are Elite Plus so that put us in the very first tender. I believe we were up on top within 20 minutes of leaving the ship. One of the few perks left.