Santorini with 4 other cruise ships

[kleibo]

12 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

Do you remember what time the tenders started in the morning for the Old Port, otherwise known as Donkeyville😉

You will have to get on line to get a tender ticket.  On our cruise they gave no priority to platinum or Diamond because there was so many of us.  I know the line started lining up at 5:30/6:00

 

i believe tenders started by 8

[ninjacat123]

1 minute ago, kleibo said:

You will have to get on line to get a tender ticket.  On our cruise they gave no priority to platinum or Diamond because there was so many of us.  I know the line started lining up at 5:30/6:00

 

i believe tenders started by 8

5:30-6:00am??? On the morning you arrive at Santorini?😲

Edited October 4, 2023 by ninjacat123

[kleibo]

1 minute ago, ninjacat123 said:

5:30-6:00am??? On the morning you arrive at Santorini?😲

Yup.   When we came downstairs to go to the Taj Mahal for our carnival excursion - there was an enormous line.   It literally went a mile winding around the ship.  I know the person 2nd in line.  She was there at 5:45 and got the first tender for people NOT on excursions with carnival 

[ninjacat123]

@kleibo also, Santorini time is an hour later than Rome time.  Does the ship adjust to local time or stay with embarkation port time?  TIA!!

[ninjacat123]

3 minutes ago, kleibo said:

Yup.   When we came downstairs to go to the Taj Mahal for our carnival excursion - there was an enormous line.   It literally went a mile winding around the ship.  I know the person 2nd in line.  She was there at 5:45 and got the first tender for people NOT on excursions with carnival 

Do you know what time your 5:45am friend's tender left the ship for the Old Port? Did she get her ticket and go have breakfast or did she stay another line till her ticket time for the tender?  Just trying to figure this out.

Edited October 4, 2023 by ninjacat123

[kleibo]

2 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

@kleibo also, Santorini time is an hour later than Rome time.  Does the ship adjust to local time or stay with embarkation port time?  TIA!!

In Europe they adjust to local time - much easier for everyone 

[kleibo]

1 minute ago, ninjacat123 said:

Do you know what time your 5:45am friend's tender left the ship for the Old Port?

I’m going to say 8:30 or so.  They were running two tender boats so it went fast 

[kleibo]

6 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

@kleibo also, Santorini time is an hour later than Rome time.  Does the ship adjust to local time or stay with embarkation port time?  TIA!!

There are many announcements about putting your time back an hour and gaining an hour on the way back 

[ninjacat123]

29 minutes ago, kleibo said:

There are many announcements about putting your time back an hour and gaining an hour on the way back 

Say we get on an early tender and have time for a coffee before we get on our excursion boat, is there a place on the dock to have a coffee?  I may need a couple cups since I'll be getting up at 5:30am😬

[mapleleaves]

I think the tender ticket process varies by cruiseline and maybe even by ship.

On NCL Gem last Sept, tender tickets were made available the day PRIOR to arriving in Santorini.  They said it would start at 8am but when we got there at 7 there were already 20 or so people in line.

 

And yes there are quite a few cafes, bars, restaurants at the dock. 

 

[kleibo]

3 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

5:30-6:00am??? On the morning you arrive at Santorini?😲

Ninja. I asked the girl that went down early.  This is what she texted me back 

 

“There were several people down there at 5:15-5:30am but started getting to the point we have to line up because there was so many people around 5:45-6:00.”

 

 

[ninjacat123]

14 minutes ago, kleibo said:

Ninja. I asked the girl that went down early.  This is what she texted me back 

 

“There were several people down there at 5:15-5:30am but started getting to the point we have to line up because there was so many people around 5:45-6:00.”

 

 

Thanks kleibo.  I'm not excited about having to line up at the crack of dawn, especially when we aren't being picked up till 9:45.  But I don't want to miss my excursion either.  Argh!!  Once again, thanks for reaching out to your friend.

[We-R-Off]

On 9/29/2023 at 7:33 PM, ninjacat123 said:

I have 2 very small ships at 8am (under 200 passengers) and 2 large cruise ships at 8am (ours which is Carnival Pride and MSC, I think) then 2 big ships at 9am.  Our ship excursion is scheduled to finish in Fira at 12:45pm. I'm hoping to have a drink and a nibble with a view and then stand in line for the cable car at 2:30pm. Our ship leaves at 5pm but I think last tender for our ship is 4:15pm🤞

Quite honestly once you’ve walked around a little, if it’s crowed it’s best not to hang around. Most of the shops are much like each other. When we got to Fira we made our way straight to the cable car. We didn’t wait even a minute. We got on straight away. We enjoyed a little stroll around Fira old port before a short wait for our tender. 

[We-R-Off]

I did notice that the tenders that were used on our cruise were operated by the Santorini authorities & not the ships lifeboat tenders. I actually went back on an afternoon tender without queuing for a little stroll around the old port & to see the extent of the queues to go up. That’s when we saw that there were local vendors  selling tours by boat to Oia, transport to Fira & cable car return. 
Our tender did not take us to Fira port, it was another port where our buses waited for us to take us to Oia. Our trip was the first that left the ship & we were there at 8:45. The shops were just opening & our tender was the first of the day. We had 90 minutes in Oia before transport to Fira. 

[We-R-Off]

All the ships early tours went to this other 

port. The later tenders were to Fira. 

[erby2283]

On 10/4/2023 at 11:09 AM, ninjacat123 said:

I liked that too!  I asked  DH about the stops Sandras Amalfi drive tour compared to the Carnival excursion we have scheduled.  He would rather go to Sorrento than Ravello, so we are sticking with Carnival.  Sandra is a smart cookie and I'm keeping her tour company on my go to list.  We'll see after Santorini🤞

So did you definitely book her tour for Santorini?!? Please let me know about it when you get back! Enjoy your cruise, you should be boarding any day now 🙂

[ninjacat123]

33 minutes ago, erby2283 said:

So did you definitely book her tour for Santorini?!? Please let me know about it when you get back! Enjoy your cruise, you should be boarding any day now 🙂

I booked the Sandra cruise tour one so we didn’t have to use the cable car or donkey trail. I will tell you all about it. Hope it’s good👍

[Katemusical]

Is Sandra in Santorini? What is her company's name? I can't find it.

[mapleleaves]

5 hours ago, Katemusical said:

Is Sandra in Santorini? What is her company's name? I can't find it.

The company name and web site are on the previous page. 

The company appears to be a middleman selling tours (similar to Viator )  so it's doubtful that they are located in Santorini. 

 

 

[shaki]

On 7/17/2023 at 1:05 PM, We-R-Off said:

We too are going to opt for a ships cruise.  As we were there not so very long ago, we'll take the short ships tour but will take the cablecar back around midday.

This is the description:

 

 3.5-hour trip that includes the villages of Megalochori and Pyrgos — plus take a distillery tour and savor spirits tastings at Canava estate.Travel along craggy caldera cliffsides to the picturesque village of Megalochori. Stroll narrow streets past historical mansions carved into volcanic rock, where a wealth of merchants and land barons lived centuries ago. Atop the highest point on the island, the village of Pyrgos sits, exuding traditional Cycladic character with neoclassical touches — see it all on a guided walking tour of what was once the island’s capital. Moving on to the Canava estate, you’ll discover a family-owned distillery and museum all in one. Enter the barrel maker’s workshop and learn about how they’ve produced fine spirits since the 1970s. Everyday island life is depicted throughout recreated family rooms filling the onsite museum. Then sip on a selection of anise-flavored ouzo, unsweetened raki, and pine-infused mastika in the tasting room. Your final stop for the day will be the capital of Fira town, where after a short walk, you will reach the cable car station and tender to the ship.

 

 

This sounds, ideal for us.

I saw a video of going up on the cablecar & the stairs would be very difficult for my husband.

How was this excursion for you?  I've booked it for an upcoming RCCL cruise.  Where did you board the bus?  I really wanted to see Oia in the morning and do this in the afternoon but it wasn't an option.  So I may take a bus from Fira to Oia in the afternoon.

[ninjacat123]

On 10/15/2023 at 1:31 PM, ninjacat123 said:

I booked the Sandra cruise tour one so we didn’t have to use the cable car or donkey trail. I will tell you all about it. Hope it’s good👍

In case you missed my review:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2968027-live-italy-land-trip-then-10-days-on-pride-oct-18-29-to-greece-turkey-sicily-and-more-italy-with-ninjacat123/

[mr_freebie]

On 10/16/2023 at 8:34 PM, mapleleaves said:

The company name and web site are on the previous page. 

The company appears to be a middleman selling tours (similar to Viator )  so it's doubtful that they are located in Santorini. 

.

 

After reaching out to Sandra to see if it was an option…..  she only services Carnival cruise ships.  No other cruise ship arrivals.  

Edited January 13 by mr_freebie