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Santorini

kdowneymd

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kdowneymd

kdowneymd

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The day we are in Santorini, there will be FIVE ships in port that day. Is this the maximum or is it upper part of average? It is really disappointing because almost every other cruise day we are the only ship in port or one of two (in large ports!) and Santorini is the port none if us has visited yet. Knowing it will be packed, I am wondering how many ships makes the island close to impossible

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abelthi

abelthi

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The day we are in Santorini, there will be FIVE ships in port that day. Is this the maximum or is it upper part of average? It is really disappointing because almost every other cruise day we are the only ship in port or one of two (in large ports!) and Santorini is the port none if us has visited yet. Knowing it will be packed, I am wondering how many ships makes the island close to impossible

 

:confused: How do you know ? Where did you find out ? :confused:

 

 

Thierry

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camella

camella

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Whale watcher - it looks like you are the only ship in port on July 6th. go to the web site, click on main calendar and put in the date (july 6th - July 6th) and then put in the name of your ship..not the line and click on yes to see other ships in port that day.

 

Linda

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tom_uk

tom_uk

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The day we are in Santorini, there will be FIVE ships in port that day. Is this the maximum or is it upper part of average? It is really disappointing because almost every other cruise day we are the only ship in port or one of two (in large ports!) and Santorini is the port none if us has visited yet. Knowing it will be packed, I am wondering how many ships makes the island close to impossible

 

It won't be good, I'm afraid - that's a lot, and the capacity of the cablecar is strictly limited. In my blog here:

http://tomtotley.wordpress.com/2007/06/29/day-8-santorini/

I estimated that it was just 600 or so people *in one direction* per hour.

 

There is a ray of hope, however. My Galaxy cruise was originally scheduled for a 5-ship day at Santorini. In the event the whole of the Aegean portion was re-ordered just a few weeks before the actual cruise and one result was that we were alone at Santorini. So something like that might happen.

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Andym

Andym

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We were in with 5 ships in total and not only was the tenderring very slow, the cablecar has a limited capacity just like Tom says.

It is never bad going up as the tender boats limit the flow, but we had to stand in line to come down for almost 2 hours.

One alternative idea may be to take a boat trip to Oia. yo can get these where the tender boats drop you off.

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whale-watcher

whale-watcher

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Whale watcher - it looks like you are the only ship in port on July 6th. go to the web site, click on main calendar and put in the date (july 6th - July 6th) and then put in the name of your ship..not the line and click on yes to see other ships in port that day.

 

Linda

thanks! My kids are looking forward to the cable car ride...are there alternatives to the cable car on the way back down?

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Eileen G

Eileen G

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We walked down last year. It took about 20 min. and that was stopping alot to take pictures. You will have to watch out for the donkeys and their droppings but that was part of the adventure. It is a very wide path with short steps. There is a smell from the donkeys but nothing worse than a farm. We plan on doing it again this year.

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WELSH WIZARDS

WELSH WIZARDS

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We went to Santorini last August, and it was one of the highlights of our trip. Just being there with the edges of the volcano all around you is really great. We were the only ship there, and the tiny landing area, tiny cable Car area , and little streets and shops seem crowded with just one ship. It was also very hot , so standing and queuing and waiting with passengers from FIVE ships sounds like the recipe for a very frazzled day to me. On the other hand ...it is a place that should not be missed ...whatever the discomfort.

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Susan-M

Susan-M

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Walking does sound like an adventure...this is towards the end of our cruise, so perhaps we should walk UP to burn off all those extra pounds!

 

I think that when you arrive and see the steps, you'll save them for walking down. ;) It's not a bad walk down...I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

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Nikki_DC

Nikki_DC

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I've been to Santorini once when it was packed and once when it was quiet. I would recommend taking the bus to Perissa (spelling may be off). Beautiful beach with great resturant on the edge of the beach with water views. It might be a way to escape some of the crowds.

 

I would also recommend taking a cruise ship tour to Oia. They will take you off the ship at a different port, you take a bus to Oia, and end up in Santorini. Our tour included the cable car ticket down (so you get a one-way trip).

 

We were there when there was only one cruise ship in town, and the public buses were absolutely packed and taxis wouldn't negotiate. So, if you want to Oia, the tour is worth it to avoid the hassle.

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tom_uk

tom_uk

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I think the queues for the cable cars tend to be worse in the afternoon for the descent. People arrive at the bottom station throughout the morning from early until late so the demand is (relatively) spread out. But in the afternoon everybody decides to head back to the ship at about the same time so the queues can quickly build up.

 

I have heard of one alternative, and that is that there may be boats - small local boats, that is - that go from the small harbour below Oia to the almost-as-small harbour below Fira (which is where the tenders call for the trip back to the ship). I can't promise that this information is true, and I don't have any information at all about prices, but I've come across a mention of it somewhere. Of course you still have to get down to the water's edge at Oia to do this, and if there are no boats then you've got climb all the way back up, but there are two advantages to doing the climb (up or down) at Oia: a) there are no donkeys, and b) Oia isn't quite as high as Fira so the distance/number of steps is less.

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jms2362

jms2362

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There was one other when we were there last summer. Santorini is our favorite and Mykonos. Dont take cruise tour. You can go up cable car and get off turn left out of terminal go to 2nd street and go right watch for signs for bus terminal you will turn left near a large Orthodox Church and it is approx one more block. They will tell you where to wait for the buses lots of fun doing that and very cheap a couple of dollars. We did so much on foot.

Most meals if in a nice place are expensive, lunch is their dinner. We spent $55.oo US. They didn't take credit cards at almost every restaurant we went to in Greece, cash only. Santorini is GREAT! Want to go back, we are doint Independence of Seas this June, UK, Gibraltar, Spain, France, Portugal and Italy.

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Linda74

Linda74

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I see that there will be three ships in port at Santorini when we arrive on april 30th....contemplating doing the shiip's tour (RCCL, Splendour of the Seas)....our only time in Santorini....tried to get there last Oct. and could not.....and Santorini was the impetus for this cruise...

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Susan-M

Susan-M

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I have heard of one alternative, and that is that there may be boats - small local boats, that is - that go from the small harbour below Oia to the almost-as-small harbour below Fira (which is where the tenders call for the trip back to the ship).

 

We drove down to Amoudi Bay (below Oia) and spent a couple of hours there having dinner and exploring along a path at the water's edge. I didn't see any boats that looked like they were shuttles to Fira...but it was late afternoon and things were pretty quiet. It's quite a steep hike on foot, and I think I would rather take my chances of having to walk down the steps at Fira if the cable car line is too long than to hike down and back up at Oia. Here's a photo I found on the web: http://www.pbase.com/xerius/image/90299402

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where_to_next

where_to_next

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We were at Santorini last year in May. We rode the donkeys up and back down. It was great fun. We are young 60 year olds. The cost is the same as the cable car. After arriving at the top, we rented an ATV and roamed from one end of the island to the other (Oia to Red Beach). It was the best day of our 12 day cruise!

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