On my family’s recent European cruise, our first port stop was Santorini, Greece. I’ve been drooling over photos of Santorini for years now. I couldn’t believe I was finally there! It was surreal!
Advice for Visiting Santorini on a Cruise
The day our ship visited Santorini, there were four other ships. The island was crowded! Santorini doesn’t have docks where big cruise ships can hook up for the day. It’s a tender port, which means that each ship anchors near the island and transports passengers to the island on tender boats. Here’s my advice:
Book a cruise excursion in Santorini. Why? Cruise excursions get priority tender boats. In addition, cruise excursion tenders are dropped off in a different dock from the “regular” cruisers and get loaded on buses to the top of the cliff. Cruisers who do not book excursions through the cruise lines are dropped off in an area that requires you to climb stairs to the top of the cliff or take a cable car. On our last cruise, people from our Facebook group reported waiting in line over an hour for the cable car to the top of the cliff. So basically, booking a cruise excursion saves you time in line for the tender boat and the cable car.
Avoid taking the stairs. While my family didn’t take the stairs down to the dock, many others advised against it. People hire donkeys to transport up and down the stairs, so the stairs are littered with donkey pee and poop. Therefore, the stairs and smelly and slippery.
Allow extra time to get back to the ship. Most excursions allow you to return with the group to the excursion tender port via bus or spend time in Fira on your own at the end of the tour. If you opt to spend extra time in Fira, you have to use the cable car to get back to the ship. In the evening, the line for the cable car is very long. When we joined the line, it was snaking around several narrow streets. Thankfully, it moved quickly, and we only waited around 30 minutes. Others from our cruise group reported waiting two hours.
Views of Santorini
My family signed up for a tour through Royal Caribbean called Views of Santorini. After loading on a tender boat and then taking a somewhat terrifying bus ride to the top of the cliff, our tour group first headed to the village of Pyrgos. Our guide explained to us that this was a “non-touristic” village.
We followed our guide up a narrow staircase, which seemed like a private staircase but it actually lead to other streets, alleys and a church.
The village is not completely “non-touristic” because there were several beautiful shops on the climb.
The village and the views were so beautiful!
Our guide said if we wanted a photo in front of a blue-domed church without tons of other people in it, Pyrgos was the place to do it.
Our next stop was the village of Oia. This is the village with the money shots of Santorini and long lines for photos. Despite that, it was a gorgeous spot.
We only had an hour in Oia. That sounds like a lot of time, but given the number of people and the lines for photo ops, it wasn’t much time. We only had time to snap a few photos, get some ice cream and shop in 2-3 stores before returning to our tour bus.
Our last stop was Fira, the capital of Santorini and the village above the cruise tenders. While Fira didn’t have the plethora of blue-domed churches like Oia, it had some amazing views as well as charming narrow streets.
My family opted to stay longer in Fira on our own and find our way back to the ship. We had an early dinner with a gorgeous view.
After, we wandered the streets, admiring the flowers and shops.
We hopped on the cable car to get back to the tender dock.
We didn’t plan it this way, but our timing on the tender boat was perfect. There was a gorgeous sunset as we sailed back to the Odyssey of the Seas.
Back in our rooms on the ship, we had had a great view of Fira at night.
Final Thoughts
I’m so glad I got to experience a day in Santorini. One day wasn’t enough time. The island also has some ruins, wineries and a black sand beach. If I were to return to Santorini on a land trip, I’d choose to stay in Pyrgos and try to hit Oia before all the cruise ships come in for the day.
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
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We did a wine tour and it was great. The grapes are grown in a very unique way and the wines are fantastic. Glad you enjoyed Santorini.
Our one and only time to Santorini was also on a cruise ship. And Yes, we want to go back.
If you like Santorini check out Crete some time. Except the very scenic caldera it has everything Santorini has but with lower prices and lots more culture and history.
@Christian One of our tour guides suggested Crete as well. Sounds like a good place.
Imerovigli has better views and is quieter. Skip Oia next time.
@Noel Thanks for the suggestion. It looks beautiful!