First time cruiser here! We are going on this exact cruise in May!! Thank you so much for your videos!! How do you know where to go for the excursions (where to exit the boat, what buses to get on etc)
We’re so excited for you to experience your first cruise and hope you love it as much as we do! Thank you for watching and subscribing! If you do your shore excursions through the cruise line, your tickets will give you all the details on when and where to meet - on Royal Caribbean, usually inside the theater, you’ll check in, be issued a sticker with a group number, and have a seat until your group number is called, and then a crew member will escort you to your bus. The tour guides usually stand in front of the buses with numbered paddles that correspond to your sticker number and each bus has a sign in the front window with the group number, too. If you go through an independent provider, they will provide you with a meeting location somewhere in or near the port which you’ll have to make your way to once you are off the ship. If you go the independent route, make sure the provider makes accommodations if the ship arrives late or the port is canceled (or you have travel insurance that will reimburse you). If booking through the cruise line, they will automatically refund any cancelled excursions to your onboard account or reschedule for delays. If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out!
Greetings! Ty for your video! I see you arrived at a different location in Santorini when you took the bus. Im guessing the tendering boars without excursion arrive and keave out of the same place?
Hi! Yes, we were tendered over to the new port because of the excursion we booked. Without excursion, the tender boat will take you to the area you see at the end of the video where we boarded the tender to return to the ship in Thira. From there you can walk up the steps or pay 6 euro per person to take the cable car up.🙂
Thank you so much! If there’s anything in particular you want to know or would like us to find out on future trips, please let us know. Our son is on the spectrum so we tend to focus on the things he wishes he knew before going on a trip or excursion. Always open to suggestions. 😊
Hi! Our time in Oia where the blue domed buildings are was very short. We had a lot of time in Fira after the tour ended to walk around and explore. There were many shops and restaurants to sit and relax in Fira and look out over the caldera. There was a different tour they offered which included a wine tasting if you’re interested in an organized tour that includes wine. Enjoy your trip - it’s a beautiful island!
amazing video, will be doing that cruise on October and we have a 4 years old girl, so will be interesting hehehe. after checking the comments I think is best to book the tour from the cruise just to make sure everything will be on timeand for a kid I think is better to simplify things right?
Thank you! We hope you have an amazing time! We booked through the cruise line because it was our first cruise in Europe with our kids. We didn't want to worry about making it back to the ship on time. We also liked having a set meeting point for our tour group each morning (theater) and being escorted off the ship together, rather than having to get off the ship and figure out where to go. In Santorini, we really appreciated the priority tendering for cruise line booked excursions. Our kids are older, but with our son being on the spectrum, we've found an added level of comfort in booking through the cruise line just in case something doesn't go according to plan. Another family in one of our groups was able to arrange for transport back to the ship early by talking to one of the shore excursion staff because they also had a special needs request for their son. The cruise line excursions are generally more expensive and you may not get to do as many things during them as you could with independent exploration, but we've found they work best for our family for now.
Thanks for watching and supporting our channel! It’s a hard call to make. We would recommend a private tour to avoid the large crowds from many buses for sure since all cruise tour groups are herded to locations at the same times; however, Santorini is a tender port so it will require you to take a boat from the ship to shore to meet up with your private excursion. If the ship is late or the tendering process is delayed, that could complicate things depending on your tour provider’s policies. On the Odyssey, there were a couple of ways to get priority tender access without a Royal excursion, the first was to purchase the Key for each person in your party (adding $16-$30/pp/pd to your overall costs) or any full suite guest received priority tender access. Otherwise, you would need to send someone from your group to wait in line for a tender group ticket - whatever time they announce for “starting” to issue tickets…you’ll want someone to be down there waiting at least 30-60min before to get an early group #. Definitely look for a provider that offers flexibility if you go the independent route. Just some considerations when planning an independent excursion.
Thank you for watching! Sorry for the delayed response - we wanted to look up the timestamps to give the correct information. Our North Star reservation was for 8:30pm. The timestamps of the fireworks footage from our time in the North Star was between 8:44pm-8:48pm in that timezone. Hope that helps!
I'm super confused about this stop. With this tour do we still have to do the cable car? Do we have to get it both ways? The horror stories about it have me worried. I was hoping there was a way to avoid them.
The tour provides transportation directly from the ship (tender then bus) to Oia and then to Fira. Once you’re in Fira, you’ll have free time to explore and will need to find a way back down to where the tenders are to get back to the ship. You will either have to use the cable cars or walk down the stairs. The cable car line can be long (we waited almost 3 hours) but were able to have someone in our family hold our place in line while others explored shops, grabbed food in restaurants, etc. until we were close to the ticket office. Hope that helps!
Love your videos, I booked this cruise in July. Is there another way to get to the bottom other then taking the cable car? also the tours start at 1pm, not sure why so late. Would you recommend doing the walk around on your own?
Thank you so much! We really appreciate the feedback. 😊 To the best of our knowledge, the two other ways up or down are the stairs and the donkeys. There are close to 600 steps and it can be steep in parts, but there are several large bends where you could stop and rest and take beautiful pictures along the way. The donkeys also use the same stairs so you could potentially have to deal with the steps being slippery from donkey pee and poop. What time does your ship arrive in port? Excursions may start on the later side if the ship isn't arriving until late morning because it must clear customs (~ 30 min process) and then they have to prepare for the tender process to begin which could add another 30-45 minutes. RC shore excursions and Key/Suite guests will get priority tender access and then the standard tendering process begins. We enjoyed the RC Selfie Tour for what it was, but if we're fortunate enough to go back, we would definitely walk around on our own or find a private tour operator. Happy planning and we hope you have a fantastic trip!
Thank you! Yes, we would definitely recommend this cruise! There were moments when we weren't at our best as you'll see on the videos (hot, hungry, tired...), but we're human. :-) We all had an amazing time overall and every time you stepped outside, you were surrounded by beauty. We love sailing with Royal Caribbean and loved the Odyssey. This was our first big international trip as a family and it was the longest and most expensive trip we've ever done. We just wanted others to learn from our experience so they can hopefully plan better than we did and have an even better experience!
@@royalshenanigansusa it will be our first RCL cruise. We have sailed twice on Disney Cruise line and absolutely loved it. Want to try other cruise lines now.
We just started cruising in 2019 and have only sailed with RCL because of our son. We've done 14 sailings with them and have more booked with them (though we'd like to branch out someday, too). Happy to try and answer any questions we can as you do your research [email: request@royalshenanigans.com].
Hi! Yes, we did get off the bus a couple of times during the excursion. First when you arrive at Oia (you’ll exit in a parking lot and walk all the way up to where the views are for your selfies) and then when they return you to Fira you’ll exit the bus and do a little walking tour to the church before the tour officially ends and you have free time to explore. Just be sure to give yourself enough time to wait in line to get back down by cable car. Took us almost 3 hours between standing in line, the ride down, and waiting for the tender back to the ship. If you’re in port later at night, they also set off fireworks over Oia when we were there, which was beautiful to watch from the ship. We hope you have an amazing time!
What is it you are interested in seeing and doing in Santorini? Seeing the blue-domed buildings in Oia, hiking to the volcano, visiting the Akrotiri ruins, brewery/winery tastings, or a beach resort? If we are lucky enough to go back, we want to explore Oia on our own without a timetable (and hopefully without the crowds from all the organized tours). To do that without a cruise line excursion (or staying in a suite), you won't get priority tender access. If you want to get off the ship early, we'd recommend sending someone from your party down early to wait in line for tender tickets for your entire group. The earlier you can get off your ship, the less crowded it will be, especially if there are multiple ships in port that day. Once the tender drops you off in the old port area, you can pay 6 euro per person one-way to ride the cable car up to Thira/Fira. From there, you can take a bus (KTEL) or taxi to Oia to spend some time in the world famous village with the picturesque blue domes. Buses are the cheapest and were about 2 euro per person. They were departing every hour and it's about a 20-30 minute ride to Oia from Fira. Taxis will be 40-60 euro for up to 4 passengers. The boat ferry wasn't running at the time we visited in October 2022, but that may be an option depending on when you go. There was a ticket booth in the tender dock area at port, but it was closed when we were there. Depending on how long you are in port, you may want to arrange to have dinner at one of the restaurants in Fira with a beautiful sunset view before returning to your ship (just plan to wait up to 3 hours in line for cable car back down, again 6 euros per person one-way). While we were there, we got to watch fireworks over Oia from our ship at night - that was a highlight for us. Whatever you do, please bring a hat and sun protection - it was HOT and there was little to no shade the entire time we were there. We hope you enjoy your time there. It is absolutely beautiful!
I'm super confused about this stop. With this tour do we still have to do the cable car? Do we have to get it both ways? The horror stories about it have me worried. I was hoping there was a way to avoid them.
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I love that you show the raw footage or what to realistically expect! Including the walk from the big tour bus to the villages. Thanks!
First time cruiser here! We are going on this exact cruise in May!! Thank you so much for your videos!! How do you know where to go for the excursions (where to exit the boat, what buses to get on etc)
We’re so excited for you to experience your first cruise and hope you love it as much as we do! Thank you for watching and subscribing! If you do your shore excursions through the cruise line, your tickets will give you all the details on when and where to meet - on Royal Caribbean, usually inside the theater, you’ll check in, be issued a sticker with a group number, and have a seat until your group number is called, and then a crew member will escort you to your bus. The tour guides usually stand in front of the buses with numbered paddles that correspond to your sticker number and each bus has a sign in the front window with the group number, too. If you go through an independent provider, they will provide you with a meeting location somewhere in or near the port which you’ll have to make your way to once you are off the ship. If you go the independent route, make sure the provider makes accommodations if the ship arrives late or the port is canceled (or you have travel insurance that will reimburse you). If booking through the cruise line, they will automatically refund any cancelled excursions to your onboard account or reschedule for delays. If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out!
Greetings! Ty for your video! I see you arrived at a different location in Santorini when you took the bus. Im guessing the tendering boars without excursion arrive and keave out of the same place?
Hi! Yes, we were tendered over to the new port because of the excursion we booked. Without excursion, the tender boat will take you to the area you see at the end of the video where we boarded the tender to return to the ship in Thira. From there you can walk up the steps or pay 6 euro per person to take the cable car up.🙂
@@royalshenanigansusa awesome thank you soo much!! New follower btw 🤗
Thank you so much! If there’s anything in particular you want to know or would like us to find out on future trips, please let us know. Our son is on the spectrum so we tend to focus on the things he wishes he knew before going on a trip or excursion. Always open to suggestions. 😊
Thanks for sharing. Would you recommend this excursion? I want to see the Blue domes, have wine, etc
Hi! Our time in Oia where the blue domed buildings are was very short. We had a lot of time in Fira after the tour ended to walk around and explore. There were many shops and restaurants to sit and relax in Fira and look out over the caldera. There was a different tour they offered which included a wine tasting if you’re interested in an organized tour that includes wine. Enjoy your trip - it’s a beautiful island!
amazing video, will be doing that cruise on October and we have a 4 years old girl, so will be interesting hehehe. after checking the comments I think is best to book the tour from the cruise just to make sure everything will be on timeand for a kid I think is better to simplify things right?
Thank you! We hope you have an amazing time! We booked through the cruise line because it was our first cruise in Europe with our kids. We didn't want to worry about making it back to the ship on time. We also liked having a set meeting point for our tour group each morning (theater) and being escorted off the ship together, rather than having to get off the ship and figure out where to go. In Santorini, we really appreciated the priority tendering for cruise line booked excursions. Our kids are older, but with our son being on the spectrum, we've found an added level of comfort in booking through the cruise line just in case something doesn't go according to plan. Another family in one of our groups was able to arrange for transport back to the ship early by talking to one of the shore excursion staff because they also had a special needs request for their son. The cruise line excursions are generally more expensive and you may not get to do as many things during them as you could with independent exploration, but we've found they work best for our family for now.
Would you recommend a private tour in Santorini to avoid all the buses? Thank you for sharing your experience.
Thanks for watching and supporting our channel! It’s a hard call to make. We would recommend a private tour to avoid the large crowds from many buses for sure since all cruise tour groups are herded to locations at the same times; however, Santorini is a tender port so it will require you to take a boat from the ship to shore to meet up with your private excursion. If the ship is late or the tendering process is delayed, that could complicate things depending on your tour provider’s policies. On the Odyssey, there were a couple of ways to get priority tender access without a Royal excursion, the first was to purchase the Key for each person in your party (adding $16-$30/pp/pd to your overall costs) or any full suite guest received priority tender access. Otherwise, you would need to send someone from your group to wait in line for a tender group ticket - whatever time they announce for “starting” to issue tickets…you’ll want someone to be down there waiting at least 30-60min before to get an early group #. Definitely look for a provider that offers flexibility if you go the independent route. Just some considerations when planning an independent excursion.
On the ship North Star what time did the fireworks go off over OIA? Thanks for your videos.
Thank you for watching! Sorry for the delayed response - we wanted to look up the timestamps to give the correct information. Our North Star reservation was for 8:30pm. The timestamps of the fireworks footage from our time in the North Star was between 8:44pm-8:48pm in that timezone. Hope that helps!
@@royalshenanigansusa Thanks for the info
I'm super confused about this stop. With this tour do we still have to do the cable car? Do we have to get it both ways? The horror stories about it have me worried. I was hoping there was a way to avoid them.
The tour provides transportation directly from the ship (tender then bus) to Oia and then to Fira. Once you’re in Fira, you’ll have free time to explore and will need to find a way back down to where the tenders are to get back to the ship. You will either have to use the cable cars or walk down the stairs. The cable car line can be long (we waited almost 3 hours) but were able to have someone in our family hold our place in line while others explored shops, grabbed food in restaurants, etc. until we were close to the ticket office. Hope that helps!
Love your videos, I booked this cruise in July. Is there another way to get to the bottom other then taking the cable car? also the tours start at 1pm, not sure why so late. Would you recommend doing the walk around on your own?
Thank you so much! We really appreciate the feedback. 😊 To the best of our knowledge, the two other ways up or down are the stairs and the donkeys. There are close to 600 steps and it can be steep in parts, but there are several large bends where you could stop and rest and take beautiful pictures along the way. The donkeys also use the same stairs so you could potentially have to deal with the steps being slippery from donkey pee and poop. What time does your ship arrive in port? Excursions may start on the later side if the ship isn't arriving until late morning because it must clear customs (~ 30 min process) and then they have to prepare for the tender process to begin which could add another 30-45 minutes. RC shore excursions and Key/Suite guests will get priority tender access and then the standard tendering process begins. We enjoyed the RC Selfie Tour for what it was, but if we're fortunate enough to go back, we would definitely walk around on our own or find a private tour operator. Happy planning and we hope you have a fantastic trip!
I am so glad I came across your channel! I am about to book this same cruise for 2024. Would you recommend this cruise?
Thank you! Yes, we would definitely recommend this cruise! There were moments when we weren't at our best as you'll see on the videos (hot, hungry, tired...), but we're human. :-) We all had an amazing time overall and every time you stepped outside, you were surrounded by beauty. We love sailing with Royal Caribbean and loved the Odyssey. This was our first big international trip as a family and it was the longest and most expensive trip we've ever done. We just wanted others to learn from our experience so they can hopefully plan better than we did and have an even better experience!
@@royalshenanigansusa it will be our first RCL cruise. We have sailed twice on Disney Cruise line and absolutely loved it. Want to try other cruise lines now.
We just started cruising in 2019 and have only sailed with RCL because of our son. We've done 14 sailings with them and have more booked with them (though we'd like to branch out someday, too). Happy to try and answer any questions we can as you do your research [email: request@royalshenanigans.com].
Thank you so much!! I will for sure 😊
Do you get off the bus during this excursion? We just booked it! If you do, where?
Hi! Yes, we did get off the bus a couple of times during the excursion. First when you arrive at Oia (you’ll exit in a parking lot and walk all the way up to where the views are for your selfies) and then when they return you to Fira you’ll exit the bus and do a little walking tour to the church before the tour officially ends and you have free time to explore. Just be sure to give yourself enough time to wait in line to get back down by cable car. Took us almost 3 hours between standing in line, the ride down, and waiting for the tender back to the ship. If you’re in port later at night, they also set off fireworks over Oia when we were there, which was beautiful to watch from the ship. We hope you have an amazing time!
We are taking other excursions, but planning to do Santorini on our own. Any suggestions??
What is it you are interested in seeing and doing in Santorini? Seeing the blue-domed buildings in Oia, hiking to the volcano, visiting the Akrotiri ruins, brewery/winery tastings, or a beach resort?
If we are lucky enough to go back, we want to explore Oia on our own without a timetable (and hopefully without the crowds from all the organized tours). To do that without a cruise line excursion (or staying in a suite), you won't get priority tender access. If you want to get off the ship early, we'd recommend sending someone from your party down early to wait in line for tender tickets for your entire group. The earlier you can get off your ship, the less crowded it will be, especially if there are multiple ships in port that day. Once the tender drops you off in the old port area, you can pay 6 euro per person one-way to ride the cable car up to Thira/Fira. From there, you can take a bus (KTEL) or taxi to Oia to spend some time in the world famous village with the picturesque blue domes. Buses are the cheapest and were about 2 euro per person. They were departing every hour and it's about a 20-30 minute ride to Oia from Fira. Taxis will be 40-60 euro for up to 4 passengers. The boat ferry wasn't running at the time we visited in October 2022, but that may be an option depending on when you go. There was a ticket booth in the tender dock area at port, but it was closed when we were there. Depending on how long you are in port, you may want to arrange to have dinner at one of the restaurants in Fira with a beautiful sunset view before returning to your ship (just plan to wait up to 3 hours in line for cable car back down, again 6 euros per person one-way). While we were there, we got to watch fireworks over Oia from our ship at night - that was a highlight for us. Whatever you do, please bring a hat and sun protection - it was HOT and there was little to no shade the entire time we were there. We hope you enjoy your time there. It is absolutely beautiful!
what month did you that this cruise?
Hi! We did this cruise from end of September into early October (9/28-10/9).
I'm super confused about this stop. With this tour do we still have to do the cable car? Do we have to get it both ways? The horror stories about it have me worried. I was hoping there was a way to avoid them.
You can take a tender to Oia however you need to other cable car or walk down to return.