Santorini: Sail Caldera Catamaran Sail and Springs

[AsherBear]

We are currently on the 7 day Greek Isles Cruise on the Dream and took this excursion yesterday in Santorini. The experience was so horrible that I felt compelled to share what happened so hopefully we can save other families from having to endure what we did. This 7.5 hour port adventure is described as “a DAY of sailing and swimming.” The port adventure began at 8 am. We were taken on a 45-60 min bus ride to Oia for an hour of shopping and photo opportunities. Then we took another 45-60 min bus ride back to where we started to finally board the catamaran. It was 12:30 pm by this point and since we were already 4.5 hours into the port adventure before we saw the boat, we knew we had made a big mistake. We were supposed to take the catamaran to three different locations to swim but they said we ran out of time and only went to two instead. We were only given 10-15 minutes of swimming time per location. Based on the description, we were expecting a day of swimming but only swam for a total of 25 min at most. The catamaran brought us back to shore and despite being dropped off at this location in the morning and being able to see the dream, we were told we had to reboard the bus and drive back another 45 minutes to Fira. There the guide dropped us off on the side of the road with no directions provided on where to go. Eventually we figured out how to get to the cable car but the wait time to get back down to the port was 1.5-2 hours. We decided to take the stairs because the Disney crew told us that morning it was a 15-20 min walk. It was much longer because it was literally a steep incline down a mountain and the stairs were slippery and covered with donkey crap. Both my sons fell and we saw an elderly man fall. Later that night my son saw a friend from this kids club and his leg was cut open from falling on the stairs. By the time we got back to the ship, the port adventure took a total of ten hours and again, only 25 minutes of swimming. I strongly advise anyone booked or considering this port adventure to cancel or make other plans. I cannot express what a miserable day this was.

 

[Flossbolna]

Thank you for posting. I hope you will let DCL know as well. It doesn’t sound like a vendor they should use.

 

[soniam]

Was this a ship excursion? Definitely complain to DCL; however, I don't know if they will do anything about it. Hopefully, they will. I am so sorry that you had such a bad experience. We were looking at booking a similar excursion through Celebrity on our July cruise. I convinced my husband that it wouldn't be that great. We like sail boats but aren't huge into swimming. We usually do snorkeling when we do catamaran trips. We decided to do a 4-5 hour excursion that does Oia with snacks/wine at a winery, Fira, and then back to the port for tenders. I didn't want to hassle with the cable car outside of an excursion, because of the long lines. Thanks for updating people. This is probably the same excursion company on most of the ships.

 

[DCL Repeaters]

Was this a ship excursion? Definitely complain to DCL; however, I don't know if they will do anything about it. Hopefully, they will. I am so sorry that you had such a bad experience. We were looking at booking a similar excursion through Celebrity on our July cruise. I convinced my husband that it wouldn't be that great. We like sail boats but aren't huge into swimming. We usually do snorkeling when we do catamaran trips. We decided to do a 4-5 hour excursion that does Oia with snacks/wine at a winery, Fira, and then back to the port for tenders. I didn't want to hassle with the cable car outside of an excursion, because of the long lines. Thanks for updating people. This is probably the same excursion company on most of the ships.

Went to Santorini last year on an 8 night Greek isles cruise. If to clarify how the cable cars work. Excursion or not you get at the end of the line and wait. Excursions do not get you to the front of the line. Lines are long. Bring water, sun protection and patience.

 

[soniam]

Went to Santorini last year on an 8 night Greek isles cruise. If to clarify how the cable cars work. Excursion or not you get at the end of the line and wait. Excursions do not get you to the front of the line. Lines are long. Bring water, sun protection and patience.

Our excursion, luckily, does not require the cable car at all. It buses us back to the port.

 

[AsherBear]

Our excursion, luckily, does not require the cable car at all. It buses us back to the port.

You may want to double check that. They have two ports in Santorini, the old port and the new port. The tender boat that you take from your cruise ship drops you off at one of the ports but it only goes that one way. To get back to the cruise ship they force you to get a bus to Fira, walk through the town and either wait in the cable car line or walk down the mountain. Then you get another tender boat back to you ship. There is no way to avoid this..we even tried to hire a private water taxi and was told it couldn’t be done. This was not explained to anyone on the ship until the morning of the port adventures when it was too late to cancel and get a refund. The description of our port adventure made it sound like the bus would take us back to the tender boat as well but it didn’t.
Our family (along with the majority of other families) on our excursion and other excursions in Santorini) shared our frustration with the port adventure team on board. We were given a 35% refund and were given the option of contacting shore services when we get home to request a full refund. They told us that they are aware of how bad the situation is in Santorini and they have been working with the tour operators for the last year to try to improve things but it is slow going. We book our port adventures through Disney because we thought we were paying more because the experiences were vetted by them and also if something like this happened, we would be taken care of. That isn’t the case and we are questioning booking port adventures through Disney in the future as a result.

 

[DCL Repeaters]

Our excursion, luckily, does not require the cable car at all. It buses us back to the port.

You may want to check that. The excursion we took last year to Akrotiri and Fira no way mentions how you return to the ship. I just checked and it still says,” after free time in Fira you will return to the port”. No mention of waiting in a very long line to take a cable car or the option to walk down a slippery slope. There was another cruise ship in port that day and their passengers had to use the cable cars as well to return to the ship. We found out about the only way down the mountain (cable car or walk) as we were exiting the bus to be in our own in Fira and were given a pre paid ticket to use the cable car.

 

[soniam]

You may want to double check that. They have two ports in Santorini, the old port and the new port. The tender boat that you take from your cruise ship drops you off at one of the ports but it only goes that one way. To get back to the cruise ship they force you to get a bus to Fira, walk through the town and either wait in the cable car line or walk down the mountain. Then you get another tender boat back to you ship. There is no way to avoid this..we even tried to hire a private water taxi and was told it couldn’t be done. This was not explained to anyone on the ship until the morning of the port adventures when it was too late to cancel and get a refund. The description of our port adventure made it sound like the bus would take us back to the tender boat as well but it didn’t.
Our family (along with the majority of other families) on our excursion and other excursions in Santorini) shared our frustration with the port adventure team on board. We were given a 35% refund and were given the option of contacting shore services when we get home to request a full refund. They told us that they are aware of how bad the situation is in Santorini and they have been working with the tour operators for the last year to try to improve things but it is slow going. We book our port adventures through Disney because we thought we were paying more because the experiences were vetted by them and also if something like this happened, we would be taken care of. That isn’t the case and we are questioning booking port adventures through Disney in the future as a result.

You may want to check that. The excursion we took last year to Akrotiri and Fira no way mentions how you return to the ship. I just checked and it still says,” after free time in Fira you will return to the port”. No mention of waiting in a very long line to take a cable car or the option to walk down a slippery slope. There was another cruise ship in port that day and their passengers had to use the cable cars as well to return to the ship. We found out about the only way down the mountain (cable car or walk) as we were exiting the bus to be in our own in Fira and were given a pre paid ticket to use the cable car.

I have reread the description and confirmed with someone who has done the excursion. I know that due to seas, Athenios can be closed to tenders. We will deal with that if it happens. Here's the blurb from the excursion:

So, it probably starts at Athenios, where most of the cruise ships start their excursions now.
"Begin your journey with a scenic drive to the top of the caldera"

Seems to end at Athenios:
"Finally, journey to the village of Fira, where you'll have about an hour to explore the cliff-top village's intriguing narrow streets before the journey to Athinios port, where tenders will transfer you to the ship."

"Guests wishing to stay in Fira must make their own way back to the ship via the cable car and at their own expense."