Royal Caribbean, Mediterranean Cruise Day 6, we finally arrived at Santorini, Greece, which I had been looking forward to the most. We traveled here after a day at sea from Turkey.
For sightseeing in Santorini, be sure to book a tour through Royal Caribbean！
Santorini has two main towns, Fira and Oia. We first visited Fira and then moved to Oia to see the iconic blue-domed buildings. This time, we also used a bus tour offered by Royal Caribbean. In the end, it was a good choice, but it’s also possible to travel between Fira and Oia using buses or taxis on your own. While the bus tour is convenient, it has time limitations. We only had about two hours to explore Oia, so honestly, it felt a bit short.
On the day we arrived in Santorini, we encountered a little trouble. Due to strong winds, the planned port was closed, and the ship couldn’t dock there. In the end, the ship had to anchor near Fira instead.
This port is small, so large cruise ships can’t dock directly at the shore. Instead, we take a tender boat, a smaller boat, to reach the port. Essentially, since many people can’t disembark at once, you have to wait in line to board the tender boats.
Luckily, since we had booked a bus tour through Royal Caribbean, we were able to disembark first and get off the ship with priority.
If you haven’t booked a tour with Royal Caribbean, you’ll need to get a ticket to board the tender boat. Since it’s on a first-come, first-served basis, it’s recommended to get your ticket as early as possible in the morning.
To get to Fira, taking a donkey ride is highly recommended！
Once you disembark from the ship, you’ll need to ascend to Fira by either taking a gondola (5 minutes), a donkey ride (10 minutes), or walking (30 minutes). The port is quite crowded with other cruise passengers. Naturally, most people opt for the gondola, so the line can be very long. On this day, it took about two hours for all the tour guests to reach Fira.
Actually, I’m not a fan of gondolas (I’m claustrophobic), so I was forced to ride a donkey instead. The wait time was shorter, and after about an hour, we got to ride the donkey. My 4-year-old daughter also rode with her dad. The ride was quite bumpy (laughs), but I highly recommend the donkey ride!
By the way, on the way back, my daughter and I walked down the stairs, and it was much easier than I expected—it was over before we knew it. Just be careful of the donkey poop!
The town of Oia, with its blue sea and white walls, is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful
We took the tour bus from Fira and made our first stop at a winery before arriving in Oia.
Every view was absolutely beautiful. Although it was a bit cloudy, the contrast between the deep blue sea and the white buildings was still stunningly beautiful!
The blue domes, which are the symbol of Santorini, are scattered all over the island. There are many similar domes, so it can be a bit hard to spot the one everyone talks about, but I managed to snap a picture where tourists were lining up to take photos!
Santorini’s Oia is a place where everything looks like a picture. Next time, I definitely want to stay longer.
As I was walking, I was given a sample of frozen yogurt made with Greek yogurt, and it was surprisingly delicious, so I ended up buying some. Honestly, I’m more of an ice cream person than a frozen yogurt, but this Greek frozen yogurt was exceptional! It was rich yet light, and I could eat it endlessly! This marked the start of my frozen yogurt adventure in Greece… Now that I think about it, I want to have some again!
For lunch, we went to the Greek restaurant Naoussa.
After enjoying Oia, we returned to Fira. The bus tour ended here, and we headed to the restaurant Naoussa, which we had reserved. To our surprise, the owner casually started chatting with us and mentioned that he is the father of a member of the famous American band, Red Hot Chili Peppers! (Just a fun side note, haha!)
I occasionally visit Greek restaurants in the U.S., and I think the flavors really suit Japanese tastes. It’s healthy, and the flavors were excellent.
Summary
We used a bus tour in Santorini, mainly because it allowed us to board the tender boat with priority. Due to strong winds, there was a slight delay in getting off the ship this time. If we hadn’t used the tour, we would have had to wait quite a while for our turn to board the tender. Additionally, it takes a significant amount of time to get on the gondola to go up to Fira.
To make the most of your sightseeing time in Santorini, it’s recommended to use a tour to minimize the tender wait time as much as possible. Also, when going to Fira, choosing to ride a donkey or walk (for the return) instead of taking the gondola isn’t a bad option either!
Comments