10/28 – Santorini time #3

We’re here again! Only today we don’t arrive until 1 pm, which is perplexing since we have been sailing very slowly all night long. But once we see how many ships are here today (a total of 6, including the Odyssey of the Seas with 4000+ passengers! But also our sweet little Azamara Quest is here, which makes us pine for day we will be sailing with them again….soon….thankfully!), it becomes obvious that the Dawn was scheduled late so as to be able accommodate the mass of tourists (and tour availability) here today.

Our original plans were to take a Volcano hike tour, but after reading the description more fully, we decide to bag it. The tour says it is 8 ½ hours long, with a Cacique (little sail boat) ride, the hike with a 30 minute quick uphill walk and 2 hours at a sulpher spring for swimming. Um, nah. We’ll just go on our own.

Probably the best move as it is super windy here today and well, we’ve already been on one death defying little sailboat ride in this caldera. I’d rather not repeat that experience. Thank you. But now we have to work the tender scrum. Fortunately, we arrive early, so that there is open tendering before the tours go out. We hurry to grab our gear and go stand in line, fortunately making it into the main line on deck 6 before they shut off the open tender calls. As it is, we still stand in line for about an hour waiting to get off. About 15 minutes of delay is caused by the winds and the Captain changing position to have the tenders on a more leeward side. The rest? Just the dysfunctional messed up way the Dawn does their tendering. Thank heavens we don’t have anything to do but wander.

Also thank heavens we don’t have to use our own tenders but are required to use the big Santorini tenders. They seat way more people, plus they are easier to strategize seats and get off quickly. We end up being the first on the tender, so we grab seats at the back right by the loading steps, then wait as the other 200 passengers finally get aboard. The ride is a quick one, but we end up getting stuck at the pier waiting for a spot to dock. It takes about 10 minutes of doing 360’s in the pier area before they finally pull in and we are off that boat in a hurry, trying to get to the cable car as fast as possible. No real reason to be concerned, because we know exactly what we are doing, where we are going, and the rest of these folks basically don’t have a clue. We’ve decided there is a huge proportion of people on this ship who have never traveled or at least not traveled much and on top of which do little to no research on the ports they are visiting.

All the better for us, as we are literally on the first cable car that pulls in. Up top we start our meanderings, only to walk along the crowded streets in awe of the line to get back down on the cable car. It stretches forever, winding back along one of the little squares and out to the next street. It’s easily a 2 hour wait!!! OMG, we are so walking down!

Being as we don’t feel like walking to Oia this late in the day, and the fact that there really isn’t much to do in Thira besides shop for souvenirs or eat, we choose food and head over to Stamna, the great restaurant we found when we were here in November. This time it is warm enough to sit outside, which we do, and chat up the waitress who served us the last time. She is amazed we remember her, and is slightly embarrassed she doesn’t remember us – but again, how many people does she see daily? Off the beaten path, there aren’t too many others here (6 in total) which allows us to enjoy our snacks – saganaki and grilled veggies – and wine and beer in peace and quiet before facing the masses on our walk back down to the port.

The tranquility ends too soon, and we slalom our way through meandering tourists to the winding stairs leading to the port. The crew calls this “Donkey Road,” very aptly names as the donkeys are everywhere today. What a difference a year makes!

Successfully navigating the donkey poop, we treat ourselves to a beer and wine and one of the cafes on the waterfront. It is the last restaurant on the pier, which we thought was where we ate all those years ago with the captain and crew of a Celebrity ship – but it doesn’t look familiar. We may be mixing it up with the “blue” restaurant on the corner of the pier where we had tomato balls on our last visit. But no matter, this place is quiet as it is far from the madness of 6 different tender spots for 6 different ships (one of the ships had their tent right in front of the “blue” restaurant, making for a crowded and not very quiet atmosphere) and the beer and wine are perfect.

Thirst quenched, we walk down the pier, hop on a waiting tender and arrive back at the ship unscathed. The afternoon proceeds as normal, with stops for scenic picture taking and then a lovely quiet dinner because no one is back on board yet. Then off to the lounge for Motown, sailaway at 10pm, and drinks on the balcony.