Santorini, Greece
Ship: Silversea Cruises’ Silver Ray
Itinerary: 11-Night Venice to Athens
The view of santorini from our balcony
This morning, Silver Ray is anchored off the coast of Santorini, Greece, one of the most picturesque islands in Greece, if not the world. Without question, Santorini is the highlight port on this 11-night sailing. From our balcony, we can see that there are three other large ships anchored here today: Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas, Marella Discovery and a Celebrity Infinity.
We had tried to book a shore excursion here but, by the time we had access to book online, all of the excursions were waitlisted. We decided, instead, to catch the local tender from Silver Ray to Santorini and do some exploring on our own. I should mention that we have been here two or three times in the past.
Approaching Santorini
The local tender boats used to shuttle guests to and from shore are larger than the ship’s tenders/lifeboats. We board the tender at 10:30am. The ride to shore takes about 15 minutes and, when we disembarked, we knew almost immediately that we would be heading right back to the ship.
The town of Santorini sits on top of a mountain and there are two primary ways for tourists to get there. The first is a cable car that takes you up the side of the mountain. It only costs 3 Euro, but it only runs every 20 minutes. The second way is on the back of a donkey…seriously. These donkeys take you up a winding roadway to the top. We did this a few years ago and it was an interesting journey, but not something you would want to do more than once.
Of course, you could walk on that same path the donkeys use, but it is a long, arduous, hike and it is already almost 100 degrees today. No thank you. That walk would easily take 45 minutes to an hour.
Local Tender Boats
When we step off the tender, we can see that the line of people waiting for the cable car ride stretches for hundreds of yards. It would take hours standing in the hot sun just to get to a cable car. We have never been to Santorini in the past when it was this crowded. And, this experience showed us why so many destinations around the world are restricting access by cruise ships. There are just simply too many people on these large ships for these towns to handle, especially when you have two, three or four ships arrive on the same day.
Insane Crowds In Santorini
We decided to catch the next tender back to Silver Ray, and even that required us to stand at the tender station for nearly 45 minutes waiting for the tender to arrive. Once we were back on board, we were not in any mood to stand in line for food at the buffet, so we opted for a peaceful lunch at Atlantide.
Waiting for the next tender to arrive
There were perhaps only 3 or 4 tables occupied in Atlantide and the service here is great. We enjoyed a much more relaxed and peaceful meal here than we would have had at the buffet or The Grill. We also learned that anything from the room service menu is also available at Atlantide!
Rickee ordered the Apple, Fig and Walnut Salad (below)
Apple, Fig and Walnut Salad
I ordered the stir fry Broccoli and Beef, which was delicious!
Broccoli Beef
This afternoon, we partipated in a S.A.L.T. Lab session where guests are invited into a special kitchen to prepare a regional dish. Today, we were working with Phyllo dough to create a Baklava-style roll and Spanikopita.
There is no charge to participate in S.A.L.T. Lab, but advance reservations are required (you can book a spot as soon as you board the ship). Space is limited, so it is a good idea to book as soon as you can.
Each station has a stove and all necessary utensils
Today’s S.A.L.T. Lab was conducted by Erin, the resident S.A.L.T. lab chef/hostess.
Erin, S.A.L.T. Lab Hostess and Chef
Before we finish packing for the flight home, we took some time this afternoon to enjoy a glass of Champagne on our balcony as Silver Ray sailed away from Santorini.
Santorini, Greece
Tomorrow morning, Silver Ray will dock in Piraeus, Greece, where we will disembark and fly home to Dallas. It has been another amazing 11-night cruise with Silversea and we have a lot of photos and notes to go over for our final review of this new ship.
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