The anticipated stop of the entire cruise – Santorini. We all were so looking forward to this stop – bring on the town with the blue domes!

Apparently ALL passengers thought like us and had got up early to queue for the tenders to get on the mainland. Slow progress and we finally all got on a tender, welcomed by a crisp cold morning!

View was amazing as we headed to the Old Port of Scala. FIRA on top of the steep and very high cliffs. Two ways to get to the top, cable car or on Donkeys, we opted for the first one. Unfortunately there are no other transport down from the Old Port to the top.

No queue to cable car !!, we beat the crowds who were yet to arrive on the other tenders.
The view from the top was amazing of the Santorini skyline.

Doc had prebooked a Taxi to take us around the island, now to make our way to that. A couple of calls , we found the location and also realised that things start slooooooowwwly here, Taxi was still 1 hour away.
Well make the most of it and walk around the place… and ofcourse take more pics.
Being this early, most of the stores were closed , couple of coffee places open but nothing much to do other than walk about.
**TIP** It is not essential to prebook taxi’s for large groups (depending on seasons), there were so many taxi agents there ready to arrange a people mover on the spot. Not for this time, but next time maybe.

We were soon in our tour / taxi, touring the island, first stop was a viewing area showing a panaromic view of the white city! The view was stunning…. our first close glimpse of FIRA and the blue domes – just wow!

Back into the car for FIRA, was not too far. The driver dropped us off and also explained where the pickup point would be and we simply had to call him when we were ready to go. Now to explore Fira, everyone was to follow Meeta, she had done a ton of research on which key sights were there, 3 bells, the blue domes and stuff…. I am no expert at this stuff so not going to BS that, rather we all just followed Meeta and were awed by what we saw.
What we had not realised was how busy this white city could get so early on, already people were there.

Had stopped for a coffee break , getting a place to fit in 12 was also a challenge. We did manage a cafe with great views and not soo bad coffee break.

Post that we drove to Oia where there was more walking and lots of crowds, getting a bit crazy, we then headed back to Fira town where we could get the cable back – allowing all of us another 2-3 hours before we were to head back to the ship. All decided to do our own things to make the most of the time and browse the numerous nooks and small shops.
Nita & I roamed a few blocks ,all these walking was taking a toll on me plus the lack of a good meal was tiring or rather I was HANGRY ;( – earlier on we had a snack with the group but was super light.
Found a great spot with amazing views to the ocean, could see our Ship in the waters below us.
Grabbed a much needed coffees with a club sandwich…..

Was a much needed break, time to make a way back to the ship, first to the Gondola / Cable car – big queue however it was moving at a steady rate, informed the gang to not be too late, queue was going to add another 30 mins minimum. Standing in the queue I picked up a nice pair of Greek Isl themed Socks – just then Cheeky came by and he got the same.

Cheeky , Meeta, Nita and I were on the cable car, and soon after on the ship.
Had to try our new socks…

Whilst awaiting the others to arrive, Nita and I reviewed the Portraits that we taken on the prior day at sea. A few good one, but this one with Doc and Tina was special.

Everyone was back on, and we all met at our usual – Martini Bar.
The ship sounded its horn as it made it way out of Santorini, we all headed out to the balconies to see off Santorini. It was a great stop, however I would recommend staying overnight if possible – there is much to do and a day trip usually results in clashing with peak hours of tourists- the evenings would be so much more peaceful and an opportunity to take in the island. Still it was a great stop and a bucket list item ticked off.

The evening we had booked dinner in the specialty restaurant @ Le Petit Chef, I would highly recommend this one for the interactive experience , it is on most Celebrity Cruises and involves 3D animation – projecting a story of the dish being made onto dining table and plate, very cool experience and as the animation of the dish being made finishes, the real dish appears at that very moment – very nicely done !

We ended up at the Martini Bar post dinner, chatting away and reliving the past few days of pure fun!
Our last night on the ship, tomorrow we disembark in Athens and the group splits in smaller units.