The cruise season for Santorini opens next Sunday, March 23, delimited by emergency Civil Protection measures included in the recent Joint Ministerial Decision. The Joint Ministerial Decision regulates, among other things, road traffic for the next two months in order to avoid overcrowding in the movement of visitors to and from the ports.
It seems that normality is being restored on the island in terms of cruise approaches, with the first good sign coming from the company Celestyal Cruises.
According to information from the Port Authority of Thira and the cruise program that the Port Authority of Thira has in its hands, the season will be inaugurated next Sunday by the cruise ship Celestyal Discovery with approximately 1,260 passengers, while in March, 2 more calls of the same cruise ship are expected, as well as 2 more calls of the Arethusa and Blue Sapphire, with a total of passengers – for all 6 calls – exceeding 4,000.
51 cruise calls in April
In parallel, according to data from the Port Authority, 51 cruise ship calls have been scheduled for April with estimates for a total of 51,857 passengers.
However, as a precautionary measure, some cruise lines have recently announced changes to their Santorini calls. In particular, at least three cruise lines, Viking, Selectum Blu, and Miray, appear to be canceling upcoming calls to the island. Viking, which was originally scheduled to call in February, has removed additional stops from its schedule, replacing them with Mykonos and Nafplio. Miray Cruises has replaced its March calls with Syros, and Selectum Blu with Patmos.
Princess, Costa, and AIDA have previously announced changes to their Santorini schedules, citing safety concerns.
What does the Joint Ministerial Decree for the ports include
The recent Joint Ministerial Decree provides the following for the movement of vehicles and passengers in the ports of Santorini…
- For the old port of Fira | In the old port of Fira and the upstream Teleferik area, access to and stay in the port area of ??the Old Port of Fira and in the upstream area that includes the Teleferik facilities and the Fira – Old Port Path are temporarily prohibited. By exception of the above prohibition, access to and stay within the above prohibition area, the repair and maintenance workshops of infrastructure, networks and professional premises located within the above area are permitted by taking the appropriate safety measures. Access by sea with any type of ship and floating shipbuilding will be permitted only after approval by the Port Authority of Thira.
- For Ammoudi | On the Municipal Road to Ammoudi, the movement and passage of all types of vehicles is prohibited, on the municipal road from the intersection of the Oia ring road to Ammoudi port. Exempt from this prohibition are catering vehicles during the hours of 05.00 a.m. to 10.00 a.m. and up to 5 (five) private passenger cars (P.I.C.) with up to ten (10) seats of paragraph 1 of subparagraph H2 of paragraph H of article one of law 4093/2012 (A’222) which will enter on a rotating basis with the care of the Municipality of Thira to facilitate the movement of visitors.
- For the port of Athinios | At the Port of Athinios and the Road Network of Ormos Athinios Ormos Athinios (new port of Fira), it is decided to take measures to control the traffic of disembarking vehicles, with priority for the disembarkation of passenger cars and then buses and trucks, so that there is no traffic load on the road, both during the disembarkation and the departure of the ships of the line, with the ultimate aim of reducing the time they spend on it.
The president of the Association of Cruise Ship Owners and Shipping Operators (EEKFN), Georgios Koumbenas, speaking at the annual general meeting of the Association, stated: “The situation in Santorini and the neighboring islands of the Cyclades, with the seismic tremors a few weeks ago, is a fact that has caused concern among residents and visitors – tourists. Regarding the cruise and the ports of disembarkation, mainly the old port, where the cable car station is located, we are in communication with all the competent bodies, regarding the course of servicing the cruise ships”.
According to 2024 cruise data presented by ELIME, Santorini was the second largest port in terms of passenger numbers (1.34 million) after Piraeus (1.73 million) and the third in terms of calls (750) after Piraeus (810) and Mykonos (768).
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