Meredith

Hi, all,

We're beginning to put together a Greece/Turkey trip for this May, and I wanted to see if anyone here is familiar with Blue Lagoon (which I think is also known as Santorini Sailing) in Santorini. I have seen the website, but there is no mention of price. Anyone know how much Captain Ted charges for one day?

Thanks!
Meredith

brotherleelove2004

I pulled this off another website:

"After seeing some positive posts on this forum we decided to treat ourselves and booked a sunset cruise with Captain Ted for €135 each. All in all we were very disappointed. We ended up moored next to the big tourist boats at the hot springs, didn't sail into the caldera at all and the 'private bay' was just a place where we decided to drop anchor and not a bay at all. Dinner was OK and included fresh prawns, but I'd expected a little more then wine served from plastic 6 litre containers and a pasta salad as a side dish. In addition to this, Captain Ted asked for €25 from each couple as we were leaving the boat to cover the 'bar bill' (this had never been mentioned in any correspondence), add to that the €20 each way for transfers (the boat leave from right down the south side of the island which you can't get to without a car) and it turned out to be a very expensive and quite unsatisfying trip.
Also, you can't help but feel that Captain Ted has been doing this for too long, his routine seeming very 'rehearsed', and at times he seemed just bored.
Something I would definitely not waste my money on again."

Meredith

Good to know - thanks, brotherleelove!

This leads to a spin-off question - can anyone recommend any other companies that do day sails around Santorini?

milliebz

I too am planning a trip to Greece and Turkey and researched Blue Lagoon. In all fairness,there have beensome very, very postive posts on this forum and Trip Advisor forum which say the sail was the highlight of their trip. Go to Trip advisor and do a search.

After getting more information from posters on Trip Advisor I decided against only because for a family of four the cost was too much. He is a positive post that appeared on this forum.

The highlight of our trip was a sail with Blue Lagoon
around the island. This was amazing. There were three other couples on the boat
and we all had a great time together. Ted Stathis is the name of the captain
(although there are two boats and he was on the other - they were filming a show
for the Food Network with Giada whom we met when we jumped off to swim!) The
sail lasts about 5 hours and in addition to seeing the incredible views, it was
fun to jump off and swim. As the sun begins to set, they grill the most amazing
dinner of calamari, prawns and pork chops accompanied by salads and pasta and
fabulous wine. This was one of our favorite parts of our whole trip.

brotherleelove2004

There are several companies on Santorini that offer full- or half-day excursion cruises into the caldera that include a stop on the volcano, a swim in the volcano hotsprings, a stop on Therassia and at Armeni Wharf below Oia. There is also a sunset champagne cruise. You can wait until you get there to figure out which one to take as they all operate every day.

Meredith

Ah, I didn't even think to look for reviews on Trip Advisor. Thanks again to both of you!

And milliebz, it sounds like you and I are planning similar trips. What is your itinerary? Although we have yet to pick dates or book anything, I'm thinking we'll visit Athens, Santorini, Istanbul, and Cappadocia, hopefully spending about 3 days in each.

sonal123

Hi.
I am planning a 19 days trip to Greece in May with my 2 teenage kids(19 and 18 yr old), but after having read so much on Turkey am tempted to include a cruise that ends at Istanbul, so we can spend a few days there.
Pls suggest whether in 19 days I should only do Greece properly, or also include Turkey and what should the itnerary be, so its not too hectic?I am looking for a combination of history and islands.Whats yr itenarary like?
Thanks,
Cheers,
Sonal