Ferry Reservations needed for mid June vacation?
May 3rd, 2013, 06:24 PM
#1
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Ferry Reservations needed for mid June vacation?
Our upcoming trip next month will require us to take a ferry between islands
June 20 between Santorini & Naxos and
June 22 between Naxos & Mykonos
We will be taking the Blue Star ferry. We will not need a car reservation, it's just for 2 people. Would a reservation be a requirement at this time? I think we're on the cusp just before high season so I wanted to see what people think.
June 20 between Santorini & Naxos and
June 22 between Naxos & Mykonos
We will be taking the Blue Star ferry. We will not need a car reservation, it's just for 2 people. Would a reservation be a requirement at this time? I think we're on the cusp just before high season so I wanted to see what people think.
May 3rd, 2013, 11:22 PM
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You won't need reservations for Santorini - Naxos, as Blue Star is never full on that leg even in high season.
The only direct ferry I can find between Naxos and Mykonos on June 22nd is Superjet, which is much smaller than Blue Star. Furthermore, June 22nd is the middle of Greek Pentecost weekend, when ferry travel is heavier than usual. To be safe it's best to prebook that one.
Should anything go wrong with Superjet it will still be possible to get to Mykonos via Paros. All you have to do is take the 9:30 am Blue Star from Naxos to Paros, then transfer to Mykonos from there.
The only direct ferry I can find between Naxos and Mykonos on June 22nd is Superjet, which is much smaller than Blue Star. Furthermore, June 22nd is the middle of Greek Pentecost weekend, when ferry travel is heavier than usual. To be safe it's best to prebook that one.
Should anything go wrong with Superjet it will still be possible to get to Mykonos via Paros. All you have to do is take the 9:30 am Blue Star from Naxos to Paros, then transfer to Mykonos from there.
May 4th, 2013, 01:13 AM
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Further to my previous post: there will be no Blue Star between Naxos and Mykonos in June, but with a recent change to their timetables it looks like Hellenic Seaways' FlyingCat 4 will be running that route from the 14th:
http://www.hellenicseaways.gr/media/...taxkykl_en.pdf
The same applies, though — both Superjet and FlyingCat 4 are small passenger-only catamarans. Being that June 22nd falls on Pentecost weekend, and the fact that many people use those ferries to connect with international flights out of Mykonos, it would be wise to prebook.
http://www.hellenicseaways.gr/media/...taxkykl_en.pdf
The same applies, though — both Superjet and FlyingCat 4 are small passenger-only catamarans. Being that June 22nd falls on Pentecost weekend, and the fact that many people use those ferries to connect with international flights out of Mykonos, it would be wise to prebook.
May 11th, 2013, 01:33 PM
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Thanks Heimdall, you're a life saver. I just thought Blue Star just hadn't posted their schedule. It didn't occur to me that Naxos to Mykonos is not an offered route at this time.
Perhaps I'm doing something wrong but, I don't see an option to go from Paros to Mykonos even if we did take the 9:30am Blue Star Ferry from Naxos to Paros. To me it looks like service from Paros to Mykonos doesn't start until Jul 1. What am I doing wrong?
Thank you for posting the SuperJet schedule. It looks like we only have 1 option on Flying Cat 4 departing Naxos at 6:10pm, arriving on Mykonos at 7:45p. I know no one has a crystal ball but, I worry about rough seas and last minute ferry cancellations. Is this something we have to worry about in June? If so, we can't even take a flight from Naxos to Mykonos. I hate having all my eggs in one basket. I'm wondering if we should just take the Blue Star Ferry to Athens instead of taking chances and tour the mainland for a few days?
Perhaps I'm doing something wrong but, I don't see an option to go from Paros to Mykonos even if we did take the 9:30am Blue Star Ferry from Naxos to Paros. To me it looks like service from Paros to Mykonos doesn't start until Jul 1. What am I doing wrong?
Thank you for posting the SuperJet schedule. It looks like we only have 1 option on Flying Cat 4 departing Naxos at 6:10pm, arriving on Mykonos at 7:45p. I know no one has a crystal ball but, I worry about rough seas and last minute ferry cancellations. Is this something we have to worry about in June? If so, we can't even take a flight from Naxos to Mykonos. I hate having all my eggs in one basket. I'm wondering if we should just take the Blue Star Ferry to Athens instead of taking chances and tour the mainland for a few days?
May 11th, 2013, 02:30 PM
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I've been scrambling to try & figure out a backup plan. If we did scrap Mykonos and take the 9:30am Blue Star ferry to Piraeus, would we need to make a reservation due to Pentecost weekend? As you say, I believe the BS Ferry is huge but, I wasn't sure how busy it would be over that weekend?
The other option I'm thinking of is maybe spending 4 nights on Santorini and then 3 on Naxos OR, we could keep the plan as is and spend 3 on Santorini, 2 on Naxos and then 2 on Paros instead of Mykonos. Then we could take the ferry from Paros to Athens the day before our flight.
If there's really only one transportation option that goes between Naxos & Mykonos, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that. So disappointed because we already have our flight from Mykonos to Athens on 6/24 and of course it's non ref!
The other option I'm thinking of is maybe spending 4 nights on Santorini and then 3 on Naxos OR, we could keep the plan as is and spend 3 on Santorini, 2 on Naxos and then 2 on Paros instead of Mykonos. Then we could take the ferry from Paros to Athens the day before our flight.
If there's really only one transportation option that goes between Naxos & Mykonos, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that. So disappointed because we already have our flight from Mykonos to Athens on 6/24 and of course it's non ref!
May 11th, 2013, 11:29 PM
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I see four ferries from Paros to Mykonos on June 22nd: http://www.gtp.gr/RoutesResults.asp?...MYKMYK,12183,8. If seas are rough enough to cancel the small catamarans, Highspeed 5, leaving Paros at 7 pm, is much larger and usually still sails.
There never has been a Blue Star ferry between Mykonos and Naxos/Paros because they are on two different main ferry routes. In winter there are no direct connections at all. In summer the connection is made by seasonal catamarans and one or two local ferries.
This year, starting on Jul 1st, Blue Star will be operating one of their older ferries out of Rafina, stopping at Mykonos, Naxos, and Paros. That will be a high season-only route, ending in September.
The rule for Pentecost weekend is to book ferries leaving for the islands on Friday and Saturday, and book ferries returning to the mainland on Monday. Travel back to Athens on Saturday should be light, because no one wants to spend only half the weekend on the islands. As a precaution I would pre-book travel on any of the small catamarans (Superjet, SeaJet 2, & FlyingCat 4) that weekend.
There never has been a Blue Star ferry between Mykonos and Naxos/Paros because they are on two different main ferry routes. In winter there are no direct connections at all. In summer the connection is made by seasonal catamarans and one or two local ferries.
This year, starting on Jul 1st, Blue Star will be operating one of their older ferries out of Rafina, stopping at Mykonos, Naxos, and Paros. That will be a high season-only route, ending in September.
The rule for Pentecost weekend is to book ferries leaving for the islands on Friday and Saturday, and book ferries returning to the mainland on Monday. Travel back to Athens on Saturday should be light, because no one wants to spend only half the weekend on the islands. As a precaution I would pre-book travel on any of the small catamarans (Superjet, SeaJet 2, & FlyingCat 4) that weekend.
May 12th, 2013, 07:35 AM
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Heimdall,
Thanks again for the link to the gtp website along with the associated ferries. On that site I also saw that there's one ferry scheduled from Naxos to Mykonos (see below). This is obviously our first trip to Greece so can you tell me how common it is for a ferry to be cancelled? Does it happen frequently?
I guess I see this as potentially wasting a day if we're locked into taking a ferry that may or may not run and what do we do if it doesn't? Do ferries just not show up or, is it possible that we could board one thinking we're heading to either Paros or Mykonos only to find out that it can't dock? So, potentially we could end up on another island all together?
Just trying to determine the best option given that we depart for Athens for home on June 25th.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ferry schedules within Greece
The following schedules were found.
From: NAXOS, Island, KYKLADES
To: MYKONOS (MYK), Port, KYKLADES
Company: Any
Effective Date: 22/6/2013
Sort By: departure time
12/5/2013 18:11
Days Departure Arrival Date Company
M T W T F S S Time Ports Time Ports From Till
13:45 NAXOS
(NAX) 14:30 MYKONOS
(MYK) 22/6/2013 14/9/2013 IJ
Thanks again for the link to the gtp website along with the associated ferries. On that site I also saw that there's one ferry scheduled from Naxos to Mykonos (see below). This is obviously our first trip to Greece so can you tell me how common it is for a ferry to be cancelled? Does it happen frequently?
I guess I see this as potentially wasting a day if we're locked into taking a ferry that may or may not run and what do we do if it doesn't? Do ferries just not show up or, is it possible that we could board one thinking we're heading to either Paros or Mykonos only to find out that it can't dock? So, potentially we could end up on another island all together?
Just trying to determine the best option given that we depart for Athens for home on June 25th.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ferry schedules within Greece
The following schedules were found.
From: NAXOS, Island, KYKLADES
To: MYKONOS (MYK), Port, KYKLADES
Company: Any
Effective Date: 22/6/2013
Sort By: departure time
12/5/2013 18:11
Days Departure Arrival Date Company
M T W T F S S Time Ports Time Ports From Till
13:45 NAXOS
(NAX) 14:30 MYKONOS
(MYK) 22/6/2013 14/9/2013 IJ
May 12th, 2013, 07:50 AM
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If your itinerary is not yet set in stone with uncancelable hotel reservations, why not change up the order a bit and save yourself some stress? Take a ferry from Rafina to Mykonos first, then on to Naxos (either direct or via Paros), then continue the rest of the way to Santorini.
If your plan is to spend some time in Athens first you can take a bus to Rafina in the evening, spend the night and catch the morning ferry to Mykonos. But if you can, go to Rafina directly from the airport when you first arrive for the Mykonos Ferry and save Athens for the end of your trip so you have some extra time to get back to the mainland in case of cancellations or breakdowns.
If your plan is to spend some time in Athens first you can take a bus to Rafina in the evening, spend the night and catch the morning ferry to Mykonos. But if you can, go to Rafina directly from the airport when you first arrive for the Mykonos Ferry and save Athens for the end of your trip so you have some extra time to get back to the mainland in case of cancellations or breakdowns.
May 12th, 2013, 08:40 AM
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I suppose we could cancel our hotels but, we do have inter-island flights involved which can't be cancelled. Our itinerary is below:
June 13 Fly to Athans
June 14 Arrive in Athens (Athens overnight)
June 15 (Athens), evening flight to Corfu (already booked). (Corfu 2 nights)
June 16 Corfu
June 17 Early morning flight from Corfu to Santorini (already booked). Arrive Santorini 11am.
June 18 Santorini
June 19 Santorini
June 20: Santorini to Naxos via afternoon Blue Star Ferry (Naxos 2 nights)
June 21: Naxos
June 22: Naxos to Mykonos (Mykonos 2 nights)
June 23: Mykonos
June 24: Mykonos Aegean Airways evening flight to Athens (Stay at Holiday Inn Athens Airport)
June 25: Fly home---departs Athens 6:50am.
We're outside penalty for all of our hotels at this point. We have the 2 flights locked in. How common are ferry cancellations? I think that will help me decide whether we scrap Mykonos all together and just take the Blue Star Ferry back to Athens from Naxos or, whether we throw caution to the wind and just take our chances.
June 13 Fly to Athans
June 14 Arrive in Athens (Athens overnight)
June 15 (Athens), evening flight to Corfu (already booked). (Corfu 2 nights)
June 16 Corfu
June 17 Early morning flight from Corfu to Santorini (already booked). Arrive Santorini 11am.
June 18 Santorini
June 19 Santorini
June 20: Santorini to Naxos via afternoon Blue Star Ferry (Naxos 2 nights)
June 21: Naxos
June 22: Naxos to Mykonos (Mykonos 2 nights)
June 23: Mykonos
June 24: Mykonos Aegean Airways evening flight to Athens (Stay at Holiday Inn Athens Airport)
June 25: Fly home---departs Athens 6:50am.
We're outside penalty for all of our hotels at this point. We have the 2 flights locked in. How common are ferry cancellations? I think that will help me decide whether we scrap Mykonos all together and just take the Blue Star Ferry back to Athens from Naxos or, whether we throw caution to the wind and just take our chances.
May 12th, 2013, 08:48 AM
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The seas aren't usually rough in June so cancellations shouldn't be too much of a worry, although I'd still avoid the smaller SeaJets Superjet, since it does seem to break down with regularity. The larger car ferries such as those used by Blue Star are very stable and seldom have problems, and can handle the rough seas with ease.
May 12th, 2013, 09:11 AM
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Don't plan your trip around possible problems, just be aware of anything like weather or industrial action that could affect your plans. In the unlikely event that you couldn't get from Naxos to Mykonos, don't worry. All you would have to do is stay an extra day or two on Naxos or make your way back to Athens early by Blue Star.
Ferries are rarely cancelled — it does happen occasionally, but usually only with the smaller catamarans like Sea Jets. When high winds are on the way you will get a few days warning with the weather forecasts. All the islanders are very aware of impending weather problems, and can give you advice.
You can check the weather yourself on http://www.meteo.gr/main.asp. Click on the island, then go to the English language version like this: http://www.meteo.gr/cf-En.asp?city_id=16. If the forecast winds are less than Beaufort Force (Bf) 7 you have nothing to worry about. At around Bf 7 the small catamarans are sometimes cancelled, but it would take Bf 8 or 9 for the large car ferries to stay in port.
Ferries are rarely cancelled — it does happen occasionally, but usually only with the smaller catamarans like Sea Jets. When high winds are on the way you will get a few days warning with the weather forecasts. All the islanders are very aware of impending weather problems, and can give you advice.
You can check the weather yourself on http://www.meteo.gr/main.asp. Click on the island, then go to the English language version like this: http://www.meteo.gr/cf-En.asp?city_id=16. If the forecast winds are less than Beaufort Force (Bf) 7 you have nothing to worry about. At around Bf 7 the small catamarans are sometimes cancelled, but it would take Bf 8 or 9 for the large car ferries to stay in port.
May 12th, 2013, 09:45 AM
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Thank you both so much. You have been a tremendous help.
We have a flight on Mykonos that's already booked back to Athens so if we don't go, I supposed we could deal with losing a few hundred Euro. The bigger issue is our hotel on Mykonos which is expensive. I think we have a 7 day cancellation policy so if we wait and can't get there at the last minute, we'll be out over $1000 and that would really su*k!
We have a flight on Mykonos that's already booked back to Athens so if we don't go, I supposed we could deal with losing a few hundred Euro. The bigger issue is our hotel on Mykonos which is expensive. I think we have a 7 day cancellation policy so if we wait and can't get there at the last minute, we'll be out over $1000 and that would really su*k!
May 12th, 2013, 10:55 AM
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Let's put it this way: in the 15-20 years I've been going to the Greek Islands, I've never had a ferry cancelled due to weather, and I usually travel in June. I have had two ferries cancelled due to mechanical problems, and both times it was SeaJet 2.
Would the hotel still charge you if you were unable to get to Mykonos due to weather? That sounds rather harsh. If you couldn't get to Mykonos, at the same time there would be other travellers who couldn't get off the island. ;-)
Would the hotel still charge you if you were unable to get to Mykonos due to weather? That sounds rather harsh. If you couldn't get to Mykonos, at the same time there would be other travellers who couldn't get off the island. ;-)
May 12th, 2013, 12:28 PM
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Excellent point but, something tells me the hotel might not be quite so sympathetic.
So, Hellenic Seaways could be an option? There's a Hellenic Seaways ferry from Naxos to Mykonos on June 22nd at 18:20-19:35 but, apparently it's not officially approved yet. It says to keep checking back, which I will. There's also a 13:45 Sea Jet but from what you tell me, I should probably steer clear. The Hellenic Seaways is a car ferry so I'm guessing this is a larger catamaran and hopefully more reliable?
So, Hellenic Seaways could be an option? There's a Hellenic Seaways ferry from Naxos to Mykonos on June 22nd at 18:20-19:35 but, apparently it's not officially approved yet. It says to keep checking back, which I will. There's also a 13:45 Sea Jet but from what you tell me, I should probably steer clear. The Hellenic Seaways is a car ferry so I'm guessing this is a larger catamaran and hopefully more reliable?
May 12th, 2013, 11:09 PM
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There's a Hellenic Seaways ferry from Naxos to Mykonos on June 22nd at 18:20-19:35 but, apparently it's not officially approved yet.
You are correct, and that's the same ferry that departs from Paros at 19:00, one stop later. When the website says "not officially approved yet" it's usually just a formality, and will run as the schedule shows. This year Hellenic Seaways seems to be playing with it's summer timetables, though, and on it's own website is showing FlyingCat 4 doing that route, so I don't know what to say: http://www.hellenicseaways.gr/media/...taxkykl_en.pdf.
I can understand your concern in getting to Mykonos, especially with a hotel reservation and flight at stake. If you can, just relax for a while and see what transpires. It looks like you have several options in getting from Naxos to Mykonos that day. The safest option is to plan on taking the earliest possible ferry (even if it's a Sea Jet), then you have a fallback if that doesn't work out. You still have plenty of time to book your ferry, which will probably have empty seats on the day of sailing.
You are correct, and that's the same ferry that departs from Paros at 19:00, one stop later. When the website says "not officially approved yet" it's usually just a formality, and will run as the schedule shows. This year Hellenic Seaways seems to be playing with it's summer timetables, though, and on it's own website is showing FlyingCat 4 doing that route, so I don't know what to say: http://www.hellenicseaways.gr/media/...taxkykl_en.pdf.
I can understand your concern in getting to Mykonos, especially with a hotel reservation and flight at stake. If you can, just relax for a while and see what transpires. It looks like you have several options in getting from Naxos to Mykonos that day. The safest option is to plan on taking the earliest possible ferry (even if it's a Sea Jet), then you have a fallback if that doesn't work out. You still have plenty of time to book your ferry, which will probably have empty seats on the day of sailing.
