Perhaps the most convenient way to travel between the islands of Greece is by the ferries. It is a popular mode of transport for both locals and tourists alike. During our 8 days vacation in Greece, we used ferries from two companies in our island hop, the Blue Star Ferries and the Golden Star Ferries.
In this post, I will provide an account of our experience which might seem long but really just read it so you will be prepared for your own ferry trip.
Blue Star Ferries
From Athens (Piraeus) To Mykonos...
Departure time: 7.30 a.m.
Duration: 5 hours
We set sail aboard a huge ferry, Blue Star Paros. I had booked the tickets almost a month in advance and it cost 41.50€ per pax. A little pricey I know but this is for the airplane type seat which is an optional add-on at 5€. There wasn't any early bird discounts.
Will seats become unavailable if booking is done too last minute in the peak season? I honestly don't think so since Blue Star ferries normally have huge capacity. If you are looking at the smaller ferries like champion jets then it is very much possible.
Is it worth it to get the seat add-on? Well, I will give my opinion of that with proper justification. Read on...
Now, after I purchased the tickets online, the system didn't provide me with a soft copy of the tickets nor do they use the e-ticket system. The tickets would have to be printed at one of the ticketing offices near the docks. Obviously, not the most ideal situation made worse because we were late to the docks ourselves the day we were to set sail.
Even worse, the staff couldn’t locate our booking reservation! It was a good thing I printed out the payment confirmation page. Always make sure you do that especially if they don't email you the tickets!!
So, she proceeded to randomly giving us two tickets and urged us to run all the way to the ferry docking point as we were running late for the boarding. We ran all the way with our huge luggage, heaving and panting only to realise we had to join a long queue to board. Either all these people were late like us or the ship itself started the boarding late. Somehow I am more convinced it was the latter.
Anyway, once we got our tickets verified, we could choose to leave our luggage at the luggage storage site or take it up with us. We chose to take it up with us. The reason was simple. I had researched and read countless reviews. Sometimes the luggages goes missing or get stolen. We didn't want to take that chance. I will elaborate more on this when speaking about Golden Star Ferries.
As we were searching for our seats at the seating berth area, we realised we were given seats that were apart. Not wanting to sit apart, which is the reason I booked the tickets in advanced in the first place, I went to the customer service counter for help.
I was told to wait until the ship had set sail before they can help me. Ok fine I understood. They probably won't know which seats are free until ALL the passengers boarded. Which should be soon anyway since the boarding time was long passed and the setting off time fast approaching.
Except that it wasn't. It took almost an hour and a half before it was on its way! Honestly it was the most frustrating wait I have ever had to endure.
Part of the frustration was because we had actually paid extra for the airplane type seat and we had booked them way in advance yet we had to sit in the common area (for which we didn’t have to pay extra for in the first place).
To make matters worse, when the staff finally found time to help with our request, the seats they allocated to us were already occupied by a sleeping man and his baggage!
I asked him if he had booked those seats and he replied "No" nonchalantly to my stupefied face.
Apparently this is a very common occurrence. People who don't pay for the airplane type seats but occupy them anyway.
Or people who bought those seats but are sitting on your seats not their own. For this group of people, if you do ask them to move, they will just point out that someone else is occupying their seats. Might just save a lot of trouble to just find yourselves a couple of unoccupied seats.
Which made me question if it was really even necessary to buy the airplane type seats in the first place... So do you need to upgrade your seat? For me, not worth it at all.
Food? Can be purchased aboard. Nothing spectacular to talk about, just edible.
In the end, the ferry was close to three hours late in getting us to Mykonos but then again, that isn't uncommon.
From Athens (Piraeus) To Mykonos...
Departure time: 7.30 a.m.
Duration: 5 hours
We set sail aboard a huge ferry, Blue Star Paros. I had booked the tickets almost a month in advance and it cost 41.50€ per pax. A little pricey I know but this is for the airplane type seat which is an optional add-on at 5€. There wasn't any early bird discounts.
Will seats become unavailable if booking is done too last minute in the peak season? I honestly don't think so since Blue Star ferries normally have huge capacity. If you are looking at the smaller ferries like champion jets then it is very much possible.
Is it worth it to get the seat add-on? Well, I will give my opinion of that with proper justification. Read on...
Now, after I purchased the tickets online, the system didn't provide me with a soft copy of the tickets nor do they use the e-ticket system. The tickets would have to be printed at one of the ticketing offices near the docks. Obviously, not the most ideal situation made worse because we were late to the docks ourselves the day we were to set sail.
Even worse, the staff couldn’t locate our booking reservation! It was a good thing I printed out the payment confirmation page. Always make sure you do that especially if they don't email you the tickets!!
So, she proceeded to randomly giving us two tickets and urged us to run all the way to the ferry docking point as we were running late for the boarding. We ran all the way with our huge luggage, heaving and panting only to realise we had to join a long queue to board. Either all these people were late like us or the ship itself started the boarding late. Somehow I am more convinced it was the latter.
Anyway, once we got our tickets verified, we could choose to leave our luggage at the luggage storage site or take it up with us. We chose to take it up with us. The reason was simple. I had researched and read countless reviews. Sometimes the luggages goes missing or get stolen. We didn't want to take that chance. I will elaborate more on this when speaking about Golden Star Ferries.
As we were searching for our seats at the seating berth area, we realised we were given seats that were apart. Not wanting to sit apart, which is the reason I booked the tickets in advanced in the first place, I went to the customer service counter for help.
I was told to wait until the ship had set sail before they can help me. Ok fine I understood. They probably won't know which seats are free until ALL the passengers boarded. Which should be soon anyway since the boarding time was long passed and the setting off time fast approaching.
Except that it wasn't. It took almost an hour and a half before it was on its way! Honestly it was the most frustrating wait I have ever had to endure.
Part of the frustration was because we had actually paid extra for the airplane type seat and we had booked them way in advance yet we had to sit in the common area (for which we didn’t have to pay extra for in the first place).
To make matters worse, when the staff finally found time to help with our request, the seats they allocated to us were already occupied by a sleeping man and his baggage!
I asked him if he had booked those seats and he replied "No" nonchalantly to my stupefied face.
Apparently this is a very common occurrence. People who don't pay for the airplane type seats but occupy them anyway.
Or people who bought those seats but are sitting on your seats not their own. For this group of people, if you do ask them to move, they will just point out that someone else is occupying their seats. Might just save a lot of trouble to just find yourselves a couple of unoccupied seats.
Which made me question if it was really even necessary to buy the airplane type seats in the first place... So do you need to upgrade your seat? For me, not worth it at all.
Food? Can be purchased aboard. Nothing spectacular to talk about, just edible.
In the end, the ferry was close to three hours late in getting us to Mykonos but then again, that isn't uncommon.
Golden Star Ferries
From Mykonos To Santorini...
Departure time: 10 a.m.
Duration: 4 hours
The Golden Star Ferry, Super Runner, was a smaller vessel that the Blue Star Paros. This I booked online as well but only a few days in advanced and it cost 51€ per pax. Yup, really pricey and no early bird discounts. I had checked almost a month before.
This ferry didn't bother pretending it was concerned about punctuality unlike the Blue Star Paros. Right from the onset it was late. No sign of it at the docks. I can't remember how long we had to wait for it to arrive, probably 45 minutes.
Boarding was simple enough since it used the e-ticket system. Just go right ahead to the docking bay and board. Makes much more sense to buy the tickets online actually unlike for Blue Star where you could just buy at the ticketing office.
We left our luggage at the luggage storage area and honestly throughout the entire journey, my mind was troubled if our belongings were going to be safe.
There was hardly any security at all! No one bothered with tags to make sure you take only your own belongings when disembarking. Plus the ferry had to made three other stops before Santorini. In those stops, anyone could have disembarked with your luggage but I guess that is not a major concern of the company.
If you are really concerned, make sure you bring you luggage with you to your seating area.
Here, we encountered a similar problem. People on our seats! Like I said, very common. This time we didn't bother asking anything. Just went to two unoccupied seats and plonked ourselves onto it.
The funny thing was that we were pretty sure that the people whose seats we were occupying were staring at us at one point. Perhaps they got used to travelling by Greek ferries, they never bothered chasing us off.
The trip continued uneventfully except for me praying for the safety of our luggage every time we reached a port of call.
The surprising thing however was that we reached Santorini on time. Yup, wasn't late. I guess the name of the ferry really fits.
So that's it. My experience of travelling by ferry in Greece. I guess just expect the worse and it should be fine. Nothing major will happen unless you are the few unlucky ones whose luggage gets stolen.
Always expect the ferries to be late. Make sure if you have a flight or appointment after, give lots of leeway for delays because they are common enough.
It is possible to travel to the islands by airplane as well. After all there are airports on a lot of the islands, definitely have them in both Mykonos and Santorini.
Oh and don't pay extra for a supposedly faster ferry that will get you to an island in half the time. *cough* *champion jet*. All ferries take similar time to reach!
Enjoy your Greece adventures! I certainly enjoyed mine!
**Did you have a similar encounter when you took the Greek ferry? Or any pressing questions if you are going on a trip soon? Do write me!
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