Crowds gather for the sunset on Santorini. Photo / Getty Images
Crowds gather for the sunset on Santorini. Photo / Getty Images
A cruise line told guests of a last minute change of plans this week, telling passengers its visit to the Greek island of Santorini was cancelled due to overcrowding.
The Princess Cruises’ vessel, Sun Princess has culled the popular port of call from future cruises due to concerns the ‘Fair Island’ was over-congested with tourist traffic.
A letter to guests, seen by the Greek Reporter news site, told sailors that it anticipated significant overcrowding this northern summer which would impact on the experience.
The Sun Princess would now be taking its 4300 guests elsewhere.
“Please note that there is a change to our scheduled itinerary. Due to cruise ship congestion, we will no longer call to Santorini, Greece.”
Instead of calling into the port of Athinios, from June 11 the Sun Princess would be calling into the port of Chania, Crete.
The anticipated congestion refers to the fact that the ship was one of five scheduled to converge on the island in the southern Cyclades. This represented a potential 17,000 cruise passengers disembarking on the island in a single day.
Santorini’s 15,500 locals would have been swamped.
It’s not uncommon for itineraries to be changed, however, with only weeks before the sailing it was unclear if this was in response to requests from Santorini authorities or the cruise planners’ own judgment.
Despite long problems with overcrowding, the whitewashed Cycladic houses and blue domes make Santorini a big draw for tourists.
And despite it being a key reason many guests would have booked the sailing, according to Cruise Hive the passenger contract means that affected passengers will not receive compensation. Partial refunds on deposits or fares would only be considered if itineraries are affected by mechanical failures.
Carnival Cruise Lines, the parent company of Princess Cruises were contacted for comment.
Respect: Santorini locals have begun putting up English language signage to urge better behaviour from tourist crowds. Photo / Save Oia
How crowded is Santorini?
Santorini has long complained of over-tourism and crowding.
According to the Greek Reporter the tourism hub in the Cyclades sees about 1300 visitors per resident.
This is only exaggerated by the narrow, steep streets of the volcanic island.
Local group Save Oia, with aims of “securing a sustainable future for the world’s most beautiful village”, says that congestion from cruise tourism was one of the biggest threats to the Cycladic way of life.
As there is no deep water port on Santorini, the existing port is swamped by small boats which ferry tourists ashore.
The group has put up signs in English around the island encouraging visitors to “respect” property.
