Update 24 April 2013
Also see
Greek Seamen join May Day Strike (1 May 2013)
8 April 2013
I'm now back home in England. How did the journey on 3 April go? Fine. The ferry ran (as it was scheduled to do). The port workers strike did not delay our arrival. But on a day when more ferries were running, a port workers strike might affect ferries - I don't know.
One thing I did notice was that the lift and escalator from the port to the bridge over the road to the metro station weren't working; and many of the ticket machines were "out of order". But these are just minor issues compared to the problems that Greece is facing.
1 April 2013
There is now a banner on the Blue Star home page - about the
01/04/2013 - UNEFFECTED ITINERARIES ON WEDNESDAY 03/04/13, DUE TO PAN-HELLENIC SEAMEN FEDERATION STRIKE
This is the text:
01/04/2013 - UNEFFECTED ITINERARIES ON WEDNESDAY 03/04/13, DUE TO PAN-HELLENIC SEAMEN FEDERATION STRIKE
We inform you that due to the strike of Pan-Hellenic Seamen Federation on Wednesday 20/02/13, the schedules of our vessels will change as follows:
BLUE STAR ΝΑΧOSThe itinerary on Wednesday 03/04/13, from Piraeus 07:25 to Paros-Naxos-Ios-Santorini-Naxos-Paros-Piraeus, will not be effected.
BLUE STAR ITHAKIThe itinerary on Wednesday 03/04/13, from Piraeus 07:35 to Syros-Tinos-Mykonos and return, will not be effected.
BLUE STAR PAROSThe itinerary on Wednesday 03/04/13, from Piraeus 17:30 to Paros-Naxos-Donoussa-Aegiali (Amorgos)-Astypalaia and return, will not be effected.
BLUE STAR 2The itinerary on Wednesday 03/04/13, from Piraeus 19:00 to Syros-Patmos-Leros-Kos-Rhodes and return, will not be effected.
The vessel will depart on Thursday 04/04/13, from Piraeus at 06:00 to Patmos (12:45-13:00), Leros (13:50-14:05), Kos (15:40-16:10), Rhodes 18:55 and from Rhodes at 22:00 to Kos (00:45-01:15 next day), Leros (02:50-03:05), Patmos (03:55-04:10), Piraeus 10:55.
I realise that ferry companies do not want to announce changes too early, in case a strike is called off. But it would be helpful to announce further in advance the changes that would be made if the strike takes place. In places where there isn't a daily boat, passengers do need to plan ahead!
1 April 2013 (midday)
I now have my ferry ticket from the island back to Piraeus, leaving at 6 a.m. on 3 April, the day of the strike.
I've looked more closely at the Blue Star web site (
http://www.bluestarferries.com/site/content.asp?loc=2 ) During the bad weather in March, there was a banner on the main page listing "Uneffected Intineraries". There is at present no such banner. I had been assuming that all "uneffected iitineraries" would be listed in thsi way, regardless of the reason for the ship not running.
If you go to the timetable pages (e.g.
http://www.bluestarferries.com/site/content.asp?sel=624&loc=2 there are two sets of information under the timetable.
The first lists dates that appear to be changes to the standard timeatble planned in advance, e.g. because of holidays.
At the end there is a heading "
REMARKS:- UNEFFECTED ITINERARIES"
This lists, e.g. 03/04/13 (from PIRAEUS) & 04/04/13 (to PIRAEUS).
The ferry going from the island to Piraeus is running on the morning of 3 April. But the boast from Piraeus that evening is not running; and as there would be no ferry on the island, the morning departure on 4 April is not running.
I understand the logic of this. But don't expect the same changes to be made by all companies during every strike!
1 April 2013 (and not an April Fool!)
The 3 April strike still appears to be taking place. No news about changes yet on the Blue Star website. If I was really keen to catch my flight on Friday I'd have been down to the ticket agency. I may yet change my flight again and stay longer. The weather in England is still cold!
27 March 2013
Here we go again. Just as positive reports on increases in the number of tourists booking to come to Greece this year started to appear in the press, a 24 hour seamen's strike has been called, starting at 6 a.m. on Wednesday 3 April - see
Paros News Blog (in Greek):
"the first seamen's strike of
the new season of 2013 will be held Wednesday, April 3 from 6 in the morning."
The strike may perhaps be called off - but news of the strike will do nothing to encourage tourism in Greece this year. Guess who was planning to catch a ferry from an island to Piraeus next Wednesday! I'm hoping that the ferry will leave at 6 a.m. on the Thursday - the revised timetables won't be issued until nearer the date of the strike.
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It is mid March 2013. I'll try and keep the information below (originally written on 19 March 2013) updated. My recommendation? Don't be put off coming to Greece because of travel uncertainties. Just be prepared for fewer ferries than usual. I have used Amorgos as an example, as that is the island I most often visit.
Ferries in 2012
In early summer 2012 the following ferries were running to Katapola, on Amorgos.
Express Scopelitis (Small Cyclades Lines) - 6 days a week to and from Naxos
Blue Star Naxos or Blue Star Paros (Blue Star Ferries) - three times a week to and from Piraeus. Also three ferries a week from Aegiale at the other end of Amorgos (those ferries carry on to Astypalia).
Artemis (ANEK) - twice a week to and from Syros.
Aqua Spirit (NEL) - once or twice a week to and from Syros.
In midsummer there was also a flying dolphin going to and from Piraeus, doing a circular route.
Ferries in March 2013
The
Express Scopelitis is in Piraeus for her annual maintenance. No doubt the Express Scopelitis will be back in service by Greek Easter.
Blue Star Ferries are running six ferries a week to Amorgos, three to Katapola and three to Aegiale.
Live Ships Map shows that the
Artemis has been in Piraeus all winter. The ANEK web site does not show the Artemis as being one of the ANEK fleet.
The
timetable on the NEL Lines website shows the Aqua Spirit running from Syros to Katapola from 1 November 2012 to 28 June 2013 and 9 September 2013 to 31 October 2013. But she is not shown as running on
Greek Travel Pages and I suspect that she is not running.
Ferries in Summer 2013
The Express Scopelitis timetable is not online, and the only information I've found is on Greek Travel Pages, and is not published in advance. The Express Scopelitis usually runs from Amorgos to Naxos and back 6 days a week (Monday to Saturday), and in midsummer in recent years has been doing a day trip to Ios and Santorini.
From 1 April 2013 to 9 June 2013
Blue Star Ferries website shows two ferries a week from Katapola to Piraeus (Monday and Wednesday) and three from Aegiale to Piraeus.
The Artemis and Aqua Spirit. I have seen no information, apart from that on the Aqua Spirit mentioned above. These two ferries did run a very useful route, varying from day to day, providing links between islands not linked directly by the larger ferries. If these ferries do not run you might need to stay overnight on the mainland if you wanted, e.g., to go from Naxos to Kea. Also, running on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays, these ferries were very useful for people with flights to and from home at weekends.
Flying Dolphin
I have seen no information about the route to Amorgos. But I have read recently that High Speeds (larger than flying dolphins, and taking vehicles) will run for a shorter summer season than usual.
Where to get information?
The best place to ask is a travel agent in Greece. But with fewer travellers and fewer boats travel agencies are closing. I started coming to Greece in the 1980s, and remember that in Folegandros there was no travel agency. Someone arrived to sell tickets by the harbour about an hour before the boat was due. But you needed to know when the boat was due - there were no laptops or internet in those days!
Ferry companies' websites are not always kept up-to-date.
Greek Travel Pages is a very good source of information, but cannot be 100% accurate. Apart from unexpected changes because of storms, ferry companies may change routes / times without updating their websites.
Strikes
Strikes are another factor to add into the equation when travelling by ferries in Greece. A good summary is in the left hand column of
http://livingingreece.gr/
Will the ferry be full?
Be prepared (even in these difficult times for tourism) for ferries to be full in midsummer, around Greek public holidays, or after strikes (when there will be a backlog of passengers).
