Ferries

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Ferries

Postby Fullenglish » 24 Apr 2017, 13:09

I was thinking about this and I remember when we caught the ferry from Rhodes to Symi in June last year there was ample seating there and return.

Is it really necessary to pre-book?

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Re: Ferries

Postby Andy W » 24 Apr 2017, 17:53

Depends which ferry you want to catch, and on which date.
If you're travelling on one of the big Blue Stars from Rhodes to Symi, the capacity is 1400 and there's never more than about 400 onboard. They fill up later on the journey.

For the Dodekanisos Pride/Express in July and August, perhaps book a few days in advance as seats can get taken up by daytrippers who book the day before.

Dodekanisos Seaways has a colour code on their website in the online booking system - Green is OK, yellow is nearly full (so book on line and do it now), red is unbookable.

If you want to catch the Panagia Skiadeni on one of her trips via Panormitis, you'll always see red for Rhodes-Symi bookings. Try looking for Rhodes-Panormitis instead. If that's showing a red square, the ship really is full, if it's yellow, book the ticket on line for Panormitis. When you exchange the booking confirmation for actual tickets tell them you want to go to Yialos, and they'll give you a Panormitis-Yialos ticket free of charge. It's the same fare to Panormitis or Yialos anyway. The Greek ferry industry uses a standard booking system, which can't handle the idea that you can get off the ferry at Panormitis, wander about for three quarters of an hour, and get back on again, as part of a continuous journey.
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Re: Ferries

Postby Kojak » 24 Apr 2017, 17:55

I'd say yes, just to avoid the possibility of a busy ferry. It would save you having to shell out for a night (or two) in a Rhodes hotel.
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Re: Ferries

Postby Fullenglish » 25 Apr 2017, 12:04

It appears I may have a problem. Blue Star do not travel on the 8th June 2017.
Dodekanisos Seaways depart at 8:30am and 9:30am but my flight arrives on Rhodes at 12:35pm.

Furthermore we come home on the 15th June and our flight leaves Symi at 3:20pm and all departures are well before this time.

This has turned into a nightmare for me.

Any suggestions please.

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Re: Ferries

Postby Andy W » 25 Apr 2017, 13:00

Sorry, you're in a bad position. There haven't been afternoon/evening ferries from Rhodes to Symi on Thursdays for quite a few years now, in fact looking back over old timetables I can't find any at all.
Last year you'd have managed to get the first Thursday morning boat of the season from Symi to Rhodes. This year there are no Thursday morning boats at all in that direction.
Is there any way to change one or both of your flights to a Wednesday or Friday, when there are suitably timed ferries? If not, I'm afraid you'll be spending the first and last nights on Rhodes.
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Re: Ferries

Postby Fullenglish » 25 Apr 2017, 17:37

I am absolutely furious with Ryanair!

My flight from Stanstead to Rhodes on the 8/6/2017 is at 6.35am arriving at Rhodes at 12.35pm yes PM. I return on. The return is on the 15/6/2017 depart Rhodes at 1:00pm arriving Stanstead 3:20am. Ryanair cannot gove me any reason why the flight going out takes 6 hours.

The ferry departs Rhodes 8:30am and 9:30am. Both of these I will miss. There are no other ferries at any time or day other than these.

Ryanair say no problem you can change your flight day but all flights are the same times as quoted so I can never reach the ferry on any given day.

They have refused to return to me my fare £320.00 for two people so I am going to have to cancel my holiday to Symi this year and lose £320! The only good thing is I think I can cancel my hotel booking through Expedia.com.
I emailed the hotel about the problem and they said they can alter the days without charge but this is of no use to me as I will never get there!

Last year I travelled with Easyjet without a problem but they do not fly on the 8th June.

I think the moral of the story is, don't book up the hotel first before confirming the flights even though it was fine last year.

A complete disaster.

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Re: Ferries

Postby Allan » 25 Apr 2017, 19:41

What a pickle! :(

Obviously, it's up to you but if I were in your position I would probably change the accommodation booking to five nights and make a couple of nights on Rhodes part of the holiday.
After all, if you get the 08.30 crossing on Friday you will be on Symi by 09.20 and at your accommodation by not much after 09.30 which, unless you are very early risers, would be around the time you would be up and about on Symi anyway. So all you have really missed is one meal and one night's sleep on Symi.

On the way home you can get the Wednesday afternoon 16.00 crossing on the Skiadeni so you will have had most of a full day on Symi. Again, all you miss is the evening meal and the night's sleep.

The money you save on your Symi accommodation will go some way towards the cost of two nights in a hotel on Rhodes too.

Not ideal by any means but surely better than losing the holiday completely?

As for the odd flight timings, I'm very surprised that Ryanair were unable to explain that the flight is actually around four hours each way. The apparent six-hour flight is actually four hours with a two hour time difference between the UK and Greece. That's why the return flight appears to take just two hours. It doesn't of course, it's four hours minus the time difference. It's easy to be caught out but Ryanair should have told you!
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Re: Ferries

Postby Fullenglish » 25 Apr 2017, 21:15

Well Allan, the holiday is now cancelled! I get back £280.14 from Expedia.com.

I just couldn't be bothered with all the phaphing about on Rhodes. I wasn't sure how easy it was going to book somewhere at very short notice and I find the whole thing stressful.

I'll never fly Ryanair again. One thing for sure, I'm not going to cancel the booking because if I do they will make even bigger profit from reselling the seats. They can't charge me for not turning up.

It's worth pointing out that Expedia.com will arrange the flights and the accomodation and they have a money back guarantee on cancellation at least for the accomodation.

C'est la vie.

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Re: Ferries

Postby Andy W » 26 Apr 2017, 05:28

Fullenglish wrote:I am absolutely furious with Ryanair!

My flight from Stanstead to Rhodes on the 8/6/2017 is at 6.35am arriving at Rhodes at 12.35pm yes PM. I return on. The return is on the 15/6/2017 depart Rhodes at 1:00pm arriving Stanstead 3:20am. Ryanair cannot gove me any reason why the flight going out takes 6 hours.

It doesn't, as Allan says, it takes 4 hours, Greece is two hours ahead of the UK.

The ferry departs Rhodes 8:30am and 9:30am. Both of these I will miss. There are no other ferries at any time or day other than these.

Oh yes there are. I went to some trouble to explain that there are ferries at 15:00 on Wednesdays and 19:00 on Fridays, and equivalent ferries back to Rhodes on Wednesday and Friday mornings. Now I agree Ryanair don't have flights from Stansted to Rhodes on these days of the week, but you hadn't told us who you were flying with at that point.

Ryanair say no problem you can change your flight day but all flights are the same times as quoted so I can never reach the ferry on any given day.

They have refused to return to me my fare £320.00 for two people so I am going to have to cancel my holiday to Symi this year and lose £320! The only good thing is I think I can cancel my hotel booking through Expedia.com.
I emailed the hotel about the problem and they said they can alter the days without charge but this is of no use to me as I will never get there!

Last year I travelled with Easyjet without a problem but they do not fly on the 8th June.

So from the very beginning you could only ever leave on the 8th of June (work holiday dates perhaps?) That was never going to work, because there was never going to be an afternoon/evening ferry on that day of the week. We display the ferry timetables on this very site, keeping the previous year's times visible until the current year's ones become available. And last year there were no evening ferries on a Thursday either (in fact I've checked back over 5 years of ferry timetables, and Thursday was always a ferry-free evening).
EasyJet do of course fly on the 7th of June (from Gatwick to Rhodes) which is a Wednesday. Their flight connects nicely with the 3pm ferry to Symi. I'll be on the same flight and ferry combination in a week's time.

Sorry your holiday is ruined, Phil. I hope it won't put you off coming to Symi in the future. Why not ask here before you book anything next time? We may not know the precise times of flights and ferries before they are announced, but we can at least suggest the lowest risk options.
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Re: Ferries

Postby Fullenglish » 26 Apr 2017, 09:07

Thanks very much. Last year we flew with Easyjet and as you say it's easy to catch the evening ferry. For some strange reason we decided to book exactly the same dates for the coming year only to find once we had booked the hotel, thinking everything would be okay but Easyjet fly on the wednesday being the 7th June so we booked Ryanair and waited for the ferry times to come out for June and their in lies the problem.
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Re: Ferries

Postby Eliza » 26 Apr 2017, 15:11

You have still got the flight so may as well go. Have a look on booking .com for a hotel in Rhodes and Symi. We stay at the Hermes in Rhodes town. I have been going to Symi for years and always stay down and I would certainly not give up,5days is better than nothing.
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Re: Ferries

Postby Allan » 26 Apr 2017, 15:52

I agree entirely Eliza.
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Re: Ferries

Postby Fullenglish » 26 Apr 2017, 18:54

Thanks to Eliza I have managed to secure six nights at the Pedi Beach and one night in Rhodes prior and after our stay in Symi at the Hermes. Also to be sure I have booked the ferry tickets as well.
We are so relieved!
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Re: Ferries

Postby Allan » 26 Apr 2017, 19:03

That's good news Phil.

All's well that ends well, eh?
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Re: Ferries

Postby Fullenglish » 26 Apr 2017, 19:09

Your not kiddin' Allan.
I'm going to enjoy Symi even more this year.

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Re: Ferries

Postby Eliza » 26 Apr 2017, 19:34

Well done very pleased to give you a nudge.Put it down to experience and keep a close eye on Andy's blog.Enjoy Rhodes Old Town but most of all enjoy Symi.
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