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My co-worker and I just got back from a 7 day Azamara Club Cruise in October, the itinerary was Athens roundtrip. We set up the transportation on our own and not through the cruise line; this way we can experience other options and see how we can save you money. We arrived one day early to sight see and make sure we had enough time to make it to the pier as we flew nonrev. We stayed at the Athens Ledra Marriott Hotel- 115 Syngrou Avenue Athens, 11745 Greece (which will no longer operate as a Marriott as of December 31st, 2013)
First Option: Azamara Club Cruise charges $40.50 per person each way, rates for other cruise lines will vary slightly. They will pick up from the airport on embarkation day usually until 1:30pm and earliest pickup time from the pier back to airport is at 11:00am on disembarkation day.. We recommend that you schedule your flights after 1:00pm to give yourself plenty of time to get to the airport, check in and find your gate.
Second Option: You can always take the Metro system. Syngrou Fix station is about 1 kilometer (.62 miles) from the hotel; if you are carrying luggage, it may be uncomfortable and not recommended to walk. It should take about 40-50 minutes and cost about 1.40 Euros, make sure you ask where the bus will take you; as there may be more than one connect you will have to take. The green metro line starts from Kifissia and ends in Piraeus, right in front of the port. The metro of Athens works from 05:30 am till midnight. In Fridays and Saturdays, it works till 2 am. The green line passes by Omonoia, the central square of Athens. A normal metro ride from Omonoia to Piraeus takes about 25 min. The green line is connected to the other two metro lines (blue and red) in a couple of interchanges. There are trains to Piraeus from all metro stations every 10 min.
Third Option (which we used): Have the front desk call a Taxi or wave one down from outside the hotel. From city center it’s between 40-50 Euros to the pier which took about 30 to 40 minutes to get there. After disembarkation we took a taxi from the pier to the Airport, depending on traffic it’s about 50 minutes away and ran about 45 Euros. Make sure that you ask the price before getting into the taxi; the driver will start high and try to take you on a “tour” before heading to the airport to get more money. If he doesn’t take no for an answer, walk away and wait for the next driver.
From the airport – There are taxi queues outside all gates of the airport. A taxi ride from the airport to Piraeus port will normally take 40-60 min the most, depending on the traffic. The taxi fare (indicative) from Athens airport to the port of Piraeus is about 50 euros in day time and 65 euros in night time (24:00-05:00).
Fourth Option – Bus – From the airport – This is the most economic way. Bus X96 covers directly the route from Athens airport to Piraeus port. Buses operate 24 hours and the trip takes about 90 min. Buses leave every 20 minutes in the day and from 22:30 pm to 05:00 am they depart every 40 minutes. Ticket price (2013): 5 euros.
Bus from Athens City Center – There is no direct bus from Athens centre to Piraeus Port. Passengers have to take Bus 049 from Omonoia to Piraeus or Bus 040 from Syntagma to Piraeus, get off at Kotzia Square (Piraeus centre) and then walk about 10 minutes to the port. These buses depart from Omonoia/Syntagma to Piraeus every 15-20 min. Normally buses in Athens work from 06:30 am till 22:00 pm, but Bus 040 from Syntagma to Piraeus works 24 hours. Ticket price (2013): 1,40 euros. The port of Piraeus is very big and has many gates, so make sure you know from which gate your ferry leaves.