The Greek island of Santorini is known for its white-washed buildings and turquoise waters, but it also is home to an active volcano that has been making its presence known in recent days, causing one cruise line to avoid calling at the destination.
The island is under a state of emergency following two earthquakes since January 31, 2025, and multiple underwater temblors. The latest quake, with a magnitude of 5.2 was recorded on February 5, 2025.
The situation has prompted Viking Cruises to cancel scheduled port calls by the 930-guest Viking Star, which is sailing a winter series of Eastern and Western Mediterranean voyages. Rather than call at Santorini, the ship is instead visiting Chania, Crete, a Greek media outlet reported.
Viking Star’s current cruise is a 10-night Greek Odyssey voyage that departed on February 3, 2025 and is operating roundtrip from Athens. The ship was to call at Santorini on February 10, 2025.
Other port calls are unaffected and include Volos, Thessaloniki, Rhodes, and Nafplion, Greece, and Kusadasi, Turkey. Viking Star is also slated to call at Santorini during her next voyage, a 14-night Cities of Antiquity cruise from Athens to Rome on February 13, 2025.
That cruise also will substitute Crete for Santorini. No other cruise ships are scheduled to call at Santorini in February. In March, the Viking ship is set to call twice, and Celestyal Cruises’ 1,266-guest Celestyal Discovery is slated to visit three times.
Celestyal Discovery’s first visit to Santorini is set for March 23, 2025, as part of the ship’s 3-night Iconic Greek Islands cruise sailing roundtrip from Lavrion, Greece. No changes to that ship’s itinerary have been confirmed.
In spring and summer, scores of cruise ships are scheduled to call at Santorini, including those operated by Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, MSC Cruises, AIDA Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Virgin Voyages, Windstar Cruises, and Princess Cruises, among others.
The earthquake threat could ease in the coming weeks, but the future of all future cruise calls remains unknown while the temblors continue.
All of Greece is considered an area of high seismic activity, and while minor quakes are often felt, officials say the current spate of earthquakes of 3.0-magnitude and higher is not normal, and could be a sign that a significant quake is on the horizon.
Earthquakes Hit as Islands Start Charging Head Taxes
The cancellation of Viking Star’s port calls puts a damper on the destination’s off-season tourism business, which is also impacted by land-based vacationers, some of whom are now avoiding the island, too.
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Under the state of emergency, some areas are closed to visitors and residents, local media reports say, including elevated sightseeing areas where travelers can view the island’s caldera.
The earthquake dilemma comes just as Greece implemented cruise arrival fees on passengers visiting Santorini and Mykonos, where over-tourism problems have impacted the islands’ infrastructure as well as the lifestyle of their residents.
The Greek government approved a per-person tax of 20 euros ($21 USD) for the two islands and 5 euros ($5.27 USD) at other destinations in Greece, such as Rhodes, Corfu, and Crete.
Over-tourism reached a boiling point in the post-pandemic era, with Greece hosting 8 million-plus cruise passengers, including 1.3 million in Santorini in 2023. The island has about 15,000 residents, and on some days it received nearly 17,000 cruise guests.
Greek government officials announced its plan to implement a head tax in September 2024, saying the revenue would fund infrastructure improvements and sustainability efforts.
