Passport queues are not bad as some reviews suggest - I read all the reviews of long delays at passport control but decided to go anyway and I thought I would time it with stop watch and share my experience for others. I went on Friday 20th October towards the end of the season but the ferry was almost full. We were to get to the travel office at least an hour early so before 8am. Our taxi arrived at 7.50am and queued 14 mins and 30 seconds to checkin, only one needs to check In. There were no queues after 8.10am so maybe come a little latter. Passport control Turkish side was a breeze and just 5 mins and 47 seconds Ticket says no boarding after 8.30am but people were still boarding at 8.50am and we set off 9am on the dot to Samos. A big tip is to queue up at the back at 10.10am next to rope 5 mins before docking to be first off and be one of the first to passport control. Greece side passport control was just 4 minutes and 18 seconds and they seemed very organised with lots of staff on. We over five and a half hours on the island and had a great time. At 4pm we queued for 8 minutes 16 seconds to check in again and get past Greece passport control. There was No queue after 4.20 pm. People checked in and got past passport control that after that point Some tourists and locals were checking in as late as 4.45pm with no problem but do so at your own peril! Gates up at 4.51pm after last two Locals boarded and boat left early at 4.52pm arrived at 6.18pm, Queued up at the back of the boat again and got through Turkish passport control in 3 minutes and 10 seconds Easy peasy and not the drama many described. Worth the risk I think!

Samos - Wonderful Journey to and from a pain...... - Lack of hotel pickup a minus. Waiting in chaotic queue at Meander Travel's office to pick up Boarding Card for 30 mins very definite minus. Passport Control and Customs at either end tedious as usual but reasonably well managed. Samos (Pythagorion) wonderful.

Immigration is a big problem - We made a trip to samos, we were aware of delays but decided to go. Boarding ferry in kusadasi was ok, queued 20 mins to get on board. Ferry was fine and took 1 hr 40 mins. When we arrived in Samos the earlier bigger faster ferry passengers were still queuing to go through immigration along dockside, so we were not allowed to disembark until they were through, so we waited 45 mins on the boat. It then took another 50 mins to go through immigration. This did leave us about 3.5hrs to walk around Vathy. The immigration process is certainly the problem, if they got their processing faster then visitors would have more time to spend on the island and people would spend more making more money for the local economy. Samos is lovely and people were very friendly.

A whole day of your life 07.30-19.30 - The day itself is ok. Quaint shops and bistros to mill about in for a nice day out. Leaving Turkey is straight forward and easy. Arriving in Samos is a painful and boring experience to say the least. What amazed me and other passengers, as we chatted in the long long long queue, was that we had all been issued a QR code type ticket, yet Samos securing only had a pen and a paper list. Hence the incredibly long queues. Be prepared for an hour to get through on arrival and departure at Samos. A pleasant enough day overall but I will not be back.

Not a great value trip - Paid 72 euros with Tui to go on this trip left hotel at 7.30am took 45 mins to Get to the port then had to que to go through passport control an security before we could leave, the trip across Was lovely although could not imagine if it was a day when the sea was not as calm arrived at 11.30am got out of passport an security by 12ish samos is beautiful but once you were there you were on your own, samos beautiful people beautiful but to be honest not a lot to see out side the harbour, 4pm bk to que again finally got back to the hotel at 8.15pm so a very very long day an not a lot to see

Beautiful Samos - poorly organised trip - Samos is absolutely beautiful but the reason for the poor review was the level of disorganisation of the trip. The queues at Samos end for the passport was ridiculous and really cut into the day with children getting tired and hungry. Then when we got back to Turkey the wait for the bus back to the hotel was seriously disorganised and added more time to an already busy day. There was no air con on the boat and on the way back people were standing up which made it even more uncomfortable- I think the staff should have asked them all to sit down as we were nowhere near the port. Maybe just go to Samos on holiday!!

Terrible experience, just waiting in lines all day - The ferry takes 1 hour 40 minutes and you spend 1 hour 15 minutes at passport control on Samos. This means you get 4 hours in Samos. It’s ridiculous, please don’t go for a day trip because it’s stressful and you can’t enjoy. The staff is rude, since it’s a monopoly they just don’t care about customers. Costs 45 euros return ticket.

DO NOT MAKE THIS TRIP - It was very TERRIBLE! Once you arrive in the harbour of Samos the coast guard lets you wait 30-60 minutes before you can leave the boat. Once you've left the boat you have to wait for another 30-60minutes to get through border control. These greeks just stand there laughing while you see your trip burn to ashes. You are left with 3,5 hours on the island which doesnt even give you time to leave the city at all. I WOULDNT RECOMMEND THIS TRIP TO ANYONE IT IS A BIG WASTE OF MONEY.

Rubbish waste of money. - Complete waste of time, only good if you like spending all day queueing,people who run this couldn't run a bath. Samos is a lovely place. Take my advise and make your own arrangements to get there.

Not professional or trustworthy - Ferry broke down and had to return to Kusadasi. We were unable to take the offered trip the next day Samos was part of our trip forward. Tickets of 78 euros bought from ferry operator who ignores our emails and despite promising to refund has not. Very bad experience!