Private Ephesus Tours

[Cheekyrn1]

We are booked with Ephesus plus tours, Leyla is her name who will guide for the whole day...I have requested NO carpet or ceramic displays and told no problem. No upfront deposit either....

[cruisemom42]

For those who have booked a tour with a company and were promised no (thinly disguised) shopping stops, I am curious and I hope you will report back whether your request was fully honored.

It's one thing to promise, but I've found that once on the actual tour, the guide will sometimes try to persuade you to make a stop anyway. This can get dicey if you are sharing with others -- some will want to stop and others will not.

I would suggest, for those booking an upcoming tour, that the organizer take a few minutes before setting off to go over the tour itinerary with the guide and to re-emphasize the request not to include any shopping stops.

[deb63]

Like Cruisemom42, I also hope you'll come back and share if your request to skip the carpet demonstrations, etc. was honored.

I think seeing it would be a neat experience. However, most port times are so short - there are other things we would rather be doing, etc.

[hansolosmom]

I heard back from Ephesus shuttle who said they do not require a stop it is optional. Believe me I will reiterate that on tour day. If I were by myself I probably wouldn't mind so much, but with 2 teenage boys, all I'll hear is ' mom lets get back to the ship'

I think was has annoyed me the most, is how they're not upfront about it. Some will mention it on their site or when you get the itinerary email, they say they make a stop. But the email response I got the other day where I flat out asked because nothing was mentioned in the previous or itinerary email, was almost like they did to want to mention it. It was kind of - oh yeah we do make a stop because they support us ......

That's great that they support each other, but be upfront with me about it, don't try to hide it.

[iancal]

One thing that we really enjoyed with our guide and driver is that they knew 'when' to take us to each spot in order to avoid the busloads of ships tours. We had been there before but not to the Terrace Houses. We really appreciated being able to take out time to go through this area without being jostled by crowds. As we were exiting, there were two large tours lined up to go through this area. We were so very thankful that we did not take a ships tour.

[MarleneAm]

[quote=deb63;38480501]Like Cruisemom42, I also hope you'll come back and share if your request to skip the carpet demonstrations, etc. was honored.

I think seeing it would be a neat experience. However, most port times are so short - there are other things we would rather be doing, etc.
__________________________________________________ _______
Please note that after visiting Ephesus and the Terrace houses you will need a restroom break. Unless you want to wait in a long hot line for a turkish toilet at the site, the optional shopping stop will allow you to use a modern restroom and relax in airconditioning. I recommend a leather factory since much more limited inventory so you can get out much sooner. If you don't buy anything, please give the tour guide a small extra tip in lieu of commissions from the shop.
Also if you plan on buying nothing, wear a strong charm to ward off the salesman's anger.
I was the only one in our group not to buy a jacket and the only one
to get both the real evil eye from my salesman and a bad stomachache, even though we ate nothing on this excursion. The tour guide tried to pressure us to go also to a carpet factory but we had agreed in advance that we were going only to the leather factory for bathroom break. Those of you lucky enough to be impervious to the evil eye don't have to worry about wearing the charm.
We were using Ephesus Shuttle and we had a good tour guide. At our request she let us off on a real shopping street in Kusadasi so we could window shop and buy souvenirs. The rest of our group went back to the boat; it was a short port call.

[cruisemom42]

Originally Posted by MarleneAm

Please note that after visiting Ephesus and the Terrace houses you will need a restroom break. Unless you want to wait in a long hot line for a turkish toilet at the site, the optional shopping stop will allow you to use a modern restroom and relax in airconditioning. I recommend a leather factory since much more limited inventory so you can get out much sooner. If you don't buy anything, please give the tour guide a small extra tip in lieu of commissions from the shop.

Our guide found us a nice, modern bathroom facility just outside the Ephesus site. There were at least 6 stalls in the womens bathroom (about half were Western toilets and were very clean). There was a small charge to use them -- I don't remember how much.

I do not believe one should have to be taken to a high pressure "factory" if one does not want to go! There are always other options, if your guide isn't trying to bamboozle you.

.....and apparently I am impervious to the evil eye.

[lalawgirl]

We used Ekol last summer -- fantastic. no deposit necessary. Our guide was great with rests and breaks. Answered all of our questions. When we asked if we wanted to see the carpet demonstration, we politely said no, and that was is. One thing I do recommend is an early pickup -- we docked by 6:30 am. we were one of the first off the ship and our guide was there at 7 already waiting for us. We made it to the House of the Virgin Mary right as it opened -- had the place to ourselves. Magical.

[cruisemom42]

Originally Posted by lalawgirl

We used Ekol last summer -- fantastic. no deposit necessary. Our guide was great with rests and breaks. Answered all of our questions. When we asked if we wanted to see the carpet demonstration, we politely said no, and that was is. One thing I do recommend is an early pickup -- we docked by 6:30 am. we were one of the first off the ship and our guide was there at 7 already waiting for us. We made it to the House of the Virgin Mary right as it opened -- had the place to ourselves. Magical.

Ekol has made it clear in correspondence to folks this year that a shopping stop is mandatory. Unfortunately. I used them several times and I won't use them again.

I have found another agency that promises no shopping pressure. I will use them instead.

[gbntmom]

Originally Posted by cruisemom42

Ekol has made it clear in correspondence to folks this year that a shopping stop is mandatory. Unfortunately. I used them several times and I won't use them again.

I have found another agency that promises no shopping pressure. I will use them instead.

Would you mind sharing the name of the agency? I certainly do not want to have mandatory shopping stops. At least now, I know to ask any tour company that when requesting information ~ thanks to all of you!

[cruisemom42]

Originally Posted by gbntmom

Would you mind sharing the name of the agency? I certainly do not want to have mandatory shopping stops. At least now, I know to ask any tour company that when requesting information ~ thanks to all of you!

It's an agency that works out of several Mediterranean ports and they have just expanded to include Turkey. I have taken tours with them twice (in Alexandria and in Cairo). They really took time to listen to what I wanted and matched me up with a great guide. And.....when I said no shopping, that's what I got (and that's rare in Egypt!).

here's the website: http://turkeyportsofcall.com/

[Petoonya]

Originally Posted by cruisemom42

For those who have booked a tour with a company and were promised no (thinly disguised) shopping stops, I am curious and I hope you will report back whether your request was fully honored.

It's one thing to promise, but I've found that once on the actual tour, the guide will sometimes try to persuade you to make a stop anyway. This can get dicey if you are sharing with others -- some will want to stop and others will not.

I would suggest, for those booking an upcoming tour, that the organizer take a few minutes before setting off to go over the tour itinerary with the guide and to re-emphasize the request not to include any shopping stops.

Hello Cruise Mom,
We had a perfect day with Mahmet from Ephesus Deluxe, no shopping stops promised and none delivered. An added surprise was that our guide extended our tour beyond the booking time, with no expectation of financial renumeration, only because we asked about everything Turkey. He shared beyond what ancient Ephesus was all about. He covered recent history, and the current political situation and beyond. It was a private tour that started out being extremely reasonable and ended up feeling nearly free.

Realize your query was to emphasize the need to impress our tour guides that no shopping stops are necessary. But can't help but expand on how impressive our day was.