Istanbuhl Tours`

Just off Galaxy 11 nite med. had great time. Word of advice - beware of tours. The two day istanbuhl tour was a waste and that was the opinion of most people we met who went on it . You only saw 3 major sites that you could have seen on own. Time in Grand Bazaar was waste because there is nothing grand about it. There was an hour on second day devoted to carpet demo and shopping time - never mentioned in description . We had lunch at a restaurant atop a large jewelry building instead of Topakpi Palace as advertised. Too much wasted time -would have loved to see more of city.

Just off Galaxy 11 nite med. had great time. Word of advice - beware of tours. The two day istanbuhl tour was a waste and that was the opinion of most people we met who went on it . You only saw 3 major sites that you could have seen on own. Time in Grand Bazaar was waste because there is nothing grand about it. There was an hour on second day devoted to carpet demo and shopping time - never mentioned in description . We had lunch at a restaurant atop a large jewelry building instead of Topakpi Palace as advertised. Too much wasted time -would have loved to see more of city.

When we were on our honeymoon on the Grand Princess, we hated Turkey. Ship's excursion in Istanbul was nothing more than a carpet sales tour. We stayed on the ship in Kusadasi, had a nice day. If I ever go back, I will save my $$$ to explore Greece, Italy and Spain, and wave to Turkey from the ship. The ONLY good thing about Istanbul was that was the night we had our ultimate balcony dinner and the sun set over all the old palaces and worship houses. What a sight. But it ain't so pretty when you get off the ship.

Amandajess -- thanks for the warning. We are on Millennium going to Istanbul this October. I've been fretting over booking the tour or doing it on our own. You're review pretty much sealed the deal for me. Thanks for the warning. I have no intention of paying to be sold carpets. I'm sure I'll get the hard sell on carpets from someone...but at least it will be free.

When we cruised and visited Turkey several summers ago, we used a private guide that toured with us in both Ephesus and Istanbul. They were beyond wonderful and did many small things to make our three days with them memorable. We loved Turkey and the people we got to meet.

I hate when someone says they "hate" some place because of a poor tour. There is plenty of wonderful information on our Ports of Call boards that should help you have a great time in each port.

We had a fantastic tour guide last year and we're looking forward to going back. On our first trip to Ephesus (1997) we used a ship's tour (NCL) and had the same complaint as amandajess.

If you want the name of our tour guide let me know when you're travelling. You can't have him when we're there.;)

Four of us did a cruise in 2005 and our 3 days in Turkey with our guide Nejet were great. To see the area with a local and with a small group was unforgetable. I would love to go back and see more of the country with our guide. He took us to a lunch place that was all locals and we were the only women. You did not order things just apperaed and it was not expensive. The staff noticed I was not eating the meat so they brought me out a vegetable dish.

Just off Galaxy 11 nite med. had great time. Word of advice - beware of tours. The two day istanbuhl tour was a waste and that was the opinion of most people we met who went on it . You only saw 3 major sites that you could have seen on own. Time in Grand Bazaar was waste because there is nothing grand about it. There was an hour on second day devoted to carpet demo and shopping time - never mentioned in description . We had lunch at a restaurant atop a large jewelry building instead of Topakpi Palace as advertised. Too much wasted time -would have loved to see more of city.

I was onthis cruise last year and had a private guide...it was good but we had a few dissappointments. I hated the grand bazaar...we were cut loose for a mere 15 minutes and got lost! I would go back to Istanbul in a second though. I found it very interesting.

Four of us did a cruise in 2005 and our 3 days in Turkey with our guide Nejet were great. To see the area with a local and with a small group was unforgetable. I would love to go back and see more of the country with our guide. He took us to a lunch place that was all locals and we were the only women. You did not order things just apperaed and it was not expensive. The staff noticed I was not eating the meat so they brought me out a vegetable dish.

We had Nejat too! he was such a good guide.

Wow - to hate Istanbul just because you had a bad tour? I feel sorry for you. I had some trepidations about visiting Istanbul but I ended up loving it. I would love to be able to go back and spend more time. We had a wonderful private guide named Cem (pronounced Gem) and he was most interesting and gave us lots of background on Istanbul and its culture and history. He also want's bad to look at.;) We also had a fabulous dinner at Feriye right on the Bosporus (sp?).

We also took a surprisingly good Celebrity tour in Ephesus with a funny guide named Ozzie.

Kathleen

It is terrible to hate Turkey, it must have been truly terrible. I found Istanbul to be interesting and Ephesus was the best surprise of the entire trip.

Amandajess - Did you take any of the other Celebrity shore excursions in the other Mediterranean ports you visited? If so, how were they? Did you find all of them as disappointing as the Istanbul tour or were some better? I'd love any feedback on specific ports as we're going there this fall!

Thanks! :)

Istanbul and Ephesus were the highlights of our Galaxy cruise! We also used Nejat and had small groups that were in and out of all of the sights just as the big tours were either pulling in or pulling out. He let us stroll at our leisure most of the time but hurried us along when necessary. We did the X tour of the Amafili coast drive and really enjoyed it, nice lunch with a great view, and the motorcoach was great, but be sure to sit on the right side of the bus for the best views. Overall a great cruise and tours.

Hi, Firstplacechef! Thanks for the info. Did you go to Rhodes, Santorini, and/or Athens and use Celebrity's shore excursions? We were trying to decide whether to use Celebrity or book a private tour, or do our own thing at those ports. Thanks! :D

We took shiptours in Santorini - OIa and winery - good and got to really see island, Athens to acropolis =- very good, and Sorrento & Amalfi coast - breathtaking. We made one mistake and only walked around old city in Rhodes. I realized we should have taken a taxi or tour to see rest of island

Please, please don't hate Turkey because of a bad tour. My husband and I have been there 3 times now and fell in love with it. (and he is a hard person to please). We did a ten day tour the first trip, and then felt comfortable enough to go back on our own.

Istanbul is full of treasures and is easy to get around. We rode the street car and took taxis which we found to be reasonable.(This was 18 months ago) Get a guide book and decide what you want to see. Once you get used to the many people who want to sell you something, it's very easy. Just smile, say no thank you, and keep walking.

Ephesus was amazing, and to get the most out of it, it should be seen with a guide.

I hope no one decides to stay onboard the ship. Istanbul is a magnificiant city and absolutely should not be missed. Just try to avoid the "feast of the sacrifice".

 

I hate when someone says they "hate" some place because of a poor tour. There is plenty of wonderful information on our Ports of Call boards that should help you have a great time in each port.

I agree!! Please give Istanbul another chance---it is a wonderful place! We were there for 2 days pre-cruise, and we enjoyed it so much we'd like to go back again for a land-based vacation.

We did a boat tour on the Bosphorus, toured Topkapi Palace & did one tour with Princess. They did take us to one carpet store at the end of the tour, but since we didn't need any carpets, we just left & walked around on our own for an hour and met them back at the store.

I agree about the Grand Bazaar, however. Too many pushy vendors and barkers there---we left after about 10 minutes in there.

I've been to Turkey by air and by cruise ship. I was on Crystal - but the tours they had in Turkey were INCREDIBLE!!! Their guides were extremely knowledgeable, and it was a fabulous experience. Turkey is actually one of my favorite travel destinations and it is a fabulous place to do sightseeing - and you must have gone to a strange part of the Bazaar, because the times I've been there has been a blast. Now, I have friends that are Turkish - and the bargaining is alot of fun... Too bad you had a bad tour...:(

Amandajess, did you take a ship sponsored excursion? We're booked with several others on a private tour of Istanbul and also Ephesus with Levent Solmaz. Anybody have experience with that company?

Like others, I agree that one tour does not indicate what a city or country is like. I didn't like Grand Cayman, but as I think about it perhaps it was just the tour we were on and how rushed I felt.

Wow - to hate Istanbul just because you had a bad tour? I feel sorry for you. I had some trepidations about visiting Istanbul but I ended up loving it. I would love to be able to go back and spend more time.

Kathleen

Me too Kathleen.

Except, I used to live and, work in Istanbul.

I felt the people were very warm and, friendly.

I had many great adventures in Turkey, but, I

especially loved Istanbul.

There is sooo much history there and, so much to see.

The food, especially the seafood was the best I found

in my travels around Europe...

I am hoping to find a cruise there so I can take the DW

and, show her around too..I would go back in an instant.

Me too Kathleen.

Except, I used to live and, work in Istanbul.

I felt the people were very warm and, friendly.

I had many great adventures in Turkey, but, I

especially loved Istanbul.

There is sooo much history there and, so much to see.

The food, especially the seafood was the best I found

in my travels around Europe...

 

I am hoping to find a cruise there so I can take the DW

and, show her around too..I would go back in an instant.

We are cruising B2B on Galaxy to Istanbul and Ephesus for a total of 4 days in November. Any information about the history and cultural attractions of Istanbul other than the standard tours would be greatly appreciated.

yes it was a celebrity tour. Levant' name was mentioned alot on our roll callbut i dont know how it worked out

We had Nejat too! he was such a good guide.

First time on the boards - hope I'm doing this correctly??! We are booked on the Millennium for the 10/7 cruise - interested in private tours in Istanbul - how does one reach Nejat??

We returned from a cruise in May that included Instanbul and Kusadasi (Ephesus). Those two cities were the highlights of our tours. We used a private tour through ekol travel (you can google them) and they were absolutely fabulous and half the price of the ship's tour. We told them "no carpet demos" and we did none. They went where we asked them to and even took us to the spice market in Istanbul which wasn't on the tour. It was tremendous. We were 4 of us and they used a huge minivan that could seat 12. It was very comfortable and we saw everything. Please do not skip Ephesus - it is incredible and do not miss the Terrace Houses right there in town. The people were wonderful, food was excellent and we want to go back. Please give it a try.

yes it was a celebrity tour. Levant' name was mentioned alot on our roll callbut i dont know how it worked out

Levent Solmaz was our tour guide.

Outstanding

Nejat was taken when we went to Turkey last fall, so we used Kagan Kosagan. One of his associates took 8 of us around Istanbul, and Kagan did Ephesus with us. Really pleasant. In Ephesus, the morning tour buses had left, and afternoon hadn't arrived. We were virtually by ourselves all through the city, except for a few brief moments when a busload of Japanese whizzed by us, snapping photos like crazy.

I would certainly use Kagan again.