Disembarkation in Istanbul

[Lexcruiser]

When disembarking at Galataport in Istanbul, how far is it from the ship to the port exit?  Any issues for persons with limited mobility?  If using a taxi, do you have to exit the port or is there a taxi rank before the exit?  Are there any difficulties in handling luggage from wherever it is picked up in the terminal to the port exit?  Are porters available?  The videos of the port show quite a few escalators; are there also elevators?  If anyone has used Luggage Forward to ship bags home, where are the bags dropped off?  Any problems there?  Thanks for your assistance.

Edited February 8, 2023 by Lexcruiser
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[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

I may have answered this before for another person.  But in any case, here's what I found based on my experience at Galataport.  But we were embarking, not disembarking. The building where you embark/disembark is more of an office building than typical port terminal.  I believe all taxis have to come into the basement (basically parking garage) and board passengers there.  Yes, there are maybe 4 escalators to get up or down, although I have to believe that there are elevators somewhere in the building.  I don't know how they handle luggage, as our cab driver dropped us at wrong door in basement and there weren't porters or port employees around to help.  When we embarked and checking in, we left the office building and went up two concrete, sloped ramps with the things we wanted to carry on the ship with us.  I'm assuming you'll go down those two ramps, perhaps after one of those short bridge things used by some ports to get people to/from the ship. I assume you'll find transport in the garage, whether it be coaches for cruise line transport, taxis, people picking you up, etc.  But I don't know.  Since we didn't disembark, I'm not sure what happens with your luggage, either when you use Luggage Forward (we haven't) or not.  And I don't know if there's any assistance for people needing it. Galataport is pretty new, and in May, it had only received a few ships before us.  It was kind of a mess.  But hopefully things are better now. 

 

Hopefully someone else will see your post an give you a better answer.

Edited March 14, 2023 by IWantToLiveOverTheSea