Request for Advice on Cruise to Istanbul

[Frisbie]

Hi, all. I was hoping for some advice from those who have cruised to Istanbul. We will be there on a Holland America ship this year. We are very excited and want to squeeze as much sightseeing as possible into our short visit, and wanted to ask three questions. First, do most ships dock within walking distance of downtown, and is it feasible to skip the cruise tours and walk the city on our own all day? We would like to do that to avoid being stuck in traffic and large tours all day, but want to be sure it's a walkable city (we are in our 30s and happy to walk several miles) and close to the dock. Second, ours is an overnight stay, and we're curious if cruise lines (in particular Holland America) will allow you to leave and return to the ship at any time while docked. We would love to stay out until midnight or--if we're really ambitious--all night, but we're not sure if that's allowed or if we have to return to the ship at a certain time on the first day and wait to be let off the next morning. Finally, I suppose I should have asked this first, but are Americans allowed to roam freely on their own around the city? In St. Petersburg I seem to recall that Americans could only visit with tour groups, and I'd like to confirm that's not the case in Istanbul. Sorry for rambling, but I would certainly welcome any thoughts or advice. Thank you.

[cheflauraleh]

My husband and I visited Istanbul on our honeymoon cruise in August and had a wonderful time. We left the ship soon after breakfast, so probably at about 9ish and took a cab to the city. Our cruise ship (Emerald Princess) docked on the Asian side of the city and most of the attraction are on the European side. My advice would be to just take a cab. It wasn't very expensive ($9) and got us there quick.

Once in the city you can tour whatever you want on your own. We visited Haggia Sofia, the Blue Mosque, and Topkapi Palace. They were all beautiful, but be prepared to pay to enter each, except the Blue Mosque. We finished most of these tours in 2-3 hours. Everything was easily within walking distance of each other. I'm sure you could drag it out longer but we were ready for some shopping!

We then left there and got directions to the Grand Bazaar. We just asked someone who worked at the Palace. We walked there and it probably took about 10 minutes. Like you we are young and didn't mind the walk. Once there we shopped pretty much the rest of the afternoon. Be prepared to bargain a lot. It was a little intimidating at first but then you get into the spirit. We usually paid about 50% of what they first quoted.

Another thing you might want to check out is the Spice Market. It is about another 10 minute walk from the Grand Bazaar. You will be walking through the streets of Istanbul and there are a lot of people just doing their day to day things, so it was interesting to see that. The Spice Bazaar set-up is similar to the Grand Bazaar in that there are many vendors and you just walk around. They will let you taste the spices and the yummy Turkish Delights (my husband is still wanting to go back to get more). We bought a few (peppercorns, chili powder, tea, etc...) and they vacuumed sealed it for us so that it would be easy to travel with and that there would be no problems about bringing them back into the states. These people know what they are doing and we got fantastic prices on the stuff we got. After that we headed back to the Grand Bazaar and then got ready to head back to the ship.

Our ship was leaving at about 5 and we decided at around 4 to get a cab and head back, because like you we wanted to spend as much time in the city as possible. Well this was a mistake, as it was now rush hour in Istanbul and this cab ride would not be the 5 minute ride we had coming over that morning. To make a long story short, our first cab driver told us to take the train which we did to get us halfway across town and then took another cab to take us the rest of the way back. We paid about $5 for this whole trip but it was definitely not worth the stress! But you said your ship would be there at night so this may not be important at all for you.

Anyway, sorry this has been so long but I hope it was useful! Have fun and enjoy a beautiful and culturally diverse city!

[friend of Eeyore]

Here's my review, from my live postings of my Royal Princess cruise. You can also see my Istanbul pictures by clicking here or going to the med cruise link in the photos link in my signature.

 

----------my day in Istanbul------------

 

Today we docked in Istanbul. We decided to go it on our own, despite some warnings (and others saying no problem). With the help of Rick Steve's Istanbul book, I think we had a pretty good day. We walked out of the port, hit the atm (right outside the port area), and caught the tram (also right out of the port - only a short walk in either direction) over to the old section of Istanbul. (We caught the tram 4 times yesterday, for a total cost for the two of us of 10.40 YTL, about $7.)

 

We spent a total of 80 YTL during the day, including souvenirs, which equates to about $55 for the both of us. This is probably a sixth of the cost of a Princess tour of the same sites, with souvenirs not in their price.

 

First, we went to the main touristy area in the old section, where we did a short walking tour of the area, before going to the Blue Mosque. Unfortunately, we hit the Blue Mosque right when the Princess tours were getting there, so we had a bit of a line getting into the main building (though not the square), and it was a little crowded inside. We had to remove our shoes, and anyone in shorts or a tank was getting a scarf (or two) to cover themselves. I had worn a skirt over my shorts, and brought a scarf for my head, and DH was actually in pants all day - I don't know how he stood the heat - it was about 95 degrees yesterday.

 

Inside the mosque, it was quite beautiful, with all the ornate decorations. I saw so much, that I can't remember if it was ornate tiles, or ornate mosaics, or both. I know the ceiling was beautiful. I also walked into the "women's section" to see it - basically just a screened off section in the back of the room. Hubby gave a small donation as we left, and I got the "receipt" as a souvenir, to put with all the rest of the stuff I save.

 

After the mosque, we hit the Hippodrome area, which is now a grassy park area, with a few important sculptures - 3 columns, and a fountain. That fountain was nice - it has spigots where you can drink from, and we refilled our water bottles. We refilled them several times today, as well as bought a couple of bottles from a vendor.

 

Then, it was off to the Hagia Sophia. Once a Christian church, then a mosque, now it's a museum. Apparently it's been under restoration work for years and years, and 1/4 of the main dome area was covered from floor to ceiling with a scaffolding structure. another 1/4 was taken over by a temporary exhibit with some Islamic history exhibits, including some extremely decorative Korans. Maybe I'll be able to go back in 50 years, and they'll be done with the dome restoration. (NOT! They’ve been continually restoring for many, many years.)

 

Other than that, there is a lot of mosaic and tile work inside the museum - both Christian and Islamic imagery, and even some old Greek imagery. (Dolphins and a pitchfork reminds you of Poseidon, doesn't it??) It was beautiful inside, as was everything yesterday. We spent a while there, than it was off to the Tokapi Palace.

 

At the palace we went through all four courtyard areas, with the various buildings. We did not go into the Harem area - that would have been extra cost. Everything was quite impressive, especially the porcelain and treasury collections. The porcelain collection had some Ming, Qing, and other Chinese dynasty porcelain - quite beautiful, and quite expensive. The treasury was full of jeweled objects. The most impressive were a basket full of emeralds and other green gems (I've never seen such large or so many emeralds in one place), and a diamond the size of a small goose egg.

 

After the Tokapi Palace, we caught the tram to the Grand Bazaar. We did get a little "lost" getting there - we got off at the stop that Rick Steve had recommended, and took the shortcut through the mosque courtyard that he said, but then DH didn't remember the rest of the route, and of course we didn't check the book. We didn't go more than a short half-block the wrong way though.

 

I'm not sure if there's a "main" entrance to the bazaar. It's a covered structure that encompasses many "streets" (and they could be a regular pedestrian street, except for the roof over your head), and one could spend hours in there. We were careful to only go a couple of streets up and a street or two over, and only spent about 10-15 minutes in there. Once I had found my mandatory t-shirt, we went back out.

 

Then, the tram again. Over to the Egyptian Spice Bazaar, where I got some cinnamon. (What a deal - I'll have to weigh it when I get back - maybe 1/2 pound?? for $1.40??) Outside the bazaar, there's a city square (actually a triangle, I guess), bounded by the bazaar, a mosque, and a main street. Inside this square there's people selling bird feed to feed the pigeons, and some calligraphy artists. Today, however, is Turkey's national elections (I think they're electing district chiefs, or something like that), and yesterday the square was filled with booths of people handing out election literature, and vans with loudspeakers, etc. I thought about picking up some literature, but figured it was probably safer not to.

 

After the spice bazaar, we trammed back to the ship. We were exhausted. Even though we had more time available to spend in Istanbul, we were ready to relax. Another nice dinner last nice, with a nice bottle of wine we shared with the table.

[eh2zed]

You will need to get a cab to the downtown but once there you can walk everywhere. We were docked (Rotterdam) on the European side where the main attractions are. You can return to the ship as late as you wish. Unlike St. Petersburg you can disembark and tour on your own. We used a private local guide from Ekol Travel www.ekoltravel.com Just the 2 of us with a guide and driver for much less money than the ships bus tour.

[kool kruiser]

Having now been to Istanbul several times I agree entirely with the highlights suggested. An alternative to cabs is to use the use the frequent and very inexpensive trams which go from the docks area to the old city, crossing the Galata bridge. You buy a token called a jeton using Turkish lire which you insert in a turnstile to get on to the tram platform.

 

Istanbul is a fantastic place and don't have any worries about your safety travelling around.

[NAS-KARR]

You have been given excellent advice in all the posts preceeding mine. We also used EKOL fyi and were 110% pleased with their price and the day they gave us, it was very easy, if you want ck them out, everything is done for you. Have a good one.

 

 

CIAO,

[Morgans]

We have been to Istanbul several times and have always docked very near the Galeta bridge so walking across it posed no problems as we were near. There are some nice cafes/restaurants there where we bought drinks & snacks with friendly service. Across the bridge, is the Spice Market (also called the Egyptian Market I think) which is well worth a visit. Armed with a good map and also a tram guide if you prefer, Istanbul is certainly do able on your own. Ladies, however, shouldn't wear shorts and/or skimpy tops as this will attract the wrong sort of attention and men would also be better off in light, cool trousers as shorts are only worn in the city by American tourists who will stick out like sore thumbs. If you don't mind that, then fair enough.You should be fine doing the city on your own if you don't mind walking.

[Paul S]

We toured with Ekol, and were very happy with the guide and the price.

 

We were taken from the ship by van soon after docking, and dropped at the Hippodrome. From there we walked to the Blue Mosque, St. Sophia, Underground Cistern, lunch, obligatory carpet shop and the Grand Bazaar. The Topkapi palace was closed the day we were there.

 

We met up with the van and were taken back to the ship, but were warned that the ten minute journey in the morning would be half an hour or more in the afternoon rush hour.

 

We would like to go back one day, probably to stay a few days in Istanbul. We felt safe, and saw no reason why Americans should not be likewise (although the ship tour director might try and convince you otherwise to sell his tours)

 

Paul S