Karen NY

Next year my husband and I are cruising with my 90 year old mother on a Viking cruise out of Istanbul. I'm concerned about getting a wheelchair for her when we arrive at the port because I haven't seen any availability of the service through the port's website. She uses a rollator on the ship but needs a wheelchair from the car drop off point at the port, through the port and check in, right to the ships gangway. Has anyone had experience securing a wheelchair for this use at Galataport? It would be truly great if anyone has any specific experience with boarding a Viking ship at Galataport who needs wheelchair assistance. Viking is always terrible with wheelchair assistance in ports so any information that people could provide who have done this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much

We stayed at the Atheneaum in Mayfair. Can't say enough good things about the room, service and restaurant. It is near a ton of restaurants and in a great walkable area

Next year my husband and I are cruising with my 90 year old mother on a Viking cruise out of Istanbul. I'm concerned about getting a wheelchair for her when we arrive at the port because I haven't seen any availability of the service through the port's website. She uses a rollator on the ship but needs a wheelchair from the car drop off point at the port, through the port and check in, right to the ships gangway. Has anyone had experience securing a wheelchair for this use at Galataport? It would be truly great if anyone has any specific experience with boarding a Viking ship at Galataport who needs wheelchair assistance. Viking is always terrible with wheelchair assistance in ports so any information that people could provide who have done this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much 

We just did this trip in November. This was the first Viking cruise that encountered the rocket issue and could not dock in Ashdod. I have to say that Viking was amazing regarding rearranging the schedule. We were in Haifa for 2.5 days because of the trip we had had to make to Haifa as we were almost docked in Ashdod. All of the tours were rearranged, and Viking was even able to offer 2 included tours when we arrived in Haifa. I don't know how they were able to arrange things so quickly. While in Israel we felt safe. He went to Jerusalem and Bethlehem and we were watched by the Palestinian Authority while we were there. We did have an issue when we were leaving Jerusalem, but the Palestinian Authority escorted the bus to the check point.  We also went up north and had no issues. It was a great trip with amazing sights. Don't let this deter you. Viking was very contentions and the Israelis are serious about safety.

We did a seal safari on a 4X4 in November and really enjoyed it. I would not recommend this if you have back issues or get car sick as the terrain can be very rough and uneven. The tour was great fun and our guide got us up close and personal to fur seals. This is the group we used https://www.sealcoast.com/

Have a good time

We are on the Eurodamn in late September and just received the email yesterday about not going to Istanbul. We were expecting the cancellation so I'm not too surprized but now we are spending 2 days in Athens which stinks! Lesbos was also cancelled from the itinerary which is good. The substitutions were adding a 2nd day in Athens, Rhodes and Mykonos. We are still supposedly going to Kushadasi but I saw from someone else that another Holland America ship was not going to Kushadasi did anyone hear that this port was cancelled as well?

Thanks for the links to the docking area! We are staying in Nuremberg for a few days before our Christmas cruise - in the Old Town. We will need our own transfers to the ship in Nuremberg, do you know know the best method to get there, like how much would a cab be?