Flying out of Istanbul - suggestions?

[RMLincoln]

We are looking at a cruise that terminates in Istanbul - HAL Zuiderdam October 7, 2015.

 

We want to fly from Istanbul to London. Reasonable priced flights (for one way) are all early morning... latest is a 10:20am departure. But because the ship overnights in Istanbul before disembarkation I'm thinking it may be possible to leave the ship early enough to get to the airport by, say, 8am? Or maybe we'd be better off to try to get off the night before? Or we'd need to overnight in Istanbul - I dread the thought but suppose with guidance we could manage.

 

I do not know if there might be a ship transfer to the airport that would leave early, especially in time to make such an early morning flight so I'm guessing that we would probably need a transfer service. Any suggestions? Costs?

 

Are there multiple airports for Istanbul? Which is closer to the port, or more appropriate. Thanks, Maureen

[Granny DI]

We were in Istanbul last October. We booked a 1:00 pm flight but it was changed to 6:00 AM. We left for the airport at 3:30 AM....no traffic and airport was almost deserted. The airport began to get crowded by the time we left. There are 3 layers of security in the airport starting at the curb. If you want to fly out the morning of the cruise allow 3 hours at the airport. We were upset about the flight change but are now glad it happened. The airport would have been chaos by 1:00 pm.

We stayed in Istanbul 4 days after our cruise. I don't think you can leave the ship early because of immigration. Trying to remember but thinking no one was allowed off the ship before 9:00 AM. Our ship over-nighted in Istanbul.

My advice is to spend at least one night in Istanbul and take an early morning flight out. The loss of sleep is worth a no stress airport.

[Twickenham]

Are there multiple airports for Istanbul?

 

Yes - IST and SAW. Just looking at the map, SAW looks a lot further out than IST - and considering the hike that IST is from where you would dock, you're best to forget the SAW option and just look at IST options.

 

That said, remember that London also has multiple airports. Which brings me to...

 

Reasonable priced flights (for one way) are all early morning... latest is a 10:20am departure.

 

What price are these early flights? I'm seeing a IST-LGW flight on Turkish Airlines at 2 pm that's only slightly higher than their early-morning flights. That's the flight I'd probably be aiming for.

[Granny DI]

We flew out of Ataturk IST which is the main international airport. It is about 30 minutes from the dock at 3:30 AM. My other suggestion is to buy flight insurance as things happen fast in Istanbul. If you decide to fly out after 8:00 AM be prepared for many lines and crowds. Google IST for advice on flying out of Istanbul. Our trip was stress free from the hotel to Amsterdam.

[Granny DI]

There are many cabs outside immigration at the dock. I wouldn't do a transfer because of the travel time at that time of the day. The traffic in Istanbul is awful. There are hotels near the airport. You might want to do a tour and then spend the night near the airport.

[Gourmet Gal]

Just wondering if there are any express lines for business class Turkish Airlines pax?

[Twickenham]

Just wondering if there are any express lines for business class Turkish Airlines pax?

 

After checking in at the counter (dedicated Biz line), go straight to the business class lounge - it has its own dedicated security line, so once you're in the lounge you can just exit and go straight to your gate. One of the best benefits ever!

[RMLincoln]

Great tips form you all. We are looking at options now... yes, I have found ore flights later in the day so might shoot for a ship tour/transfer package for flights after 3pm. There's a BA flight out at about 5.30pm and we'd stay in London near the airport that first night, just to collapse on arrival. Will look at business class prices too but that's not usually our style.

 

Our other option is to cruise a different itinerary Venice to Venice and deal with Venice/Marco Polo airport instead. :) A lot to consider.

 

Thank you all for your insights. CCers are the best! The boards seem to have a lot of negative comments about taxis in Istanbul..... I think I may call HAL and see if I can learn more about possible options of airport transfers. m--

[Granny DI]

Our cruise was Venice to Istanbul on the Ryndam. Loved the ship and every port. We hired a guide for the 4 days in Istanbul and only used a cab from the Ritz Carlton to the airport. . Guide provided transportation from the port.

If Istanbul is in both itineraries I would choose Venice to Venice.

[roothy123]

We have a 6AM flight on Lufthansa Oct. 8 and I'm dreading that. I booked a basic but decent hotel (Tempo Suites) not far from Ataturk airport for our second on-our-own night in IST. There's also the WOW Hotel very close to the airport, but they sound a little funky, and their airport shuttle doesn't run early, so I decided against it.

 

I'll be calling Lufthansa to ask what time we need to be there, but now you guys have gotten me a little scared about what they'll say. Ugh.

[Granny DI]

You should be there by 4:00 AM. We flew business class on KLM. It was less than 30 minutes from curb to business class lounge. The flights after 6:00 AM start to have long lines. We would do it again...I am not a morning person so I didn't go to sleep. Met several people in the lounge who did the same thing. My DH slept 6 hours but he can sleep anywhere. Our hotel told us we didn't need to be there before 4 but we wanted to be safe...well my DH could have slept another hour! The airline will tell you 3 hours but 2 hours will work before 6:00 AM....mid morning on who knows! You'll enjoy the empty airport! Even the shops in duty free are open at 4:00 AM!

[ab0si]

Great tips form you all. We are looking at options now... yes, I have found ore flights later in the day so might shoot for a ship tour/transfer package for flights after 3pm. There's a BA flight out at about 5.30pm and we'd stay in London near the airport that first night, just to collapse on arrival. Will look at business class prices too but that's not usually our style.

 

Our other option is to cruise a different itinerary Venice to Venice and deal with Venice/Marco Polo airport instead. :) A lot to consider.

 

Thank you all for your insights. CCers are the best! The boards seem to have a lot of negative comments about taxis in Istanbul..... I think I may call HAL and see if I can learn more about possible options of airport transfers. m--

 

Istanbul taxis are exciting <grin>. Also, every taxi driver has an uncle who (amazingly enough) runs the best rug store in town. That said, I've been to Istanbul quite a few times and have never had a serious problem with a taxi driver.

 

If you are worried about the trip to the airport (and you DO want IST not SAW), a good solution is to spend the night. The one AT the airport is TAV Airport Hotel. It is a nice and usually reasonably priced hotel... well, reasonably priced for an on-site airport hotel. If you go this route, make sure you book land-side (before you go through airport security) as they have rooms both air and land-side.

[cadoocrazy]

So with a 1:50 pm departure from Ataturk IST to London Heathrow, what's the best time to plan on leaving from our ship (Celebrity Equinox) to try to be as stress-free as possible, given the increase as the day goes on in traffic, both car traffic en-route, and foot traffic at the airport?

[roothy123]

I don't know how much time should be allowed, and hopefully someone else will answer besides me. However, if Celebrity is like all other cruise lines, you'll be asked to leave the ship way before you have to, so the ship can be made ready for the new group. Then the question might become whether you should go directly to the airport, or possibly try to do something else (usually with luggage) before going to the airport!

[cadoocrazy]

So with a 1:50 pm departure from Ataturk IST to London Heathrow, what's the best time to plan on leaving from our ship (Celebrity Equinox) to try to be as stress-free as possible, given the increase as the day goes on in traffic, both car traffic en-route, and foot traffic at the airport?

Well, now we're looking at the possibility of a much cheaper fare if we leave Istanbul at 11:00 am. The question with that time of departure becomes: Will the ship let us off in time to get to the airport for the flight? I'd assume that we'd need to debark by 7:00 am at the latest, generously(?) allowing an hour for transit to IST, and then 3 hours within the airport.

 

Given that this ship arrives at Istanbul the day before we're planning to flying out (the itinerary has it arriving in port at 2:00 pm, then over-nighting there), would they allow us off the ship at around 7:00 am?

[susietb]

They allow passengers off the ship from as soon as they dock at 2 PM the first day. About 2 days into the cruise everyone gets a form to fill out listing their preferred debarkation time, so there will be enough immigration agents on duty.

 

We debarked at 3:15 am to make a 6:00 am flight. Just be sure to have your Turkish Visa in hand.

[cadoocrazy]

They allow passengers off the ship from as soon as they dock at 2 PM the first day. About 2 days into the cruise everyone gets a form to fill out listing their preferred debarkation time, so there will be enough immigration agents on duty.

 

We debarked at 3:15 am to make a 6:00 am flight. Just be sure to have your Turkish Visa in hand.

Wow, that's early! Thanks for the info.

 

We ended up keeping the ~2pm departure. The question is still open about how early we should plan on leaving the ship to make that 2 pm flight. Does 1 hour from ship to airport, and then another 3 hours at IST make sense? (Thus, leaving the ship at 10 am)

[M2ice]

They allow passengers off the ship from as soon as they dock at 2 PM the first day. About 2 days into the cruise everyone gets a form to fill out listing their preferred debarkation time, so there will be enough immigration agents on duty.

 

We debarked at 3:15 am to make a 6:00 am flight. Just be sure to have your Turkish Visa in hand.

 

Were there taxi's on hand at that time? Or did you take ship transfers? If taxi could you inform us of the fare?

[susietb]

There were no taxis waiting outside at 3 am We would have preferred to take a ships transfer but none were offered at that time. We used istanbul airport transfers dot com which was recommended to us on this board. There were quite a few passengers leaving early with us, but they all pre-arranged transportation ahead of time. The cost last September was 35 Euros. We were at the airport before well before 4 am.

[RachelG]

I have disembarked in Istanbul at 4 am. I prebooked an airport transfer due to the early hour. There were actually taxis outside at that time, but I was happy to have the prebooked car so I didn't have to worry about it.