Celebrity 2 day shore tour Istanbul

[Ladytainn]

Has anyone done this tour recently, I'm wondering if it covers all the main sights as well as a Bosphorus cruise? It seems to be one and 1/2 days, is there time after the tour to shop or explore a little more on our own?

Sorry if this is a silly question, Celebrity's web site is a little vague about the content of this tour, although the reviews mention the lunch at the Topkapi and the cruise.

[Lauren and John]

Hi. We did that tour two summers ago, and, yes, you do get to see all the major sights, which are fascinating. I do have two warnings about this tour though:

 

1. The biggie. I hated the stop at the rug store. A whole busload of people was held captive for over an hour while one or two people bought rugs. This stop was not mentioned in the description. If it had been, I would not have signed up. Because of this long rug stop, our time at the Spice Market was cut short.

 

2. Turkish food is delicious, but our group went to a mediocre restaurant for lunch. Maybe with a smaller group you can pick a better restaurant?

 

Istanbul is beautiful and fascinating. Good luck finding the right tour for you.

[Kauaijim]

I would try to book a private tour. We were there in september off a seaborne trip and booked a guide for 2 days with another couple. Its a great way to avoid the RUG stop . great city enjoy it.

[Orator]

Has anyone done this tour recently, I'm wondering if it covers all the main sights as well as a Bosphorus cruise? It seems to be one and 1/2 days, is there time after the tour to shop or explore a little more on our own?

Sorry if this is a silly question, Celebrity's web site is a little vague about the content of this tour, although the reviews mention the lunch at the Topkapi and the cruise.

 

Istanbul is a very easy DIY city. There is a tram stop right outside the port and it takes you where you need to go. There are at least two HOHO lines. The Bosphorus boats are easy to get to from the port. You can save some $$$ and avoid the tourist traps if you do it on your own.

[cruise kitty]

Celebrity is going to put you on a bus, in one of the busiest traffic cities in the world, that also happens to have one of the best tram systems in the world. :) & the tram is not affected by the traffic.

 

All the major sites are an easy tram ride away, if you like to walk (we do) you could make a nice walk from one site to another.

 

Here's a link to my post on directions, there's a lot more over on the ports board.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1516385&highlight=istanbul+diy

[mandream]

We did the 2 day Celebrity tour a number of years ago back when we mostly did ship tours. It was as the others described. A lot of time on a bus with a lot of people. Would have much preferred a private tour, or to have done it on our own.

 

Mike

[Pushka]

It is so easy to do a DIY tour in Istanbul and avoid the dreadful carpet sales. Although my private tour did one too not in the description. It was interesting to start with watching the weaving but i was travelling on my own and they took each family into a separate room for the hard sell. Intimidating to say the least. The Istanbul HoHo is good and combine that with a cruise and you are good. The bus goes down many streets with great restaurants.

Edited March 14, 2015 by Pushka

[Diane Rose]

Hi. We did that tour two summers ago, and, yes, you do get to see all the major sights, which are fascinating. I do have two warnings about this tour though:

 

1. The biggie. I hated the stop at the rug store. A whole busload of people was held captive for over an hour while one or two people bought rugs. This stop was not mentioned in the description. If it had been, I would not have signed up. Because of this long rug stop, our time at the Spice Market was cut short.

 

2. Turkish food is delicious, but our group went to a mediocre restaurant for lunch. Maybe with a smaller group you can pick a better restaurant?

 

Istanbul is beautiful and fascinating. Good luck finding the right tour for you.

 

We did this tour last June on the Reflection. Totally agree with number 1. The rug stop was awful, we walked out and spent more time at the bazaar.

 

Our lunch was delicious and more food than any one person could eat.

 

Bosphorus cruise was really nice. I know you could probably DIY, but it was nice not to have to worry about any planning. We did enjoy the tour.

 

Diane

[Moksha22]

Hi

Me and my mother are in Istanbul this October on the Connie.

Need to know if visiting the Asian quarter is interesting and worth the effort? Has anyone any first hand idea or comments. Would be happy to know so we can either visit the area or drop the idea. !!

Thanks

[prish]

We did the 2 day Celebrity tour a number of years ago back when we mostly did ship tours. It was as the others described. A lot of time on a bus with a lot of people. Would have much preferred a private tour, or to have done it on our own.

 

Mike

 

We did private tours with Backpackers Travel last June, we were a small group of 6-8. They picked us up at the dock and we did a walking tour of the old town Sultanahmet one day, the sites are all close to each other and we just walked from one place to another. They gave us an hour's break for lunch and there were so many restaurants in that area we did extremely well.

 

The second day we went to the Chora Church, Suleimaniye mosque, the Asian side, Dolmabache Palace, etc, we had a small van to take us around.

 

Prices were extremely reasonable, 50 euros for the full day tour and 30 for a half day, to be aid in cash to the guide. Price includes admissions to all the sites. Suggest you email them and ask for a quote, check out their website for details of the various tours they offer.

 

info@backpackerstravel.net

[CathyCruises]

I totally agree about doing DIY, one of the easiest cities in Europe to do this. The tram stop is right across from the ship, and we bypassed all the tour buses stopped in traffic!

 

We actually DID buy a rug there, took us forever to decide, would certainly not want a bus full of passengers breathing down our necks while making up our minds. BTW we love our rug, it is just beautiful, and we gets tons of compliments on it. My feet are on it as we 'speak'!

[suec12]

My goodness that backpackers tour mentioned above is super reasonable and seems to cover more than many others that charge more. IMO you might waste time on the HOHO as most of the major sights are easily walkable once you get to Sultanahmet by the local tram. But if you don't want to do a Bosphorus boat ride, maybe do one day in the Sultanahmet and then the other on the HOHO for an overview.

 

We did Istanbul on our own tho, well with the Rick Steves guidebook - it is easy to get around and the guidebook gives you much information with a few funny comments thrown in as well. Street food / restaurants are plentiful. But even if you go on your own be ready to at least be offered a rug pitch. Men roam the street, and will attempt to strike up a conversation (inevitably they will have a cousin who lives in your town) and then take you to their shop.

 

We loved Istanbul - have a great trip!

[prish]

My goodness that backpackers tour mentioned above is super reasonable and seems to cover more than many others that charge more. IMO you might waste time on the HOHO as most of the major sights are easily walkable once you get to Sultanahmet by the local tram. But if you don't want to do a Bosphorus boat ride, maybe do one day in the Sultanahmet and then the other on the HOHO for an overview.

 

Yes, the Backpackers tour was very good and reasonable too, the second day we did two half day tours. The groups are small and the guide generally competent, so we were very happy. No carpet stops either, but everywhere you go someone is trying to sell you something, you just have to ignore them and walk on, we learnt to do that pretty well:D