Is it possible to meet up with ship excursion away from the ship?

[lisa6191]

We have an Seabourn excursion planned while we are in Istanbul that is supposed to depart at 1:30 pm. The place we are going (Dolmabahce palace) is right where we will be doing our morning sightseeing anyway (on our own, not with a ship tour). Is it possible to meet up with the excursion at the palace, or do we have to go back to the ship to be checked in or whatever? If we have to start from the ship I will need to rethink my plans, because that makes no logistical sense.

 

Thanks!

[SLSD]

7 hours ago, lisa6191 said:

We have an Seabourn excursion planned while we are in Istanbul that is supposed to depart at 1:30 pm. The place we are going (Dolmabahce palace) is right where we will be doing our morning sightseeing anyway (on our own, not with a ship tour). Is it possible to meet up with the excursion at the palace, or do we have to go back to the ship to be checked in or whatever? If we have to start from the ship I will need to rethink my plans, because that makes no logistical sense.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Edited August 22, 2023 by SLSD

[lisa6191]

Hmm, that’s interesting. They made it sound so beautiful! The main attraction of this excursion was that it was a small group tour, and it also included high tea at a different palace (Ciragan). I did call Seabourn and the woman I talked to wasn’t 100% sure, but she thought we would have to return to the ship to take the excursion. So maybe I need to rethink that entire day. I had originally signed up for two excursions that day (Bosphorus cruise with breakfast in the morning, and this one in the afternoon). But then I was thinking we could do breakfast and a Bosphorus cruise ourselves for way cheaper so I was going to cancel that one. But then the logistics don’t make sense since it will be ridiculous to go back to the ship to come right back to the palaces.

 

Back to the drawing board I think. We are trying to use up a ton of OBC which is why we are even considering these excursions, normally we would do all of it on our own. 
 

What were your favorite things in Istanbul? We have two days there and several of the usual things will be covered on our first day.

 

12 minutes ago, SLSD said:

I don't know the answer to your question, but we did spend a number of days in Instanbul some years ago.  We toured all the major venues with a private guide and love them.  I have to tell you that the Dolmabahce Palace was our LEAST FAVORITE place.  Let me explain.  It is a somewhat rundown wooden palace built to emulate western palaces.  It was like a labyrinth and felt like a fire trap to us.  I couldn't wait to get out of that place. It was not attractive and made us a bit sad.  There are so many wonderful things to see and do in Istanbul.  I would skip this palace.  Yes, it was that gloomy and not special at all.  I don't say this lightly.  

 

Instead, you might look for the church that has wonderful frescoes all of the Virgin Mary.  It was truly special and located in an interesting neighborhood with an open market right outside.  

 

 

[SLSD]

Definitely go if other things are included.  It just wasn't our favorite out of so many wonderful places in Istanbul.   Definitely go to Topkapi and the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.  

 

[whystayhome]

re:  Bosphorus Cruise

 

We decided to visit a palace on the Asian side when we were in Istanbul last year, so hopped on the local ferry for almost nothing [can't remember for sure - maybe $1 each way, maybe less] and had a beautiful cruise on the Bosphorus to and from the palace.  And when the ship leaves port, it slowly sails along the Bosphorus as well.

 

You might want to visit the Cistern for something different to do.  The archeological museum and the tile museum are also spectacular.  Also the "fresco" church, AKA Chora Church is definitely worth seeing, but it may still be closed for renovation.

 

Linda

[lisa6191]

3 hours ago, whystayhome said:

re:  Bosphorus Cruise

 

We decided to visit a palace on the Asian side when we were in Istanbul last year, so hopped on the local ferry for almost nothing [can't remember for sure - maybe $1 each way, maybe less] and had a beautiful cruise on the Bosphorus to and from the palace.  And when the ship leaves port, it slowly sails along the Bosphorus as well.

 

You might want to visit the Cistern for something different to do.  The archeological museum and the tile museum are also spectacular.  Also the "fresco" church, AKA Chora Church is definitely worth seeing, but it may still be closed for renovation.

 

Linda

Thank you! The ship excursion for breakfast and Bosphorus cruise was $170/person which seemed outrageous to me. I had also read about the cheap ferries and we plan to do that instead, and maybe get a Turkish breakfast somewhere on our own. Also, the Cistern is on our list for our first day in Istanbul.
 

It turns out that the cruise port is not where I thought it was, and it will not be a big deal to return there before the afternoon excursion. Problem solved. 🙂

[florisdekort]

On 8/23/2023 at 6:13 AM, SLSD said:

Definitely go if other things are included.  It just wasn't our favorite out of so many wonderful places in Istanbul.   Definitely go to Topkapi and the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.  

 

Definitely start with those 3 👍🏻