RetiredFL Posted June 6, 2007 #1 Share Posted June 6, 2007 We will be a day in Istanbul on the ship. We will then stay a couple of extra days at a hotel. We are looking at excursions while on the ship. Has anyone done the Oceania Bosporus cruise? Guide books recommend it but friends say it is slow and boring. Does Oceania use a special ship or do they just put you on a local ferry that stops every five minutes? (That was friend's complaint when they did it on their own with a local ferry). Oceania says "local boat" but don't know what that means. Advice and information from those who have done it would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAS-KARR Posted June 6, 2007 #2 Share Posted June 6, 2007 I'm sad to inform you but your friend is 100 % correct.The B.River is most boring.......we too took a local ferry but that DOESN'T change the scenery along the way. The scenery consists of alot of local-small boat traffic, many-many apartment bldgs., lots of ferry stops at restaurant piers and an occasional old fortress high up on a hill. If you take a ferry the locals will constantly gawk at you & yours, it may make you uncomfortable. I by No means want to break your balloon & I suggest you give it a try just to say you cruised the river....and form your own opinion.......the fare WON'T break your bank I'm sure. CIAO, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liv4cruzin Posted June 6, 2007 #3 Share Posted June 6, 2007 We did not take the Oceania excursion; we took the Bosphorus cruise ferry which MAY have less stops that the regular north/south ferry route. I'll make a guess here that we made maybe 5 stops each way up to Anadolu Kavagi. They are very brief stops; & we spotted a few that looked interesting (which we plan to visit on the next trip). I never felt the locals were gawking at us; in fact there were a lot of folks that were doing the same thing we were. Some of us had our guide books out so we could identify some of the fascinating buildings we saw along the way. A few had their own Turkish guides who were giving a running narration. There are several palaces, a fortress or two, some quaint houses along the water. In April/May the redbud trees & a few others that I didn't know the names of were in their blooming glory. The scenery was fascinating (to us at least). Granted the same sites on the way home may be more boring. In our case, it was cloudy/grey in the morning & beautifully sunny on the way back. So the scenery looked different. The time spent in Anadolu Kavagi was interesting. Brightly colored fishing boats & old fishermen repairing their nets right on the docks. Fairly decent (although a little pricey) restaurants for lunch. It's a cute tiny town & some made the trip up to the fort (we did not). Depending on just how many days you have to explore IST, you may feel yoiur time is better spent doing the many other things there are to do. Maybe taking the ferry to Princes' Islands, which is like a cross between the wild wild west & a New England shoreside resort. We loved our afternoon there by public ferry. On our first (1 day port of call) visit, we did the ships's tour of the major sites (Topkapi, Blue Mosque, Hippodrome, Hagia Sophia). We covered a lot of space w/o having to worry about transportation & ticketing. This left us new alternatives when we made our 2nd visit (5 days). We hired a driver who took us to the Dolmabache Palace first, then over to the Asian side to the Beylerbei Palace (both magnificent in different ways); & finally a drive up to the Black Sea for an early dinner. Day cost us about 175 Euros. We spent one day on the Bosphorus Cruise; & a half day to Princes' Islands. We took public transportation everywhere, exploring Sultanahmet at our leisure & a short time up in Taxim by bus (not our cup of tea).There is just so much to do; & if it's your first time & if time is short, you can easily bypass the Bosphorus trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talyanka Posted June 14, 2007 #4 Share Posted June 14, 2007 We just came from Istanbul to Athens cruise. We spent 3 days in Istanbul with a private guide and Bosphorus cruise on a private boat was part of our program. The boat was quite big and we had only 12 people for this cruise. The weather was nice and sunny, we cruised very close to the shore and could see all beautiful villas and palaces located there and hear commentaries about the places we passed by so that was quite enjoible 1.5 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ortley Posted June 14, 2007 #5 Share Posted June 14, 2007 We will be in Istanbul 3 days at the end of August. And would like to have your opinion of your time spent. THanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ortley Posted June 14, 2007 #6 Share Posted June 14, 2007 Who was your guide for the 3 days? We will be in Istanbul for 3 days in August and would like to spend them wisely. Thanks in advance for your opinion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ama22 Posted June 14, 2007 #7 Share Posted June 14, 2007 We are cruising Istanbul to Rome in Sept. We will be spending 3 days in Istanbul before embarkation. We have hired a company called Sea Song. They are on the high side price wise. We will have 3 half day tours to see all of the highlights of Istanbul plus a Bosphorus cruise with dinner included at Korfez Resturant on The Bosphorus. We have also added with additional cost, a Belly Dancing Show with dinner and a Whirling Dervish performance. They are very easy to work with online and very complete with the itinerary we will be doing. www.seasong.com Mary Lou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenisler Posted July 4, 2011 #8 Share Posted July 4, 2011 Also you could rent a boat like one of Zoe Yacht's Bosphorus Cruises which offers yacht rental for private cruises in comfort. They can go any route you request any time of day with just you on board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bocatraveler09 Posted July 4, 2011 #9 Share Posted July 4, 2011 We (2 couples) were in Istanbul in May and used Byzas Tours for all our arrangements. We did one full day city tour, a Bosphorus cruise, all transfers and a side trip to Cappodocia (we had 5 days to spend). Everything was seamless and all-inclusive. They were very responsive and I highly recommend them. Istanbul is a very crowded city (17+ million) so having a guide and separate driver who really know how to get around and avoid lines is key. We arrived at the Blue Mosque just as it was about to close for pray and our guide convinced the guard to let us go in the exit! Great city. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted July 4, 2011 #10 Share Posted July 4, 2011 The thread is from 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bocatraveler09 Posted July 5, 2011 #11 Share Posted July 5, 2011 Well, maybe someone will find the info useful:-) As usual, I got caught up in the subjects and didn't notice the date. Surprised the threads are kept "alive" for so long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mexfolkart Posted October 19, 2011 #12 Share Posted October 19, 2011 We did a ships tour for a Bosphorus Cruise last May in the evening, just as sun was setting..it was lovely. We were taken on a short tour to Underground Cistern, spice market and then the cruise..it was a regular tour boat and they gave us spiced cider or tea or something else..sailed up as the lights were coming on and back with lights all over. no stops. Very enbjoyable..we had always wanted to do a Bosphorus Cruise (this was 5th time there) and we were NOT disappointed. Did enjoy the evening tour though. We were on another line..back to Oceania now though!! Sherry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palmetto Lady Posted October 19, 2011 #13 Share Posted October 19, 2011 We took a Bosporus cruise a couple of years ago, but it was a cruise and not a ferry so we just went up and back. Very pleasant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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