Istanbul

[martyap]

I know, I know. Istanbul for 1 day doesn't do it justice. But, I promise that I will be back. I will be on a RCL cruise leaving Barcelona on October 20 and will be in Istanbul. Do you have any recommendations for any guides? I prefer to have a private guide instead of joining the ship's tour. My must-sees are the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque and Grand Bazaar. Thank you in advance for all your info!

 

Lale or her husband Kagan Kosagan are excellent....Marty

[dogsister]

Hi,

We are going to Istanbul in October. Would you please email me Kazim's contact info. My email address is gernstein@comcast.net. Thanks.

[Quacker]

Pisces223 - We are going to be in Istanbul Sun Oct. 5th at noon to Monday at 5pm. This Kazim guy sounds like our kind of guide. Please send his info. dtlt58@hotmail.com Thanks, Quacker Don

[cruise4usnow]

Could you just post the boat tour person's contact info? We would like it too for November.

[murphysmum]

Wendy....

 

I'm so glad that you suggested the Arrasta Bazaar as a great place to shop.

 

After having been totally lost and confused several times by the Grand Bazaar, we found the Arrasta (sp?) and found it to be a paradise for shopping. With the exception of a couple of special rug stores, I wouldn't bother going anyplace else in Istanbul to shop anymore. It's so easy to navigate and each shop has the wonderful unique pieces. I found the prices to be quite fair as well and didn't experience the high pressure sales common in the Grand Bazaar.

 

What a great city!

 

Enjoy..............

 

murphysmum;)

[pisces223]

Could you just post the boat tour person's contact info? We would like it too for November.

I wasn't sure if it was ok to post contact information here for everyone to read. I will try though. If it is removed, I will have to send it directly to you via email. Here goes:

 

If I didn’t already write this on CC, Kazim is a 26-year old University student with his own boat and captain. We met him at the ferry port area where there were hundreds of people boarding ferries for all sorts of places. Our original plan was to take one of the ferries and go up the Bosphorus on the European side, get off in a picturesque town, stroll around and then return along the Asian side. Unfortunately, these ferries were jam packed with locals going all over. We realized that wasn’t what we wanted, nor did we want the overly-expensive and crowded ship’s excursion. So, we approached several of the boat captains on the pier. We got one offer for $270, but kept shopping. That’s when we found Kazim. He was very nice and helped us to plan our day with him. We told him what we wanted and he agreed! He walked with us for about one minute to the area where his boat was. We told him that we would not go unless he came with us to narrate. He agreed. The four of us gave him an additional $50 tip because he hadn’t planned on coming with us when he quoted us the $250. I think it was $250 although, it may have been less.

Kazim: kazim_karais@hotmail.com

(009) 054 2744 6210

He was delightful! He told us about everything. We stopped at a town about an hour or so away named Bebek. We strolled around for a while and then returned to the boat. I have 2 pictures of him if you’d like to see, one of him and his boat and the other of us with him. I also asked him for his contact information. He was not familiar with Cruise Critic. So, I told him I’d recommend him on the board and we was very pleased. He lives right in Istanbul in the Beyoglu section. When we returned to the dock, he walked us to a taxi and gave the driver the address of a great section in Beyoglu (Istikial) where we could have lunch, shop and just stroll around before walking back to the ship.

If you do this, please post your experience on CC. I'd love to hear how it went!

Cindy

[neil5054]

I had hoped to try the 1.5 hour RT boat on the Bosphorus in lieu of the big ferry since we are arriving at 4pm and we don't have time for the longer one that stops along the way. Any knowledge that that one? I think it's called Turyol.

[Host Karen]

Just to clarify the Community Guidelines, we welcome members recommending tour companies/guide/operators as long as someone has requested the information (and you're not related to someone at the company or receiving something in return for your recommendation of course!). In fact, we prefer that you share the information on this board rather by e-mail, because then everyone can benefit from your experience.

 

We've taken some terrific tours with companies recommended on this board.

 

Karen

HostKaren@CruiseCritic.com

[neil5054]

thanks karen, I've been using CC all summer for my honeymoon cruise leaving next week and have learned volumes!

[Host Karen]

thanks karen, I've been using CC all summer for my honeymoon cruise leaving next week and have learned volumes!

 

Best wishes on your wedding and have a wonderful time on your honeymoon. Glad that CC could help with your plans!

 

Karen

[neil5054]

thanks. actually got married in April, just had other things delaying the trip, but the info on CC has been very helpful. Funny thing, the travel agent called yesterday, our cruise on HAL is oversold and they wanted to give us other dates. I said what? after all my research and arrangements for ports on this cruise, tour bookings, reservations, etc!!! and all the CC research I did, no thanks!

[pisces223]

I just sent an email to Kazim and told him people were interested in hiring him. He wrote back saying that someone did contact him. So, please write back and tell me how you liked your tour! He's great!:)