Private Bosphorus Dinner Cruise Istanbul — Local services in Beyoğlu

I am extremely upset about this event. First I'll say the positive aspects, plus it's food. My rating is 7 points out of 10 points. (But this is the merit of the chefs, not the party organizers). The second plus is the captain's cute little dog, which runs around on the upper deck and makes everyone laugh. Now I want to tell you about all the disadvantages of this trip. It all starts with the queue and loading of all guests onto the ship. We stood in line for about an hour (19:40 we got in line), we were at the beginning of the line and everything went well. But at 20:27 two large tourist buses arrived and about 70 people got out and together with their guide they stood at the front of the line because they supposedly had VIP passes. And all the people who were waiting in line were already behind them. Then, when loading onto the ferry began, it was a complete house (everyone started getting into the queue without a queue), there were no special tapes that would indicate the beginning and end of the queue. The second disadvantage is that they are trying to scam you out of extra money everywhere, starting with the photographer and ending with tips (which were not included in the bill). There is a woman sitting in the toilet who gives you paper and collects donations for her services to wipe your washed hands. On the upper terrace of the ship, everything is dirty and in chaos; all unnecessary furniture that did not fit on the hall was simply carried up and randomly arranged. Entertainment program 4 points out of 10 points. It’s not clear to me why Russian music was playing if the English tour package was purchased from me. Also, after the main courses, there is a special person who sells desserts at very competitive prices (tiramisu ≈ 10 euros, to some this price may seem small (I agree), but you are in Istanbul on a medium ferry). Plus, a special person walks around on deck and asks everyone to give 5 points in the application and leave a good review about the company, and people who don’t know how to refuse did this without discussion. If you are a European or American tourist, I do not recommend this tour. I didn’t like it, me and my friends and not only my friends, but also other guests who were on the ship wanted it to end quickly and put us on the ground. 2 points only...

The experience was far from what we expected. To start, the reservation was not under my name because we were part of a group, and it was booked under someone else’s name. I wasn’t planning to explain the full details, but since you insisted, here it is.

From the moment we entered, there were attempts to pressure us into tipping just to be shown to our table. Unfortunately, we were seated in a spot where we couldn’t see any of the shows at all. We ended up watching them on a low-resolution screen that looked like it was from the last century. We thought we could just enjoy the view of the sea instead, but to our surprise, our table was in the middle of the area, so we couldn’t even see the sea.

As for the food, it was the worst meal I’ve had during my two-week stay in Istanbul. This wasn’t just my opinion—it was shared by everyone in our group. I didn’t see anyone around me finish their meal.

Regarding the photography, the photographer was completely unprofessional. The pictures were heavily filtered and poorly edited. To make matters worse, we were shocked by the price—20 euros per picture (or 10 euros, I don’t recall exactly)—which was more expensive than photography in the Alps or the Maldives.

Overall, it was a bad experience that I wouldn’t repeat. I do not...

Marhaba 👋

I am writing to provide feedback on the boat tour that my family and I recently took in Istanbul. We booked the trip without dinner, and the tour cost us 150 TL per adult, with our 4-year-old child joining us free of charge.

Overall, we had a nice experience exploring Istanbul from the sea, both on the European and Asian sides. The view of Istanbul was amazing during the trip, and we appreciated the opportunity to see the city from a different perspective. However, we did notice that the boats were not well equipped with all the necessary safety measures for young children. As a result, I have rated the tour a 4 out of 5.

I wanted to bring this to your attention as I believe it's important to ensure the safety of all passengers on board. Perhaps in the future, you could consider providing additional safety equipment or implementing stricter safety guidelines to ensure that all passengers, including young children, are safe...