Bosphorus Tours Istanbul — Local services in Fatih

Undoubtedly Bosphorus trip by boat is a must, infact it's the third time I had the pleasure of doing and first time with these operators. This time around I had both my mum and mother in law who are in their 60s and has disability ( can't walk without walking sticks) On the way from the pick up point from the spot near Blue mosque, Fateh the guide, was walking at a pace which my parents were not able to keep up with. So I asked him, 'Could you please slow down a bit for them to catch up', which I thought was a perfectly reasonable request. He turned around and said, 'Stop telling me to slow down, I am tired of hearing that from you tourists'. I was frankly taken aback at this was my first encounter with someone in Istanbul ( visited Istanbul 7times, so know a thing or two and this was way off line) who was that brash. I replied back to him, 'Sorry, but why are you being rude, my parents aren't spring chicken and cant keep up and what's up with the attitude', his response to that was, 'Hate tourist like you, Go back, why did you come?' Left me quite flabbergasted. Then came a colleague of his when a sub-group came and joined ours and i explained his behaviour to him, he was trying to understand and sort things out, he then tells me, 'You need to show some respect'. Not sure what they talked between themselves and explained what to him ( spoke in Turkish), I was even more confused at all this. Fateh then decided to carry on walking at the pace he was, if not quicker. The walk is fairly long for someone with walking disability. Few times on the way down I got lost as the group twisted and turned down the road and quite soon out of sight multiple times. Experience from previous trips we were taken right by the Bosphorus in a taxi, which I thought will be the case this time too. Well one can argue it's cheaper than the rest of the tour operators, yes I guess it is and cant accommodate the luxury of a taxi to the boat. Well to that, you are better off paying slightly more and enjoying the trip, than face what I faced. I would like to think it wasn't racial but definitely had no regard to ppl with disability, push chairs, etc. One can't overlook the behavior and condone such a service. Wish I could say that was the end of the rude behavior. The guy near the boat when my parents reached the shores comes to us and says, 'if you don't hurry, you are not going on now, wait for the next boat, we have a group to take'. Again dumbfounded. I have not received an apology of any sort, whatsoever. All the individuals spoken to or raised concern with went on to defend each other as opposed to acknowledging the issue. Again to be clear, i am not looking for any compensation or anything back in return from the operators.... anything except an acknowledgement and an apology. The boat itself was fine and tried to make the most of the trip, which again was wonderful including staff onboard. What wasn't was the people leading up to it. They will try to rationalize their behaviour and give reasons, but you can't really argue when there are witnesses as many as I had. I am sure their operation will continue as normal, except for few unfortunate ones like us, but it will be criminal if I don't let others know of my experience. I made a telephone complaint but I didn't feel was sufficient after the humiliation. Look, I love Turkey, my 9th time in the country, 7x in Istanbul, people have always been nice and polite and I was gutted and bitterly disappointed at the negative experience. Never am I going with this operator ever...

STAY AWAY FROM THIS!!! I booked a private 2 h bosphorus tour with them on Viator, because they had this text at Meeting point :”We generally meet the guests in Karakoy. However, the cruise may starts from Kurucesme, Arnavutkoy or even from your hotel pier if you stay at a hotel by the Bosphorus Strait.” I wanted a pick up from Kurucesme pier. I called them a day before to let them know about my pick up point. They said that if I wanted that pick up point the empty boat ride from Karakoy to Kurucesme will be considered tour time, and that my 2 h trip will be a 30 minutes trip. Or that I have to pay one extra hour. I already paid 350 euro for the trip, so I told them that is unacceptable, that this is not what the conditions on the tour i paid for said, and on the voucher I received. Viator did nothing, they said to deal with the local tour operator, which i tried. The manager became very agressive by the phone, screaming at me. I told him that this was a total scam, and that he lied. I saw before this type of business atitude, they try to pull extra money from you any in way they can. That made him even more aggresive, he kept calling me and texting me. It was horrible! He even wrote me at 11 pm at night. The day of the trip when he realised that he went crazy the day before, texted me with “how are you dear”, and when I told him i am not coming because i am scared to come in his boat with my children after the meltdown he pulled the day before, he sent me some professional messages that the client is very important and that he offered me choices (the 30 min trip or the extra pay) and that I refused all so it’s my problem if I want to cancel the trip. Then he said I was racist about turkish people, and other crazy things!! My God!! That was a very scarry experience. I literally prefered losing 350 euro than meet that man! I am sorry i didn’t call him while I was in that 24 hours window in which you can cancel with refound in Viator, but it is more important mine and my children well being than few hundred euros. I am sorry i cannot post the deranged speech he had...

We initially wanted to experience the famous dinner cruise / show, but after reading all the horror stories of those tourist traps with mediocre food, decided instead to try the morning 3 hour cruise (from 11-14) with 30 min stopover in the Asian side.

What an incredible surprise! The yacht was luxurious and we felt like millionaires (and were treated like one as well). The service was awesome, and our guide Josef was great guiding us with bits of history of the landmarks, and he also gave us some privacy to enjoy the views. There were some small snacks and non alcoholic drinks included for free, and the alcoholic drinks were not too expensive either.

We missed or breakfast that morning and were expecting a little bit more snacks, but it was all good and not their fault. I would recommend having early breakfast before the cruise, or else there is also a chance to grab something warm in the 30 min Asia stopover - we decided to just try the famous yoghurt over there.

Overall this was a super good deal, much much more than we expected, and can't recommend...