We 're on a Celebrity cruise and will stop in Santorini and Istanbul.. We are looking for a tour guide for a full day in Santorini and 1 1/2 day in Istanbul. We prefer smaller groups (6 people) . There are so many different tours out there but would like to hear from someone based on their experience. TIA
Posted by
Palm Springs area, CA. USA (winters)🌴☀️ Nomadic (Spring thru Fall)
3896 posts
We have a private tour booked with Santorinis Best Driver in April. Seems to get high marks on this forum.
Posted by
Atlanta
5630 posts
You might get more responses if you post on the Cruise Critic site. However, one of our cruises was with Celebrity with stops in Santorini and Istanbul, so we can speak to a couple of things.
You didn't indicate how often you have cruised, so you might not be aware that the ship will leave you if you are off on your own or using a private guide and are late returning to the ship. We have seen folks actually running along the pier as the ship was moving away from the dock. There is always the chance of traffic congestion, road construction delays, and even a vehicle break down.
Not so if you are on a ship sponsored excursion. The ship will wait for the group if it is late returning. Yes, they are more expensive than doing something on your own, but not as expensive as getting yourselves to the next port of call.
Don't mean to sound like Debbie Downer, just offering food for thought.
In Istanbul we did a ship excursion that lasted the entire 2 days we were in port. We might not have seen everything, but we definitely saw ALL of the biggies. Even had a side trip to Ephesus. A bit expensive, but well worth it.
In Santorini, be sure you get back to the tender early. The cable car lift has limited capacity. We chose to walk down to avoid the mobs. And there wasn't anyway we would ride the obviously maltreated donkeys.
Hope this is of some help.
Posted by
Indiana
1150 posts
We toured with Kostas and were very pleased. He was very good about communicating ahead of time, and we discussed the things that we wanted to do the most while on Santorini. The tour was then tailored to our interests. https://santorini-private-guide.com/tour-guide-santorini/
Posted by
486 posts
We also used Santorini's Best Driver.
We used the company for airport and port transfers, a day of transfers between island towns, and another for a full day private tour.
All was excellent, I couldn't recommend this company more highly, and the prices were great too.