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Trip to Turkey Istanbul, Cappadocia and an NCL cruise

Posted by on

This trip was a dream come true as far as Turkey goes. Because I traveled with my semi-handicap husband, I arranged private guide tours in Istanbul, Cappadocia and for Ephesus (one day on the cruise). After many months of planning with the guides, our Istanbul guide, whom I found through this Rick Steves' forum, was extremely disappointing. She only cared about her money and nothing about being a guide (if you want to stay away and get her name, just email me). However, our guide in Cappadocia was incredible, professional and cared a great deal about helping my husband navigate Cappadocia, where our highlight was taking the hot air balloon ride. I highly recommend her if you travel there: Esma Guter (90.539.406.9198)
Our third private guide in Ephesus was absolutely an angel. Her and her driver (husband) were incredible. Professional, courteous and couldn't do enough for us. Her name: Yesim Arici (90.532.568.0606)
Lastly, I must warn you regarding NCL cruises. We are not professional cruisers, but took numerous ones over the years. It was a nightmare being on the NCL Gem from Istanbul to Venice. So many problems, so many lies by the Co. and such disregard to passengers by both the Co. and the customer service personnel on the ship. Be warned!

Would like to highly recommend in Istanbul hotel Haze-Karakoy and in Cappadocia the "Divan Cave House", a cave hotel worth experiencing.
Happy traveling.
Sara Y.

Posted by
2246 posts

Glad that so nuch of your trip went very well.

I have just returned from my 8th NCL cruise sailing Southampton to Lisbon. I originally began sailing NCL because I travel alone and they offer the studio cabins.

There have been downs and mishaps with NCL but enough ups to have me keep booking. But I meet and talk to many guests, some who swear by NCL and others who say "Never Again"

I am interested in details about your experiences with NCL if you choose to share.

I have another cruise booked for October 2024: Haifa to Istanbul. I do not know if the Middle East conflict will be resolved by next October and even if so, I do not know if I am ready to go that way.

I an not disabled but have an arthritic knee and need a replacement. I had an injection before leaving home to mask pain but it did not work and I suffered pain a good part of my trip.

Posted by
8319 posts

My wife is mobility challenged and has had a knee replacement. She walks okay, just not very far any longer.

We travel with a Luggie portable folding personal scooter. It's got a 10 mile range and I cannot keep up with her in airports. She rides it all the way to the airplane door where I fold it down, remove the battery and send it below for a Gate Check.

With the scooter, she's made 3 trips to Europe and one to Las Vegas. The scooter works remarkably well on a cruise ship.

We've had to stay in more expensive hotels--more modern ones with elevators. And we take more taxi's even though most buses have handicapped lifts/ramps. We've had to limit our underground stations in places like London to ones with elevators and escalators. But we found our limitations in Venice with those arch bridges that will never be handicapped rated.

I'm fortunate that i can handle picking up the scooter @ 48 lbs. And with the scooter, I can drag all our luggage in two 22" rolling bags without assistance.

So don't believe that we cannot often adapt to circumstances and continue to travel. In our retirement years, we certainly like that we still have something to look forward to--travel.

Posted by
8876 posts

I’m sorry your cruise what not what you had hoped for. Can you give a few more specifics? “so many lies” only tells us that you did not get what you felt you were promised. It doesn’t tell us the underlying issues,

Posted by
11 posts

To BostonPhil,
NCL is a terrible cruise line that will totally ignore any grievance of their passengers. Never to reply to a certified mail before the cruise, lie about every possible of their offering. Glad your experience was better, but not ours and we are looking into legally making them responsible. We know it will be an uphill battle, but never again to deal with this disgusting cruise Co.

Posted by
11 posts

Reply to David,
I am aware of the possibility of using a scooter, but it is not a viable option for my husband. I definitely cannot lift a 48LB scooter and handle luggage to boot. My husband could not handle any of it.
Thanks for the follow up
Sara Y.

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