This year I did a Turkey Gulet Trip at the time of booking it, I thought it would be an adventurous holiday but as the days grew closer towards my flight, I started to panic and doubt my sanity, I searched in vain for info, hope and guidance on the net!
I thought perhaps the best way to help you is to point out all the things I didn't know!
When entering Turkey you have to pay £10 ( at time of writing this) for a Visa, this is a little sticker a moody official sticks in your passport - You can now do this online, which should save one lot of queuing, Should decide to do this at the airport things get a little confusing, once you get off the plane into the airport building you will find massive queues everywhere and no idea what you're queuing for, on the right hand side you should queue to get your visa, you can pay with sterling, lira or euros. Once you have your visa then queue for passport control on the left side, they will stamp your passport. once out of the airport building head for the car park and this is the area you will find your holiday rep and transfers
https://www.evisa.gov.tr/en/
In Turkey you can pay with Lira, Sterling or Euro - I took a bit if each which worked to my advantage.
The trip to Marmaris and Fethiye is just over an hour from the airport.
Turkey is two hours a head of England in British summer time.
Tipping in Turkey is discretionary, but many Turks view it as their right, personally if a gratuity has been earned then it is well deserved, however be prepared for a moody reception from those who put out a hand and find it empty.
Most shops, hotels, restaurants etc. accept euro or even sterling, but using Lira offers a better exchange rate. Haggling for the best price is expected in the culture and discounts of one to two thirds can be gained if you're up for a fight. Most things are not priced as they prefer to pitch the first bid high, which can be frustrating if you're just window shopping and even the slightest interest will spark the shop keeper into an obsessive sales frenzy.
Once you board the Gulet you go bare foot you much ask the captains permission to wear deck shoes / slippers
Take Fly repellent as mosquitoes can be a problem
Excursions, offered on our cruise was a trip up the Dalyan delta, Turtle bay and the Dalyan mud baths this was an extra cost of £20, gets you off the boat for half a day and is good fun. At turtle Bay you will be offered a taster of crab and then the option to buy a whole blue crab cooked and prepared for 20 Lira - People on our boat purchased these and although a nice treat they reported the crab didn't hold a lot of meat and was rather tasteless.
When leaving Turkey, at the airport you have to go through two security checks one to enter the airport and then to go through to the departure longue, you will also have to go through passport control where your visa / passport will be stamped again.
Over all I did have a wonderful holiday, I wouldn't do it again but I don't regret doing it however after speaking to other people on other gulets I can see there is a very fine line between a brilliant gulet holiday and the holiday from hell.
I heard horrendous tales from the Semercioglu IV, so pick your gulet carefully!
Seyhan Jan
This Gulet is almost 40 Meters long, painted in white she sits on the water like a majestic swan, she is very comfortable with 10 cabins that sleep up to 20. Sadly I don't think these gulets ever put their sails up, it's powered by a 440 HP Engine
The Captain who is friendly and speaks good English really does try to please every one, his wife a wonderful cook, you will not go hungry but if you don't or cant eat any foods you must tell them. we also had a young girl who helped about the boat and Coby the cutest young lad that worked so very hard he made me feel guilty!
The cabin is spacious with plenty of storage, a large double bed with a brilliant mattress ( I slept like a baby when the boat went quiet) the room has 3 port holes you are requested to keep these open as must as possible
The bathroom is spacious considering your on a boat, tiled and has a powerful shower, you are asked not to flush any toilet paper down the loo, having used a caravan I am used to this but the thought of binning paper you have wiped your bum with is a bit weird and yes this does make the area near the bin smell, however every morning while you are having breakfast the bin fairies come and take it all away.
There are no locks on your cabin door and when your not in your room you are asked to leave your door open so the air can circulate. you are also asked not to take drinks bar water to your cabin or opened food.
The few things that needed address in the cabin were mould in the shower cubical and the water didn't drain fast enough, cracked tiles, stained toilet bowl, lose light fittings, décor shabby.
The room was supplied with one small blue blanket which was enough to cover one person and a thicker, bigger woolly blanket that I am sure had not been washed as I could smell perfume on it ( also watching the laundry done after we left the gullet on the last day, I saw none of these blankets on the line only the blue ones)
Even with these two blankets we were cold at night. better bedding should be provided
There are two 2 pinned sockets in the room but these can only be used for a few hours in the afternoon when the captain puts the generator on.
Our room (4) had the over bearing noise from the water pump I guess this stands for all cabins
Bring ear plugs, the walls are paper thin, you can hear everything your neighbours are doing! this mostly includes snoring, farting and going to the toilet
On board you have a large front deck and sun bathing area, to the rear of the boat has a canopy constantly up which does provide relief from the sun this is where the captain spends most of his time.
There are snorkel / flippers / kayak and other stuff to use while on board. Both Kayaks had issues but still useable
Your soft drinks are included - Coke, Fanta, Sprite and bottles of water - ask and the will supply.
Coffee and tea is £1 extra, except for breakfast and afternoon tea
The food was exceptional, twice fish was offered, plenty of salad and bread.
Breakfast: Bread, Jam, Honey, Olives, Feta, Cheese, Tomatoes, cucumber and cooked eggs of some description
(Sadly lacked Fruit, Cereal, Yogurt)
Lunch: Rice, Pasta, Vegetable dish, salad, Bread
Afternoon Tea: Coffee / Tea - Some days biscuits others a slice of cake
Supper: Meat or Fish, Pasta Rice bread followed by slices of fruit ( never enough)
I felt Turkish tea / coffee was missing and baklava more fruit and maybe other Turkish traditional fair.
Each day we moved from bay to bay, docking in a port only once Gocek, lots of swimming in a bottomless deep blue sea.
everything was lovely the only thing that did annoy me was on the last but on day he was keen to get into Fethiye because he feared docking would be hard, the captain kept trying to convince us but we still wanted to swim, he dropped anchor just outside Fethiye in a nasty little bay with sewage floating about, rubbish and choppy waters. Needless to say no one wanted to swim and he got his own way, thankfully Fethiye is a divine place with lots of explore ( check out the Lycian kings tombs, 2 km from port and 5 lira to get in, you can walk into the tomb)
DRINKS DEAL
Sadly this is all a bit of a joke, the bar prices are ridiculous plus this is a duty free country.
Bottle of plonk £17
Larger £5
Raki £5
Gin and Tonic £6
They offer a limited drinks deal which every one pretty much takes which is £160 for £210 worth of booze, however you can't buy someone else a drink on your deal and both members of the cabin have to sign up for the deal.
being a none drinker didn't really interest me however it was very painful watching the other guests get drunk every night which led to in considerate singing, loud banter plus couples trying to out do each other on the who has the biggest knob stakes by day two I was retiring to bed after supper at 6pm (8p Turkish time) as I couldn't stand the nonsense any longer
TIPPING THE CAPTAINI was told that the captain does sure the tips with the other members of the crew and so at the end of your holiday you are expected to tip £20 per person /per cabin / per week!
I refused and gave the lira that was left in my purse a mere £10, I believe one other couple did something the same but others over tipped!
I have worked hard all my life and never been tipped, I paid my fair and didn't feel that the crew did anything exceptional to make my holiday ultra special
http://www.anatoliansky.co.uk/turkey-holidays/gulet-cruise/seyhan-jan/
Photos are copyrighted 2013
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