Istanbul - luggage storage?

Hello friends,

We debark the Azamara Journey in Istanbul and don't need to be at the airport until 2 PM for a 4 PM flight. The ship offers a Land Discovery with airport transfer, but only for those with flights leaving after 5 PM. Do any of you have experience booking a tour like this, and will they let you leave early with your luggage and taxi to the airport on own? Or, does anyone have suggestions for a day hotel or luggage storage option while we explore Istanbul on our own? We have been advised we will be off the ship by 9:30 at the latest.

Many thanks,

Lauren

Hello friends,

 

We debark the Azamara Journey in Istanbul and don't need to be at the airport until 2 PM for a 4 PM flight. The ship offers a Land Discovery with airport transfer, but only for those with flights leaving after 5 PM. Do any of you have experience booking a tour like this, and will they let you leave early with your luggage and taxi to the airport on own? Or, does anyone have suggestions for a day hotel or luggage storage option while we explore Istanbul on our own? We have been advised we will be off the ship by 9:30 at the latest.

 

Many thanks,

Lauren

Hi Lauren,

I don't know about luggage storage, but ask onboard about it and/or a day hotel they may have recommended in the past.

You could also hire a private car and see some sites until 2. Have you inquired on your roll call?

And not to get your hopes up, but in some disembark ports you can sometimes stay aboard in one of the public rooms until midday.

Good luck.

I would try for a private tour as you would then have your luggage in the car with you.

We are cruising on the 6th of August and will be flying out from Istanbul at 1.50pm. We realise we will have to be at the airport by 11.50 am and as our transfers are with Azamara we are hoping our transfer will not be too early. However we have been warned by our TA. that the traffic can be horrendous and with only 3-4 hours are in a no win situation.

I,of course, will be happy to explore the airport to see if luggage storage is available on the 16th of August. Will that help.

Thank you Bonnie, and WelshFamily!

We had called to ask about a day hotel endorsed by Azamara and/or the possibility of late debarkation, and the representative over the phone said no to both, but I understand we may receive different info once we are on the ship ;) Sounds like a private car is the way to go ... I will inquire on roll call too. Enjoy your cruise WelshFamily! Thank you for your kind offer and please do let me know if you see that it would be easy to leave luggage at the airport in Istanbul.

The airport is far from the historical center. I would think the cab (to airport to possibly store luggage, back to town, and then back to airport) would be costly in regard to both price and time. I also think I remember that Istanbul was an airport where bags were screened prior to terminal access (but I may misremember). I think a private car with driver would be the best way to go.

The airport is far from the historical center. I would think the cab (to airport to possibly store luggage, back to town, and then back to airport) would be costly in regard to both price and time. I also think I remember that Istanbul was an airport where bags were screened prior to terminal access (but I may misremember). I think a private car with driver would be the best way to go.

You are correct about bags being screened prior to terminal access.

Why don't you just do a half day private tour. They will keep your luggage in the trunk and then deliver you to the airport by 2pm ....

Hello friends,

 

We debark the Azamara Journey in Istanbul and don't need to be at the airport until 2 PM for a 4 PM flight. The ship offers a Land Discovery with airport transfer, but only for those with flights leaving after 5 PM. Do any of you have experience booking a tour like this, and will they let you leave early with your luggage and taxi to the airport on own? Or, does anyone have suggestions for a day hotel or luggage storage option while we explore Istanbul on our own? We have been advised we will be off the ship by 9:30 at the latest.

 

Many thanks,

Lauren

You are not allowing enough time. Your airline will tell you 3 hours in advance. Our flight was 6:00 am and we were there at 3:30. There are 3 levels of security and you are going to the airport at the busiest times of the day. The traffic is beyond horrendous. We walked and took the tram. Cars don't move in Istanbul. Our cab ride at 2:30 in the morning took over 30 minutes with no traffic. I would hire a private guide and car to store your luggage so you can see a few things. The guide will have a driver so he/she will guide you while the driver keeps your luggage. You really don't have much time to see much. We stayed 4 days after the cruise to see as much as we could see.

Thank you all for your advice! Yes, seems like private car is the way to go and not to the airport first. There are some highly reviewed online we have seen. We will be sure to allow plenty of time, the traffic sounds horrendous!

Many thanks again for the feedback.

Lauren

We have just disembarked off the Jouney in Istanbul on Tuesday. There was the facility for a fee of approx $30 to stay onboard I think until 2pm. I don't think you would be allowed to leave the ship prior to disembarking but I could be wrong as we didn't do it.

Our taxi was due to pick us up at 10 am but Azamara wanted the ship cleared by 9am, we did eventually get into our taxi at about 9.40, only for our taxi to be pulled over by the police, the taxi dispatcher put us in a taxi outside of the port gates so please make sure if you use a taxi that they come into the port, I think this will at least give you some assurance the taxi is properly licensed.

Our flight was at 2pm and in reality with several checks it didn't feel like there would have been time to do much sightseeing before, although there is not many seats in the airport, I would recommend that if you have any perks with your bank etc to use any special departure lounges that you investigate them before your trip, we would have been glad of somewhere comfortable to sit, the best seating was down at the gates.

The traffic was bad around the port and until we were away from the historical centre but the motorways were good and clear.

We have just disembarked off the Jouney in Istanbul on Tuesday. There was the facility for a fee of approx $30 to stay onboard I think until 2pm. I don't think you would be allowed to leave the ship prior to disembarking but I could be wrong as we didn't do it.

 

Our taxi was due to pick us up at 10 am but Azamara wanted the ship cleared by 9am, we did eventually get into our taxi at about 9.40, only for our taxi to be pulled over by the police, the taxi dispatcher put us in a taxi outside of the port gates so please make sure if you use a taxi that they come into the port, I think this will at least give you some assurance the taxi is properly licensed.

 

Our flight was at 2pm and in reality with several checks it didn't feel like there would have been time to do much sightseeing before, although there is not many seats in the airport, I would recommend that if you have any perks with your bank etc to use any special departure lounges that you investigate them before your trip, we would have been glad of somewhere comfortable to sit, the best seating was down at the gates.

 

The traffic was bad around the port and until we were away from the historical centre but the motorways were good and clear.

Hi Jem, thanks for giving us a report "from the ground" so to speak.

I wonder how a taxi without the proper license came to pick you up? Or did you hail one on the street?

If the former, I'll notify mgmt so they can look into situation. As said many times on this forum, safety is our number one concern!

Hi Bonnie I have reported the taxi incident to our travel agent, our flights and transfers were all prepaid before we left UK through our agent, I'm not sure if it was an Azamara package, on reflection probably not, as we had private transfers. It was scary because neither the police or the taxi driver spoke any English, they demanded to see our passports and took photographs of them.

We eventually got picked up from the street by the taxi dispatcher who recognised us and stopped to pick us up.

Thank you Jem12 for the helpful hints re: departing Istanbul!

Hope you had a wonderful vacation on the Journey (despite the taxi issue, which would be very unsettling).

Hi Lauren yes we had a wonderful weather, if a bit hotter than we would like but if you go in July you have to expect that.

It was a lovely itinerary with a few new stops to us, which is why we picked it.

The only slight let down was the entertainment, with a lot of repeats from Nov 2013. Also two nights of a Liiberace type piano player wasn't to our taste, although I'm sure he was very talented.

I hope you have a wonderful trip, I have re read that your flight is 2hours later than ours so if you have a private guide with car probably the main sights in Istanbul might be doable if you have never been before.

Enjoy

Elizabeth