Visa for Turkey

[Pandaco]

We are taking the Aegean Discovery cruise from Marmaris on 23rd August and have been told that we can not go into Marmaris itself as we will not have paid the £10 visa entry fee. Is this correct? :confused:

I asked how we are then able to go ashore in Bodrum & Izmir and was told that we would be issued with a day entry pass. If this is this case can we also do this in Marmaris? :confused:

If anyone has just returned from this cruise on the Celebration, i would love to hear your thoughts and highs, lows etc. There will be 8 of us travelling in total and are wondering what we can do without taking the organised tours.

 

Thanks for any info in advance

 

Soo

[Scarey Mary]

We are taking the Aegean Discovery cruise from Marmaris on 23rd August and have been told that we can not go into Marmaris itself as we will not have paid the £10 visa entry fee. Is this correct? :confused:

I asked how we are then able to go ashore in Bodrum & Izmir and was told that we would be issued with a day entry pass. If this is this case can we also do this in Marmaris? :confused:

If anyone has just returned from this cruise on the Celebration, i would love to hear your thoughts and highs, lows etc. There will be 8 of us travelling in total and are wondering what we can do without taking the organised tours.

 

Thanks for any info in advance

 

Soo

 

Hi Soo

 

We're from Barnsley too. Just got back from this cruise. We did not go ashore first day in Marmaris as didn't get to ship while about 8.00pm. Other people did though so I presume you just pick up a landing card at the gangway when you get off. This is what we had to do at the other ports.

I have put a review on here Aegean Discovery and Ottoman Treasures. There is some info on there about some of the ports. We didn't do any of the organised tours apart from the turkish gullet as most of the places (unless you want to go to the sights ie. Athens etc) you can wander around yourself and don't know what prices were like but every port there was the usual hustle of taxi drivers offering tours.

Any info you want please ask and I'll try to help. Wish we were going back:)

Mary

[kruzseeka]

We had a day in Marmaris during our recent trip on Spirit - absolutely did not have a visa/landing card or anything else. Just walked off the ship - no probs. I think the visas are for those staying in Marmaris on a cruise and stay. As far as I know, cruise passengers are deemed to be 'in transit' and therefore don't need to buy a visa. We really loved Marmaris.

 

We've book for Celebration next year and will be visiting Bodrum and Izmir so I'd be really interested to hear of your experiences of these ports and if you did any excursions when you get back. I'm gathering intelligence!! :D

[Pandaco]

Hi Mary,

 

Thanks for the quick reply. It was also someone from Barnsley who told me about the Visa, they came back last week form the B2B cruise......

Glad you enjoyed it, i have already read your review and made notes on the ports we will be visiting.

I was interested to read that Maurice from The Grumbleweeds was one of the guest entertainers - he was on the Destiny over four years ago when we did that.

Could you tell me more about the Gulet cruise you took. This is something we would like to do do. Where did you do it, which boat, how much, what was included etc etc etc.

Getting excited now, but still 8 weeks to go. We have cruised before but for 6 others it will be their first time and with ages ranging from 14 to 69 we are trying to find some happy mediums for excursions. Although to be honest, with a couple of exceptions, we will be happy to just wander round the ports

for a while and then back for sun bathing.

Did you have a sail away party? We didnt get them on the Destiny because the weather was so bad. In fact we only had 1 good day and that was in Morocco.

 

Soo

[Pandaco]

Hi Kruzseeka

 

Yes when i get back i will certainly be putting my review on here.

I think its great that people are so keen to share their thoughts on here, it really does help with planning when you are unsure of procedures etc.

Really looking forward to it now, seats booked on flight and sun lotions etc ready to go.

We hope to do our trips independently so will post any info i think may be helpful to others.

 

Soo

[Scarey Mary]

Hi Mary,

 

Thanks for the quick reply. It was also someone from Barnsley who told me about the Visa, they came back last week form the B2B cruise......

Glad you enjoyed it, i have already read your review and made notes on the ports we will be visiting.

I was interested to read that Maurice from The Grumbleweeds was one of the guest entertainers - he was on the Destiny over four years ago when we did that.

Could you tell me more about the Gulet cruise you took. This is something we would like to do do. Where did you do it, which boat, how much, what was included etc etc etc.

Getting excited now, but still 8 weeks to go. We have cruised before but for 6 others it will be their first time and with ages ranging from 14 to 69 we are trying to find some happy mediums for excursions. Although to be honest, with a couple of exceptions, we will be happy to just wander round the ports

for a while and then back for sun bathing.

Did you have a sail away party? We didnt get them on the Destiny because the weather was so bad. In fact we only had 1 good day and that was in Morocco.

 

Soo

 

They will have been on at the same time as us. Doing a b2b we were in Marmaris for a full day think we had to have a landing card that day but don't know about first day. You don't have to pay for these you are just given them when you get off to show coming back through customs.

The gullet was not what we all expected. We thought we were going by coach (especially since the tickets said meet at the coach) but we were just directed through customs and the gullet was there.:confused: All had to take our shoes off before we got on board then sailed off to an island. Couldn't believe it when we got there, landed where there was a small wooden building with a man selling drinks and ice creams. You could also cover yourself in volcanic mud from a very small pot and swim in the small volcanic pool area and go into the cave. Of course for a charge. When we left here we went a bit further and you could if you wanted swim off the boat. There was free drinks on the boat and we were gone about 4 hours.

Enjoyed the sail but we were told it was a sightseeing trip to see some caves etc. and we all thought we were supposed to go to a beach which didn't happen.The cost was £32 each.

Unfortunately then by the time we got back it was just too hot to go into Bodrum so I would like to go back there as it looked very nice.

Yes we had a sail away party both times. The first one happened and we didn't sail away:). One of the flights was very late and didn't arrive while 1.00am so we sailed at 2.00 the party was long over for most and the entertainment but a lot of us carried on until we sailed. There was also a deck party later on in the week. The weather was glorious for the two weeks except for one day when we were in Pireaus. Even at 1.00am it was still warm we would walk round the deck and look at the stars every night before we turned in. The sea was so calm you often couldn't tell you were moving.

We were the same about the excersions most of the ports were good just to have a wander round and then back to the ship especially Nauplion. This is a very small place but really pretty and the back streets were lovely and cool out of the sun. Reasonable prices too and no hassle. We didn't do it but there were a few trips to private beaches though £32 each for one and £18 each for the other to laze on a beach for a morning was a bit tooooo expensive.

 

Hope this helps

Mary

[staffordshire]

Hi Pandaco,

 

I have just returned from Ottoman Treasures, you won't need a visa as you are "in transit". If you need a landing card for any of the Turkish ports it will be put under your cabin door for you to complete or you pick up one as you disembark. Our weather was a bit hit and miss especially the first few days in Istanbul (terrontial rain and electrical storms) and then later in Canakkale. In fact, it rained in and caused some damage to a number of cabins and the sports deck was made into a sunbathing area in order for the top deck to be stripped back and relaid to make it weatherproof again. We were late leaving Marmaris due to a late flight, Captain said he would make time up on the way to Istanbul which he did but unfortunately this had a knock on effect as we didn't leave Istanbul until well after midnight as they had to do repairs in the engine room. We arrived in Canakkle after 1.00pm, to be honest unless you are really interested in seeing the wooden horse I would stay on board. You won't have missed much. The itinerary is really good, I enjoyed all the ports of call (except the one mentioned), Celebration is a lovely ship with a superb crew. Make sure you don't miss the crew's show in the Broadway Theatre, it's the best performance of the wee

[ekco]

Just got back yesterday from a cruise and stay. After landing at Dalman there are 2 passport control exits, one is for cruise passengers and the others are for land holidays where you have to pay £10 per visa. Cruise passengers are waived the visa as they are classed as 'in transit' but they will have landing cards at the Turkish ports on a table near the gangway. We weren't asked to show them however. As we were staying after we were able to buy the visa on board and they took the fee off our credit card, which saved us having to pay in cash, they put a sticker in your passport and it is stamped at the port and airport.

 

Jan

[goonersue]

We were on the Celebration in May, and the only actual visas are for people staying in Marmaris. Cruise people are 'in transit' and the temporary visas are on a table in the gangway when you get off.

[Len Baker]

Hi, many thanks for this useful information. We are doing a cruise & stay in 2011 & were told we need visas due to having the stay in Marmaris. The Thomson cruise brochure says "all guests are required to purchase a tourist visa on arrival".

Do you know if Thomsons reps are present to advise on this matter or as what is the norm customers are left to fend for themselves? Also, where were visas issued for £10 on the Celebration?

[ekco]

Hi, many thanks for this useful information. We are doing a cruise & stay in 2011 & were told we need visas due to having the stay in Marmaris. The Thomson cruise brochure says "all guests are required to purchase a tourist visa on arrival".

Do you know if Thomsons reps are present to advise on this matter or as what is the norm customers are left to fend for themselves? Also, where were visas issued for £10 on the Celebration?

 

You'll get a letter under your cabin door to tell you to take your passport to the Reception a couple of days before the end your cruise, then you'll pick it up after 9.30am on changeover day with the visa already in it. Simple as that. :):)

 

Jan

[Len Baker]

Sounds good. Many thanks Jan.

[ekco]

Sounds good. Many thanks Jan.

 

You're welcome.:):)

 

Jan

[capasamari]

One thing to be certain of is that you won't be left to fend for yourself. You will be given all the information you need via a letter in your cabin near the end of your cruise, so just make sure you read everything they send you carefully and abide by the instructions given.

 

Carol x