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Senkron Tours - Bosphorous by Night... - Senkron Day Tours

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• Senkron Day Tours

Senkron Tours - Bosphorous by Night - Dinner Cruise

My main reason for booking the trip was that I wanted to see Istanbul from the Bosphorus at night, and this cruise certainly achieved that. The secondary reason was that food was provided along with unlimited drinks! The price was 70 euro each for the unlimited alcoholic drink option, just soft drinks. The price was 55 euro. However although we did enjoy it on the whole, it could have been so much better. Things got off to a bad start when the promised pick up time of 7.45 turned into just after eight, but after another couple of pick ups on route we got to the boat just before 8.30. My first impression was that the boat looked reasonable enough and on stepping inside, again not bad at all, there were probably about 20 or so people already there. We sat down waiting for the promised "welcome cocktail ", and waited and waited. There only seemed to be one waitress and another behind the bar and they seemed to be making heavy going of pouring out some fruit juices and then going backwards and forwards to the other tables with them. More passengers were arriving by this time so she didn't get round to our table to ask what we wanted. Then, my real criticism, they started calling everone to help themselves to the buffet before the boat departed, whereas the description had said it would be served while we were cruising. In the end I think everyone had virtually finished before the boat left. While queuing up for the food I just went up to the bar and asked for a drink, and was served without any problem. Perhaps I should have done that as soon as getting on board, to be fair after that drinks were unlimited, it was just a case of asking for whatever you wanted, and from what I could see both spirits as well as wine were available. As for the buffet, it was reasonable, if not brilliant, and the quantities were more than adequate. My other chief criticism concerns the entertainment, which I think Senkron must have thought had to be non stop throughout the whole 3 hours of the tour. I suppose this is a subject view, and others may have quite enjoyed the constant entertainment and noise, but I would have preferred some quiet time in between to just enjoy the view. The Anatolian folk music was OK for a while, but then the fiddle player started going from table to table supposedly serenading the occupants, but in reality trying to extract tips from everyone. When we saw was he was doing we just went outside on the upper deck and enjoyed the view until he'd finished. I would have had no problems in putting into hat/whatever if passed round but his manner in getting tips was offensive.

We booked a tour from this agency that included a cruise on the Golden Horn and on Bosphorus . This was the 1st part of the tour and it was disappointing because the cruise boat was very small,old and frowsy. They tried to impress us with some specific Anatolian dances but they only managed to disappoint us more. After this we went to Pierre Loti hill from where the view was impressive. Then we went to a leather factory which had actually nothing to do with a factory but was more like a showroom. They called this “shopping opportunity” but it wasn’t at all an opportunity because the prices were way too high even with a so called 60% discount. The first half of the tour ended with a lunch at a canteen-like restaurant and also with the replacement of our guide. From this moment the hell started. Beside the fact that our guide had an awful English, he mysteriously forgot about us when we entered to Dolmabahce palace. So while the other tourists from our group were inside the palace we were at the gates waiting for our first guide to recognize us and get us into the palace. After 10-15 minutes of waiting we were finally in but more than upset. Because of this incident,after we saw the palace we decided to skip the las part of the tour-which was Camlica Hill(the highest peak in the Istanbul vicinity. So after all this,all I can say is run as fast as you can when you hear about Senkron travel agency.

This tour was booked by our hotel, and was the only poor recommendation they made. We took the 1/2 day Bosphorus cruise, and were picked up at 830 at our hotel. From then on, we were moved from bus to bus boat to bus to cable car to bus and we felt like cattle be herded around Istanbul. There was no commentary on the bus, no information, no welcome. The commentary on the ship was lackluster, and could only be heard below deck inside. Don't waste your money on this.

We took their night cruise, booked through Marcopolo travel agency at sultanahmet and got a discounted price of 45 €. We were picked up from our hotel at 7 p.m. in a minibus with a helpful driver which went to various hotels to pick up the other tourists. However due to the heavy traffic we got delayed in reaching our boat. On arrival we sat on a table in the lower deck where an average buffet was served. There were a few shows like magic show comedy show, live music, belly dancing and turkish dance which were all nice but nothing exceptional. The violinist started asking for tips which spoiled the mood and so did the average belly dancer. The views from the top deck of the bosphorus strait and the surrounding sights were absolutely amazing. This tour does give you a small feel of the Turkish culture before you are dropped off at your hotel. This tour is only recommended for the lovely cruise at night with its outstanding views and the average shows.

I purchased a Prince’s Island day tour on the 10th of March at Mavi Guest House as I have corresponded with them before our trip. Scheduled on the 12th of March. We were picked up and put on a boat and then found out they had switched us to a Bosporus day tour. There were others that also had a surprise look on their face. The tour was the same price, but not what I ask for.

I have read the reviews here about Senkron and they are all true! Where do we start with this nightmare tour? Let’s start from the beginning. Upon arrive at our hotel in Istanbul, my friend and I were immediately advised to take the Senkron ST-04 Bosphorus Cruise with Golden Horn. The booklet states that it is a half day morning tour which includes an Anatolian Folk dance show and stops at Pierre Loti Hill, a cable car ride, the city walls and a shopping opportunity on the way back to the old city. The hotel stated that half day meant that it was between 8:30 and 1:30. Trusting the hotel, we booked the trip and so the nightmare began. We were picked up by bus at 8:30 am. We ended up driving around and picking people up from other hotels until 9:15. We then got to the pier and had to climb up some wooden stairs that were rotten and unsteady to the point that one man at the top and two at the bottom had to hold the stairs and our hands in order for us to get onto the boat. We then sat for over 30 minutes with no explanation of what the holdup was. At 10 am we finally set off – the female guide spoke in English and Spanish. Throughout the journey 4 young people (2 boys and 2 girls) had the back door of the cruise open, as they constantly dipped in and out to smoke. On a cold January morning, one can easily imagine how disrupting it was to the experience. The folk dance then started and we quickly realised that the 4 moody looking smokers were actually the dancers! The “show” started off with a girl walking up and down the boat unenthusiastically holding an umbrella and was distastefully chased by a desperate boy. She then dropped a handkerchief, which was apparently a signal that the chase was over. The boy picked the handkerchief up, linked her and they walked off together. This charade was followed by the 4 of them dancing for about 3 minutes with as much enthusiasm for being there as people waiting on death row show. It was absolutely awful. Surprisingly however, things were about to get worse. By about 11:15 the cruise tour was over and we had dismounted the boat on yet again the unstable stairs. This time was even more hazardous as the snow began to fall. We were then abruptly ushered onto a bus which drove us to Pierre Loti Hill. As we pulled up, the female guide turned around and abruptly said “yes it’s snowing, so either come and take photos or stay on the bus -it is up to you”. Everyone disembarked and headed to the hill. By this point the snow was very heavy and the fog set in. In addition, two other groups of tourists arrived. My friend and I took some photos and then found that our group had disappeared. We looked around and even walked back to the bus and found no trace of our group or the guide. Cold, wet and confused we began to panic as we were deserted and had no means of getting back to the hotel. We went back to the hill and by chance saw a sign for the cable car. We went down the stairs and luckily found our group getting into one of the cars. The tour guide turned to us and said “ha! You were going to stay here. We were about to leave without you” and continued to mock us. I explained to her that other tour groups had arrived and we did not hear her beckoning our group to head to the cable cars and were surprised that she never attempted to find us. She just rudely shrugged at us. She the then told us to get into a separate car from the rest of the group – so we were left in the car with a group of strangers and no guide. The cable car flyover lasted all of 30 seconds. How Senkron has the nerve to class it as one of the main attractions I will never know - the tour booklet is misleading to say the least. As my friend and I disembarked the car, we found that our tour guide and our group, who were in the car before us, YET AGAIN walked off back to the bus and never waited for us. We literally had to shout for them to wait for us - when the guide knew all along that we were put in the second car behind theirs. As angry as we were at 11:45, we felt that the tour could get better as we had around another two hours left for the tour and were on our way to the city walls and a shopping stop, or so the booklet said. However, Senkron’s booklet misled us yet again. The city walls visit was actually driving past it on what seemed like a highway as the guide spouted out a couple of basic sentences on Constantinople that one could find in a leaflet. She then quickly hung up her microphone and started chatting and laughing with the bus driver. The driver was chatting back, whilst dealing with traffic on the road and also continuously texting on his phone. As we were sat directly behind him, we could even see that he was texting using whatsapp! Putting up with people’s misleading and rudeness is one thing – but what the driver was doing was actually dangerous. The final point in the booklet’s itinerary was ‘shopping opportunity on the way back to the old city’ – this DID NOT HAPPEN AT ALL. It was a complete lie. The tour concluded as the bus dropped us off outside the Blue Mosque at 12:15 – not 1:30 as promised! Another failed promise by Senkron. We went back to our hotel, the Azade, and explained all these points. They were horrified and contacted the company to get our money back. The manager at Senkron said that they would not give us the money back and started to guilt trip us by saying things such as “should I give the money from my pocket?”. This is tasteless and a cunning tactic because they know we would say no and probably drop it. So he offered us a basket of fruit, which we declined. Sadly, this is not an isolated case as when we read the reviews of Senkron on tripadvisor we found that other tourists faced the same problems. We are not the first people to be taken advantage of by Senkron. The fact that we paid 70 Euros for a service and did not get that service on so many levels is disgusting, appalling and disgraceful. Taking advantage of and misleading tourists who entrust these agencies with their hard earned holiday money to see the beautiful sights of Istanbul is unforgivable and they should be ashamed of themselves. Avoid this travel agency at all costs.

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The West Coast Experience - Senkron Day Tours

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The West Coast Experience

We booked a four night stay in Istanbul but after one day thought the city to be uninviting, shabby and not up to the reputation it has been given for culture and history. We called in to SenkronTours and invited them to arrange an intrnal flight for us the following morning, two tours at Epheseus and Pamukale and a return flight late on day 4 to then catch our early morning UK flight. Everything went like clockwork. Our flights were secured, our hotel booked, our tours arranged and our transfers nailed, even with our names on those lovely boards at arrivals. This was impressive given we only booked the whole trip at around 5pm with the flight first thing in the morning. They could not do enough to assist us and were available 24 hours via a mobile phone number if we needed help. Looking at the other reviews, it looks like the operators have been letting the Agent down and they would do well to move on. As far as we were concerned the experience with this Agency was First Rate and one of the best we have enjoyed on our travels around the World. Thank you Senkron Tours

Our hotel recommended the all day Bosphorus Cruise and tour, ST-06 in the brochure, but as we only had two days in Istanbul opted for the half day tour ST-04, which cost us 90 TL each, or 35 Euros. We are so glad that we didn't sign up for the full day as the whole thing was something of a disappointment. Our pick up from the hotel was a good 30 minutes after the time we had been given and we soon realised why as it took an age to pick up the rest of the group and the whole thing seemed disorganised. The commentary and information given by our guide on the bus was barely audible but we eventually boarded our boat and got chatting to some other people who were already so disenchanted that they were considering aborting the afternoon of their whole day tour. The cruise on the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus was OK but could probably have been done cheaper with any of the numerous companies touting their wares near the ferry terminal. If a cruise is all you want, this is probably a better option. We were then taken by bus to Pierre Loti Hill which is worth the visit for the views from the end of the Golden Horn and the short ride in the cable car but it was all downhill from there. The City Walls were visible from the bus but again the commentary was indistinct and the driver seemed to get lost as we did part of the circuit twice. By now we were obviously running late but were obliged to partake of the so called shopping opportunity. This turned out to be a large retail outlet selling leathers and furs, preceded by a fashion show which we declined. As we had no interest in the limited range of goods on offer and are perfectly capable of taking ourselves shopping anyway, we had no option but to wait for the bus to depart., Before we could be dropped off at Sultanahmet Square, the day tourists were dropped off for lunch suspiciously near Senkron's office and we were thankful that we weren't joining them. This confirmed our suspicions that the whole tour is based around enterprises owned by Senkron or in which they have interests. Had we read the reviews posted by others before we went, we would not have booked this tour and would not recommend it.

My husband and I went on one of the all day tours with Senkron earlier today. The tour agency was recommended by our hotel, and having failed to do any research before hand (our first mistake) we booked the # 6 tour that included a Bosphorus cruise as well as several other sights that are outside the old city Sultanahmet area. The day started off at 8:30 when we were very promptly picked up at our hotel. The guide didn't say anything, just led us to a bus where we then departed to pick up other passengers. Finally, around 9:15am, we left the old city area and drove to the northern end of the Golden Horn to catch the cruise boat. The guide never gave us any clue as to what was happening, nor did he mention anything about our surroundings as we were driving around. This was our first clue that the tour was not going to go well. When we arrived at the boats, the guide just got off the bus, and without saying anything started to walk toward the water, leaving us to follow him. There were two boats and we were surprised to find that there were about 50-60 on each of the boats already! So much for a personal tour experience. The boats left shortly after we arrived but I understood that other people already there had been waiting for quite some time for us to arrive. The cruise experience itself was fine, because you just can't mess up Istanbul's scenery, but the guide's voice could barely be heard by the bow of the boat where we were sitting, even with the help of a pair of large speakers. The guide also didn't offer much explanation of anything, and what he did say was perfunctorily delivered, with no enthusiasm or love for his city displayed. After the cruise, we loaded on to buses and drove to Pierre Loti, where we had a scenic view of the European side of the Istanbul. We walked to the top of the hill, and then waited for quite some time for the cable car to transport 120 people down to our buses. My husband and I were in the last cable car, as we decided we'd rather wait at the top of the hill than in the buses at the bottom. I can't imagine having been in the first cable car, and then waiting 30-40 minutes in the buses until the last group arrived. Departing the hill, we drove past the city walls and the guide told us to take pictures from the bus. Wait, what? We just paid 70 euros for this trip and we've been reduced to driving past historical sites and taking pictures through grimy bus windows? Our next stop was for the "shopping opportunity" that was listed in the tour. We all figured it would be a bazaar or souk or some such location. Nope - we ended up at some leather store in a light industrial sector of the city, where we had to sit through a fashion show with models garbed in leather jackets strutting down a mini catwalk. Then we had the 'opportunity' to shop in their showroom for all the highly 'discounted' items. Here we are in Istanbul, with some of the richest archaeological and cultural offerings in the world, and we were taken to a freaking factory outlet store to buy high end leather. Lunch followed the shopping opportunity, and then a trip to the Dolmabahce Palace. Following the Palace tour we drove to the Asian side of Istanbul, where we had an all too quick stop for drinks at a tourist trap cafe on top of the tallest hill in Istanbul. It was a pretty view, but I certainly felt like it was a complete waste of time, as traffic was so bad, it took an hour to get there, and an hour to return. To sum up, we didn't feel as if the tour was a complete waste of time as the cruise was quite nice (but probably any boat trip on the Bosphorus would have done the trick) and Dolmabahce was quite nice too. But the rest of it was just a waste. A word on the guides too. They were nice, but honestly, anybody with a pulse could have done just as good a job. Everything said was clearly learned by rote, and said without enthusiasm or inspiration. The best guides have a love for their city which can clearly be seen by how much they want to share about it. These guides could have cared less. I'm going to give this review 2 stars because I felt like there were some decent aspects of the tour - not due to Senkron's efforts of course - but overall our money could have been spent better on just about any other tour agency.

GOOD FOR: Entertainment THE UGLY: Missed sunset! This cruise promised that seeing Istanbul by night would be unforgettable and we would be asking to stay, these to thing did not happen. Unfortunately the sun had set by the time we left, however we did get to 'enjoy' this while sitting top deck still in the harbour, wondering where the welcome cocktails were or even when the bar opened for 40 minutes. The entertainment was the highlight with just the right amount of auidence participant. Seeing the belly dancing is a must and İ can't think of a nicer way to do this than cruising along with the sights of İstanbul lit up. Although this is not a serious sightseeing tour as there was no guide, however we did enjoy going top deck to enjoy the skyline. The food was plentiful and varied, however as it was a buffey the queuing system was bad everyone at once, İ would bear this in mind if you are a older couple. We choose the unlimitted alcohol for additional €15, they had a okay selection but more importantly they did keep the drinks flowing once the bar opened. The worse part was the transfer back, we had a 30 mınute wait while the driver pulled into a layby & promptly ran off, while his mates stood around the bus, slightly disconcerting. Although we did have fun mainly due to the alcohol, for the price paid €70 this could have been better / more professional and İ would look for another cruise.

We went for an afternoon cruise -3 hours for 35 euros -payment was asked on the bus quite rudely. We were driven to the boat and never welcome aboard by anyone. We waited there without even knowing at what time the boat was supposed to leave- which was 45 minutes late. As a consequencethe 2 planned stops on the cruise lasted 11 and 15 mn -we ran fast. The cruise in itself is nice but definitely not with this company.

This company was recommended to me by the reception of Maywood hotel. I went on a full day tour of Bosphorus cruise, but ran away after half day. It took them 1.5h to pick up all the tourists from Sultanahmet area, then delivered us to the Port with a company of a guide (no disrespect to senior people, but this person was not right for the job), who let us know that Port is a place where ship arrive and leave from/to the other shore and that university is the same as college.... right.... thanks for the info.... Half of the trip we were just waiting for the bus to go. Total waste of time!!!! Avoid!!!!!

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Dinnner Cruise - Senkron Day Tours

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Dinnner Cruise

Dinner cruise with Senkron Day Tour on Bosphor should be on your “must do” if you’re going in Istanbul. Their team is The best you’ll find. The food is very good, various and The show is wonderful. I recomand them.

Tours sold to us to ‘get there early’, ‘skip the lines’ and ‘you get a guide’. There is no getting there early by the time they sort out who is going with which guide on which bus (two hours!) and you navigate the traffic. There is no skipping the security lines and small group tour leaders shove past you while you wait. Individual ticket buyers got in quicker than us! The guides were shepherds at best giving little but the most basic information... and then there is the ‘shopping opportunity’!!!!!what a waste of time! Bosphorus cruise and lunch was good when we finally got there.

The organization is terrible, the food is bad and was re-heated! they did not offer water, you would assume for 40 euro they could’ve included a bottle of water!! barman bought a watermelon and was selling it the passenger instead of offering it. A 5kg watermelon costs 20lira, was selling a plate with couple of pieces tor 20lira! The toilets are disgusting and the seats dirty and the boat it run-down. Avoid this agency at all cost!!

Hello our dear guest, Firstly we'd like to thank you for your feedback. We are going to gain our weaknesses. According to tour rules,as you can see on the info page that only the food(lunch) is included,drinks,fruit and desserts are extra. In addition, all around the world prices of what you buy at the shop and in an event are different. We are sorry so that you had a bad experience. We see all our customers as a partner of our family.

We booked this tour in order to see as much of the cultural highlight of this city. I began late as it picked up around town before setting off for the firsts stop - The Blue Mosque. Our guide was informative, friendly and helpful in the morning and he then took us on to various other sights, but not in the given order. We were then led to a Turkish delight shop at the entrance to the Grand Bazaar - there we were pressed to buy with the insistence that it was an opportunity to buy the best at very low prices - hard sell. We were then abandoned to the bazaar for 1 and a half hours and told to meet back at the shop to get the coach for our lunch destination. We trawled through heavy traffic to a very run down area where we stopped and entered a shabby cafe were our 'lunch' was served. It was appalling quality, and quite cold. Most plates went back hardly touched. Worse was to come - we were then driven out of town to a tannery and leather shop for a 'Shopping opportunity' - more hard sell. Finally after an hour we were taken on to the last destination. There was no Orthodox and Jewish heritage visit as listed despite spending 8 !/2 hours and ending up completely exhausted. I cannot recommend this trip and many others on it felt the same. When I challenged the guide about our treatment he stated that he had done nothing wrong and thought the shopping opportunity was good business practice. Fine - but if that is the case why do they not mention it in the program.

Absolutely nothing was delivered as promised. We went towards the Black Sea but did not go to the Black Sea. There was supposed to be soft drinks and fruit with lunch, which there wasn’t. We were supposed to stop for swimming and we didn’t. The toilets were disgusting and the lady helping on board, when not doing anything, was either picking her nose, picking her ears, picking her teeth or spitting onto the deck floor. I could not get off there quick enough. Save your money.

We enjoyed the time on the water and seeing the sites this way. The food was good and plentiful. The boat we were on was “well used” but functioned well. It was difficult to hear the tour guide over the speakers in the beginning but that was later remedied. We saw the Black Sea in the distance but didn’t get to sail on it which was disappointing. Stopped on the Asian side for 30 minutes so we could take a walk. Probably not necessary. All in all, a pleasant experience and we would do again.

Senkron Day Tours

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Senkron Day Tours - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024) - Tripadvisor