Day 1:

We met up at the boat in Bodrum. We flew in from Europe to Istanbul, and changed planes to Bodrum. Southern Blue Cross sent a van to pick us up at the airport and take us directly to the boat which was good because the harbour was busy and it could have taken some time to find the right boat, called Airf Kaptan C. Our friends were already there and had gotten briefed by the charter owners and had met the captain and crew. We had to get some last minute provisions (we’d emailed ahead of time our general beverage/food choices and most was already stocked) and off we went. We had a general course charted but were open to changes. We were to return to Bodrum at the end of our cruise on day 7 – being gone Aug 4-10. We had indicated we wanted a trip to include swimming, snorkling, ancient sites and some local towns.

Days 2-7

Instead of doing a day by day journey description, here’s a list of some of the places we went. We slept on the boat each night, and had most of our meals on the boat as the food was so delicious and good. We were in Turkish waters for the first part of the trip, and then went into Greece waters (which meant having go get out and go through customs and pay more fees that we hadn’t been told about ahead of time by the company or the non-communicative captain) .

Days 7-9

After disembarking the boat on the last morning we flew on to Istanbul and checked into our hotel the Sultan’s Palace, with the hotel providing us transport from the airport (at a charge). It was a terrific location, just blocks from all the things we wanted to see. It’s not a fancy hotel, but the people who run it were so nice and they had rooms that could accommodate more than just 2 people which was great for our family.Our tour guide was awesome and we would highly recommend him. He used to have an ad agency, was very professional, had great English and was terrific. His name is Ali YALNIZ . He charged us $350 for 2 days for two families (no van or car included/needed), telling us history wherever we went, getting us to the front of lines, recommending great restaurants and shopping etc.We did all the basic tourist Istanbul highlights – Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, Basillica Cistern (our kids’ favorite spot), Grand Bazaar, Palace etc. and they were all terrific. Love this city – so much history and so much to do and see (and eat and shop for…).