Cruise passengers book transfers further ahead than anyone else we drive — often four or five months. Over that long a window things do move. Here is what matters, what does not, and what we need to hear about.
Most people book an airport transfer a week or two before they travel. Cruise passengers book months ahead, because the cruise itself was booked a year ahead and the transfer gets organised in the same sitting.
We take bookings four and five months out routinely. That is a long time for a plan to stay still, and it does not always. Here is an honest account of what moves over that window, what we absorb, and the two or three things we genuinely need you to tell us.
What Does Not Change
The price. The fare agreed at booking is the fare you pay. It does not move with fuel, with the season, or with how busy the port turns out to be that morning. If you booked a Vito from Galataport to Istanbul Airport at 50 EUR in January, it is 50 EUR in September.
The meeting point. Leave the terminal, turn right, in front of Caffe Nero. That has not moved and is not going to.
Whether we come if you are late. A ship that docks late is normal and expected. We wait, at no charge.
What Does Change, and Usually Does Not Matter
Your disembarkation time. Cruise lines finalise disembarkation groups close to the end of the voyage. The time on your booking is our planning estimate; the real one appears in your cabin the night before. This almost never matters, because we work to a window rather than a minute.
The exact berth. Which part of the quay your ship occupies depends on what else is in port that day. It does not affect the meeting point, because Caffe Nero is fixed regardless of where the gangway lands.
Traffic. Not your problem. The fare is for the route.
What Genuinely Matters
Three things, and they are the ones worth a message.
A changed port. Cruise lines do substitute ports — weather, scheduling, occasionally politics. If Istanbul comes off your itinerary, tell us and we cancel; you are not charged. If Istanbul moves to a different day, tell us and we move the booking.
A changed date or ship. Passengers do get moved between sailings. The booking follows you; we just need to know.
A changed flight, if we are taking you to the airport. This is the one that actually goes wrong. People rebook flights months after booking a transfer and do not think to mention it, because the transfer feels like a settled thing. But the pickup time is calculated from the departure time — a flight moved from 20:00 to 14:00 needs a completely different morning.
The Number of Passengers and Bags
Worth its own mention, because it changes over a long window more often than people expect.
Group sizes shift: a couple becomes a family, friends join, someone drops out. And cruise luggage is heavier than almost anything else we carry — a fortnight at sea produces more cases than a fortnight in a hotel.
Our capacities are fixed:
| Vehicle | Passengers | Suitcases |
|---|---|---|
| V-Class | 4 | 4 |
| Vito | 6 | 8 |
| Sprinter | 13 | 15 |
If your group has grown since you booked, that is a five-second message and a different vehicle. If it has grown and nobody mentioned it, it is a problem discovered at the kerb with the boot already full.
How to Tell Us
WhatsApp. One line is enough — your name, your date, and what changed. You do not need to re-book, and in most cases the price does not move.
If the change makes the transfer unnecessary, say so and we cancel it. We would rather know in March than have a driver waiting in September for a ship that is not coming.
Why We Do Not Chase You
Some operators send a run of confirmation emails over the months. We do not, because most of them arrive when nothing has changed and they train you to ignore the one that matters.
What you get instead: the booking is held, and shortly before your arrival your driver's name, number and a photo of the actual car reach you on WhatsApp. If something has changed at your end in the meantime, that is the moment it surfaces — and the earlier you tell us, the less it matters.
