On most of our tours, we had around 30 people and each and every one of them RAVED about the great time they had. It always seems there is usually someone who may have a concern or complaint, however this was not the case with Byzance. Our guide was very knowledgeable and friendly. We will most definitely use them on future cruises and from comments made from our group, I can assure you they will also! Their web site is http://more.at/Byzance
The Sea Day: We needed this time off at this point. We were just about "ruin-ed out" and needed a break. We took the tour of the galley that the Chef offered and had massages in the beauty salon. The dinner that night included beef tenderloin and lamb chops --- both were excellent and we celebrated over a bottle of champagne our last evening on board with two other couples we had become fast friends with.
Istanbul: You will regret it as we did if you do not spend a couple of days here. We used Byzance here too. I could not be happier with the service we received from guide, I have never had a more positive experience with any company of any kind -- EVER! I don't know what more I could say. We had to leave very early the next morning after our arrival so we only had time to see the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia and walk through a small part of the Grand Bazaar. That means we missed Topkapi Palace entirely (it takes 4-5 hours to tour properly) and several other places we wanted to see. This is definitely on our list of places we wish to re-visit one day.
We later debated "what if we had taken the Istanbul-to-Athens cruise instead?". The other route no doubt saw more port time at Santorini (& would have been there when Akrotiri was open) but on the other hand, their Sea Day came early in the trip instead of at the end when we felt we really needed it to recover and appreciate Istanbul. The choice is yours.
I hope this helps anyone considering this cruise. It was the trip of a lifetime for us and we have wonderful memories of the people we met and places we visited
