What is a luxury gulet cruise
Lots of my friends ask me all the time – Why the hell are you all the time so enthusiastically explaining about “Luxury gulet cruises“-
And every time I talk about luxury gulet cruises all my friends think I talk to much and lost of times they do not believe me - until they try this out by them self.
This is truly fascinating type of holidays which offers the experience which is just GREAT. In this post I will not give you classic MUMBO – JUMBO which you can hear or see on commercial posters. I will give you a couple of examples what I have experienced on some luxury gulets and what some of our clients have experienced. And then you can decide on your own if this is something you wish to try also or not.
Story no.1 – My first gulet cruise experience. Check in process.
It was the year 2003 when I went on my first gulet cruise. I had no idea what to expect and my expectations were not very high. I always actually believed that gulet cruises are crazy expencive and if this was not a business trip I probably would not try it out. The gulet cruise costed around 1.400 €/person/week including full board and the gulet was quite nice.
The very first thing I experienced was like this.
At around 16.30 in the afternoon our group checked in on the gulet. the weather was super nice and we started the cruise in Šibenik in Croatia.
We have just put our luggage in the cabin and came on deck for a welcome drink joined together with a nice easy going lunch.
At around 17.30 hours, we were already drinking our favorite drinks, gulet was slowly cruising to truly amazing bay, wind was blowing just enough to make it super comfortable and we all had plenty of nice prosciutto, local cheeses and several other snacks served perfectly on the table.
All the time our own personal waiter was serving us drinks and was at our disposal for everything we wanted….and while we were still finishing the snacks the chef was already preparing a dinner. You could smell truly amazing things from the kitchen.
This was my best CHECK IN ever and it could not be compared to any hotel, bare boat or even huge cruise liner, where the check in is super crowded and quite stressful.
Story no.2 – How they serve food on luxury gulets!
If the first story was a bit of worming up, this is already a totally new luxury experience. This thing can change from a gulet to gulet, however I will give you an example of how the dinners are usually served on a luxury gulet cruise in Turkey:
a) you have a nice refreshing evening shower in your cabin and you dress up casualy or you can choose a GALA dress – totally up to you
b) you hear a bell ring which means dinner is served
c) your group of friends is slowly coming on deck of the gulet, hungry and interested what will be served
d) gulet is parked in a super nice bay, you check beautiful sunset and you have probably the coolest view ever (and I do not mean the look of your table yet)
e) the atmosphere is just phenomenal….you are surrounded only by your family or your best friends and you have a nice appetizer before you start your dinner
f) no waiting in lines for food, no waiting for your waiter, no crowds, no noise of other pesky tourist…everything organized exactly according to your wishes
g) and then the dinner starts….First meal, second meal…incredible design of food….lots of drinks along with it….super friendly staff…dinners on luxury gulets can last several hours.
Food itself is an experience out of this world on LUXURY GULETS!
Story no.3 – Crew on board what is luxury service!
Crew is the most important factor on your gulet cruise and this is 100% true. You can have low budget gulet and good crew and you will have the holidays of your life. Lots of gulet owners have clients coming to their gulets for years….not because of their gulet…but because they made really close friendships and the people come back because of the crew.
On the gulet you can expect:
- super experienced chefs that will spoil you with the best possible food
- waiters that will make you feel like the King or Queen
- captains and owners, that will tell you some of the most amazing stories and will take your gulet to bays and places which are truly special
More luxury the gulets is, more crew it has. Most of luxury gulets also have extra sailors, hostess, house keeper, masseur or even the diving instructor.
The crew on your gulet will make your holidays experience a memory of a lifetime. I wanted to write a cool story here, however there are so many different stories, I could not decide for the best one.
Story no.4 – Experience on luxury gulet!
I could write 50 blog posts about what possibilities you have on a luxury gulet cruise, but to make things short, I will explain 3 days gulet cruise action:
DAY 1
- superb luxury transfers from airport to gulet in nice air conditioned vans (or even limos if you ask for that)
- warm welcome on the gulet, easy going welcome drinks and cruise to a nice secluded bay away from crowds – or you can stay in harbor and check out the town
- luxury dinner and start of a relaxing holidays
DAY 2
- early morning swim before breakfast in turquoise sea. Best wake up ever.
- lots of possibilities for water sports, jet ski, water skiing, snorkeling and swiming and of course sunbathing.
- visit to one of amazing towns which you will see during the trip for a nice walk and to buy some souvenirs
- dinner under millions of stars and after that spending the night sleeping on deck – amazing experience
DAY 3
- a bit of sailing, or a hiking trip around near forests or reading your favorite book
- checking new and new bays, towns, destinations, ruins – every day
- following your every wish about the activities, route, food or any other thing you have in your mind
Best thing about the gulet cruise is that everything can be organized according to your wishes.
If you wish to party all 7 days- NO PROBLEM.
If you wish to stay away from crowds – also possible.
If you wish sea food or only meat all the week or you are vegetarian - it can all be organized.
If you wish water sports, diving, play sports and have active holidays – it is possible. If your partner wishes something else however it is also possible.
While you just lay down and enjoy your favorite book your friend can be active all day long.
I have lots of friends, who tried out all the best 5 and 6 stars hotels. Lots of people in search of something NEW, FRESH, INTERESTING….something which does not have usual ROOM – POOL – BEACH – RESTAURANT road. People are all the time searching for something new. And luxury gulet cruises are just that. A way of travel, which will not make you feel as one of 25.000 other people staying in the same huge resort. There will be max 10 – 14 people cruising with you and from 3 – 6 crew just for your group.
If this is something which sounds interesting for you send request for your cruise. Maybe you have just some questions that need to be answered…we will be happy to hear them and reply them. Give it a try…I am sure you will not be sorry.
