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The unlimited drinks package is an open bar for the whole evening. For €15 per adult, paid on the boat with the rest of your bill, you drink beer, rakı, vodka, gin, and red and white wine from the moment you board at 20:00 until we tie up again at Cibali Pier between 23:45 and 00:00. It is unlimited, not a glass count: nobody stamps a card or counts refills. And soft drinks are already unlimited for everyone, with or without the package.
This article explains what the package covers, what you get without it, when it pays off, how the drinks reach your table, what rakı is and how to drink it if you never have, and the small print on age, sharing and mixed bookings.
The package at a glance
- Price
- €15 per adult, 18 and over. Paid on the boat with the rest.
- Covers
- Beer, rakı, vodka, gin, red and white wine, unlimited.
- Not covered
- Imported drinks such as whisky, tequila and champagne, and cocktails. The bar has them, charged per drink.
- When
- From boarding at 20:00 until the return to Cibali Pier at 23:45 to 00:00.
- Where
- Served by waiters at your table and at the bar in the salon.
- Without it
- Water, cola, juice and tea are unlimited for everyone. Alcohol is paid per drink.
- Sharing
- Per adult, cannot be shared. Some guests in a booking can take it and others not.
What the unlimited drinks package is
Our All-In Dinner Cruise costs €24.6 per person and covers dinner, the full eight-act live show and unlimited soft drinks. Alcohol and hotel transfer are the two optional paid add-ons. The unlimited drinks package is the alcohol add-on: an open bar for one adult for the whole evening, added per person and settled on the boat at the end of the night together with the cruise price.
What is poured: red and white wine, beer, rakı, vodka and gin. Vodka, gin and rakı come neat, on ice, or mixed with the soft drinks that are already on board, such as cola or juice. The list is closed on purpose: imported drinks such as whisky, tequila and champagne, and cocktails, are not in the package. The bar carries them, and if you order one it is charged per drink and added to your bill at the end.
"Unlimited" means what it says. There is no wristband with a number of drinks on it, no card to be punched, and no point in the evening when the package stops before the boat does. Your glass is refilled whenever you ask, at the meze, with the main course, during the show and through the after-party.
Soft drinks are already unlimited for everyone
This is the part people most often miss when comparing cruises. Water, cola, juice and tea are unlimited all evening for every guest, included in the €24.6 cruise price. Children, guests who do not drink alcohol, and anyone who simply wants a cola with dinner are fully covered without adding anything.
In practice that means a family of four with two adults who take the package and two children who do not pays for exactly two packages, and everyone at the table has a full glass all night. Tea after the warm semolina dessert is a Turkish habit worth adopting, and it is included too.
When the package pays off
Without the package, alcoholic drinks are ordered and paid individually at bar prices. With it, you pay a flat €15 for the adult and stop counting. From about your second or third drink onward, the package is the cheaper option, and over a three-hour evening most guests who drink at all pass that point without noticing.
Think about the shape of the night. You board from 20:00 and the ten cold mezes are already on the table, which is when the first glass of wine or rakı happens. The boat leaves at 21:00. The hot börek and the main course follow, with a second glass. Then eight acts of show, with a drink in hand for the belly dance and the Caucasian knife dance. Then the after-party, which is where most of the package gets drunk. Four drinks across that arc is unremarkable.
| What you get | Without the package | With the package |
|---|---|---|
| Water, cola, juice, tea | Unlimited, included | Unlimited, included |
| Wine and beer | Paid per drink at the bar | Unlimited all evening |
| Rakı, vodka, gin | Paid per drink at the bar | Unlimited all evening |
| Imported drinks (whisky, tequila, champagne), cocktails | Paid per drink at the bar | Paid per drink at the bar (not in the package) |
| Service | Waiters to the table, and the bar | Waiters to the table, and the bar |
| Who | Everyone | Adults 18 and over, with ID |
| Cost | Included in the €24.6 cruise price | Plus €15 per adult |
| Paid | On the boat | On the boat, with the rest |
When to skip it: if you know you will have one glass of wine with the main course and nothing else, order that glass and keep the money. When to take it: if you want to drink through the evening the way you would at a long dinner with friends, without doing arithmetic at the table. For groups the package has a second benefit, which is that nobody has to split a bar bill at midnight.
How it is served
The waiters take drink orders at the table from the moment you sit down, and they keep coming back. You do not need to go anywhere. If you would rather stand, the bar is in the salon, and you can order there directly with the same package. Guests often take a glass out to the open deck for the passage under the Bosphorus Bridge and the lit front of Dolmabahçe Palace, and that is fine.
Service runs from boarding to the return. Boarding opens at 20:00 at Cibali Pier on the Golden Horn, the boat leaves at 21:00, and we are back at the pier between 23:45 and 00:00. The hour at the pier counts: the mezes are on the table when you board, and the first drink comes with them.
Tell the waiter what you are drinking at the start of the evening. If you say "rakı and water" or "white wine" once, the refills come without asking, and you can change at any point.
What guests actually drink
Wine and beer are the common choices. White wine with the grilled sea bass or salmon, red with the beef skewer, beer through the show. Vodka and gin are mostly ordered on ice or with cola. Whisky is not in the package; the bar has it at an extra charge if you want one. Rakı is the one that first-time visitors ask about, and it deserves its own section.
Rakı for first-timers
Rakı is the national spirit of Turkey: a clear grape spirit flavored with anise, strong, and never drunk as a shot. It is served in a tall narrow glass with a jug of cold water and a bowl of ice beside it. Pour rakı a third of the way up, add cold water, and watch it turn cloudy white. That is the anise reacting to the water, and it is why rakı is nicknamed lion's milk. Add ice after the water, not before, so the anise does not crystallize.
For a first glass, about equal parts rakı and water is a good start; many Turkish drinkers go stronger, and nobody will judge you for going weaker. Sip it slowly across the meze course, with a glass of plain water alongside. Rakı is a meal drink, not a bar drink, and the ten cold mezes on the table at boarding are its traditional companions: white cheese, melon when it is in season, yogurt dishes, olives, and the rest of what you will find described in the menu. That combination, the rakı sofrası, is the most Turkish thing you can do at a table, and it is included in the package.
The small print: per adult, mixed bookings, no brand list
Per adult, not per table. The package is priced per person and cannot be shared. One adult's package covers that adult's glass, and only that one. You cannot buy one package for a table of four and pass the bottle around, and our waiters will not serve it that way.
Mixed bookings are fine. You can add the package for some guests in a booking and not others. Two of four adults, one of two, whatever matches the table. Children are never charged for it, because they are never served alcohol. Tell us who takes it when you book on the website form or on WhatsApp, and if your plans change, message us before you board.
Adults 18 and over, with ID. The legal drinking age in Turkey is 18. Bring a passport or a photo ID card; our crew will ask if there is any doubt, and they will not serve alcohol to anyone under 18 regardless of who paid.
No brands on the website. We do not print brand names because they change with what is available at good quality in Istanbul that month. We pour standard, recognizable labels, not house pours from an unmarked bottle. If a particular brand matters to you, ask the waiter on the night.
Paid on the boat. Like everything else on the cruise, the package is paid at the end of the evening, in cash (euros, Turkish lira or US dollars) or by card. There is no prepayment and no deposit, and cancellation is free up to two hours before departure, until 19:00.
The after-party, and drinking responsibly
The eighth act is the after-party: a DJ set and the dance floor open until we reach the pier. This is where the package earns its keep. The show is over, the tables are cleared, the lights of Üsküdar and the Maiden's Tower are sliding past the windows on the way back, and the bar is busy. If you are wondering what to wear for that part of the evening, our guide to what to wear on the cruise has a section on shoes.
Unlimited is not an instruction. It means you do not have to count, not that you should try. Three hours is a long evening, the boat moves, the deck is open, and a glass of water between drinks makes the last hour better. Our crew serves responsibly and will slow down or pause service for a guest who has clearly had enough, package or not. We would rather you remember the knife dance than forget it.
Getting home is easy. We return to Cibali Pier, taxis are available, and if you booked the hotel transfer add-on the driver is waiting. If you are still deciding whether the whole evening is worth it, our honest answer is in is a Bosphorus dinner cruise worth it.
Questions people ask
How much does the unlimited drinks package cost?
€15 per adult aged 18 and over, paid on the boat at the end of the evening together with the cruise price of €24.6 per person. There is no prepayment. The package covers beer, rakı, vodka, gin, and red and white wine, served from boarding at 20:00 until the return to Cibali Pier. Imported drinks such as whisky, tequila and champagne are charged separately at the bar.
Is it really unlimited, or is there a glass count?
It is unlimited. There is no wristband, no punch card and no number of drinks attached to it. Your glass is refilled whenever you ask, at the table or at the bar, from boarding until we tie up again between 23:45 and 00:00. Our crew serves responsibly and may pause service for a guest who has had enough.
Can two people share one package?
No. The package is per adult and covers only that adult's drinks. Each person who wants to drink alcohol needs their own package, or pays per drink at the bar. Within one booking you can add the package for some guests and not others, and children and non-drinkers still get unlimited soft drinks at no charge.
Do I have to decide before the cruise?
Tell us who takes the package when you book, on the website form or on WhatsApp, so the waiters know at your table from the first meze. If you change your mind, message us before you board. Since everything is paid on the boat at the end of the evening, adding it does not change how or when you pay.
What is rakı like, and how do I drink it?
Rakı is a strong, clear grape spirit flavored with anise. It is served in a tall glass with cold water and ice; pour rakı a third of the way, add water until it turns cloudy white, then ice. Sip it slowly with the cold mezes rather than drinking it like a shot. Start with equal parts rakı and water.
Which brands of alcohol do you serve?
We do not list brands on the website because they change with what is available at good quality in Istanbul. We pour standard, recognizable labels for wine, beer, rakı, vodka and gin, not unmarked house pours. If a particular brand matters to you, ask the waiter when you board and they will tell you what is behind the bar that night.
