Istanbul · Cibali Pier · every night

Dinner, the show, and then the Party on the Bosphorus tonight

It is not a booze cruise and it does not pretend to be. It is a dinner cruise with a stage show that, after dessert, turns into the best-placed party in Istanbul: a DJ, a dance floor that fills in front of the stage, and open decks at the bow and the stern with the lit Asian shore going past until the boat is alongside at midnight. €24.60 a person for the dinner, the show and the party together. The bar is extra, and it is priced on this page before you board.

Reserve for Tonight → What the Bar Costs →
A DJ every night Open decks, bow and stern Until midnight 4.9 Google rating
Three registers · one evening

How the night builds

The evening is built in three registers that get louder as they go: a slow dinner, a live stage show, and a party on the water. Nobody is asked to skip the first two to get to the third, and by the time the DJ starts the whole room is already warm.

Begin The boat moored alongside in daylight, hours before the doors open

Doors and the decks

20:00

The boat is alongside at Cibali from 20:00, the open decks are quiet, and the meze is already on the tables. The hour before departure is the slow part: a drink on deck, the Golden Horn in front of you, the group photograph before anyone's hair has moved.

Main courses and wine on a table by the window as the boat gets under way

Dinner under way

21:00

Ropes off at 21:00. Ten mezes, then warm börek, then the main course you chose, served as the boat leaves the Golden Horn under the Galata Bridge and Dolmabahçe and Ortaköy go past the glass, with the first bridge coming overhead. A proper dinner, not a buffet to get through.

The belly dancer in a pale sequined costume, performing between the tables Folk dancers mid-move in the salon, arms raised

The show

Eight acts

Belly dance, the whirling dervish, Turkish Romani dance, the Caucasian dance with its knife show, the folk dances of Turkey, a rhythm show on darbuka and drums that gets every table clapping, and a live violin, in an order that changes from night to night. The eighth act is the party itself, and by then nobody in the room is sitting still.

The party A waiter opens a bottle of wine at a table as the evening turns into a party

The DJ takes over

After dessert

Dessert lands and the DJ takes the dance floor in front of the stage. The floor fills, the open decks at the bow and the stern are there for air, and the boat runs home along the Asian shore with the lights of Üsküdar outside. It goes on until the boat is back in the Golden Horn and alongside at Cibali, between 23:45 and midnight.

After dessert · until the pier

The best-placed dance floor in the city

Every club in Istanbul has a view of a wall. This one has a view of two continents going past at walking pace, and it moves. This is what the last hour is like.

There are two places to be. The dance floor in front of the stage the show just left, where the DJ set is loudest and the speakers are a few metres away. And the open decks at the bow and the stern, out in the air, where you go for a breather between songs and the shore is the backdrop: Beylerbeyi Palace lit almost at the water line, the mosques of Üsküdar, and then Maiden's Tower on its rock, closer than anything else all night.

The set is the thing people do not expect. The DJ reads the room rather than a playlist and keeps the floor full until the pier. It is the part of the night that ends up on everyone's phone.

The room is mixed, and that is the point. A DJ set for a salon with guests from a dozen countries in it is built to move all of them: the table of friends from a hostel, the couple who came for the dervish and stayed for the floor, the hen party, the family whose children are asleep by the window. It is a party that a family is in the room for, which tells you what kind of party it is.

It ends when the boat is alongside at Cibali, between 23:45 and midnight. The T5 tram stop is a short walk from the pier, and a taxi to Taksim takes about 15 to 25 minutes, longer in traffic, so for anyone not finished, Karaköy, Beyoğlu and Taksim are a short ride away. If you booked the transfer, it takes you back to the hotel instead.

The salon once the DJ takes over, guests dancing under the coloured lights Guests on the dance floor with their hands in the air A selfie on the open deck with the lit Bosphorus Bridge behind
The bar · priced before you board

What is in the glass, and what it costs

"Party cruise" and "open bar" get searched together, so here is the bar exactly as it is. Soft drinks are unlimited and inside the price. Alcohol is not, and the two ways of buying it are below.

Soft drinks
Water, cola, juice and tea, unlimited for every guest all evening, already paid for in the €24.60. Nobody has to buy anything to have something in their hand all night.
The drinks package
+€15 per adult for unlimited drinks all evening: beer, rakı, vodka, gin, red and white wine. Decided when you book or added by message, paid on board with the rest, and taken by whoever at the table wants it, not by the whole table.
At the bar
Imported drinks such as whisky, tequila and champagne, and cocktails, are not in the package. They are paid for at the bar on board, whether or not you took the package.
Rakı
The drink to try if you try one: aniseed spirit, poured over ice with water, which turns it cloudy white. It is what a table of mezes was made to go with, and it is on the package list.
What there is not
An open bar inside the ticket price. Free-flowing alcohol for nothing. A dinner, a stage show and a DJ set for €24.60 do not come with alcohol on tap: alcohol is the €15 package or the bar, and any page that says otherwise is selling a different evening.

Why there is no open bar

Three reasons, and none of them is a secret. The price: the €24.60 covers a four-course dinner, a live show and a three-hour cruise, and an open bar on top would double it for everyone, including the many guests who do not drink. The room: there are families and couples aboard, and the dance floor at midnight is a better place for it. And the water: this is a boat, and the crew would rather everyone walked off it. Unlimited beer, rakı, vodka, gin and wine for €15 for those who want it, and imported drinks and cocktails at the bar, is where that lands.

And who it is not for

The people on the dance floor

Who this night suits, in the order we see them most, and two kinds of guest who should book something else.

Friends on a city break
A full night out, dinner included, for €24.60 a head, starting and ending at Cibali Pier, a short walk from the T5 tram. Book under one name and board together soon after 20:00 to pick tables side by side.
Hostels and Erasmus
The night in Istanbul that gets recommended in the common room. Dinner, a show and a DJ on the water for the price of a dinner, with nothing paid in advance and no card needed to book.
Birthdays
A long table, a dessert that arrives as the DJ starts, and a dance floor for the rest of it. How a group is seated and paid for is on the groups page.
Hen and stag nights
Yes, with the room understood: families at the next table, the boat alongside by midnight, and Beyoğlu a taxi ride away for what comes after. The drinks package covers the toast; the bar covers imported drinks and cocktails.
Couples who dance
The dervish and the dinner first, then the floor, then an open deck past Maiden's Tower. The evening for two, with the romantic table, is on its own page.
Not for
Anyone who wants a club until four in the morning: this ends at midnight, and the clubs are where you go next. Anyone who wants the boat to themselves: this is a shared sailing, and a private boat is a different product at a different price. Anyone who wants an all-you-can-drink night: see the bar section above.
One ticket · the whole night

What a night out costs here

There is no party-only ticket and no late-boarding price. One ticket covers the dinner, the show and the party, because they are the same evening. Here it is with the two things worth adding.

The evening
€24.60 per person: the three-hour cruise, four courses, the eight-act show, unlimited soft drinks, and the DJ on the dance floor until the pier.
With the drinks package
€24.60 + €15 = €39.60: unlimited beer, rakı, vodka, gin and wine all evening. Imported drinks and cocktails at the bar.
With the transfer
€39.60 + €5 = €44.60: the hotel transfer to Cibali Pier before the doors open and back to the hotel after the cruise. Same-day transfer can be added until 18:30.
Paid
On board, at the end, in cash in euros, lira or dollars, or by card. Nothing in advance, no deposit, no booking fee, no cover charge.
Booked
Same day until the 21:00 departure, subject to space. Cancelled free until 19:00. A name, a date and a number of people is the whole reservation.

The straight version

This is a dinner cruise that ends as a party, on a shared boat, with people of every age aboard, and it is alongside by midnight. Dress is smart casual rather than club wear, the open decks are cooler than the pier in every season, and the T5 tram stop is a short walk from the pier when you step off. If that is the night you want, it is €24.60 and it sails from Cibali at 21:00 tonight.

Before you book the night

Questions about the party

Bosphorus party cruise — frequently asked
Is this a booze cruise with an open bar?
No. Soft drinks are unlimited and included; alcohol is optional, through the drinks package at €15 per adult, unlimited all evening, or at the bar for imported drinks and cocktails.
What time does the party end?
When the boat is alongside at Cibali, between 23:45 and midnight. The DJ plays from dessert until then. The T5 tram stop is a short walk from the pier, and Beyoğlu and Taksim are a taxi ride away for anyone carrying on.
Is there a dance floor?
Yes, in front of the stage, where the DJ plays and the set is loudest. The open decks at the bow and the stern are the other place to be: out in the air, with the Asian shore going past.
Is the DJ on every night?
Yes. Every sailing ends the same way: dessert, then the DJ on the dance floor until the pier. It is part of the €24.60, not a weekend extra.
What kind of music is it?
A DJ set built for a salon with guests from a dozen countries in it, played live rather than pre-mixed. It is made to move a mixed room rather than to satisfy one genre, and that is what people remember.
Is there an age limit?
No. It is a dinner cruise with a party at the end, and there are families and couples aboard every night. The party is on the dance floor; the tables stay tables. Alcohol is served from 18.
Do I have to have dinner, or can I board just for the party?
It is one ticket for one evening. Dinner, the show and the party are the same sailing and the boat does not stop to pick anyone up after dessert. €24.60 covers all three.
Can I bring my own drinks?
Everything you drink on board comes from the bar on board: unlimited soft drinks in the price, beer, rakı, vodka, gin and wine through the package, and imported drinks and cocktails at the bar.
What should I wear?
Smart casual. It is a dinner first, so most guests dress up a little, and it is not a club dress code. Bring a layer for the open decks: it is cooler on the water than on the pier, in every season.
Can we book the boat as a private party?
No. This is a shared evening sailing, and that is why a night with dinner, a show and a DJ costs €24.60 a head rather than the price of hiring a boat. Groups book under one name and sit together by boarding together; the details are on the groups page.
Where does the night continue after midnight?
Cibali Pier is a short walk from the Cibali stop of the T5 tram, and a taxi to Taksim takes about 15 to 25 minutes, longer in traffic. Karaköy, Beyoğlu and Taksim are all a short ride, and they are where the night goes next.
Can I book for tonight?
Yes, until the 21:00 departure, subject to space. One message on WhatsApp or the form on this page confirms it, nothing is paid in advance, and cancellation is free until 19:00.
Tonight · 21:00 · until the pier

Take the floor

Reserve in about a minute, or send one message on WhatsApp with a date and a number of people. Nothing is charged until you are on board.

Reserve for Tonight → Ask on WhatsApp →

€24.60 per person, all in · drinks package +€15 · free cancellation until 19:00

Our Pier · Istanbul
Cibali

Find the Pier

Where the evening begins — on the old-city shore of the Golden Horn, beside Kadir Has University.

Cibali İskelesi, Kadir Has Cd. — Fatih / İstanbul

— 01 —
T5 tram Cibali stop, a short walk from the pier
— 02 —
2 stops From Eminönü on the T5 tram
— 03 —
10–12 min walk From Haliç metro station (M2)
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€24.60 per person · all in
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