Celebrity Xcel Kusadasi: Best Excursion Yet in Ephesus
Why are we in Kusadasi, Turkey?
Back in April, 2025 we traveled to Europe for the first time. Hesitant as we were to travel by land, figuring out transportation and hotels, we instead booked a cruise aboard the Celebrity Apex taking us from Barcelona, Spain, through the Strait of Gibraltar stopping in Lisbon and then Porto, Portugal, with one more stop in La Coruña, Spain before ending in Southampton England. In addition to those ports, we spent two amazing days touring Barcelona before boarding, and two more whirlwind days in London after disembarking. Everything we experienced is in our collection of Celebrity Apex Barcelona to Southampton (2025) trip reports.
Not long after we came home, a familiar itch to cruise Europe returned, and we began researching Celebrity’s 2026 itineraries. One particular sailing stood out: it departed Barcelona once again, this time sailing east with ports in Valletta (Malta), Kusadasi (Turkey), and the Greek islands of Mykonos and Santorini before ending in Piraeus (Athens). While we are all about the destinations, it was also incredibly cool that this cruise would be aboard Celebrity’s shiny new Edge-class ship, the Xcel, which had not yet launched when we booked. Who knew back then that the Xcel would be ready early and we’d have the opportunity to sail on her preview cruise – certainly not us.
Well we’ve just come back from that 2026 sailing from Barcelona to Athens, and this post is all about our Celebrity Xcel Kusadasi port day. If you haven’t already done so, check out our Malta Port Day post to read about a stunning Grand Harbour sail-in, a disappointing shore excursion, and how we turned our Malta port day around in Valletta.
Getting Over Preconceived Notions
Today’s port was Kusadasi, Turkey, and was a destination we’d rapidly become excited about after some initial trepidation. Our Youtube research had ultimately shifted from “watch out for the high pressure shopping and scams” to “let’s go see the ancient ruins of Ephesus!”
But then there were some ups and downs as the conflict/war/geopolitics in and around Iran was going on and missiles were flying outward, but we quickly realized Kusadasi sits on the Aegean coast, more than 1,000 miles from the Iranian border. Also, Celebrity was not going to sail its brand new billion dollar ship into a dangerous location.
We settled on the fact that we were going to see one of the most significant and best-preserved ancient ruins in the world, and that there would be some highly orchestrated sales environments with free hospitality that simply require you to politely decline to buy if you aren’t interested. This was the right move, because the overall experience may have been our favorite port stop ever.
Morning in Kusadasi
It was around 8 AM on Tuesday when the Xcel glided through Kusadasi Bay and passed Pigeon Island on our starboard, with its walled Byzantine castle.
While the sail-in to Malta had been dramatic, Kusadasi welcomed us with a scenic, resort-style arrival. A panoramic backdrop of red-roofed houses and vibrant yellow buildings climbed the green slopes toward the iconic Kusadasi sign and the hilltop Atatürk statue.
The Celebrity Infinity and Celestyal Discovery were already docked when we pulled in. We were to meet our excursion out on the cruise docks at 9:30 AM, shortly after gangway-down. Last night, we’d mentioned the excursion to our Retreat butler, Vengai, and he was going to arrange to escort us off the ship and out onto the pier. He also delivered our room service breakfast, the order for which we’d left outside the room the night before.
We had booked Shore Excursion Group’s Guided Ephesus, Selçuk City Stroll, and Street Food. Our previous experience with Shore Excursion Group included terrific, small-group excursions in Portugal and Bermuda. This tour cost $170 for the two of us, plus $6 for an optional digital Kusadasi port book. The excursion included a guided tour of Ephesus, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and was founded by the Greeks in the 10th century BC, and later became a major metropolis in the Roman Empire. The ticketed entry to Ephesus is an extra €40 per person.
By 9:15 AM, Vengai knocked on our door. We chatted about the day while led us off the ship and along the concrete pier to the security gate, where we said our goodbyes. Two minutes after walking off the ship, we had passed through security and were standing in the open-air arrivals courtyard, where the tour operator board had our name on a card. I quickly found one of the Shore Excursions Group tour guides (between the badges and lanyards, it’s obvious), and they brought over Tay, who would be our guide on this excursion.
Tay led us out through the outdoor shopping village and onto Atatürk Boulevard, where independent excursion groups meet their vehicles. Along the way he shared his background. Tay’s hometown was Kusadasi, though he had gone to school in Istanbul for a degree in Tourist Guidance, which is a legal requirement in Turkey for tour guides.
Let’s also get any questions about language out of the way. Tay and every tour guide there were multilingual. His English was perfect. Everyone we would interact with here, as well as Ephesus and the town of Selcuk spoke perfect English. If you had any concerns, there’s no reason for worry.
It also became obvious pretty quickly that Tay knew everyone and everyone knew Tay. Later on when we were leaving Ephesus and he had just shook hands with like the 15th person so far, I called him the Mayor, which turned out to be ironic because we later found out that his cousin is the actual Mayor of Kusadasi.
Once we arrived at the spot along Atatürk Boulevard where the van would meet us, a woman materialized out of one of the nearby buildings and got into a somewhat heated discussion with Tay about how some unruly cruise passengers had left an empty coffee cup on a small retaining wall, and he’d better do something about the littering. Not that Tay had any direct sway over the hundreds of cruise passengers that had come before us that morning.
Crack detective that I am, I was able to determine the littering passenger must have come from the Celebrity Infinity, which had docked two hours prior. The clues were the Café al Bacio coffee cup, plus that we were among the first off the Xcel that morning.
With the morning’s entertainment behind us — Tay would not entirely forget — our van arrived. It was at this point that it dawned on us this had become a private tour. In your face, cruise line shore excursions!
We climbed into the back, with Tay beside our driver, Oka. Tay would spend the majority of the drive turning around to face us as he talked. He gave us the low down on the day, which turned out to be entirely flexible depending on our preferences. The first stop would be Ephesus itself, where Tay offered us an easy, moderate or full walking tour option, the latter going from top to bottom. We wanted the full experience.
As we drove through Kusadasi, Tay explained that after Ephesus, we’d have the option to stop for a variety of different street foods in Selcuk, or we could have a sit down meal with traditional Turkish food, like a meze platter, kabobs, grilled meats and so forth. We asked for the sit down meal. Rona also mentioned we were hoping to find a place that sold authentic Turkish delight, so he promised we would stop for that as well.
We also knew that this tour, along with most others, would stop at one or more local artisan showrooms that make and sell carpets, leather goods, or ceramics. More on that later.
Ephesus
Tay narrated the scenic 30 minute drive to Ephesus that took us inland through rolling green hills lined with olive groves and peach orchards. Oka pulled in alongside some other vans and buses at the upper entrance to Ephesus. There’s not a lot of shade in Ephesus, so hats, sun block, and water are a must.
Tay led us to the ticket windows through an open-air concourse lined with shops selling guidebooks, drinks, and local souvenirs. Credit cards were accepted. I used Apple Pay almost everywhere on this trip to avoid taking out my wallet, and with the exchange rate, the Ephesus tickets cost $93 for the both of us. It included admission as well as the Ephesus Experience Museum at the bottom. This admission did not include the Roman Terrace Houses, which are still being excavated and restored, and cost extra to see.
By 10:10 AM, we were taking pictures of the sleeping dogs and lounging cats within the gates of the ancient city. There were also ancient ruins. Everywhere. But also doggos and kitties.
Tay led us downhill on Curetes Street along a mix of large, uneven ancient marble slabs and smooth stone pavers, passing the Baths of Varius, Odeon theatre, monuments, the famous Nike relief, and the ornate Temple of Hadrian, among countless other ancient structures that are simply mind-boggling. He described most everything we saw in detail and positioned us for optimal photography, sometimes clearing out lingering tourists on our behalf.
Our path opened into the lower valley, where the towering, iconic facade of the Library of Celsus loomed large. But first, toilets. We just had to walk along the marble seating slabs that were the public toilets with trenches beneath. It was near here that Tay was able to “encourage” some marginally unruly student groups that were slowing us down to move off. The man kept everyone moving!
We had some time to ourselves to explore the Library of Celsus, a two-story Roman architectural masterpiece built of white marble. While Rona stayed in front, I climbed inside the building. No papyrus scrolls remained in the niches, but apparently a Roman senator is buried underneath the floor.
We met back up with Tay beneath the Gate of Augustus, located right beside the Library of Celsus. This is also one of the few shady spots in Ephesus and there are a few surfaces on which to sit.
Next, we headed over to the massive, 25,000-seat Great Theater. While the stage is in ruins, the auditorium remains mostly intact, and rises up more than 100 feet in three tiers. That huge venues like this were built thousands of years ago, and that they are still standing in the shape they’re in is amazing.
The Ephesus Experience Museum was our last stop in the ruins, and Tay left us there while we queued up for headphones before heading inside. This was an immersive attraction with 360-degree video projection mapping, spatial audio, and holograms that transports you through the city’s history, from the creation of the Temple of Artemis to a dramatic Roman gladiator battle. It’s pretty slick. And air-conditioned.
After the experience, we came out through the museum store and found the restrooms before meeting up with Tay once more to depart. However, timing was on our side, because just as we were starting to leave the ruins, an Ephesus Gladiator Reenactment Show began in an open area near the lower gates.
This is a live historical performance with trained stunt performers engaged in unchoreographed combat using period-accurate armor and weapons. Some costumed actors also portray figures like Mark Antony and Cleopatra who preside over the games. In another unstaged moment, one of the many stray dogs was a bit concerned about the goings on and tried to intervene.
Candy and Ceramics
We followed Tay past the gates through the busy Marketplace Bazaar — he’s got to be a local legend with all the hand shaking — and out to the van. This lower gate has the transportation hub with loads more buses packed in tightly, but Oka expertly navigated us out. We were heading to a shop where we could acquire good Turkish Delight. Fifteen minutes later we had pulled up in front of Ege Lokum, along the edge of the town of Selcuk, still fairly close to Ephesus. Tay led us in and brought us over to where samples were happening, before waiting for us outside the shop.
Ege Lokum is, we later discovered, something of a tourist trap that happens to sell premium confections and regional goods for tourist trap prices. We tasted several flavors of Turkish Delight (lokum), which far outshone any we had previously tried. They let us sample pomegranate tea as well. There were also olive oils, teas, and some kind of menthol crystal that cleared our sinuses for a month.
Regardless of the nature of the place, everyone there was welcoming and this was just what we wanted. It was fairly obvious looking at some of the souvenirs that the prices were inflated, but those were not the reason for the visit. We walked out with a box of that pomegranate tea for us and two large containers of incredible pomegranate-pistachio Turkish Delight for the kids, all for the moderately inflated exchange rate adjusted price of $30. Once again, this was via Apple Pay.
Back in the van, our next stop was just a couple of minutes down the road at a boutique pottery studio and retail gallery called Ephesia Art Seramik. Tay walked us in and introduced us to the studio host. There were a number of artisans doing their thing, and our host brought us around, offered us drinks before leaving us to watch an artisan crafting traditional pottery using a kick wheel. Our host, whose family owned the gallery, gave us a full tour, most of which was downstairs, and ultimately showed us which room contained some of the less expensive items.
Most everything in the studio was truly beautiful and our host didn’t pressure us at all, but of course self-inflicted guilt has its own way of applying pressure. There were so many unique works of art made by various artists and artisans, not all of which were pottery. Rona decided on a traditional decorative Turkish ceramic pomegranate (Breket Narı), painted with floral motifs. We chatted with our friendly host about both his and our travels to Barcelona while one of the staff behind the counter securely wrapped our purchase for travel. This cost us $87.
Turkish Carpet Coop
Back out to the van, Tay explained we were headed for lunch, which was connected with a carpet coop. The reality is that tour operators are strongly incentivized to bring you to a carpet or leather coop, and though they will tell you they are subsidized by the Turkish government, giving training and employment to local village women, but in most cases it’s just a sales gimmick. Tay stuck to the same script, but did advise us we didn’t have to purchase anything.
The Golden Fringe was the carpet coop in question, and after we parked, Tay led us to the outdoor dining area beside the building where tour operators bring guests. We opted to sit in the covered courtyard terrace for some shade, and we had a table to ourselves. The servers quickly brought out a selection of Turkish Meze, including salads, dips, fried vegetables, and bread. Shortly thereafter a selection of hot foods appeared, including chicken skewers, Köfte (meatballs), and Sigara Böreği (fried pastry stuffed with feta) along with rice.
The coop covers the entire cost of the food and any water they bring to you. Other drinks cost extra, and so we sprung for two extremely small cans of Coke Zero for $6. Honestly, all the food was really good, and we were happy we did it. Plus a dog came by. We like dogs, you know.
Once the meal was over, we found Tay, who dutifully brought us into the carpet coop proper, handing us off to one of the showroom managers. The fellow welcomed us in, and led us through the carpet production cycle, from boiling cocoons where raw silk is extracted to the huge floor looms where artisans tie thousands of double knots per square inch.
Once that was all done, he led us into a showroom with carpets, and brought us cups of hot, sweet apple tea while we took a seat. He directed some assistants, who dramatically rolled out dozens of silk and wool rugs across the floor to showcase how the colors shift under the light. At one point, he asked me to take my shoes off so I could walk on one of them. I took one for the team (of me and Rona), and obliged.
Honestly, it was an interesting experience. After all the carpets were out, he asked us if we were interested in anything. We said no, and then he graciously thanked us and brought us back out to the front where we met up with Tay. No big deal! And the sweet apple tea was nice.
And that was it for the tour. We had a leisurely ride back to the port in Kusadasi, and by 2:45 PM, said our goodbyes to Tay and Oka, leaving them both with gratuities (Euros).
This had been an amazing day so far. We were so privileged to walk on streets along monuments, buildings, and structures that had stood for 2000 years. Tay was a phenomenal tour guide, and it was just him and Rona and me. We had no regrets about the shops and showrooms. This is quite literally the best excursion we’ve ever done.
Before going through the port gates, we bought a gazillion (more or less) decorative bookmarks and a keychain from a street vendor for €10. After waving our sea passes at the gates, we marched through the shopping village in the port like a New York City commuter trying to make a train, and headed for the ship.
Back on the Xcel
After showing our sea passes once to get past port security, we walked up the pier and climbed up the gangway to deck 2. There was almost no wait for the crew to scan our sea passes and to get through ship security, with its x-ray machines and metal detectors. Naturally, we beelined for some comfy seats and people watching with iced and hot americanos at Café al Bacio.
Reasonably but not completely caffeinated, we took some iced teas to go, ogling but resisting the cakes in the glass case and went up to the stateroom to order an afternoon room service cheese tray. If you followed our recent sailing on the Disney Wish, you know we love a cheese tray and relaxing in the room before an evening’s festivities.
Tonight was our dinner reservation at Bora, but before that, we headed down to the Grand Plaza, where solo guitarist Cristian was performing again. Rona enjoyed a Fresca while I enjoyed a Martinez from the Martini Bar even more during Cristian’s set. After his set ended, the bartenders at the Martini Bar went into full performance mode with their Chandelier Show.
Bora Dinner
Our stomachs were telling us it was dinner time, so we headed up to deck 15, aft to the Rooftop Garden for one last daylight view of the Kusadasi hillside and our Bora reservation.
The Bora host handed us some wooden tokens and redirected us to the little stand-alone build-your-own Spritz station in the garden, where you can choose from Aperol, Limoncello, Hugo or Campari Spritzes. We ordered ours and relaxed in the garden for a few minutes before our table was ready.
As we described in the Xcel preview sailing trip report, Bora is a sheltered outdoor restaurant, which has got a real Mediterranean vibe and decor. Some of the seats are more sheltered than others, with some having clear ocean views.
Our waiter Ferdinand from the Philippines came right over and took our drink order. Rona added a Limoncello Spritz and I opted for a trusty Old Fashioned. Moments later, he brought a plate of focaccia with some dips as well as a roasted red pepper with an anchovy to get us in the Mediterranean frame of mind. Meanwhile, we stared at the many pages of the menu.
For starters, we ordered the Caprese Salad and Gambas al Ajillo, a tapas dish of shrimp with garlic oil, paprika, and sherry wine. The shrimp appetizer is truly a “don’t miss” item – it’s also available on the brunch menu and we devoured that bad boy on the preview cruise. Ferdinand recommended the Salt-Crusted Whole Branzino, which Rona ordered, and I picked the Grilled Octopus. We also added sides of Ratatouille and Grilled Halloumi. You can really order to your heart’s content at Bora.
The Caprese salad was rock solid with freshly sliced tomatoes and creamy burrata. The shrimp came with some bread for dipping and was just as good as we remembered.
The octopus was tender and had a tasty and smokey char. Rona absolutely loved the branzino, and spoke highly of Ferdinand the rest of the sailing because of his recommendation. They brought it to the table encased in a hard salt crust, cracked it open, deboned and fillet it. Dinner and a show!
The halloumi had a spicy honey glaze which gave off that “sweet and salty” combination I love. Also, cheese. The Ratatouille was more of a roasted Mediterranean vegetable concoction and was probably the least impressive part of the meal.
For dessert, I went with the Lemon & Olive Oil Ice Cream and Rona chose the Affogato. The Affogato was delicious, but the surprise winner here was the ice cream. It was unique, refreshing, and rich, and Ferdinand had sagely recommended it.
WIth our bellies quite full, we decided to chill on our stateroom veranda, watching sail-away from Turkey and a gorgeous Aegean sunset.
We rounded out the night with country music trivia at The Club, followed by a nightcap during the Saddle up Saloon show in the same place. We’d seen this country-themed party of a show on the Xcel in November. It was just as much fun this time – the live band cranked out country and pop-country tunes while folks danced.
From start to finish, this was an amazing day. How often can you stand among ancient ruins in the morning and have great cocktails, food and music by evening?
Keep an eye on the Xcel Mediterranean 2026 page or subscribe down below to be notified when the next trip report goes live. Next up is our Mykonos, Greece port day, which we navigated on our own. Mykonos really surprised us!