A Sunday with Celestyal Journey in Kuşadası: shore excursion guide

If you are sailing on Celestyal Journey, your Kuşadası day is a Sunday. The port schedule as of early October 2026 lists 27 calls over the next 12 months. Every one is on a Sunday, and every one runs from 08:00 to 18:00. A timetable that regular makes planning easy, and the answer is just as clear: our 11:00 safari fits every call from April onwards, and our 16:00 one fits none. Her two March calls fall in our winter closure.

The dates themselves are on the full list of Celestyal Journey calls, which always shows the current schedule. Here we cover how the day actually runs.

Sunday, 08:00 to 18:00: the morning ride, step by step

Ten hours in port leaves room for an unhurried start. A typical Celestyal Journey Sunday with us looks like this:

• 08:00 the ship arrives. Have breakfast, get off when it suits you and take a walk along the harbour.
• 10:10 meet us at the Kervansaray meeting point (The Big Ottoman Palace), about 50 m from the cruise port exit. Here is the map. That gives you two hours and ten minutes between arrival and meeting time.
• About 15 minutes by road to the start of the tour.
• 11:00 the ride begins: about two hours on pine-forest trails behind Pamucak beach, with a 30-minute sea break on the beach.
• 13:45 to 14:15 back at the port.
• 18:00 Celestyal Journey departs, about three hours and 45 minutes after the latest return.

Our rule is that you must be back at the port at least 60 minutes before the ship leaves, and this day clears it with hours to spare. One thing to check: the all-aboard time in your ship's daily programme. It is usually earlier than 18:00, so plan your afternoon around that time rather than the departure.

Why there is no afternoon option

The 16:00 tour only works when a ship is in port by 15:10 and leaves at 20:15 or later. That afternoon ride returns between 18:45 and 19:15, after Celestyal Journey has already left at 18:00. So for this ship it is the morning or nothing. Since every call has the same hours, you can plan around 11:00 from the start on any date from April onwards.

The Sunday pattern through the year

Not every Sunday has a call, and our safaris are closed from 1 December to 31 March:

• Autumn 2026: calls on Sunday 11 and 25 October, and a last one on Sunday 8 November 2026.
• Winter: no calls listed between November and March.
• Spring 2027: she returns on Sunday 14 March 2027, with two calls in March and two in April. Both March calls, Sunday 14 and Sunday 28 March, are in our winter closure, so there is no safari on either day. The usual morning plan applies again from her April calls.
• Summer 2027: four calls each in May, June and July, two in August.
• Early autumn 2027: four calls in September, then Sunday 3 October 2027, the last date on the current schedule.

If you are travelling in August, check your date carefully. The schedule lists only two August Sundays, 8 and 22 August 2027.

Which ride fits a Celestyal Journey Sunday

Celestyal Journey was built in 1994 as a Statendam-class ship. She sails for Celestyal Cruises and carries about 1,258 passengers. Any of our three tours fits her morning.

On the quad safari or the buggy safari you drive yourself, with no licence needed. Drivers must be 16 or older. You can take a single or a double vehicle, and everyone gets a helmet, goggles and a safety briefing before riding in convoy behind a guide. Children younger than about 2 years cannot join. The horse safari is the quieter option. It suits beginners from age 8, or younger children with an experienced companion, and goes out in a small group with a riding guide. A helmet is provided. On horseback, swimming during the beach break depends on the season. If a swim matters to you, ask about it for your date when you book.

Booking your date

The quickest way is the cruise day planner. Choose Celestyal Journey and your Sunday, and it confirms the 11:00 session and fills in the booking form. You can also book directly on the reservation page.

The hours above are the ones published in early October 2026. Schedules can change, so take one last look at the Celestyal Journey ship page before you sail. If a date ever moves away from 08:00 to 18:00, that page will show whether the morning ride still fits. As a rule of thumb, the 11:00 tour needs the ship to stay until 15:15 or later.