Flight was great no delays from Gatwick. Flew into Dalaman around midnight. Found the ICR rep for our private transfer waiting for us outside. We had to wait 30 mins for another family who flew in on the Birmingham flight but once they appeared we were off in the mini bus. Transfer was an hour and a half and we arrived about 2.30am. Stayed at The Palm Gardens (not an ICR property) and was greeted by the owner who proceeded to grumpily ask who we were and who we arrived with, then told us how much we would pay for air con, fans, safety dep box etc. Not even a smile. Apartments were nice but usual big sunbed saving problem to the extent that eventually people didnt bother taking towels up at the end of the day
I wont go on about the apartments as this is the ICR site but we werent altogether happy with everything there. Anyway to get back to the resort and our holiday. We decided to have our first night at the Red Lion as we wanted to see Gogo from The Alvaro where we stayed before in 06. He recognised us and seemed pleased to see us. I told him about the ICR forum and that he had lots of pics on here and he said he knew about the site but didnt know how to get on the Gallery so after our meal I sat down at the computer there and looked them all up for him, he was well chuffed. He asked if we were planning a boat trip as The Red Lion had one going which was very nice, no overcrowding and the food was included. He said he would be going on it so we booked it with him for 2 days time. The next night we went to The Lemontree to catch up with Zaza (again from The Alvaro) he recognised us too which was nice. we had a nice meal there, slightly more expensive but not loads more than usual. He said we would be welcome to go to the Alvaro pool for a day, its a shame we never got round to it, now we are back home we wish we had. The following day we decided to go back to The Red Lion as we were doing the Boat trip the day after and just wanted to check it was still on. Again a nice meal but when we asked Gogo if he was still going he hesitated and said hopefully but it depended on how much he has to drink the night before. We did feel a bit let down by this as we only booked it because he said he was going. The next morning we turned up at the Red Lion, Gogo said he had had a heavy night and wasnt going, he had also told us he would drive us down in his car but it turned out we had to wait for the minibus to pick us up from there. We werent too bothered as he had recommended it and we were going to do a trip anyway with ICR. When the minibus arrived it was packed and hubby, 2 kids and me had to sit on the floor which was quite funny, the sort of thing that happens in Turkey anyway. We got down to the Jetty before anyone else had got on the boat. When on we were given a number for a drinks tab. We then went upstairs to grab some sunbeds. The boat started to fill up with another minibus and people making there own way too. Then it started to get very packed and the beds got taken quite early on. There was a lot of arguing and people saying they wanted their money back as they didnt even get a seat let alone a sunbed but the staff rallyed round and got a few plastic chairs, they also told a few of the locals to get off there beds to make room for the people on holiday which upset thenm as well. we ended up leaving quite late after this fiasco. The boat was not The Red Lions as we thought just one that they probably get a cut from if they get any bookings as a lot of people had just booked it on the beach. The food was ok, it was called a bbq but just a bit of pre cooked chicken with some pasta and salad. Drinks were double the price of the bars as well as ice creams so we didnt buy many. Luckily we had taken some drinks with us. Stoppped at a few bays and a beach but were glad to get back as it did drag on a bit.
Karen and Rich (on here) arrived 2 days after us at the apartments and we had a meal out with them. They had another couple who had come with them so we didnt want to intrude too much but by the end of the holiday we were good friends and we love them to bits. Our daughter has already been on MSN to her daughter now we are home!!
The first week went quite slowly but the second flew by. Good restaurants went to were Vinces- lovely food and cheap!!, Pyramid - Great set menu but service a bit hit and miss, all good fun though, Set for breakfast, 7 lira but best breakfast we had, Dream Boys, Dream friends and by far our favourite The Travellers Rest, we had so much fun in here. English food, the fish and chips is the best anywhere Ive tasted. And a really sweet waiter called 'daft as a brush' i spent one evening teaching him to jive. He went out the back and got loads of dressing up stuff for us all and we had the best night ever!! Monday and wednesday is kareoke, my hubby decided to sing Ever fallen in love by the buzzcocks and pogoed round the restaurant. Christine the owner is lovely and will come and talk to you. They also have other theme nights. Rocking ken is on a Thursday, he plays loads of old stuff we had a great singalong. I will be putting pics on as soon as i get round to it!!!
We went to dream Friends where the food was good but the usual entertainment. One of the guys in there does a lot of it M.J etc but does an act called The Patrick Swayze show where he does a bit of dirty dancing. The night we went he was dancing with an english girl obviously on holiday and he carried her around above his head around the restaurant. He came over and asked my 12 year old if she wanted to do the dance with him as the girl who he danced with was going home in a days time and he needed a replacement. My daughter loves gymnastics so said ok and he said to go the next day for a rehersal. We took karen and her daughter along for moral support as hubby wasnt bothered but although my daughter got the up in the air bit ok he wanted her to do some suggestive dancing with his hips
which we all thought was a bit much for a 12 year old so never bothered to go back again and had to hide every time we went down that road in case he recognised us!!
The night we went to Dream boys we went with Karen and Rich. Again the food was nice but we were really disturbed when a young Turkish lad of about 7 or 8 got on the podium and started dancing and taking his shirt off obviously copying the older lads. we were quite shocked by this and my husband said he felt really uncomfortable being there. Some young girls near us also looked a bit disgusted.
Highlights were firstly the Jeep Safari. My hubby Pete and Rich booked it with ICR. Unfortunately Karen couldnt come as she has a neck injury. The jeep arrived at our apartment but we were a bit squashed with 9 of us in but it didnt matter as half the time we were out of our seats. The water throwing was phenominal, there were 4 jeeps in a row constantly overtaking each other squirting water guns, buckets in fact anything you could put water in being thrown around. One word of warning though. The water guns they have they ask you to rent after you have played with them for a bit, 10lira each and they are old and dont work very well so my advice is go and buy one beforehand or take one from home. Also there is a cafe you stop at on the way home, a guy in our jeep bought a small bar of chocolate for his young son and was charged about £1.80 for it, when he questioned the price the old man started shouting at him. The man got his wallet out to get a note out as he didnt have enough change and the old man threw his change back at him. The ice creams here are also expensive. One other funny memory was every day we would stroll up to the Tansas and walk past the Pop Inn bar, there is a guy called oscar who works in there and he always gave us a bit of friendly hassle every morning. My hubby started talking about football and they ended up having a play fight on the floor arguing about football, it was so funny, evry morning after that my hubby commented on Oscars teams(West brom &Wolves) and laughed and Oscar did the same about hubbys team (Portsmouth) Our only regret is we never got round to actually going in there for a drink or meal. Well theres loads more I could say but this is turning into a mammoth Novel. I will sum up the holiday as great fun, loads of laughs the only let downs really were the prices which have gone up a bit, lots of hidden costs on trips, a few places tried to rip us off, the market was a nightmare and not worth going to, we found most stuff cheaper in the canal and local shops and last but not least it was flipping hot!!
