I don't know what they charge for AI, but I've always been 'pay as you go' and I like a good old drink and have never had a bill as large as £120 at the end of the week. I also get through a fair number of soft drinks. Unless you are a proper old soak with the drink it is cheaper to stick to a bill, although I do know where you are coming from that you know where you are if you've paid up front with no restrictions.

Bear in mind with AI you may well be subsidising someone else's drinking!

I've also never had a problem with the bill, it's all down there for you to look at and dispute if you think it's wrong, plus the prices are always on display at the bar.

I've never gone all inclusive on a gulet. They are full board anyway so all you get with A/I is a few extra snacks, local booze and usually some fairly naff excursions thrown in.

The Captain and crew make money on bar sales so it is in their interests to get you all in the mood to party - and they are very good at it. If you go A/I they have little incentive to get you partying because the tour company gets the extra money sometimes.

We have never had a bill (for the two of us) more than around £80 per week. Paying 2 x £120 seems like a huge rip off.

I've heard of A/I gulets where they close the bar at eleven and go to bed!

We're off for our 10th gulet in a few weeks - A/I could be a nightmare if you find yourself lumbered witha boat load of drunks. Being badly drunk on a boat is a good way to invite a tragedy.

Ours was just under £200 I think for both of us, but we did have a few bottles of wine over the week, and they are expensive.

You shouldn't have to put up with limited supplies of soft drinks, the crew should monitor what they have and pop into a port to restock if it looks like anything is running low. It's inevitable if everyone is drinking, say diet coke that you might run out but for it to be a general thing I would have to say that they are scrimping on buying their stocks in with being AI - hence a reluctance to buy more as people are not paying for what they actually have.

£10 for a bottle of wine seems to be about standard on a gulet. You can buy the identical wine in a Turkish supermarket for around £2.50.

On our recent gulet they had no Fanta on day 1 (Monday) and didn't bother to get any until Thursday evening. I usually only drink Fanta in Turkey (or water, tea and coffee) so I was not impressed.

This same gulet also made the least effort to cater for vegetarians and the Captain seemed more interested in his girl friend than looking after the passengers. Information was very limited even though he spoke pretty good English.

"See you next year" he said. Probably not, I thought - I'll book with someone else.

Just returned from our Gulet trip through Vision Holidays. We had a good time but we didn't get the trip we were expecting. We had booked to start the trip at Fethiye go to Marmaris and back to Fethiye, then transfer to Olu Deniz for our second week. Due to admin error by Vision Holidays we were taken to Marmaris to start the trip. This meant long transfers either end and we were taken back to Dalaman on the Friday to pick up a transfer to Olu Deniz. We didn't visit the places that the Fethiye trip was going to, which was disappointing as I was looking forward to going to Gocek. Our bar bill was £140.00 ...We only drank water and beer on the trip so I thought it a bit high, I know my husband went through an aweful lot of bottles of beer, but they were they smallest effes bottles you can get. Even I downed them with a couple of swigs! there were no other English people on the boat and it took a while to get a smile out of some of the other guests. I had taken trival pursuits, Pictionery, cards but never got them out, In spite of the mismatch of people, and Vision Holiday administration, we did have a good time.

Wendy

I always remind them of my room number when I order drinks and never offer or accept drinks to or from anyone else. I'm not mean but have seen how the confusion mounts up over a week.

One guest was faced with a huge bar bill at the end of his week a few ywears back. He never told them his room number and thought it was down to the crew to get it right. Sadly with 12 to 16 people on board they often get it wrong.

We check our bill daily and once found 8 rakis on in a single evening. Since my wife would be comatose on 8 rakis and I don't drink the stuff at all we were able to get 5 of them crossed off with very little fuss. If you buy rounds, don't give your room number and leavr it for the last day to check your bill you will usually be in for an unpleasant surprise.

Gulets are a great holiday and are a good way to see Fethiye and Marmaris. One day in each is sufficient.

I like Gocek too - we stopped there for one night in the middle of our recent cruise.

If the weather is good we always sleep up on deck - a night under the stars is a wonderful way to sleep.

Sometimes the captain on a gulet will decide to change the itinerary. The company we used this year was absolutely superb, but not the cheapest. We will be going with them again next year.

The previous 2 I went on was with a singles company and the (very young) captain told us he didn't want to do the scheduled route of Fetiye to Kalkan and Kas because of the rough seas and that the guest and crew the previous week had all been sick and also badly bitten by mozzies. As the captain we said this was fine if that was his recommendation and we did the Fetiye/Marmaris route again. However, I found out from a girl who was on my flight home who had been on said gulet the previous week that nobody was sick let alone the crew and that she'd only got bitten when sleeping outside. The same crew this year admitted to a guest who is a friend of mine that they just don't like the sail to Kalkan/Kas and try to get out of it if they can. The company has received some complaints about this (they should not publicise the route if they don't want to do it) and also another friend of mine this year the captain brought on his british girlfriend as a non paying passenger for a few days and the crew concentrated on her rather than them. Again, complaint was made.

But, still a fabulous holiday, and the company I was with this year did not charge for things like orange juice with breakfast (which was a surprise extra 'soft drink' charge on previous trips). The gulet was thoroughly cleaned outside by the crew on two occasions during the week and we were each given a mix CD of the tunes they had been playing, and we were quite frankly, thoroughly spoilt.

I am very easy going regardless so I know I would always have a fabulous time but I prefer to pay just that bit more.

Just remembered, same friend is currently on week 2 of his second gulet holiday this year. Jealous? Me?