Our pleasure at seeing the Ephesus ruins however was blunted on the trip back to the boat. Our tour bus was diverted to some roadside leather outlet where we were herded and locked into a back area, made to sit through this hideous fashion show, then given the hard sell by a team of salespeople pushing coats. This little side trip was not mentioned anywhere in the tour literature nor the cruise director's orientation. Of course we marched right out without buying anything, as did most of the other tourists. But because we were in the middle of nowhere and basically at the mercy of our driver and tour guide, we were forced to sit there for nearly an hour while two women shopped for coats.
We were all set to complain upon returning to the ship until Slavika the casino manager told us that the cruise company has been fighting for years with the tour company over these unannounced sales pitches. But the Turkish powers that be have refused to budge, and the cruise company backs down because they need to offer the Turkish tours to remain competitive with other cruise lines. In both Turkey and Egypt it's the policy to not only condone such practices but encourage it.
Later we found out through shipboard gossip that one of the two women who bought coats and kept everyone on the bus waiting received the wrong coat and way overpaid. She discovered the deception too late (we had already left port) but the cruise people refused to get involved as they are not affiliated with the leather showroom. I felt sorry for her after that .... she was led to the trough and told to buy, then when she did she was ripped off.