mrbocbox

I'm trying to be as charitable as possible. I realize that catering to 20 people is hard. I think it was just the luck of the draw with this guide. We just found his narration sometime repetitive frequently veering off topic. Our guide in Jordan was excellent! He seemed really tuned into what the brand was about. He was actually the only one that mentioned Avalon repeated on the trip. He was thoughtful in content and our time at the sites.

The short answer is no. All the sites we visited were public. A few were pretty quiet when we visited so, it seemed like we got some dedicated space. We made some obligatory visits to "Alabaster Factory", "Nubian Spice Shop", and "Mosaic Factory." These were nothing more than sales pitch visits. Some were better than others and we bought a couple of places.

As far as crowds go, we missed the biggest masses because we started early most days. At several locations, we were among the first into the sites. At the Giza pyramids, we went inside the 2nd one of Kafre. This is not for those who don’t like confined spaces. It was over 100 degrees and you are crammed into a space 3x3 down a long way. I almost didn’t make it. The chambers inside aren’t ornate so if you have the least bit of trepidation, you won’t miss much. It seemed really crowded there. Only at Karnak and Edfu did I feel really crowded. But they have some smaller spaces that can get congested. In Jordan, Petra was really bustling by lunch time and it was most acute by the Treasury (the most iconic facade). But we started early and were able to get pictures without others in them.

We booked the "Taste of Egypt with Jordan" with Avalon Waterways as it was a great balance between the uber expensive Viking and low-budget operators. It should be clear that this 14 Day itinerary is only 4 nights of actual cruise. It's more of an land-based tour with a cruise portion. The trip has 2 distinct parts, Egypt & Jordan. Arriving at 2am in Cairo, it was wonderful to have an agent of the line meet us before we reached immigration and customs officers. For the 1st part of the trip, we stayed at the Marriott Mena House in the shadow of the Pyramids. It was a nice hotel with good restaurants and a great place to have breakfast overlooking the pyramids. The first day, we visited the pyramids of giza, Sphinx, and Djoser's step pyramid. We were introduced to our Egyptologist, Ahmed, who stayed with us throughout our time in Egypt. The 2nd day in Cairo, we went to the Egyptian Museum, Churches, and the Alabaster Mosque. My strongest complaint about the entire trip was that we didn't have enough time at the Egyptian Museum. We spent less that 1.5 hours there. After our guide showed us a few items that he felt were important, he only gave us 30 mins to see the rest (including King Tut). Day 3 we flew to Luxor on Air Cairo. Our flight was delayed by about 45 minutes. It wasn't luxurious, but less than 45 mins long. Upon arrival in Luxor, we went to the Temples of Karnak and it was AMAZING. After that, we arrived our ship, Farah docked along the Nile. Nile ships are really different than other ships I've traveled on, but Farah was in good condition and our cabin was nice. The restaurant had good food, some really nice seafood options. Occasionally there would be some strange flavor combinations, but overall it was good. As the ship was less than 1/2 full, we got great service in the dining room, but it could sometimes seem like overkill or them hovering to assist. The next few days, the ship would stay docked in ports as we would visit sites and only a few times that we are actually sailing. We saw the temples of Luxor and Karnak, the valley of the kings, Edfu, Kom Ombo, and sites in Aswan. We opted for the $400 pp additional trip to Abu Simbel. I highly recommend this as it's an amazing sight to see. Much larger scale than statues we had seen. Another quick flight down and back to Aswan. In Aswan, the visit to the Unfinished Obelisk was less than thrilling. We flew back to Cairo for another few days of sightseeing before leaving for Jordan. We took a flight to Amman on Royal Jordanian. We were met at the really nice airport by an Avalon rep who took us to the Marriott in Amman. We had a lot of free time and we took an Uber to the Jordan Museum. Uber's are REALLY cheap in Egypt and Jordan. Like less than $5 anywhere. On our 1st full day in Jordan, we met Osama, our local guide and he was incredible. Friendly and knowledgeable, he was great. Of the 20 people that we were with in Egypt, only 7 of us did Jordan so it made the experience much more intimate. 2nd day in Jordan, we drove to Mt. Nebo and then 3 hours further to Petra. The hotel called Hayat Zaman was amazing. The best hotel of our whole trip. Such an lovely place. The next day, we scheduled 6 hours at the archeological site and it was amazing. It was hot and a huge place to explore. We hiked the 900 step to the Monastery. I only recommend doing this if you are in shape and capable. We're moderately capable and it was pretty strenuous. After the visit, we drove a scary road over the mountain to the Dead Sea resort where we spent the last 3 nights. It was a nice resort with great pools. We swam in the Dead Sea which was kinda unpleasant but very floaty. The last day we went to the ruins at Jerash and spent the rest of the day at the pool. Things about the trip: I wish we had more free time at the sites in Egypt. Our guide in Egypt wouldn't tell us up front the amount of time we had at several sites and after he showed some highlights, only then he would tell us we had 20, 30, or 45 minutes at stellar historical sites. Towards the end of the trip, we started wondering from the group so we could experience the sites in their fullest. In Jordan, the Avalon crew let us know that all our tips for bag handling was included and that the porters were "Taken care of." We didn't get this information in Egypt. Egypt was dirty, crowded, and at times felt unsafe. Our group always had an armed guard with us as we toured around. Jordan was clean and felt very safe. The water from the tap isn't drinkable. We experienced a few days of intestinal discomfort despite following all the rules. Going in June/July means its HOT HOT HOT. Being from Texas, it wasn't actually much different from home. But, being out in the heat can really zap you. But, it's the low season and we didn't experience terrible crowds. Overall, it was a bucket list trip for us and we enjoyed this once in a lifetime experience.

After some sweating about Covid tests, we tested negative at home in Texas and flew out to Vancouver. We stayed at the Pan Pacific above the Canada Place terminal. Great beds, kinda expensive, ABSOLUTELY PERFECTLY EASY for departing on a cruise. Our boarding appointment was at 12 Noon and the check in portion was super quick and easy, they briefly look over your fast pass and covid tests, then move you onto Security & US Preclearance. As there were a total of 3 ships leaving from the same pier, this took about 50 mins. This was our first experience with 3 ships in 1 terminal and it was a little rough. Line kept moving, but processing 9,000 people was a lot. But, after all that, we were on the ship and our keys were at the cabin door. Cabin was ready to go. We had received notification that we got our Move Up to a concierge class stateroom the week before and had a nice aft facing hump by the mid-ship elevators. Room was just like our previous Equinox class ships. Kinda getting dated. As was much of the ship. It doesn't seem that anything has been updated. The service was great. Lots of smiles. Encountered a few overworked bartenders. Worst was in the theater. But, we only went to 2 shows. We spent a lot of time at the Sunset Bar and got good service there. The Martini Bar was always busy and could take a while for drinks. We'd sometimes go to the Casino bar to get drinks and come back and people watch. Ports were amazing. Great scenery. We got SOOO close to the Hubbard Glacier. Much closer than the previous ship I was on. Got to see calving and hear the thunder. It was freezing, so bring WINTER clothes! We took the Sawyer Glacier Explorer excursion out of Juneau. It was expensive, but stunning scenery. We saw humpback whales, bears, seals, sea lions, eagles. Absolutely magical. HIGHLY RECCOMEND. We didn't hear of any people falling ill with Rona. Only the occasional coughs which raised eyebrows. lol. There were some people wearing masks here and there, but not too many. Our only gripes were the following: Main Dining Room food seemed off. Menus were blah. We had Select Dining, which I really liked because the pace seemed faster than traditional seating. We never really waited to get seated. We did the Tuscan Grille on embarkation day for the special and was underwhelmed. Starters and desserts were good, but the steak was puny and greasy. Due to the lackluster MDR food, we started eating dinner in the Oceanview. At least we could try a variety of things. I chock it up to supply chain issues. I've seen menus and food pics from other Celebrity ships in service right now, and I'm jealous of what I see. I definitely feel that Eclipse was on the short end of the stick when it comes to quality ingredients. My other complaint is mild, but will result in a lot of groaning. Often times when we were on our balcony, our next door neighbor would start playing guitar. I wouldn't have a problem if it was pleasant Spanish guitar or some classics. No, it was acoustic Metallica. And sometimes he would sing. 😞 Much in the same way we don't appreciate smokers wafting their exhales around us, the same goes for music. Eventually we'd start talking loudly and he would retreat indoors. It's not how we'd like to experience the scenery of the inside passage. Overall, we had a great time seeing so much natural beauty. It was great to be back on a ship after having this cruise booked since 2019.

Got the CC last week!

Looking for some insight into the latest sailing. Did we get the barnacles off? Why did the ship go to Icy Straight Point instead of Sitka? What was the crew situation like??? Anxious to know as we leave in 48 days!!

Move Up Details: Ship: Celebrity Eclipse Length of Cruise: 7 Nights Cruise Sail Date: 24 July 22 Date email offer received: May 11 Captain’s Club Tier: Elite Booked through Celebrity Direct OR via TA: Direct Current Cabin: Veranda obstructed Bid? Yes/No: Yes Min Bids: Royal - $1,500 Celebrity - $1,000 Sky - $700 Aqua - $200 Concierge - $50 Family Verandah - $200 If YES - Bidding Details: Cabin Category: Concierge, Family Verandah Bid Offer: $100 pp, weak/fair, $200 pp, Totally Weak. Notification Date: Pending Accepted / Rejected: Pending General Comments (offer details, etc.) Seems to be lots of CC cabins available. Only 1 FV.

TOOO MUCH SCIENCE!!!

Live from the bottom of the Eclipse.