Azamara Quest - Petra overnight excursion

My husband and I will be on the Azamara Quest Athens to Dubai cruise departing 10/13/18. On day 7 (October 19) we have the option to take an overnight tour to Petra, Jordan. Rosemary from the shore excursions department wrote me that the expected arrival time in Petra is 7:30 pm, with a tour of Petra the next day (tour time tbd).

My questions are: will there be anything to do/see in Petra on the arrival night? It seems that by the time we get settled into our hotel and have dinner, it will be time for bed. Have also read on trip advisor that Petra by Night is only on Mon/Tues/Thurs. October 19 is a Friday.

Does anyone who has taken this tour before know what time the tour will depart for Petra on October 20? Will it leave early before most people arrive?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. We are trying to determine if this overnight excursion is worth the extra money or if we should just do a one day tour (not an overnight) from the ship.

Thanks in advance,

Cathleen

Hi Cathleen. Funnily enough I was recounting Petra with my friends who were asking me about it just before I logged in here. I did the Petra overnight tour on Journey last May.

I had a look at your arrival time in Aqaba (5pm) and details of your tour to compare it to what I did. First of all we arrived at Aqaba earlier and were off the ship and on our way at 3pm. This gave us good time to do a mini tour on the drive to Petra together with a wonderful stop at Wadi Rum before the Azamazing Evening started (I see that it’s not the same venue on your cruise). Because of the arrival time and day of the week we were able to do the Petra at Night tour after a quick dinner.

We started out early the following day. I’m thinking 8am from memory. We drove to Little Petra and arriving so early it was empty. We had the place to ourselves and it was really quite impressive in its own right. We then drove back to the Mövenpick hotel and walked across the road to the entrance to Petra (it's literally right opposite). By the time we got there, there were a couple of tours arriving, but it was still quiet and in the cooler part of the day.

I looked at the pricing of the tour. Pretty much what I paid last year, but we had more time and the Petra at Night tour I thought was an amazing experience, introducing me to the place at night before seeing it in the day. You’ll miss this.

So my overall opinion. I think it’s expensive for what it is. Essentially you are paying for a night at a hotel to arrive early at Petra the next day. If that is important to you then go for it, but personally I wouldn’t. The Mövenpick is a comfy hotel in a great spot though. The trip to Wadi Rum, the stops we were able to make to take in the sights of Jordan along the way and the night at Petra added to the whole tour. You won’t get this from looking at the tour description.

Whatever you decide, Jordan has amazing countryside apart from Petra. I really loved it.

Phil

We are thinking of doing this excursion just be be there in the cool of the day. We thinks it is expensive but possibly the betel option in a hot climate

Phil - thand you for your input. I will admit that I am a little disappointed in the ship's arrvival time into port and having so little time the first night in Petra. Definately planning on going to Petra - it looks amazing! - but still on the fence as to what tour (overnight or one day) to take.

Phil - thand you for your input. I will admit that I am a little disappointed in the ship's arrvival time into port and having so little time the first night in Petra. Definately planning on going to Petra - it looks amazing! - but still on the fence as to what tour (overnight or one day) to take.

Yes, it’s a difficult one. If you were arriving earlier then I’d say go for it no hesitation. I’m not sure how much else there is to do in Petra at night. An advantage going without the Petra at Night tour is it will be a more relaxed evening. It was a rush dinner for us. You’ll have the advantage of splitting the day travelling (it’s a good drive there and back) and be seeing Little Petra when it’s very quiet and Petra proper before it gets really busy. It’s a huge area to walk around and I didn’t find it terribly crowded, even later, except around the Treasury.

Good luck with the decisions!

Phil

We are thinking of doing this excursion just be be there in the cool of the day. We thinks it is expensive but possibly the betel option in a hot climate

Even later in the day I didn’t find it really hot and I do feel the heat, but this was May, not October so might be different. It was pretty windy and the dust swirled around a bit later at the Treasury. Again I’m not sure if this was the time of year.

Phil

HI there... we had an overnight in Petra when we were there with Oceania... yes definitely do the overnight stay because you can get started early and walk right into the main part of Petra. The Treasury is only the first place you will see, magnificent as it is, there is much more to see by walking further into the site. I did hear that some cruise tours only have time to take you as far as The Treasury because their tour starts from the ship in the morning and returns at night... it is a fair drive to get to Petra from Agaba. Wadi Rum on the way was a great treat too. We did do the Night Tour of Petra as well on the evening we arrived... wear good shoes... it is a fair walk... and any tour of Petra is absolutely a must do if you get the chance.

Would be good to get there ahead of the crowds in the morning. We did a ship’s day excursion. We did have plenty of time to get beyond the treasury, although we didn’t get much further than the amphitheatre as we were already tired and knew it was a long way to walk back.

Although we used the ship’s excursion, others on the ship did a private overnight tour which was much cheaper than the ship’s overnight tour. We were part of the same group for a private overnight tour to Luxor from Safaga. That also was very cheap - $170 including the 5* Hotel an excellent guide and entry to all sites, plus a felucca ride. If you are overnight in Safaga I would really recommend seeing Luxor & the Valley of the Kings if you have never been.

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It’s the price I’d baulk at. It’s £510 ($700) each for double occupancy which is around what I paid last year. With the ship leaving at 6pm you won’t gat a chance of a late afternoon buffet dinner at the Mövenpick like we had before we left. The arrival times of the ship aren’t ideal to make this good value in my opinion. Value that was added because of the extra things we were able to do. We were lucky that with the Azamazing Evening at Wadi Rum they opened the venue up just for us. This all added to the experience for me.

I concur about what Host Grandma said about Safaga. The Valley of the Kings, lunch by the Nile and then the Temples of Karnak was a great tour to do, particularly the latter which I found better than the Valley of the Kings. You might do the tour the other way round. Just depends. Well worth it. And if you do it, a tip. The guide like ours did said don’t take a camera into the Valley of the Kings. I complied, only to find lots of people with camera phones to take shots of the valley which is impressive in its own right. Obviously use your discretion, especially when entering the tombs.

Phil