Rare RachelG Posted December 15, 2012 #26 Share Posted December 15, 2012 Wow, really enjoyed your report. This sounds like a great trip. A part of the world I want to visit, hopefully in a couple of years with my son who is a fluent Arabic linguist. Now that would be amazing ( ESP if he didn't let the Saudi guys know he could understand every word). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seabournaddict Posted December 15, 2012 #27 Share Posted December 15, 2012 Seabourn used to include that excursion as a "freebie", sadly those days are over and now only Ephesus and Boi Bumba in the Amazon are offered as "Seabourn Experiences". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arzz Posted December 18, 2012 Author #28 Share Posted December 18, 2012 A quick note to anyone who plans to be in Dubai. We had a very difficult time there with money. No one would accept an American Express credit card. Our other credit cards were sometimes accepted, and sometimes rejected. For one thing that we wanted to do we could not get any of our credit cards accepted (and we travel with a few) and ended up having to use cash. This was particularly disappointing when we were forced to pay for something and could not use the credit card that we carry that does not charge a foreign transaction fee. As such, we needed more cash -- a friend who was on the cruise with us had her ATM card rejected and kept by a cash machine so we did not wish to risk our ATM card. We are just old fashioned enough to carry some traveler's checks as back up. The money exchanges did not wish to cash them, but our hotel cashed them and converted the cash to AED for about a 3% fee. I do not know what was going on, but since we are home I have checked and all of our cards are OK, working fine, and have no bogus charges on their accounts. We might have been in an embarrassing situation had we not had the ancient form of currency known as the traveler's check with us. It is best to know in advance. And, if I can figure out how to do it, I will post some pictures soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arzz Posted December 18, 2012 Author #29 Share Posted December 18, 2012 RachelG -- let me know if you plan to travel with your son -- I would love to be a fly on the wall and find out what they were talking about! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare RachelG Posted December 18, 2012 #30 Share Posted December 18, 2012 RachelG -- let me know if you plan to travel with your son -- I would love to be a fly on the wall and find out what they were talking about! :D It will be another 2 years as he has a restriction on his passport till 2014 regarding going to certain Arabic countries due to security clearance, but when that restriction clears, we will definitely be going. I think it will be great fun, esp after he listens for a while then starts talking back in Arabic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaneBP Posted December 18, 2012 #31 Share Posted December 18, 2012 I had a similar experience with my smattering of German. I was in Philly on the bus and some people speaking German were making very nasty remarks about some of the other bus passengers. I let them know I could understand them and thought they were very horrid to say such things. Fortunately, the objects of their disparaging talk did not have a clue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juicyjuju Posted December 20, 2012 #32 Share Posted December 20, 2012 Thank you so much for your posts. I loved reading them, particularly because they were so well written. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wripro Posted December 25, 2012 #33 Share Posted December 25, 2012 Great posts, Aarz. I really enjoyed reading about your experiences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arzz Posted December 28, 2012 Author #34 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Trying to post photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arzz Posted December 28, 2012 Author #35 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Veranda Cafe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arzz Posted December 28, 2012 Author #36 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Bridge Over the Suez Canal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arzz Posted December 28, 2012 Author #37 Share Posted December 28, 2012 View of the Suez Canal from the Stern Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arzz Posted December 28, 2012 Author #38 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Petra Horse Carts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arzz Posted December 28, 2012 Author #39 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Petra - The Treasury Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arzz Posted December 28, 2012 Author #40 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Sharm el Sheikh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arzz Posted December 28, 2012 Author #41 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Safaga Port Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arzz Posted December 28, 2012 Author #42 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Luxor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arzz Posted December 28, 2012 Author #43 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Shopping near Luxor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arzz Posted December 28, 2012 Author #44 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Seabourn Tug of War Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arzz Posted December 28, 2012 Author #45 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Frankincense sorting in Salalah, Oman followed by Taqah Castle in Salalah, Oman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arzz Posted December 28, 2012 Author #46 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Mosque in Khasab, Oman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arzz Posted December 28, 2012 Author #47 Share Posted December 28, 2012 "Day Trading" in Khasab, Oman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arzz Posted December 29, 2012 Author #48 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Seabourn Pride in Khasab, Oman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arzz Posted December 29, 2012 Author #49 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Desert Safari Photos 1 - Wildlife in the Conserve 2 - Desert Falcon 3 - Midnight at the Oasis 4- Traditional welcome with rosewater, coffee and dates Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arzz Posted December 29, 2012 Author #50 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Sorry that the photos are all thumbnails -- but I could not figure out how to upload them any larger. Hope you enjoy them anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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