Join Pete and Judy on their FIRST World Cruise on the Amsterdam

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Good thing you had that phrase card!

 

 

 

Never leave home without it!

[Lovetoocruise2015]

Following

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Day 85, Muscat, Oman

 

We were scheduled to arrive in Muscat at 8 am but by 7:30 we were tied up at the pier and people started to leave the ship. The temps were supposed to hit the high eighties but with the lower humidity it never seemed that hot especially by comparison with some of the scorchers we have had in some of the earlier ports.

 

There were two other ships in port today, the Splendor of the Seas and the Europa 2. HAL provided shuttle buses to take us to the center of town since this is an industrial port but there wasn’t much activity other than the three cruise ships. The Big Bus was allowed on the pier and that was another option to get into town. We had purchased a two city package while we were in Dubai so that would be our plan for the day. A little before noon we left the ship just missing the Big Bus, but the HAL shuttle was ready to leave and we were soon on our way.

 

 

Before we left the port we had to get off the bus and go into a small building where we walked thru a metal detector and had our bags x-rayed. We then got back on the bus on the other side of the building and headed out to the Mutrah Souk where we were they dropped us off in what is called the Corniche area right on the harbor. On one side of the street is a wide sidewalk that follows the harbor and the other side are many restaurants and shops that all have a view of the waterfront.

 

We decided to explore the Mutrah souk for a while and then catch the Big Bus for the 2 hour city tour. The souk was a nice change of pace from the markets in India and Sri Lanka where you were solicited constantly and aggressively. Here you could stroll down the narrow streets and window shop at your leisure. Prices would usually be quoted in Omani Rials initially but they would quickly quote you a price in dollars or euros when asked. Negotiating here was easier than in many places because there were so many shops selling exactly the same stuff so close together. Merely asking the prices and starting to walk off would result in a 30% price drop and you could usually get them down to 50% off the initial asking price with a few minutes of back and forth. But sometimes when you are buying something with an initial price of $4, you have to decide how much effort you want to exert to save $1. Once you get in the mood and the swing of the back and forth it can go fairly quickly.

 

Continuing thru the souk we finally came out on the other side where there were more standard stores selling items to residents with fewer tourist shops. On one street corner there was an Omani sitting on a carpet selling Dates and some other pieces of fruit. He quoted a price of 1 Rial, but it wasn’t clear if that was for 1 piece of fruit or an handful. I offered him $1 just to see what I would get, but he was completely disinterested in taking dollars or showing any interest in further conversation so I moved on.

 

After about 90 minutes of shopping we headed back to the Mutrah Souk where the Big Bus tours started. There was one getting ready to leave as we arrived so we only had to wait a few minutes until we were off on the Big Bus City Tour.

 

In a few minutes we left the port area and continued down a wide, modern, multi lane street. The terrain reminded me of parts of Nevada with brown and barren areas occasionally irrigated to a bright green against a backdrop of small, sharply edged hills with roads curving thru valleys in between. Oman restricts all buildings to a maximum height of 8 stories and they must be either white or cream colored. Unlike Dubai, Oman wants development to spread outward as opposed to upwards.

 

As we passed by a modern hospital we learned that it was built as a medical tourist hospital to support what they hope will be a growing medical tourism business. While the costs of certain procedures, for example a hip replacement, can be significantly cheaper here than in the US, there are obviously certain risks regarding quality and other issues that would have to be fully considered. One of the challenges facing Oman is convincing some of their wealthier citizens to seek medical care in Oman rather than going to Europe or the USA as this doesn’t help create confidence in your local hospitals when people who can afford to go elsewhere do go elsewhere.

 

Many cities seem to have car dealerships clustered together and Muscat is no exception as we drove by their Mile of Cars with dealers from many brands around the world operating showrooms here.

 

Continuing toward our turn-around spot at the Al Qurum Beach we passed a 4 story Children’s Library, a large modern Opera House and a 15,000 seat stadium run by the Police Department and used for Soccer matches among other events.

 

We paused for a few minutes at Hay As Saruj which is a bus stop right on the Sea of Oman. There were about 10 shops surrounding a central parking area for people who wanted to go to the beach. The beach was about 15 yards across and the Sea of Oman looked like a lake as there weren’t any waves but only small, wind driven ripples. We didn’t see anyone on the beach even though the parking lot was full of cars.

 

There were plenty of cars on the roads, but traffic flowed easily and everyone followed normal traffic rules. Up ahead we saw signs for the Qurum National Park which has rose gardens, a large manmade waterfall, a small lake and an amusement park.

 

Downtown Muscat was modern, with wide streets and a 141 foot clock tower that was built in 90 days back in 1991. Muscat is also home to the Omani Stock Exchange.

 

Our final stop was a view spot overlooking a Marina several hundred feet below where we stopped which is also the spot where the British Ambassador has his residence.

 

Two hours after we started we were back at the beginning on the Corniche. We missed lunch and we since we still had a few hours till all aboard, we decided to sample some of the local fare. There were two restaurants almost directly in front of us and we chose, “The Fast-food and Juice Centre” because it was a little closer. But once you make a move and showed any interest in a restaurant, the aggressive hosts from both restaurants would motion to you from some distance inviting you to an open table and expressing great enthusiasm at the possibility you might select their restaurant.

 

 

We each ordered a large glass of juice that was served fresh and a little whipped. I ordered the orange and Judy the mango and they were both very delicious. Fish and Chips and a beef burger were our choices for our meal and they were delivered in about 15 minutes. The fish was small breaded chunks a little bigger than a Chicken McNugget and were OK but not among the best we have had so far on this cruise. That honor remains with the restaurant near the pier in Melbourne Australia. The beef burger was heavily spiced and tasted more like a vegetarian burger than a beef burger. For a second I thought it may have been a veggie burger, but after closer inspection I determined it was a beef burger, no one in Muscat is threatening the USA on creating great burgers.

 

After our late lunch we were back on the shuttle bus and on our way back to the ship. We didn’t stop at security on the way back in as we did on the way out, but instead we headed directly back to the ship.

 

We had a special sail-away called the 1001 Arabian Nights with complimentary drinks and a wider variety of snacks. This was held by the Lido pool and was well attended. We wandered back to the Seaview pool to see the sunset and were surprised that there were plenty of people back there as well. Around the pool they set up carpets, complete with Arabian pillows and giant Hookas, that were used as back drops for some great snapshots.

 

Since we had eaten late, we ordered salads for dinner despite the menu offering Filet Migon with Grilled Shrimp as an option.

 

Ventriloquist Kieran Powell was the entertainer tonight and he was quite good and put on a very entertaining show. He did spend a little too much time making fun of late arrivals in the audience which detracted from his otherwise fine performance. He finished the show with an amazing performance with one of his characters where he ended up singing Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

 

 

Tomorrow is a sea day on our way to Salalah Oman.

 

I forgot to mention that we had our 4th cruise critic meet and greet on March 29th. We only had about 15 people participate but it was a fun time nevertheless. We will have our final meet and greet on April 28th a couple of days before Fort Lauderdale.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Day 86, Sailing toward Salalah, Oman

 

Promptly at 8AM our room service breakfast was delivered which has been our routine for most of the cruise. The quality and selection of the room service breakfast continues to be outstanding. Anything you could order in the MDR or the Lido is available for breakfast from room service. We have learned that Grand World Voyages have an expanded room service menu not available on shorter cruises.

 

Good Morning Amsterdam started our day and the guests were the Ventriloquist Kieran Powell from the night before and the new guest chef, Paulette Mitchell, who has published several cookbooks. She is also an accomplished travel photographer and plans to present a seminar on how to take better travel pictures when we are transiting the Red Sea.

 

Kieran started doing Ventriloquism when he was 14 and started performing professionally when he was 18. Gene made a joke that must have been only 2 years ago, assuming the Kieran was much older, but as it turned out, Kieran is only 20 and he has been performing for only 2 years.

 

Attendance for Good Moring Amsterdam used to be Standing Room Only, but now there are always about a dozen seats available right up to the 9:30 am starting time.

 

 

There are 5 people onboard from the Shakespeare company giving lectures and presenting seminars on various topics relating to Shakespeare. The blog has a copy of the “On Location” guides which gives more details about these events. I didn’t attend, but I did check out the attendance for one of the Shakespeare seminar in the Hudson room and every seat was full.

 

We continued to relax and recharge in our cabin for most of the day. The overland adventure and longer port visits don’t leave much time to rest so we take advantage of Sea days to recharge our energy levels.

 

We were joined for dinner by the Ships Doctor, Gisela, and her husband Chas. We enjoy their company very much and they always have some interesting insight about life aboard ship or their adventures ashore. Chas is an accomplished amateur magician and we look forward to his impromptu show after dessert. Today he amazed us with a mentalist trick where he could determine the correct orientation of a large die hidden in a black bag. We left totally mystified when he was able to mysteriously break and then inexplicably rejoin small wooden coffee shop stirring sticks.

 

The Casino was decorated for Arabian Nights and George was dressed up appropriately and is always a lot of fun. We have gotten to know all the dealers and other casino staff and they are a wonderful group and make the casino a friendly place to hang out.

 

Singer Donna Groom was on the main stage tonight. She was formerly with the group the Skyliners with her husband, Mark Groom, the drummer. Donna put on a great show and I especially enjoyed her rendition of the Petula Clark hit – “Downtown”. Mark replaced the HAL drummer for the evening and was amazing His talent was showcased in an instrumental where he performed a drum solo. The late show is always lightly attended but we try to make up for our smaller size with increased enthusiasm. There is a hard core group of about 50 who attend every late show and some late shows may attract up to 100 guests.

 

 

More on the blog at http://www.theinsidecabin.com

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Day 87, Salalah, Oman

 

The ship docked in Salalah about 30 minutes early, but we had decided to make this port a sea day so the early arrival didn’t mean much to us today. I did considerable research into this port looking for something interesting to justify leaving the ship and dealing with the overpriced taxi drivers who would be waiting at the main gate to the port. When I realized that today was Friday, the Muslim holy day, and most shops in town would be closed, that sealed the deal regarding our desire to stay on the ship.

 

There was an initial wave of tour busses leaving around 8:15 am but I noticed that the shuttle busses were still sitting on the pier, unused, for entire time I was observing the goings on early in the morning.

 

The bow was being set up with tables, colored banners and tables full of soft drinks. I learned later that this was in preparation for a crew pizza party scheduled for noon. Most crew members only have a couple of hours off during each port and with the price for taxis, combined with no free WiFi and most shops being closed, I can’t imagine many of them would be going ashore, so it was a good idea for the ship to put on something a little special for them during this port.

 

In addition to resting in our cabin, we spent most of the day getting our cabin organized, putting away the suitcases and souvenirs, throwing out old pieces of paper and scanning items we wanted to save. We also used the time to back up all our photos and get our computer files organized.

 

In addition to our standard room service breakfast, we ordered room service lunch. The Cobb Salad and Club Sandwich were wonderful and delivered promptly.

 

Later in the day we spoke with a few people who did go ashore and walked around town. We learned that there were a few shops open in anticipation of more passengers coming ashore, but they were closing as our friends arrived since there were so few people going to town. They did manage to find an open hairdresser where the wife was able to get a nice haircut for $3.

 

Here is how they got to town. After they were dropped off at the main gate they encountered the taxi line with the notorious overpriced cabbies waiting who apparently have an informal pact to hold fast on their high prices. They hiked about 1/3 of a mile up a hill to the Seaman’s Club, called the Oasis Club. The club was closed since it was a Friday, but on the way back, they encountered a taxi who didn’t want to wait in the taxi line, and was cruising the road between the port and the Oasis Club. He was able to negotiate a $15 fare each way ($30 total) for the 12 mile round trip to Salalah. After they were dropped off back by the main gate, the cabbie asked him to keep their pricing confidential in front of other cabbies who apparently may be disappointed that one of their own was offering discounted fares and not waiting in line.

 

NOTE TO FUTURE TRAVELERS: If you are interested in going to town in Salalah, try walking up to the Oasis club, where you can enjoy a drink and food if they are open and probably a more reasonable cab along the way or the staff in the club may be willing to call you a cab where you may get a better deal. Your mileage may vary, but it is worth considering.

 

A couple of our table mates took “The Lost Cities of Ubar Tour” and they were disappointed. The all-day 4 x 4 tour involved 8 hours sitting in a car with 3 people in the back and one up front with a driver who spoke no English. This was all disclosed on the tour information sheet, so no surprises, but they reported that the lost city was not worth spending so much time in car driving on a freeway thru what looked like Death Valley. Other people on different tours reported disappointing results as well as there simply isn’t a whole lot to see in the area.

 

We continued our hibernation thru the sail away and didn’t venture out until the single show in the Queens Lounge at 7:15 pm with Harmonica Virtuoso Bernie Fields. There wouldn’t be a late show tonight, or one at 8:15 pm for that matter, since the main event for the evening would be the Aprils Fools day party in the Crow’s Nest.

 

Bernie Fields was magnificent and displayed an incredible talent on the Harmonica. This is an instrument that you don’t normally think of as headlining a show and is an act you would probably never come across except on a cruise ship. He captivated the audience with an incredible rendition of Ave Maria and earned and enthusiastic standing ovation. In the spirit of Aprils Fools, Gene was hosting the show wearing a large monkey suit, without the head.

 

 

I invite you to go to the blog and take a look at the April 1st “On Location” which is chock full of gag events such as Deep Sea Fishing from the stern and setting the clocks forward at 2AM and then setting them back at 3AM. The daily “On Locations” can be found under the tab labeled “World Cruise Reference”.

 

For some reason, the theme of the Aprils Fools party was ‘Holy Cow’. The entrance to the Crow’s Nest was decorated with items resembling cowhides and it had the look of Chick-fil-A commercial run amok. There was a nice turn out in the Crow’s Nest with many guests wearing costumes. Judy and I wore T shirts that looked like a tuxedo and a wedding gown. The band Oasis continues to be one of the best dance bands around and their ability to perform a wide variety of songs is amazing. Location guide Barbara was dressed as a large Bumblebee and was a big hit.

 

 

More on the blog at http://www.theinsidecabin.com

[ger_77]

While I think it's great the ship was going to have a party for the staff, I would think noon on the bow would have been hellishly hot!

 

Really enjoying your insights into the various ports and excursions.

 

Smooth Sailing ! :) :) :)

[sppunk]

Captain Mercer posted the crew event was in honor of Koningsdam joining the fleet. The pizza tables were corners in the shape of a K and the ship built a Koningsdam sign for the event.

 

They had many umbrellas out thankfully to provide shade.

[ger_77]

Captain Mercer posted the crew event was in honor of Koningsdam joining the fleet. The pizza tables were corners in the shape of a K and the ship built a Koningsdam sign for the event.

 

They had many umbrellas out thankfully to provide shade.

 

Glad to hear it - thanks for the clarification. I'm thinking of everyone out there practically melting in the heat.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Glad to hear it - thanks for the clarification. I'm thinking of everyone out there practically melting in the heat.

 

 

 

I took my picture early when they just started...thanks for clarifying

[Btimmer]

Do you have a picture of your CD, Gene? I'm trying to remember if he's been a CD on one of our cruises?

 

I'm enjoying your blogs.

[jig]

I see your next stop on Aqaba. I assume your going to Petra. If so, have a great time. I also see your having 4 sea days incl the suez transfer. Sadly no stops in Egypt but nobody is going there. Like turkey.

 

 

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[The-Inside-Cabin]

Do you have a picture of your CD, Gene? I'm trying to remember if he's been a CD on one of our cruises?

 

I'm enjoying your blogs.

 

There are numerous picture of Gene on the blog. Here is another.

 

http://www.theinsidecabin.com

 

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Day 88, Sailing toward Al'Aqabah, Jordan

 

Smooth seas greeted us this morning as we continue westward across the Gulf of Aden on our way to the Red Sea. We are looking forward to the string of 4 consecutive sea days before we arrive in Jordan. After Jordan we transit the Suez Canal entering the cooler Mediterranean Sea where we will enjoy 9 ports in 12 days.

 

Harmonica Virtuoso Bernie Fields was the guest on Good Morning Amsterdam. Bernie started his musical career playing the clarinet before switching to the Harmonica when he was a teenager. Gene remarked that Bernie is the only Harmonica player is the entire Carnival Corporation database of musicians. He demonstrated some of the different techniques involved in playing the Harmonica and explained that he has maintained a steady string of bookings throughout the 40 years he has been playing professionally.

 

Barbara discussed our upcoming visit to Jordan in the Queens Lounge at 10 am. She normally doesn’t recommend visiting specific spots, but she is making an exception for Petra which has been classified as one the New 7 Wonders of the World. She did caution people to bring local currency or USD to Petra since they don’t accept credit cards. Barbara discussed how Jordan is one of the most progressive countries in the Middle East and that some women may be subjected to “Hey Baby” Cat Calls from the local men, but everyone chuckled when she added that she doesn’t get those type of comments any longer….

 

 

Right after Barbara’s port lecture Timothy Runyan presented his lectures on Pirates. He debunked some popular myths particularly the one regarding pirates burying treasure explaining that pirates didn’t really think too much about the long term or saving for retirement.

 

Judy and I attended our traditional afternoon events, Crafts and Texas Hold’em. I had a good day and finished second in Texas Hold’em.

 

The Book Club announced that the next book will be “The Passion of Artemisia” by Susan Vreeland.

 

We were invited to Canaletto to help celebrate the birthday of one of our overland traveling companions on our India trip. We haven’t been to Canaletto’s all cruise so we were looking forward to the opportunity to give it a try. Canaletto’s is the specialty Italian Restaurant, located on deck 8, that is a part of the Lido dining area during the day. During the evening this area becomes Canaletto’s and offers a special menu with a $10 surcharge.

 

Our hosts invited a total of 16 guests for our 6:30 dinner spreading us across several tables. The menu is divided into “Small Plates” consisting of Soups, Salads and Appetizers and Large Plates where they offer various pastas, sea bass and veal. Fortunately we were sharing our table with some Canaletto regulars and they were helpful giving us some idea of the portion sizes and what dishes they enjoyed.

 

Judy ordered the Canaletto Salad and the Sea Bass, while I ordered the Zuppa di Pesce (Fish soup) and the Rigatoni with sausage. Our tablemates ordered the Marinated Buffalo Mozzarella and the Eggplant Caponata which were large enough to share so we were able to get a taste of everything.

 

Service was exceptional as normal, and the food was incredible and well beyond our already high expectations. The Zuppa di Pesce was piping hot, with a perfectly seasoned tomato broth filled with clams, mussels, shrimp, scallops, and chunks of cod. This was easily the best soup of the cruise and quite frankly some of the best soup I have ever enjoyed anywhere.

 

The Rigatoni with sausage, presented in a medium sized bowl, looked fantastic and tasted even better. Judy’s Sea Bass was served with fingerling potatoes, shaved fennel and an orange-olive salad. The portion sizes were perfect to either have one entire dish yourself or to share two dishes with two people. I sampled the sea bass which was grilled and perfectly seasoned and absolutely delightful.

 

Since we were celebrating a birthday, we all shared a delicious chocolate cake complete with a dollop of vanilla ice cream dished up tableside. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that one of the waiters was quite the vocalist and sang a beautiful acapella version of Happy Birthday. Simply Amazing.

 

My advice to future travelers – don’t wait to enjoy Canaletto’s as it is a fantastic restaurant and if you enjoy it as much as we did, going earlier in the cruise will give you more time to visit again and again.

 

Tonight’s show, Nations, was presented by the HAL singers and dancers. We were off the ship on overland trips for their first two shows and were eager to see their 3rd show. The singers were exceptional and the dancers were outstanding, with a full complement of 3 men and 3 women dancers. The show featured more pure dancing numbers than is usually the case as there is typically a bias towards the singers being on stage more of the time.

 

 

Another welcome sea day tomorrow as we are expected to transit the Bab-el-Mandeb straits and enter the red sea.

Edited April 3, 2016 by The-Inside-Cabin

[The-Inside-Cabin]

I see your next stop on Aqaba. I assume your going to Petra. If so, have a great time. I also see your having 4 sea days incl the suez transfer. Sadly no stops in Egypt but nobody is going there. Like turkey.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

We are taking a ships tour to Petra - 13 Hours!!!

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

Thanks for the next Book Club selection. Just received the last one from the library. Always enjoy reading these books as they are books I would not normally choose.

Edited April 3, 2016 by SJSULIBRARIAN

[chefestelle]

We are taking a ships tour to Petra - 13 Hours!!!

 

 

If you know what time you'll be at Petra, there is a live cam at the treasury. If the timing works, I'll try to get a screen shot of you there! It's a ten hour time difference

 

 

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[The-Inside-Cabin]

If you know what time you'll be at Petra, there is a live cam at the treasury. If the timing works, I'll try to get a screen shot of you there! It's a ten hour time difference

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

We leave the ship around 8:45 am Local - I think we will be there about 3 hours later

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Day 89, Sailing toward Al'Aqabah, Jordan

 

The guests for Good Morning Amsterdam were Black Label artist Tara, Zed the Jeweler and Teresa the Belly Dancer. Tara mentioned that there hasn’t been much activity in the Black Label studio and that plenty of good appointment times were still available. Teresa will be holding classes at 1pm in the Crow’s Nest and is also selling beaded veils in the Sports Bar

 

Barbara discussed our two Israel ports, Haifa and Ashdod. The Amsterdam will be in Haifa on a Saturday when most everything will be closed until sunset. We are scheduled for an all day tour, so that shouldn’t affect us too much. Barbara didn’t discuss any special security issues concerning these two ports.

 

Another Sunday at sea meant, another Sunday brunch, and with only one more Sunday at sea remaining on the cruise, the folks at our table decided to skip breakfast and meet at 11 am to give the Brunch a try. We arrived for Sunday Brunch a little after they opened at 11 am and were seated at a rectangular table along the windows on the starboard side. After a little chit chat we started thru the buffet line armed with large dinner plates. First stop was the delightful pastry table with mounds of delicious looking, breads, rolls and muffins. The buffet has two identical lines on either side of the dining room. For my first pass thru I selected some salmon, a few jumbo shrimp with sauce, a slice of prime rib, an eggs benedict and sausage patty. They also had fried chicken, hot vegetables, bacon, link sausage and other choices which all looked delicious, but I resisted the temptation to take some of everything. Once back at our table, waiters were circulating with Champagne or Mimosa on trays while coffee of juices were available to order. The food was all delicious, beautifully presented and we had a wonderful time.

 

 

Judy and I have never played dominoes and our tablemates invited us to join them for a game of Mexican Train dominoes. It was pretty easy to learn and we had a wonderful time playing before we were interrupted by the Captain’s announcement that we would soon be transiting the Bab-el-Mandeb strait. We paused our game and went out to the stern to take a look. Yemen was close by off our starboard side, but due to poor visibility, we couldn’t see Somalia off the part side.

 

It was a little hot and sticky out on the deck, so we retreated back to the air conditioned spaces after a few minutes then it was time for Crafts and Texas Hold’em. Judy made a note card with the sign language symbol for ‘I Love You’ on the front and I didn’t finish in the money at Texas Hold’em.

 

We gone to Bingo a few times early on in the cruise and decided to give it another go today at 4pm. Unfortunately they only had 15 people show up and they needed 20. We learned that they had enough people to play Bingo every sea day from Sydney thru Dubai, but since Dubai they have only had enough people to play once.

 

Tonight was a Gala night with only two more Gala nights remaining. Harmonica Virtuoso, Bernie Fields, who put on a masterful performance few nights ago, joined us for dinner. We had a wonderful time learning more about Bernie’s background and how he switched from playing the Clarinet to the Harmonica as a teenager. Bernie is from Montreal but now lives in Los Angeles with his wife. He will be flying back to LA from Haifa, but we will see him again when we transit the Panama Canal after the World Cruise as he is already booked for that segment.

 

 

The highlight of the menu was Filet Mignon and Lobster tails – both outstanding. The Snicker Cake for desert was wonderful as well.

 

David Kidd, performed a Tom Jones tribute show tonight on the main stage. He put on a wonderful high energy show including my personal favorite, “It’s not Unusual”.

 

After we returned to our cabin we discovered that we they had received a Blue Porcelain Holland America Line Heritage Logo Box by Tiffany & Company in their distinctive blue box as our 7th “pillow gift” of the cruise. Pictures of all previous “pillow gifts” are available on the blog under the world cruise reference tab at http://www.theinsidecabin.com

 

[chefestelle]

We leave the ship around 8:45 am Local - I think we will be there about 3 hours later

 

 

Ugh. That would be about 1 a.m. Sorry...

 

 

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[cl.klink]

We leave the ship around 8:45 am Local - I think we will be there about 3 hours later

 

 

Seeing Petra was one of the highlights of my life. Fascinating place. Not much truly deserves to be called unique anymore. Petra does. The site, its role historically, and the story of its "disappearance" and discovery would each qualify as reason enough to visit.

 

- Joel

[cl.klink]

 

 

 

... Barbara discussed our two Israel ports, Haifa and Ashdod. The Amsterdam will be in Haifa on a Saturday when most everything will be closed until sunset. We are scheduled for an all day tour, so that shouldn’t affect us too much. Barbara didn’t discuss any special security issues concerning these two ports ...

 

 

 

Haifa is quite secular and apolitical, so a visit on Shabbat is less of a tourist problem there. Besides, the B'Hai sites are the best thing to see there.

 

- Joel

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Seeing Petra was one of the highlights of my life. Fascinating place. Not much truly deserves to be called unique anymore. Petra does. The site, its role historically, and the story of its "disappearance" and discovery would each qualify as reason enough to visit.

 

- Joel

 

 

 

I am looking forward to this. One person told me that only Machu Picchu was better than Petra....will be a long day- 13 hours

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Haifa is quite secular and apolitical, so a visit on Shabbat is less of a tourist problem there. Besides, the B'Hai sites are the best thing to see there.

 

- Joel

 

 

 

The last time I was here was in 1985.... I am sure it will be way different

[erewhon]

Thank you for continuing your reports.

[jig]

I too was going to say that in Haifa most things are open on Saturday. The Baha'i temple is quite nice. Petra is wonderful and much bigger then you might think. You will see only a small part of it. Prepare for a bit of walking. 13 hours? 2 hours each way by bus. Hour in and hour out. 2 hours lunch. Leave about 4 hours there or so. Not bad.

 

 

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