Viking Sun World Cruise ongoing review/comments

[FLretire]

Does anyone have contact information for the silk embroidery place we visited on the Suzhou tour while in China on March 9th ? I do not recall the name of the place and interested in contacting them.

[Wagnerite]

Does anyone have contact information for the silk embroidery place we visited on the Suzhou tour while in China on March 9th ? I do not recall the name of the place and interested in contacting them.

 

Ask Shorex. They can probably help you.

[Jim Avery]

Enjoying a last sea day for a while. A beautiful calm, sunny, and cooler day. Tomorrow begins a tough stretch of 10-12-13 hour days. Aqaba to Petra, Safaga port to Luxor, Sharm el Sheik, transiting the Suez Canal, and Alexandria to Luxor and Memphis. Then a sure to be welcome Sea day. But we knew this job was tough when we took it.🎉😎

[helenandfrank]

Enjoying a last sea day for a while. A beautiful calm, sunny, and cooler day. Tomorrow begins a tough stretch of 10-12-13 hour days. Aqaba to Petra, Safaga port to Luxor, Sharm el Sheik, transiting the Suez Canal, and Alexandria to Luxor and Memphis. Then a sure to be welcome Sea day. But we knew this job was tough when we took it.🎉😎

 

 

G’day Jim, yes a tough job but luckily the right guy is on duty. Also good to know Aussie security is keeping an eye on the situation. Cheers to all on board. Regards, Frank

[Jim Avery]

G’day Jim, yes a tough job but luckily the right guy is on duty. Also good to know Aussie security is keeping an eye on the situation. Cheers to all on board. Regards, Frank

G’day Frank,

We always sleep better with good old armed Aussies on board.😜🔫😎

[stretchcruz]

I haven't posted much, to leave room for your very informative posts, but just want you to know how much I am enjoying the posts and commentary and pictures! Thank you all so much!

[Eaches]

I haven't posted much, to leave room for your very informative posts, but just want you to know how much I am enjoying the posts and commentary and pictures! Thank you all so much!

 

Jim,

 

We are on the 4 day Egypt trip that was offered by Viking to the World Cruise travelers . Today we got up a 4 am and did a Hot Air Balloon ride over the Nile River . What a Blast ! It’s a first for me . Will have additional photos out in the next few days .

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Jim Avery]

So that's where you have been hiding. Great photos. Balloons are a blast. Lots of them back home in Arizona. We are currently transiting the Suez Canal so I hope to catch up on posting today. Several Looonngg days. You will probably see much more than the rest of us with less bus time. We hired cars to trim the travel times a few hours but still quite a bit of effort to see the sights. More later.:cool:

[stretchcruz]

Jim we are starting to get warm here in AZ already. Only in the 90s here in Tucson but where you are 8 to 10 degrees warmer? But no humidity. The more I read about your trip the more I worry about weather on our NZ to AUS to bali. The humidity may do me in .

[Jim Avery]

Jim we are starting to get warm here in AZ already. Only in the 90s here in Tucson but where you are 8 to 10 degrees warmer? But no humidity. The more I read about your trip the more I worry about weather on our NZ to AUS to bali. The humidity may do me in .

We figure to get home in time for triple digits! As DW often says "stupid has a price".:eek: Yes it was very hot in Luxor. A few had heat issues and/or falls. Hopefully they are doing better today. First though, we went to Petra from the port of Aquaba, Jordan. We had hired a car and driver with a guide through Memphis Tours. We have just had our fill of long bus rides and this gave us the ability to move at our own pace, stop when/if we needed to, and avoid the "shopping" stops. See more in less time was the goal and it worked well. We arrived in Petra after a fairly scenic drive through mountain type terrain passing occasional Bedouin tents and camels. At the entrance to the Petra site we met our guide who spoke very good English and made the tour come alive. We learned much about the site and the future excavations. The "money shot" of course was the first view of the treasury. After a walk of maybe a bit less than a mile through narrow rock canyons suddenly there it was. Just as magnificent as expected. I didn't buy the Indiana Jones hat though. The fun part about the Petra site is it is all downhill. You are lured in easily and before you know it you are several miles downhill from where you have to return. By now, it is getting hot and the crowds from the busses are showing up so we head back up to the treasury. At that point we decided the horse and buggy ride back to the entry was money well spent. Be advised those carts have no springs and the cobblestones are very uneven. Quite the bumpy ride but thankful for it as we were getting quite hot. We decided to skip lunch and just guzzle water so headed back to the ship a bit early. Petra is one of those "must do" places that actually lives up to the expectations. If you get to this part of the world make sure to visit this historic place. You really earn your shower and drinks aboard.:cool:

[Jim Avery]

After arriving back on board after the Petra trip, we had room service and an early night as the very next day was Luxor/Karnak/Valley of the Kings. The ship cleared immigration right on time and we met our driver on the pier at 7:15am. The drive to Luxor is around 3 hours give or take based on numerous police checkpoints and about 2,000 speed bumps. They don't appear to waste money on speed limit signs in Egypt, just put big speed bumps every few hundred feet. Even on the "highway" when our driver would drive as fast as possible (90 mph a time or two) suddenly he would hit the brakes and out of nowhere we bump over another speed bump. As frustrating as the speed bumps were, the ride was interesting in that we skirted Wadi Rum and could see some of the rock formations in the distance as well as other local sights. We travelled through desert landscape for many miles but suddenly the land turns green and fertile. We have entered the Nile Valley. Lots of crops, sugar cane and wheat for sure, and lots of traffic. More speed bumps. We pick up our very enthusiastic guide in Luxor town. He is a graduate Egyptologist and really taught us much in the hours we were with him. Our first stop was the Valley of the Kings. Almost no one there as all the big tours were still on the road. In one of the tombs we were the only visitors there. Incredible. Our guide told us that prior to 2011 events he would guide a group daily but now only 4 or 5 times a month. Heading out to see Suez. More later.

[Eaches]

We figure to get home in time for triple digits! As DW often says "stupid has a price".:eek: Yes it was very hot in Luxor. A few had heat issues and/or falls. Hopefully they are doing better today. First though, we went to Petra from the port of Aquaba, Jordan. We had hired a car and driver with a guide through Memphis Tours. We have just had our fill of long bus rides and this gave us the ability to move at our own pace, stop when/if we needed to, and avoid the "shopping" stops. See more in less time was the goal and it worked well. We arrived in Petra after a fairly scenic drive through mountain type terrain passing occasional Bedouin tents and camels. At the entrance to the Petra site we met our guide who spoke very good English and made the tour come alive. We learned much about the site and the future excavations. The "money shot" of course was the first view of the treasury. After a walk of maybe a bit less than a mile through narrow rock canyons suddenly there it was. Just as magnificent as expected. I didn't buy the Indiana Jones hat though. The fun part about the Petra site is it is all downhill. You are lured in easily and before you know it you are several miles downhill from where you have to return. By now, it is getting hot and the crowds from the busses are showing up so we head back up to the treasury. At that point we decided the horse and buggy ride back to the entry was money well spent. Be advised those carts have no springs and the cobblestones are very uneven. Quite the bumpy ride but thankful for it as we were getting quite hot. We decided to skip lunch and just guzzle water so headed back to the ship a bit early. Petra is one of those "must do" places that actually lives up to the expectations. If you get to this part of the world make sure to visit this historic place. You really earn your shower and drinks aboard.:cool:

 

Jim, Here are just a couple of photos from the Valley of the King’s

 

 

 

 

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[Jim Avery]

Very dusty here at the Great Bitter Lake area of the Suez. We had lots of wind last night so maybe a front came through and stirred the Sinai pot of dust up for us. It is much cooler here, around 70F or so. Supposed to be in the mid 70s for high at Alexandria tomorrow. That would be nice and make the Pyramids, etc. much easier to hike to than Luxor. Back to Luxor and the temp was reported to be 45C (113F) in the afternoon. Glad we saw the Valley of the Kings first. I was amazed at the vivid colors and the skill of the engravers. The tombs must have been something when loaded with loot. To see these colors still so vivid after all the centuries is amazing. Not sure I buy their "made with berries and bees wax" theory of paints but there you go. Forever the skeptic. After the Valley of the Kings we went to the Temple of Hatshepshut. You have seen pictures. The large central staircase rising three levels. Magnificent to see in person even though the stairs seemed to never end. Again, the colors are still very evident on all the cartouches and engravings. Egypt is certainly living up to expectations even though she is making us pay a price for seeing the treasures. Even for us Arizona desert rats, the heat is debilitating. Drinking water helps but it is like southern Arizona in the summer. Only there we do everything in the morning and stay indoors for the heat of the day. Hey, if you are going to be dumb, you better be tough......;p After this stop we took a break for lunch at a local Egyptian cafe overlooking the Nile and the Luxor temple straight across. The food was very tasty and produced no issues. We always eat local foods and have had very very few "incidents" but have sampled lots of tasty treats. So, after lunch, water, rest, we walked over to the bank of the Nile for a short boat ride across to Karnak. Our drivers took the van back around over the bridge to be waiting for us when we finished at Karnak. The Temple of Karnak is huge! The great hall of pillars was so well preserved and magnificent. The stoneworks are in amazing shape for the age of them. I asked the guide what was the purpose of the vast room (which he stated used to be roofed over) and he said it was for the gardens. Ok, massive pillars closely spaced leave little useable floor space. The room could not have been a theatre or ballroom as the massive columns take up too much space. And the columns are way too oversize to simply be roof supports. So, what is it? Was the "roof" a landing pad for aliens????:eek: Ok, being a bit out there but I don't think anyone really knows why this was so heavily built. Go there and wander among these massive pillars and tell me what your theory is. But by now we are beginning to really feel the heat. A few on our ship's bus tours had to be evacuated for heat stress we were told. We cut Karnak short a bit in order to get back in cool shade and hydrate. Thankfully we got back to the ship before dark. Some of the bus groups reported returning around 9:30pm or later. By then we were deep into sleep. If you are considering a trip such as this really self assess as many of the stops involve lots of physical activity. The ancient sites were not built with ADA or any other handicap rules considered so visiting the ruins now can be quite a workout. So, again, Egypt is living up to expectations and we are looking forward to our "Grand Finale" tomorrow at Giza. After this run up the Red Sea the Mediterranean leg of the trip will seem quite tame. Especially since they cancelled Tunisia due to unrest. We are due to spend extra time in Malta to make up for missing the Tunis port call. Back to Suez viewing.:cool:

[Jim Avery]

Again, great shots Eaches! They illustrate the colors perfectly. Looking forward to more.

[Jim Avery]

Jim we are starting to get warm here in AZ already. Only in the 90s here in Tucson but where you are 8 to 10 degrees warmer? But no humidity. The more I read about your trip the more I worry about weather on our NZ to AUS to bali. The humidity may do me in .

Stretch,

One thing I can say for sure is that the deserts here (pure sand and rock) make the South Arizona desert look like Hawaii. We are purely lush compared to the complete lack of anything in large sections of this desert.:cool:

[SantaFe1]

Jim and Eaches, thank you yet again, this time for the wonderful Egyptian travelogue. I think when you return, there will a place for you both at National Geographic!

[tweeter15]

We figure to get home in time for triple digits! As DW often says "stupid has a price".:eek: Yes it was very hot in Luxor. A few had heat issues and/or falls. Hopefully they are doing better today. First though, we went to Petra from the port of Aquaba, Jordan. We had hired a car and driver with a guide through Memphis Tours. We have just had our fill of long bus rides and this gave us the ability to move at our own pace, stop when/if we needed to, and avoid the "shopping" stops. See more in less time was the goal and it worked well. We arrived in Petra after a fairly scenic drive through mountain type terrain passing occasional Bedouin tents and camels. At the entrance to the Petra site we met our guide who spoke very good English and made the tour come alive. We learned much about the site and the future excavations. The "money shot" of course was the first view of the treasury. After a walk of maybe a bit less than a mile through narrow rock canyons suddenly there it was. Just as magnificent as expected. I didn't buy the Indiana Jones hat though. The fun part about the Petra site is it is all downhill. You are lured in easily and before you know it you are several miles downhill from where you have to return. By now, it is getting hot and the crowds from the busses are showing up so we head back up to the treasury. At that point we decided the horse and buggy ride back to the entry was money well spent. Be advised those carts have no springs and the cobblestones are very uneven. Quite the bumpy ride but thankful for it as we were getting quite hot. We decided to skip lunch and just guzzle water so headed back to the ship a bit early. Petra is one of those "must do" places that actually lives up to the expectations. If you get to this part of the world make sure to visit this historic place. You really earn your shower and drinks aboard.:cool:

 

I know that we are unable to post tour guide names but can you private message me about the tour guide you used - Aquaba to Petra and your Egyptian Guide. I rather like the smaller groups with local guides -

thanks

Jeanie

[MarkTapley]

After arriving back on board after the Petra trip, we had room service and an early night as the very next day was Luxor/Karnak/Valley of the Kings. The ship cleared immigration right on time and we met our driver on the pier at 7:15am. The drive to Luxor is around 3 hours give or take based on numerous police checkpoints and about 2,000 speed bumps. They don't appear to waste money on speed limit signs in Egypt, just put big speed bumps every few hundred feet. Even on the "highway" when our driver would drive as fast as possible (90 mph a time or two) suddenly he would hit the brakes and out of nowhere we bump over another speed bump. As frustrating as the speed bumps were, the ride was interesting in that we skirted Wadi Rum and could see some of the rock formations in the distance as well as other local sights. We travelled through desert landscape for many miles but suddenly the land turns green and fertile. We have entered the Nile Valley. Lots of crops, sugar cane and wheat for sure, and lots of traffic. More speed bumps. We pick up our very enthusiastic guide in Luxor town. He is a graduate Egyptologist and really taught us much in the hours we were with him. Our first stop was the Valley of the Kings. Almost no one there as all the big tours were still on the road. In one of the tombs we were the only visitors there. Incredible. Our guide told us that prior to 2011 events he would guide a group daily but now only 4 or 5 times a month. Heading out to see Suez. More later.

 

Jim, echoing Jeanie’s request. I’m interested in information on your private guide in Egypt via PM.

 

Thanks for all your wonderful posts!

 

Jerry

[Jim Avery]

Mark & Tweeter,

Don't know how to PM on Cruise Critic. Just slow I guess. I thought I mentioned the company in one of my earlier posts. :cool::cool: Check the Petra post again.

[Azulann]

Great posts Jim and Eaches about your experience of Petra and Egypt.

One can recommend tours, guides and even give links here on CC.

One cannot give out names of Travel agents on Cruise Critic, that is the only caveat .

[MarkTapley]

Mark & Tweeter,

Don't know how to PM on Cruise Critic. Just slow I guess. I thought I mentioned the company in one of my earlier posts. :cool::cool: Check the Petra post again.

 

Jim,

 

Got it.

 

Thanks,

 

Jerry

[Eaches]

Mark & Tweeter,

Don't know how to PM on Cruise Critic. Just slow I guess. I thought I mentioned the company in one of my earlier posts. :cool::cool: Check the Petra post again.

 

 

 

 

Jim,

To Continue, we now focused in on the Egyptian pyramids today . No need to discuss these Wonders of the World , they speak for you themselves! Hope you enjoy these photos -

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[tweeter15]

Jim,

 

Got it.

 

Thanks,

 

Jerry

 

I second Jerry!

Jeanie

[tweeter15]

Jim,

 

Got it.

 

Thanks,

 

Jerry

 

Mark,

Don't know how to contact you except here. Talked to Memphis Tours. Short story Viking does not provide Jordanian Visa's (or any other visa's) and you need one to take tours in Jordan. However, Memphis Tours will get visa's for their excursions for $80 per person. If you take a Viking excursion the Visa is covered. Just thought you should know.

Jeanie

[MarkTapley]

Mark,

Don't know how to contact you except here. Talked to Memphis Tours. Short story Viking does not provide Jordanian Visa's (or any other visa's) and you need one to take tours in Jordan. However, Memphis Tours will get visa's for their excursions for $80 per person. If you take a Viking excursion the Visa is covered. Just thought you should know.

Jeanie

 

Jeanie,

 

Please email me, so we discuss off line.

 

BCLJPO at gmail dot com.

 

Thanks,

 

Jerry