Around the world in Photos

[purplesea]

We did a mini cruise ro Port Said while on holiday in Cyprus.

We were escorted by coach with police and an armed guards to the pyramids, then on to Cairo for a meal on a boat while it cruised on The Nile and a visit to the museum. I don't know where my photos are but they were pre-digital, but it one of the many places that I would like to re-visit. Perhaps one day.

[DamianG]

A full day excursion for us with a trip to a mosque, Nile cruise for lunch and belly dancing, the pyramids and then a papyrus shop before a long wait on the coach for a police escort to take us back to the ship. It's a bittersweet memory really, which would have been much better if we'd gone straight from the pyramids back to the ship. The extra 2+ hours going to the shop and waiting for the escort made it an overlong, exhausting day and we ended up going for dinner around 9pm that evening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 28, 2021 by DamianG

[DamianG]

6 minutes ago, DamianG said:

A full day excursion for us with a trip to a mosque, Nile cruise for lunch and belly dancing, the pyramids and then a papyrus shop before a long wait on the coach for a police escort to take us back to the ship. It's a bittersweet memory really which would have been much better if we'd gone straight from the pyramids back to the ship. The extra 2+ hours going to the shop and waiting for the escort made it an overlong, exhausting day and we ended up going for dinner around 9pm that evening.

 

 

My other abiding memory was that the lunch on the river cruise was a buffet service. There were various dishes including a large pot of a tomato based sauce. An elderly lady in our group took a scoop from the pot then put the ladle directly to her lips to taste the sauce! Yuk! Needless to say everyone who saw her wouldn't go near it after that.

 

A few days later Oriana was on full norovirus alert with all the usual protocols around the ship. Makes you think...

Edited February 28, 2021 by DamianG

[Eddie99]

Aww, thanks everyone.  I’ve never been to Cairo and in my mind’s eye it’s a bustling, crazy chaotic, city but those pics don’t seem to show that

 

A Suez pic, with Port Said on the port side will be my sole punning contribution

 

[Gettingwarmer]

1 hour ago, Eddie99 said:

Aww, thanks everyone.  I’ve never been to Cairo and in my mind’s eye it’s a bustling, crazy chaotic, city but those pics don’t seem to show that

People only take the nice pictures, it was bustling in not a nice way. The city was dirty and there was litter every where especially in the water. The people were freindly but pressurising. We also had the armed guards taking care of us on the road in and out in 2009. We were not allowed to walk about independently. On our return we went to Alexandria to reconnect with the ship. Does anyone have pictures of there?

Edited February 28, 2021 by Gettingwarmer

[Dermotsgirl]

We called at Port Said on Oriana in 2007. This was the sort of cruise that has now disappeared from the P&O schedules. Slightly unusual ports, but only 18 days long so they are within reason for the working population.

 

We did the same tour as Damian, and have similar feelings about it. When we left the pyramids, I was done for the day, and had no interest in the papyrus shop at all.  When we eventually got on the road back to the ship, I was so hungry. All I could imagine was fish and chips from our local chippy. Then at the port, we had to run a gauntlet of noisy vendors trying to sell us their wares.  I was so relieved to get back to the cool, calm and quiet atmosphere of Oriana.  I think we got back to the ship at about 8.30pm.  We couldn't be bothered to change for the evening, so we had a quick wash and brush up in the cabin. I changed my top but still wore my day trousers and my trainers.  At the time, this was very daring... but I was so tired, I didn't really care!  We went to the buffet for dinner. No fish and chips on offer, but I had spaghetti carbonara, and it was very welcome.

 

I was pleased to have 'done' the pyramids, but I wouldn't do it again

 

 

[Dermotsgirl]

1 hour ago, Gettingwarmer said:

People only take the nice pictures, it was bustling in not a nice way. The city was dirty and there was litter every where especially in the water. The people were freindly but pressurising. We also had the armed guards taking care of us on the road in and out in 2009. We were not allowed to walk about independently. On our return we went to Alexandria to reconnect with the ship. Does anyone have pictures of there?

At one point I was hoping to go to Alexandria, as there was a tour that went to El Alamein, where my dad fought during the war,

 

However, P&O stopped visiting that part of the world, and the way things are now, I feel it's unlikely that I will ever get there. 

[Eddie99]

Egypt is very tiring, isn’t it?

We were very fortunate to grab a Thompson Red Sea cruise which was fabulous and allowed us to see Petra (Wow!) and Luxor (more Wow!).  But the land travel is exhausting.  I feel so privileged to have seen the transition from barren desert to lush,  Nile-irrigated, farmland; to have seen the history at Petra and the burial places at Luxor (just standing in front of the wall painting, the hieroglyphs in full colour, just like the day they were painted) but I still remember the exhaustion as the coach (complete with armed guard) finally got back to port

Cruising is fantastic for allowing us these ‘safe adventures’

 

Then we did the MSC repositioning from Durban to Venice and saw and travelled  the Suez Canal, but never touched land in Egypt.  The “mustering”  of the ships prior to forming the Suez convoy will be a lasting memory 

[Dermotsgirl]

6 minutes ago, Eddie99 said:

Egypt is very tiring, isn’t it?

We were very fortunate to grab a Thompson Red Sea cruise which was fabulous and allowed us to see Petra (Wow!) and Luxor (more Wow!).  But the land travel is exhausting.  I feel so privileged to have seen the transition from barren desert to lush,  Nile-irrigated, farmland; to have seen the history at Petra and the burial places at Luxor (just standing in front of the wall painting, the hieroglyphs in full colour, just like the day they were painted) but I still remember the exhaustion as the coach (complete with armed guard) finally got back to port

Cruising is fantastic for allowing us these ‘safe adventures’

 

Then we did the MSC repositioning from Durban to Venice and saw and travelled  the Suez Canal, but never touched land in Egypt.  The “mustering”  of the ships prior to forming the Suez convoy will be a lasting memory 

Petra and the Nile are places that I have always wanted to visit, especially Petra.  But it's another destination that looks less likely in this new world.

 

Maybe in a few years time, things will look better, and I'd rather do it sooner, rather than later, while we are still (relatively) young enough and fit enough. 

 

 

 

[Gettingwarmer]

28 minutes ago, Eddie99 said:

Egypt is very tiring, isn’t it?

I think that we were lucky to do an overnight on our trip which also allowed us to visit the museum and see the light show at night. We were with Princesss so the hotel was very comfortable and lovely views but we were very tired on both days.

[Gettingwarmer]

1 hour ago, Eddie99 said:

We were very fortunate to grab a Thompson Red Sea cruise which was fabulous and allowed us to see Petra (Wow!) and Luxor (more Wow!).  But the land travel is exhausting.  I feel so privileged to have seen the transition from barren desert to lush,  Nile-irrigated, farmland; to have seen the history at Petra and the burial places at Luxor (just standing in front of the wall painting, the hieroglyphs in full colour, just like the day they were painted) but I still remember the exhaustion as the coach (complete with armed guard) finally got back to port

Cruising is fantastic for allowing us these ‘safe adventures’

I'm afraid Petra and Luxor are beyond us now as far too much walking. Nearly made it to Luxor but the holiday didn't work out. Really envy you visiting these  places but glad that we have managed to vist as much as we have. Can't wait to get going again. 

[Eddie99]

You could see the wonders of Petra from a horse drawn open carriage.  The surface is paved and smooth, so it’s a long but easy walk if you’re ok on foot - otherwise take a carriage and see it in style.  No doubt it costs but I have no idea how much

The horses which draw the carriages appear to be cared for.  There are notices as to how they are inspected (?regulated) by the Brooke welfare organisation.  The ones we saw looked well.

[bee-ess]

1 hour ago, Dermotsgirl said:

At one point I was hoping to go to Alexandria, as there was a tour that went to El Alamein, where my dad fought during the war,

 

However, P&O stopped visiting that part of the world, and the way things are now, I feel it's unlikely that I will ever get there. 

We did that trip from Alexandria with Celebrity in 2012, it went to the El Alamein museum and the Italian, German and British cemeteries.

[DamianG]

1 hour ago, Dermotsgirl said:

We called at Port Said on Oriana in 2007. This was the sort of cruise that has now disappeared from the P&O schedules. Slightly unusual ports, but only 18 days long so they are within reason for the working population.

 

We did the same tour as Damian, and have similar feelings about it. When we left the pyramids, I was done for the day, and had no interest in the papyrus shop at all.  When we eventually got on the road back to the ship, I was so hungry. All I could imagine was fish and chips from our local chippy. Then at the port, we had to run a gauntlet of noisy vendors trying to sell us their wares.  I was so relieved to get back to the cool, calm and quiet atmosphere of Oriana.  I think we got back to the ship at about 8.30pm.  We couldn't be bothered to change for the evening, so we had a quick wash and brush up in the cabin. I changed my top but still wore my day trousers and my trainers.  At the time, this was very daring... but I was so tired, I didn't really care!  We went to the buffet for dinner. No fish and chips on offer, but I had spaghetti carbonara, and it was very welcome.

 

I was pleased to have 'done' the pyramids, but I wouldn't do it again

 

 

Our feelings exactly. They gave us an hour to go in the papyrus shop, we mooched about and were done in 10/15 minutes. I'd forgotten about the vendors in port too!

[Adawn47]

5 hours ago, Dermotsgirl said:

At one point I was hoping to go to Alexandria, as there was a tour that went to El Alamein, where my dad fought during the war,

 

However, P&O stopped visiting that part of the world, and the way things are now, I feel it's unlikely that I will ever get there. 

We visited Alexandria on Oceana in 2011 and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was during the Arab Spring and although not too dangerous at the time, we had to go on an organised tour. We visited the catacombs,  the Biblotheca, the National Museum and mummy room. The ooach did  a tour around for some photos as well with stops at the Lighthouse, one of the ancient seven wonder's of the world  we were told, Pompey's Pillar and  along the Corniche. A beautiful city.

Avril

[Peanut006]

We went on a Nile cruise in April 2011 just after the uprising in Egypt in January. We didn’t know it it would go ahead but it did. There were many ships not sailing down the Nile, it was very very quiet. The sights were fantastic and amazing, it was so sad that the main industry for locals had nearly stopped working. Lovely people and a fantastic experience not to be missed

 

Michelle

[Izzywiz]

We too had a fantastic Nile cruise in 2008 and share your sentiments about the lovely people and amazing sights. As you say, it is heart-breaking to see the impact of the political unrest on the ordinary people. 

Now onto Malta and Valetta. I had several holidays in Malta in the 1960s, 70s and 80s and then hadn't returned until 2017 so it was very interesting to see how much and how little had changed in the intervening years. The most noticeable change was the increased amount of building at the seaside resorts  but the rural areas had changed little.

The sail-in to Valetta harbour is spectacular

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gettingwarmer]

Valetta. Sail later to Naples.

The last time we were in Valetta we took the ferry to the Three Cities across the way.

 

And here is a picture of the three cities from Valetta

 

Edited March 1, 2021 by Gettingwarmer

[Izzywiz]

We took the lift from the quay side to the city battlements,, 1 euro return, and then wandered through the streets of the old town

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Izzywiz]

We also did the northern circuit of the HOHO bus which left from just outside the port gate and was a bargain at 10 euros

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Izzywiz]

we hopped off the HOHO bus at Mdina and spent an hour exploring this mediaeval city before resuming our island tour

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bee-ess]

Valetta

 

 

[DamianG]

Thanks for all the lovely Valletta photos, we were due to go there on Oriana in 2011 but it was too foggy to dock. Seeing all the sunny pictures just makes me think how very unlucky we were.

[bee-ess]

A few from around Malta - Marsaxlokk, Medina and Blue Grotto overlook

 

 

[Peanut006]

Love Valetta, the sail in in spectacular and the  city itself is fab, loads to see and do. I would go back there anytime 

 

Michelle