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Live from the Viking Star World Cruise 2021-22

JM0115

By JM0115,
in Viking Ocean

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Heidi13

Heidi13

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

Thanks again for your post.  Looks like you are working on your tan.  Sharm-El-Sheikh has been a popular resort for a long time.  Shooting up the beach a few years ago not withstanding.  As to the armament, we had private tours in Egypt on the Inaugural WC and had a driver and Egyptologist in the car with us and a two person fully armed Police car escort everywhere we went from Safaga and Alexandria.  Not sure if that made us feel better or more scared. Our guide told us the escort is related to US foreign aid.  All US tourists must be "protected". Just what we were told but we went nowhere without them.  Even meals.  And even stranger, this private tour cost less than the optional Viking tour on the bus.....🍸

 

Since Sharm-El-Sheikh was the location of the terrorist bombings 15 or so years ago, I'm not surprised security was tight, even by Egypt's standards.

 

I have always found security in Egypt to be tight. Even back in the 70's, each bus had an armed guard on board and military jeeps with heavy machine guns between every other bus. Even had armed guards at the top of the gangway.

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ilikeanswers

ilikeanswers

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

 Our guide told us the escort is related to US foreign aid.  All US tourists must be "protected". Just what we were told but we went nowhere without them.  🍸

 

So does that mean if there are no USA tourists in a tour do they ditch the armed escort😆? 

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vslparis

vslparis

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

So does that mean if there are no USA tourists in a tour do they ditch the armed escort😆? 

Probably not. As @Heidi13 mentioned about experiences back in the 70's , even when we went on a Costa Cruises trip back in 1998 ( with mainly Italian and Germans) we had armed escorts .  Just a thing that they have been doing for years with foreign tourist I believe.

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millybess

millybess

Posted
Posted

With regard to armed guards or soldiers on the street, as a previous resident in the Mid East, one learned after a while to worry more about not seeing them rather than seeing them. Their absence would mean there was something happening that was much more threatening. 

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Redwarrior68

Redwarrior68

Posted
Posted

Fingerprinting nightmare (during daylight hours) while on WC 2.  28 of us on 9-day safari that left from Namibia.  Great safari but horror show getting from Victoria Falls back to ship sailing to Dakar, Senegal.  Took 36 hours as we slept in terminals awaiting flights that operated only some days of the week!  Finally reached Dakar Airport where we were fingerprinted on machines whose glass surfaces are never cleaned.  Took over one hour for 28 people to get entrance visa stamp and then we were bused to the Dakar Marine Terminal where we were fingerprinted again and given an exit visa stamp.  Took 1.5 hours because machines were even older than those at the airport.  But, the Viking Sun would not arrive until the next day so we were taken to a hotel where the staff couldn't understand why we were still in Dakar since our passports said we had left the country.  Viking Sun came in and provided a letter covering all passengers and crew.  No fingerprinting or visa stamps.  Viking gave each of the 28 survivors $1,000 each for the aggravation.

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Redwarrior68

Redwarrior68

Posted
Posted

Have had trouble connecting so "fingerprinting" experience was delayed.  We did the very last Viking Nile River cruise in Feb 2020 just as the pandemic broke in Egypt.  Did Israel pre-cruise, then the Nile, then on our own, two weeks for scuba diving in Sharm El-sheikh.  Wonderful trip with Viking.  Great included excursions with short driving times to major sites.  First class hotels in Israel and Cairo and guides were all degreed Egyptologists.  Took optional baloon ride over the Valley of the Kings that was mesmerizing.  Highly recommended.

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ldpetrillo

ldpetrillo

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, GKTV32162 said:
World Cruise Day 104/152 - Safaga (Luxor), Egypt, Karnak Temple and Valley of the Kings - a true death march
 
 

I loved your photos of the security checkpoints. Unfortunately, the Egyptian government does not appreciate the photos. Our guide in bus 3 had a passenger delete a photo he took accidentally of a police tower. He said he could lose his guide license for such photos. 
 

By the way, it was a dry heat. 

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GKTV32162

GKTV32162

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, ldpetrillo said:

I loved your photos of the security checkpoints. Unfortunately, the Egyptian government does not appreciate the photos. Our guide in bus 3 had a passenger delete a photo he took accidentally of a police tower. He said he could lose his guide license for such photos. 
 

By the way, it was a dry heat. 

Thanks for the compliment.  Our guide never said anything about it.

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SteelCity Cruiser

SteelCity Cruiser

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, GKTV32162 said:
World Cruise Day 105/152 - Sea Day - A well-deserved rest
 
 

Your internet woes are frustrating for sure-it would drive me crazy if I were in your position too.  We're on the Orion now, Fort Lauderdale to LA via Panama Canal.  The internet can be slow during certain times of the day, but not impossibly so: it seems to be best first thing in the morning, and after about 4 or 5 pm, slowest between 2 and 4.  I've done a few photo uploads from my phone and laptop to Facebook and such, and as long as I don't have a lot or large files, the upload time isn't bad.  There have been a couple of locations where the satellite signal was poor as well I think. But it certainly has been better on this cruise than our Iceland cruise last year or any of the river cruises we've been on.

 

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Redwarrior68

Redwarrior68

Posted
Posted

Took horse-drawn carriage ride excursion thru Port Said.  16 on tour with two to a carriage.  Stopped by Military Museum which (selectively) portrayed engagements from 1956, 1967, and 1973 conflicts.  Visited Catholic/Copic Church and took pictures at the Port Said Obelisk.  Surprised by visit of the mayor to our group from government building across the street.  Even without the mayor, we had 4 soldiers, 6 uniformed policemen, and 10 plainclothes policemen plus two lead vehicles  two chase vehicles, and a motorcycle.  Discovered that Viking paid for all of the "required" protection.

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IWantToLiveOverTheSea

IWantToLiveOverTheSea

Posted
Posted (edited)

I've been enjoying your adventures.  Thanks for blogging.  I believe you're now in Ashdod, where I hope to be in another month on another cruise line.  However, the other cruise line doesn't do their own testing, and the people on the cruise were told that they would have to be tested by Israeli representatives when they docked as part of Israel's entry requirements.  I am hoping, but not expecting, that this testing requirement will be dropped by the time I get to Israel on my cruise.  However, I was wondering if you and other Viking Star cruisers ran into the same situation.  I don't mind being tested, but the testing was expected to take a half day away from their time in Israel, which threw a monkey wrench in some people's plans. 

 

Many people on Viking aren't crazy about the daily testing, but in this case I think it might be a great thing as you may be able to get off the ship faster than cruisers on another line.  So I'd love to hear if there were any hiccups or restrictions as a result of entry requirements in Israel.  I'm also curious if there is a shuttle in Ashdod (and in Haifa, assuming you go there the next day).  And are there any restrictions against going off on your own in either port, either on a non-ship excursion or just to walk around?  There has only been one or two cruise ships visiting Israel since the restart of cruising, so I'm trying to get an idea of what I might face when I (hopefully) get there.

 

And just as a comment: Viking usually has great Wifi for a ship at sea, but of course it depends upon how many people are using it, what they're doing with it, and where in the world they are at the time.  But I found the best place to go to get fast wifi was down in the living room on the Viking computers rather than in my room.  And I like the printers too....

 

Edited by IWantToLiveOverTheSea
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GKTV32162

GKTV32162

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, Jjg34219 said:

Thank you for doing this! I make sure I follow you daily. Since you mention often how bad the internet is, how long does it take you to upload all of these pics?

I down sample lol the images to 800 pixels on the long edge, not great for printing but good enough for viewing online. That's the only reason it works as image go from 9-12 MB to around 100K. Because I load as I write, selecting images that pertain to paragraph I'm writing, I'd have to guess. But, to load up 10 images to insert takes perhaps a minute or two. So, 100 images might take ten minutes. It varies greatly every day.

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GKTV32162

GKTV32162

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

I've been enjoying your adventures.  Thanks for blogging.  I believe you're now in Ashdod, where I hope to be in another month on another cruise line.  However, the other cruise line doesn't do their own testing, and the people on the cruise were told that they would have to be tested by Israeli representatives when they docked as part of Israel's entry requirements.  I am hoping, but not expecting, that this testing requirement will be dropped by the time I get to Israel on my cruise.  However, I was wondering if you and other Viking Star cruisers ran into the same situation.  I don't mind being tested, but the testing was expected to take a half day away from their time in Israel, which threw a monkey wrench in some people's plans. 

 

Many people on Viking aren't crazy about the daily testing, but in this case I think it might be a great thing as you may be able to get off the ship faster than cruisers on another line.  So I'd love to hear if there were any hiccups or restrictions as a result of entry requirements in Israel.  I'm also curious if there is a shuttle in Ashdod (and in Haifa, assuming you go there the next day).  And are there any restrictions against going off on your own in either port, either on a non-ship excursion or just to walk around?  There has only been one or two cruise ships visiting Israel since the restart of cruising, so I'm trying to get an idea of what I might face when I (hopefully) get there.

 

And just as a comment: Viking usually has great Wifi for a ship at sea, but of course it depends upon how many people are using it, what they're doing with it, and where in the world they are at the time.  But I found the best place to go to get fast wifi was down in the living room on the Viking computers rather than in my room.  And I like the printers too....

 

As I mentioned is earlier entries, we lost a stop in Alexandria, Egypt so we could get to Ashdod today. We are doing that so we can be tested. Pretty stupid as we are being tested this morning by Viking. But, Viking's PCR test isn't good enough for Israel and they will test us this afternoon as well. No ody is happy about it.

 

As for the WiFi, it isn't the WiFi or location on the ship. It is the ship's satellite connection to the internet that absolutely sucks. Ask anyone on this voyage.

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2552phxcrzr

2552phxcrzr

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

I've been enjoying your adventures.  Thanks for blogging.  I believe you're now in Ashdod, where I hope to be in another month on another cruise line.  However, the other cruise line doesn't do their own testing, and the people on the cruise were told that they would have to be tested by Israeli representatives when they docked as part of Israel's entry requirements.  I am hoping, but not expecting, that this testing requirement will be dropped by the time I get to Israel on my cruise.  However, I was wondering if you and other Viking Star cruisers ran into the same situation.  I don't mind being tested, but the testing was expected to take a half day away from their time in Israel, which threw a monkey wrench in some people's plans. 

 

Many people on Viking aren't crazy about the daily testing, but in this case I think it might be a great thing as you may be able to get off the ship faster than cruisers on another line.  So I'd love to hear if there were any hiccups or restrictions as a result of entry requirements in Israel.  I'm also curious if there is a shuttle in Ashdod (and in Haifa, assuming you go there the next day).  And are there any restrictions against going off on your own in either port, either on a non-ship excursion or just to walk around?  There has only been one or two cruise ships visiting Israel since the restart of cruising, so I'm trying to get an idea of what I might face when I (hopefully) get there.

 

And just as a comment: Viking usually has great Wifi for a ship at sea, but of course it depends upon how many people are using it, what they're doing with it, and where in the world they are at the time.  But I found the best place to go to get fast wifi was down in the living room on the Viking computers rather than in my room.  And I like the printers too....

 

@IWantToLiveOverTheSea … We’re in Ashdod on Oceania today.  We were required to test everyone 72 hours ahead of arrival on the ship (all negative).  And then again a test this morning in port by the Israeli authorities.  The process actually went smoothly and was quick … but we have only 286 passengers onboard.  Next, while we await the PCR results, we are supposed to go to the terminal for immigration formalities and then return to the ship to await the test results,  encore we are allowed to go off and explore.  That said, a crane is apparently blocking the terminal so they gave us a different berth. We may have to be shuttled to the terminal instead.  Just going with the flow is the best policy on cruises now a days.

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ldpetrillo

ldpetrillo

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, 2552phxcrzr said:

@IWantToLiveOverTheSea … We’re in Ashdod on Oceania today.  We were required to test everyone 72 hours ahead of arrival on the ship (all negative).  And then again a test this morning in port by the Israeli authorities.  The process actually went smoothly and was quick … but we have only 286 passengers onboard.  Next, while we await the PCR results, we are supposed to go to the terminal for immigration formalities and then return to the ship to await the test results,  encore we are allowed to go off and explore.  That said, a crane is apparently blocking the terminal so they gave us a different berth. We may have to be shuttled to the terminal instead.  Just going with the flow is the best policy on cruises now a days.

At least you were allowed in port. We are anchored out. We are tested every day and have a fully certified laboratory on board. Evidently Israel has a stake in the testing company. 

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