Dubai --> Athens .. thoughts?

[rols]

We're planning our next silversea cruise. We've read all the reviews about standards slipping and what have you but we loved our last one and just put together a value spreadsheet which showed Silversea at a superb value price point for many of their cruises. (Celebrity did pretty badly by the way on our dollars / sqft / day metric).

 

Anyway we were thinking (if available) of taking the Dubai --> Athens cruise next year (whisper ... or cloud but we think whisper we'd like more). I have checked out the reports of that cruise going back a couple of years, nothing too recent, and wondered what people think of it. We did our first silversea cruise last year in Asia and didn't get off the ship a lot because the ports were uninspiring (our opinion only). For this cruise we thought perhaps playing it safe and doing the next leg from Athens to Rome but the Red Sea seemed quite unusual (and yes it's a little cheaper). We don't know if we'd take the night away from the ship to go to the pyramids, when we cruise, we cruise.

 

Would be interested in thoughts about those two itineraries, comments between Wind and Whisper (it was Whisper we sailed before) .. anything really.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Roland and cruisin'-sue

[Sea Daze]

Hi,

I'm booked for this cruise in April on the Whisper w/ a few of my friends (30 so far). We plan an early arrival 4 days pre in Dubai and 2 days post in Athens. I'm not signed on for the Pyramids excursion.

I would also be interested in feedback from anyone who has done this itinerary.

My first cruise on SS was in January this year on the Shadow and it compared to Regent favorably.

[simonv]

If you are referring to the overnight trip to Luxor, do it. First time in Egypt and it was the highlight of the trip for us.

[Sea Daze]

I'm referring to Alexandria not Luxor. I'm booked for Luxor and Petra.

[DebbieH103]

We went once on Wind and once on Whisper and loved them both. Wind was more intimate, and Whisper had a little more going on. Whisper is going into dry dock before our next cruise, so we are excited about that.

 

We are going Dubai to Mumbai around Thanksgiving and will have more to say about Dubai at that time.

[Wellseasoned]

I don't see Alexandria on these itineraries. Usually the pyramid trips originate in Port Said. My wife and I plan to do the Dubai to Athens followed by the Athens to Rome on the Whisper because we prefer the larger suites and verandas, though the Cloud is also great, and its March trip is significantly cheaper than the one on the Whisper for the identical itinerary. We've sailed many times on the Whisper and really have had wonderful times. Also, by April it will have had a number of upgrades which already exist on the Shadow.

 

We did a similar trip going south ten years ago on the Wind, Haifa to Mombasa, and are looking forward to seeing Petra and Luxor again, as well as the new ports. (On the previous trip the Wind sailed close to the Somali coast and stopped at Aden, Yemen. But that was before the U.S.S. Cole and Seabourn Spirit attacks.)

[Dreps]

We've signed up for the Dubai-Athens cruise on the Whisper. In fact, it's going to be an escorted cruise. In addition, I just found out last week that Silversea will be offering a pre-cruise to the Great Pyramids, staying at the Four Seasons in Cairo. We are very excited about that and even managed to change our FF flights from Dubai to Cairo. I'm not in the travel business, but if you'd like anymore information, drop me a line: Dreps@comast.net.

[Narita]

we are scheduled for March of 2008 and were so happy to read the comments for this trip to the unknown. So we should do Petra and Luxor--Does anyone know approximately what the Silversea prices will be for the excursions? When one goes so far i wont let prce stand in the way--but I like to be informed. thanks

[Sea Daze]

Narita,

I'm quoting from memory here but I think this is close to right on.

Petra...9hrs....$195

 

Luxor...overland one night-2 days.......$595

 

This is SS offered excursions for same itinerary in 2007

[Narita]

Thanks so much for the information. Did you take the SS excursions and did you enjoy the trips?

[newlondon]

If you have not seen the pyramids at Giza it is an absolute must!

[Sea Daze]

Narita,

I'm quoting from the '07 SS excursion prices. My cruise isn't until April 20 on the Whisper....Dubai - Athens but I plan to do both Luxor and Petra.

[Dreps]

For those interested, I noticed that Silversea just posted the pre-cruise to the Great Pyramids in Giza before the Whisper Dubai-Athens cruise (#4810) in April. It's called, "In the Footsteps of the Pharaohs." We're thrilled that this pre-cruise was added.

[rols]

In the end we took the leg before, Singapore to Dubai. We love the idea of taking a cab from home to the ship and it's really a continuation of the cruise we did last year where we got off in Singapore.

 

It's a pretty full cruise it seems, very few rooms were left, we took what there was. Hope to find some Critics onboard.

 

How long are the staff contracts on SilverSea? We wondered what the chances of seeing again some of the crew we met earlier this year.

[mvmag]

We took this cruise in April this year. It was our first Silversea cruise and it was on the Silver Cloud. (Mostly Crystal previously). We really liked the mix of passengers and the staff were excellent. The accommodations, food etc. were all fine.

 

For me, the highlight was the overnight to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings. We took the ship's excursion. The guide was very good. It was really wonderful.

 

For my husband, the highlight was Petra. Hard to beat, I agree.

 

However, there were a couple of things about the cruise that were not all that fabulous. One was the stop in Salala in Oman. I told the kids the best thing about it was that we were there before it was discovered. The museum there was closed. And there wasn't much else there. I say this, having taken a private tour with a taxi driver, been fascinated by the people, etc. and with something of an "insider" knowledge about what to do and see, thanks to friends we had previously visited with in Muscat.

 

The cruise also stopped (after Petra) in Sharm el Sheik. Not a big hit. I took the ship's diving cruise to the coral reef. It was just sad. People from the ship, from Australia, explained to me that the coral reef was dying--if not dead. It just didn't seem to be a great port.

 

All the time we were on the cruise, we were tracking or being tracked by an Oceania cruise. Coincidentally, acquaintances were on that cruise. Where we did Sharm el Sheik, they did Cairo. Where we did Salala, they had an extra day to see the Pyramids.

 

We all arrived at the same time in Athens. The people from Oceania were exhausted and happy. The people from the Silver Cloud were just, basically, going home.

 

I don't think I'd do a Silver Cloud cruise again. There was fading around the edges. The reluctance of the staff to allow private dining in the main room (i.e. for couples wishing to dine alone) made for something of a rush at dinner time. Get there early or face a group meal. The other dining room was, however, never overbooked (despite dire warnings) and it was quite easy to eat there a deux.

 

We had a midship veranda suite. Our neighbors were chain smokers. I did bring it to the attention of the management (I'm not saying these people occasionally smoked outside...which I would have quite understood..I'm saying they sat on their deck and smoked non-stop for hours and hours, drinking and playing music on a boom box....). Some mornings their cigarettes and ashes were spread all over our deck...the wind having spread the remains...). I once made the mistake of looking around the barrier between our decks to see if they were really there, listening to their boom box or if, by chance, they had left it on by mistake. There they were--bottle of wine, packs of cigarettes, and stark naked! Well, that was fun anyway.

 

I reiterate: the other passengers were extremely interesting, well-traveled and fascinating to talk to/meet. Many more Europeans than on Crystal for example. The Brits were a laugh; the Swiss were charming; the Italians were fun. We met some very, very nice people, who had been on many, many Silversea cruises. We also met some former Crystal employees we had known from other trips.

 

Finally, having been on a few cruises, we were pretty well done with the formal evening thing. On two of the formal nights, we stayed in our suite and ordered room service.

 

All in all: I'm thinking on a one to one comparison (from what I have learned about Oceania), that's where I'd choose for the next cruise on a similar trip. The strictly enforced no smoking policy; the port-intensive itineraries; and the no need for formal wear approach seems more suiting to our style.

 

But we are glad we went and did overall enjoy our time on board. Just not enough to do it again on Silver Cloud.

[CASHIPman]

Narita,

I'm quoting from memory here but I think this is close to right on.

Petra...9hrs....$195

 

When we did SS from Dubai to Alexandria, we had an overnight at Aqaba (for Petra). We found that it was better to pre-plan a private car to visit Petra.

 

• Car was a comfortable Mercedes
  
• We had more time at Petra
  
• We could stop enroute
  
• Cost was less than the per person rate Silversea offered for the bus trip.
  

 

For us a key factor was the fact that the ship overnighted so we had no concerns about missing the ship's departures.

[Island Cruiser]

CASHIPman, you apparently were not worried about security when you booked a private car for the Petra trip. It has been my impression that these cruise ship inland excursions in Egypt included a security excort with the busses traveling together in a sort of caravan and not stopping, in part, due to security concerns. Am I wrong about that? We will be on the Dubai-Athens trip (this thread has been most interesting) this April. Until reading your post, we had not considered trying to arrange private transport, something we often do elsewhere on the globe. Patrick

[CASHIPman]

CASHIPman, you apparently were not worried about security when you booked a private car for the Petra trip. It has been my impression that these cruise ship inland excursions in Egypt included a security excort with the busses traveling together in a sort of caravan and not stopping, in part, due to security concerns. Am I wrong about that? We will be on the Dubai-Athens trip (this thread has been most interesting) this April. Until reading your post, we had not considered trying to arrange private transport, something we often do elsewhere on the globe. Patrick

 

Patrick...

The private car was for Petra, Jordan...not the Valley of the Kings nor anywhere else in Egypt. When we were in Egypt we were always in a convoy that was heavily laden with security. I know folks who took a private car from Pt. Said to Cairo and they were still part of the convoy.

[Island Cruiser]

Woops, sorry about the dumb question. Patrick

[wripro]

In May, while on a Seabourn cruise, we booked a private car and driver for an overnight from Alexandria to Cairo for two of us. We were surprised that in addition to the guide and driver there was a third representative from the company who was supposedly there for quality control. We drove by ourselves, not part of any convoy and toured for two days unbothered. I felt completely safe. It was only when we got back to Alexandria that we were told that the quality control person was a security guard who had a gun in case of any problems. I'm glad I didn't find out until the end. I have to say though that a private car is usually a much better way to see these places and I never, for one second, felt threatened or unsafe.

[Island Cruiser]

I couldn't agree with you more about a private car. We have never regretted hiring a private car and we do it as often as circumstances and the budget will allow. But with respect to the Dubai-Athens itinerary, our attitude has been there is better security in numbers. Not that our convoy couldn't be ambushed, God knows, but because it takes way more in resources to ambush a convoy versus a car. And two hostages are nearly as useful as a bus full. Hate to sound negative. But this IS a troubled area of the world. That's why it is encouraging and helpful to hear from folks who felt a private car or van was an acceptable alternative to a bus. We will be traveling with several other couples we know and like and folks who might be interested in considering a van, for instance, as an alternative to the bus. Patrick

[decocamp]

When we did SS from Dubai to Alexandria, we had an overnight at Aqaba (for Petra). We found that it was better to pre-plan a private car to visit Petra.

We are booked for Athens-Dubai 16 November and would love to arrange a private car for Petra from Aqaba. Would you recommend the driver/guide you used, or suggest other names I might look into? Thanks.

[CASHIPman]

We are booked for Athens-Dubai 16 November and would love to arrange a private car for Petra from Aqaba. Would you recommend the driver/guide you used, or suggest other names I might look into? Thanks.

 

We used Amani Tours based in Jordan. The email correspondence was quick and professional and the car and driver were excellent.

[decocamp]

We used Amani Tours based in Jordan. The email correspondence was quick and professional and the car and driver were excellent.

Thanks. I will contact them.

[decocamp]

I did receive very quick responses to my questions from Amani tours.

 

Here are the specifics:

- 10 hour tour Aqaba-Petra-Wadi Rum-Aqaba with van and driver for $300.

- We will pay directly all entry fees, horse/carriage rides, local guide and lunch.

- We opted for a brief 1 hour tour at Wadi Rum, staying on the main road (without using 4X4) with a visit at a desert camp.

 

We are quite satisfied with the itinerary and the quote.

 

Here are the questions:

- How important is a local guide at Petra (if we use a guide book)? We can identify the sights and read up on the history but do not want to get lost.

- Full prepayment is requested. Is this ususual?

- We are scheduled to arrive back at port 5:30 pm, way before 7:00 pm sailing. However, I wonder about the traffic conditions on the highway and if there are any rush hour traffic jams.

 

Any thoughts/comments are welcomed. Thanks.