Nov '18 "Empires of the Sun" Athens to Dubai

We're booked for our first SB cruise on this trip and starting to do our planning.

We called SB to find out about shore excursions for ports that are listed in the general section of the website but not on our cruise-specific options. They said all the shore excursions would be listed by the end of the month. I believe we can book our TK Grill reservations now, but we'll probably take care of all of it at the same time.

There is one SB excursion that is an overnight (Jerusalem/Masada/Nazareth/Dead Sea) that we are probably going to do. Since the cruise is 20 nights I don't feel like one night off the ship is a huge loss.

There are is one port specifically that, quite frankly, looks like it would just be better to stay on the ship. Offers from SB for The Retreat keep coming in, but based on feedback on CC and our impressions it just doesn't look appealing.

If you've been on this trip before or are booked on it and have any thoughts I'd love to hear them.

Which is the port you are planning to Skip?

We're booked for our first SB cruise on this trip and starting to do our planning.

 

We called SB to find out about shore excursions for ports that are listed in the general section of the website but not on our cruise-specific options. They said all the shore excursions would be listed by the end of the month. I believe we can book our TK Grill reservations now, but we'll probably take care of all of it at the same time.

 

There is one SB excursion that is an overnight (Jerusalem/Masada/Nazareth/Dead Sea) that we are probably going to do. Since the cruise is 20 nights I don't feel like one night off the ship is a huge loss.

 

There are is one port specifically that, quite frankly, looks like it would just be better to stay on the ship. Offers from SB for The Retreat keep coming in, but based on feedback on CC and our impressions it just doesn't look appealing.

 

If you've been on this trip before or are booked on it and have any thoughts I'd love to hear them.

We're booked on this trip and have done a similar one before. Salalah is probably the 'skip' if I had to venture a guess. As the destination lecturer on our last SB cruise said, "Its a one horse town where the horse picked up and left!"

I am interested in Eilat and what there is to do on the Israeli side. We've done Petra twice now, so won't be going there again. Seabourn does not list any excursions for Eilat yet, which is strange. Normally they dock in Aqaba, so maybe they are having issues arranging tours that depart Eilat going to Petra and other Jordanian destinations.

We liked Salalah. The town wasn’t much but the seaside was lovely and we took the excursion up to what is allegedly Job’s tomb. It’s a little shrine, wasn’t very touristy or crowded (end of April, though) and it was nice to drive through the countryside and see daily life in a place very different from our own. There might have also been an archaeological option.

We found Santorini crowded and frustrating. We basically took the cable car up, tried to get the a bus or taxi to Oia but total gridlock. Which made the prospect of getting back on time outside my comfort level. So had a drink at the little cafe near the cable car top and enjoyed the view for a while. Heard there was nice seafood down below near the tender stop. Some people arranged a private boat excursion and enjoyed it. If your interested I’ll look for the link to the company they used.

We're booked on this trip and have done a similar one before. Salalah is probably the 'skip' if I had to venture a guess. As the destination lecturer on our last SB cruise said, "Its a one horse town where the horse picked up and left!"

 

I am interested in Eilat and what there is to do on the Israeli side. We've done Petra twice now, so won't be going there again. Seabourn does not list any excursions for Eilat yet, which is strange. Normally they dock in Aqaba, so maybe they are having issues arranging tours that depart Eilat going to Petra and other Jordanian destinations.

We also liked Salalah. We did the other main Seabourn tour to the frankincense museum, souk and Khor rori.

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Which is the port you are planning to Skip?

Jozi

I don't think it's a skip per se. We head to Masada then on to Jerusalem, overnight in Jerusalem. The next morning/afternoon touring and then back to the ship. So it seems like it's just an overnight stay off the ship.

Jozi

 

I don't think it's a skip per se. We head to Masada then on to Jerusalem, overnight in Jerusalem. The next morning/afternoon touring and then back to the ship. So it seems like it's just an overnight stay off the ship.

Oh, you had said “There are is one port specifically that, quite frankly, looks like it would just be better to stay on the ship.”. I was wondering what port that was.