Voyages to Antiquity Aug 10 and later

[blakemanny]

Thanks for your report, Cruise Downunder. It is good to hear that all went well for your cruise and to read your glowing report. Have you considered posting your comments as a formal review? That way people researching future cruises would be more likely to see it, it will balance the earlier negative reports and add weight to the report by LTT. Good news about the quality of your experience. We are booked on the Carthage cruise in November and are now much more confident of having a good time. Thanks again.

[Cruiser Downunder]

Thanks for your report, Cruise Downunder. It is good to hear that all went well for your cruise and to read your glowing report. Have you considered posting your comments as a formal review? That way people researching future cruises would be more likely to see it, it will balance the earlier negative reports and add weight to the report by LTT. Good news about the quality of your experience. We are booked on the Carthage cruise in November and are now much more confident of having a good time. Thanks again.

 

Hi blakemanny

 

You will have a ball on your November cruise!

I already posted this review on cc website and should be published soon by cc.

Enjoy your cruise as much as we did....it was so good.... especially the land based itineraries and the relaxing afternoon cruising after the morning tours.

Have a cold Corona for me!

Cheers!

[SwissMyst]

Great to get the good reports and we are going to sign up for the one we missed this year.

 

Looking right now at the Deluxe Outside rooms which are on the Belvedere and Bridge decks and they say there are two in this category which are "smaller" but have a balcony - Rooms 555 and 556. Has anyone seen or been in these rooms?

 

Any thoughts about which rooms to pick, whether a balcony might be worth it or which deck is the better choice?

 

Thanks.

[blakemanny]

Great to get the good reports and we are going to sign up for the one we missed this year.

 

Looking right now at the Deluxe Outside rooms which are on the Belvedere and Bridge decks and they say there are two in this category which are "smaller" but have a balcony - Rooms 555 and 556. Has anyone seen or been in these rooms?

 

Any thoughts about which rooms to pick, whether a balcony might be worth it or which deck is the better choice?

 

Thanks.

 

 

Hi SwissMyst. There is a new review on the AO published by "Victoriabtravel" where she recommends paying the extra for the balcony. An added extra she valued was the bath.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=72299

 

We were in two minds ourselves about this and in the end we booked a Deluxe Outside, without the balcony. In two past cruises with HAL we have taken a balcony but found that we did not use it all that much - except for having breakfast out there most mornings. However in the end we preferred to be up in the public areas of the ship when something was happening (or even when it was not!). Personal preference. I guess we'll find out soon whether we miss the balcony.

[cement99]

Great to get the good reports and we are going to sign up for the one we missed this year.

 

Looking right now at the Deluxe Outside rooms which are on the Belvedere and Bridge decks and they say there are two in this category which are "smaller" but have a balcony - Rooms 555 and 556. Has anyone seen or been in these rooms?

 

Any thoughts about which rooms to pick, whether a balcony might be worth it or which deck is the better choice?

 

Thanks.

 

Hi Swissmyst

 

We were in room 555. I really liked the layout of the room. There was plenty of room to move around, even with both of us getting ready, the bathroom as a good size and the balcony was a BIG plus for us. There was enough shelves, drawers and closets for all our stuff for two weeks. We saw a category G room (they don't have a balcony) and though almost the same size they seemed so much smaller without the balcony.

 

Feel free to contact me if you have any other specific questions about cabin 555. Enjoy your cruise.

[dancing cloud]

Thanks to everyone for keeping the feedback coming. Looks like there have been real improvements since we were on in June (which does seem to have been the low point) and we're really looking forward to the Palmyra itinerary.

 

A special hi to Cruisemom42 *waves* as we're going to be cruising with you in November :)

[Ontariotrekker]

It sounds like a great trip--- why not start a new thread on either of the "other cruiselines" boards so we can begin again? I'll start one for the cruise in March too. - Shar

[myotis]

Does anyone on this board know what the hotel arrangements are for day 5 in Syria? The brochure is not too clear on this. I believe the 2010 Palmyra trip set to go on Nov 20th also makes mention of a Syrian hotel stay on day 10. I do not find a reference to any Syrian hotels in the accommodation lists. Thanks for any enlightenment.

[cruisemom42]

Thanks to everyone for keeping the feedback coming. Looks like there have been real improvements since we were on in June (which does seem to have been the low point) and we're really looking forward to the Palmyra itinerary.

 

A special hi to Cruisemom42 *waves* as we're going to be cruising with you in November :)

 

Hi! :) I have "revived" the Roll Call for this cruise, if you want to come and join the conversation there -- looks like we now have a few CCers on this cruise!

[cruisemom42]

Does anyone on this board know what the hotel arrangements are for day 5 in Syria? The brochure is not too clear on this. I believe the 2010 Palmyra trip set to go on Nov 20th also makes mention of a Syrian hotel stay on day 10. I do not find a reference to any Syrian hotels in the accommodation lists. Thanks for any enlightenment.

 

I am on the Nov. 2010 Palmyra cruise, and I have not yet heard anything about the hotel, other than gathering from reading the tour descriptions that it must be very close to Palmyra. We do not yet have our specific shore excursion info. When I find out, I will try to remember to post here.

[myotis]

CruiseMom 42: Thank you. I would be very interested in whatever information you get. You must be getting excited as the days until your cruise are fast approaching. Perhaps, if you get a chance, on your return a brief account of your trip would be great. I feel confident you will have a wonderful time.

[patseacruiser]

Cairo – Fairmont Nile

Luxor – the Sonesta

Petra – either the Marriott or the Movenpick

Amman – either the Regency Palace or Marriott

 

These hotels (except for Cairo) are subject to change.. If there is a change, it would be similar properties.

[SwissMyst]

Hope you get the Swiss hotel chain Movenpik Hotel in Petra - simply gorgeous hotel with dazzling public rooms and an upstairs library full of rich picture books about the area. Movenpik has a string of their excellent hotels across Jordan and there have been hotel/rental car packages in the past so one can come back and really do this country justice on your own. They make driving there as a tourist easy with special tourist road signs to all the important historic spots, good roads, friendly people, English widely spoken, excellent food, high visibility of a tourist police presence and they truly live up to their motto "Welcome in Jordan".

[phabric]

Just submitted a long one - hope they accept it - if they do it should appear in a few days. I tried to note the improvements based on past issues, and also practical info on the ship, organization of tours, etc. Didn't review much about my specific trip, although I'll be writing that up for myself and my long-suffering friends and family who I send them to. I think all the issues were about the ship anyway, the destinations and tours haven't really been criticized.

 

I read your great review.

 

They advertised in our newspaper and I started thinking about their Istanbul - Athens cruise. They advertised the fare includes airfare, shore excursions, gratuites on board, wine, transfers, port fees and service charges. The prices look great when everything is included.

 

We have cruised 14x with Princess, Royal Caribbean, NCI before, with Princess are favourite. When you add up all the extras - airfare, gratuites and shore excursions it becomes very expensive with the other cruiselines.

 

Have you cruises with any of the other cruiselines and if so how did this cruiseline compare it it.

 

With the shore excursions included, did you have a choice of excursions? You mentioned optional excursions, did you take them because you did not like their included excursions.

[Ontariotrekker]

Hi Phabric - I took the earlier Pompeii etc cruise and found it very interesting especially the excursions that covered a lot of history. The tour guides were very good and spoke excellent English.

 

If you are interested in findling out more re the excursions and the kind of things you see, check out a current tours shore excursion list on the website. The extra cost optional tours occur when the included tours do not - ie morning tour for everyone, afternoon tour for those who want that little something extra. Often there are options even in the included tours.. I opted to do Pompeii in the morning then the Naples museum, others did Pompeii then Herculaneum in the afternoon.. no extra payment needed. Shar

[ocean-blue]

Cairo – Fairmont Nile

Luxor – the Sonesta

Petra – either the Marriott or the Movenpick

Amman – either the Regency Palace or Marriott

 

These hotels (except for Cairo) are subject to change.. If there is a change, it would be similar properties.

 

Pat- did you ever get your bracelet back?

[bjay3]

We're looking at either Palmyra or the Pyramids cruises for next year....can't make up my mind so hoping there will be some feedback on those two for this year cruises.

 

I have one question for those of you who have already sailed and are from North America. Did you take the VTA air? If so, what was their routing & choice of airlines like? We've found that sometimes when air is included, the routing isn't that great.

[SwissMyst]

We're looking at either Palmyra or the Pyramids cruises for next year....can't make up my mind so hoping there will be some feedback on those two for this year cruises.

 

I have one question for those of you who have already sailed and are from North America. Did you take the VTA air? If so, what was their routing & choice of airlines like? We've found that sometimes when air is included, the routing isn't that great.

 

We signed up and got our cabin already for the Nov 2011 Palmyra trip and the itinerary is different than the one this year (in a few weeks, you lucky people who hung in there after poor VTA's rough maiden voyages!).

 

I like the new 2011 Palmyra itinerary, as it now include at least a day stop in Aqaba allowing the one day rush trip to Petra - which is better than no Petra at all as long as we are in the neighborhood.

 

And the start in Limassol works better for us than starting in Athens, so as much we would like to be joining this first VTA season, we are also now looking forward very much to the next years offering now too. Plus we talked ourselves into a better cabin too so we have a few more months now to put our pennies together.

[Ontariotrekker]

I took the Pompeii is so wonderful crusie in June and used the V2A air. Since my airport is Toronto, I flew directly to Rome and had a quick but doable connectin in Frankfurt coming home from Venice. Now, if you know Ontario, the people coming from Ottawa went first to Toronto and took the flight 45 mins ahead of my direct and flew to Frankfurt THEN flew to Rome for the start of the cruise. Weird connections or what?? It's well worth using V2a but do make sure of all the correct posssiblities for you when you book. Also, when I broke down the pricing for my cruise, I could not have gotten cheaper air by myself. - Shar

[cruisemom42]

I took the offered VtoA air for my upcoming Palmyra cruise and the routing is good; about what I'd expect if I was arranging it myself (Atlanta to Frankfurt to Cairo, then Athens to JFK to Atlanta).

 

I agree that for the differential offered w/o air, you'd be unlikely to find reasonable flights without being out of pocket.

[Ontariotrekker]

I forgot to mention that you also get the transfers from the airport to the ship or hotel included too. Getting your own can be extremely expensive so that's a nice included perk.

[bjay3]

Thanks for the input. Now all I have to do is decide between some great places in Syria or to spend more time at Petra. Too bad life is so rough!

[SwissMyst]

Thanks for the input. Now all I have to do is decide between some great places in Syria or to spend more time at Petra. Too bad life is so rough!

 

Jordan is such a wonderful country for independent travel that if it is even remotely possible, hope you can plan a land trip back to Jordan and be able to spend several days in Petra on your own as well as visiting all over this very welcoming country.

 

Doing a self-drive tour of Jordan is very doable plus they have wonderful Movenpik Hotels at key spots all around the country. A number of years ago, right after the 9-11 tragedy in the US and tourism everywhere was down, particularly in the Middle East, they did offer a very attractive self-drive Movenpik hotel package. At that same time I had arranged my own self-drive independent travel package and loved every minute of it.

 

Don't know what the prices are now, but it was pretty inexpensive back then to have arranged my Jordan trip on my own using more modest local hotels and car rental agency: Hisham Hotel in Amman, Alcazar in Aqaba, and a bargain rate Movenpik in Petra. So if you can swing the airfare to Jordan, you might be able to also do a land tour there later and spent those several glorious days on your own pace in Petra. "Ruth's Jordan" is an excellent website for independent travel in Jordan - it is safe, good roads, English widely spoken, sense of generous and gracious hospitality in every one you meet and lots of tourist police at every stop.

 

So does that help in any way with your agreed pretty terrible choice - Syria or more time in Petra? Both! That is the only answer.

[cruisemom42]

Thanks for the input. Now all I have to do is decide between some great places in Syria or to spend more time at Petra. Too bad life is so rough!

 

Book both cruises back-to-back. :D

 

Seriously SwissMyst's advice is spot-on about Jordan. I am going to be in Israel for two weeks next March and from the research I've done so far it appears to be extremely easy to either arrange a 3-day tour from Israel to Jordan (allows you to see a bit more of Jordan than just Petra) or to arrange your own trip.

 

So I'd say it's more likely you'd have another opportunity to visit Jordan. For now, Syria is a bit more off the usual tour routes, so that's why I'm happy to do it via this cruise.

[Ontariotrekker]

If you are not comfortable doing Jordan on your own, I went there for a 4 day trip that included Petra, Jeresh and that wondeful drive down the King's Highway. I had taken an Israel trip with a tour company and did Jordan as an add-on. The Israel portion was a coach tour but when I landed in Jordan I found out that I had a private car and driver for the four days. I stayed in the best hotels, including the Petra Movenpick and felt very safe. The driver was a great source of info about how the real people live. - shar