Chasing Constellation from Rome to Arabian Nights November 2016

[Castaway24]

Thank you Jenna for a totally amazing journey shared and written so well. It's been a real pleasure to read your posts.

 

 

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[caribill]

When you were at the Ashdod port, what did you have to do to meet your guide?

 

In other words, where was the guide able to pick you up at the start of your tour and drop you off at the end?

 

Also, can you give me contact information for the guide you used?

 

Thanks,

Bill of caribill e-mail= caribill at yahoo dot com

Edited December 7, 2016 by caribill

[andnosyd]

Excellent trip report, I enjoyed reading it. One question, perhaps I missed it, what are they doing to the aft balcony of the Penthouse?

[need2bespoiled]

When you were at the Ashdod port, what did you have to do to meet your guide?

 

In other words, where was the guide able to pick you up at the start of your tour and drop you off at the end?

 

Also, can you give me contact information for the guide you used?

 

Thanks,

Bill of caribill e-mail= caribill at yahoo dot com

 

Our Guide, Dubi can be found here:

http://dubitours.com/

 

He is a one many show / driver guide and does an excellent job. He is far from the most expensive, but not cheap either and he knows SO much of the history and was easily able to integrate Jewish and Christian sites into our tour, change plana and arrange things on the fly so we had reservations for lunch when we arrived, etc.

 

Excellent trip report, I enjoyed reading it. One question, perhaps I missed it, what are they doing to the aft balcony of the Penthouse?

 

We were traveling for a full month with the guests in the other penthouse, so the divider was partially removed for us to give us the entire aft deck. They were replacing the divider.

 

 

I'm hoping to get to the trip home shortly and then a list of guides.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[caribill]

When you were at the Ashdod port, what did you have to do to meet your guide?

 

In other words, where was the guide able to pick you up at the start of your tour and drop you off at the end?

 

 

Thanks for the guide info.

 

Where did you meet him after getting off the ship?

[benjoon]

Our Guide, Dubi can be found here:

 

http://dubitours.com/

 

 

 

He is a one many show / driver guide and does an excellent job. He is far from the most expensive, but not cheap either and he knows SO much of the history and was easily able to integrate Jewish and Christian sites into our tour, change plana and arrange things on the fly so we had reservations for lunch when we arrived, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were traveling for a full month with the guests in the other penthouse, so the divider was partially removed for us to give us the entire aft deck. They were replacing the divider.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm hoping to get to the trip home shortly and then a list of guides.

 

 

 

Happy sailing,

 

Jenna

 

 

Yes that photo had me worried. Then I realised that you had previously said you had it removed. So looking forward to that balcony.

 

 

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[need2bespoiled]

Thanks for the guide info.

 

 

 

Where did you meet him after getting off the ship?

 

 

 

Sorry for missing this part. It's a "typical" cruise port with a walk from ship to building, and security, then a bit of a walk through the building. As soon as you exit, the driver is right there. There was construction going on to the berth right in front of the terminal so the walk to the terminal could get less if this is finished. This is as close as any vehicle can get due to security.

 

Dee had her second knee replaced on Tuesday so I'm a bit behind but I will wrap up the flight post and then when Dee gives me the list I'll post I'll the guides.

 

Happy Sailing,

Jenna

 

 

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[Moonraker7]

Hope Dees operation was successful and she's up and about very soon.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

We are on the April Repoistion Cruise

Just wondering is it worth it to go Wadi Rum or spend more time in Petra?

 

Hope everything going well with Dee's knees , I need to get two full knee replacements

[need2bespoiled]

If you have the time, I say, do both.

 

You have found the biggest challenge with cruises. Petra, much like Ephusus can be done in a day, or a half day and dow something else, but there is a quite a bit of driving between them and neither is really done the justice they need by doing both. With a nearly 12 hour day we were able, but with less you're really going to rush. Much more fun to tour leisurely.

 

If (maybe I should say when, as we plan to visit Wadi Rum Again) I were to go back, I wouldn't go to Petra, just Wadi Rum.

 

If had been to neither, I guess I would just do Petra.

 

If you've been to Pompeii, Ephusus or maybe the ancient tombs on the edge of the Daylon River outside Marmaris, in turkey, Pompeii, while really neat wouldn't be quite as amazing, but if you really are into these types of ancient sites, than this pretty neat.

 

If you'd rather spend your time looking at natrual beauty like in the desert in Sedona or Zion and Bryce National parks over seeing antiquies, definitely spend your entire day in Wadi Rum.

 

Good luck, and have fun!

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[need2bespoiled]

Yes that photo had me worried. Then I realised that you had previously said you had it removed. So looking forward to that balcony.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Absolutely no better balcony at Sea.

 

Hope Dees operation was successful and she's up and about very soon.

 

They have her up right away, hopefully "about" soon :)

 

Happy sailling,

Jenna

[Ex-Airbalancer]

If you have the time, I say, do both.

 

You have found the biggest challenge with cruises. Petra, much like Ephusus can be done in a day, or a half day and dow something else, but there is a quite a bit of driving between them and neither is really done the justice they need by doing both. With a nearly 12 hour day we were able, but with less you're really going to rush. Much more fun to tour leisurely.

 

If (maybe I should say when, as we plan to visit Wadi Rum Again) I were to go back, I wouldn't go to Petra, just Wadi Rum.

 

If had been to neither, I guess I would just do Petra.

 

If you've been to Pompeii, Ephusus or maybe the ancient tombs on the edge of the Daylon River outside Marmaris, in turkey, Pompeii, while really neat wouldn't be quite as amazing, but if you really are into these types of ancient sites, than this pretty neat.

 

If you'd rather spend your time looking at natrual beauty like in the desert in Sedona or Zion and Bryce National parks over seeing antiquies, definitely spend your entire day in Wadi Rum.

 

Good luck, and have fun!

Happy sailing,

Jenna

We do not dock until 10 am , ( probably would leave the port with guide until after 11 am) and leave at 9 pm, I can not see getting to Petra until at least 1 pm , an hour for lunch, 3 hours in Petra makes 5 pm , an 1-1/2 to Wadi rum makes almost 6:30

Sunset is at 7 pm when we are there , it almost looks like it maybe to getting dark by than

decisions , decisions :confused:

[need2bespoiled]

We do not dock until 10 am , ( probably would leave the port with guide until after 11 am) and leave at 9 pm, I can not see getting to Petra until at least 1 pm , an hour for lunch, 3 hours in Petra makes 5 pm , an 1-1/2 to Wadi rum makes almost 6:30

Sunset is at 7 pm when we are there , it almost looks like it maybe to getting dark by than

decisions , decisions :confused:

 

3 Hours in Petra will only work if:

 

1. You walk quickly down the seek.

2. You have a guide who an expidite things, like tickets

3. You walk FAST back UP or get a BUMPY ride in a cart back up (note, I've heard the horse carts are on the way out to be replaced by Golf carts, which would be a HUGE improvement in terms of safety for both the riders and the horses pulling the carts which we felt were worked far too hard and due to that would not use them again.

 

I didn't see anywhere worth having lunch in ancient Petra. Not sure about the city and while it is a tourist town, and we didn't see much of it, nothing seemed overly inviting for dining. We stopped and had a snack on the way to Wadi Rum (souvlaki) arranged on the phone and quickly picked up by Abdulla. Dinner in Wadi Rum is possible possible but hopefully at least a little better than what we had.

 

You can gain almost an hour by making sure your guide is waiting, and you hurry off. Of course, you could be late

 

Oh, and ships time was an hour behind port time in Aqaba which would totally mess up your sunset in the dessert.

 

If I had one last piece of advice: Email Abdullah and book him (regardless of what you do) before someone else does on your cruise and then ask him!

 

Good luck!

Jenna

[gek]

We are on the April Repoistion Cruise

Just wondering is it worth it to go Wadi Rum or spend more time in Petra?

 

Hope everything going well with Dee's knees , I need to get two full knee replacements

 

A very hard question. Both Petra and Wadi Rum are awesome so I would probably recommend doing both - you may never be back this way again. Doing Petra justice really requires two days anyway. Whether you spend a whole day or just a few hours there you are bound to miss something fantastic. Even those who spend all their time at Petra often fail to reach the Monastery (90 minutes round trip on its own) which in my eyes is the most spectacular sight there.

 

If you decide to do both don't dawdle. There is so much more to see in Petra than just the Siq and the Treasury and doing it properly requires commitment.

 

On this trip we did Petra but I would have been just as happy to revisit Wadi Rum. I was pretty pleased to get to the Monastery again though. That monument never fails to impress.

[bogofman]

does the ships tour to Petra, do an on your own transfer?

 

any idea how long the ships tours stay at Petra?

 

would be have time to walk up to the monetary?

[Ex-Airbalancer]

3 Hours in Petra will only work if:

 

1. You walk quickly down the seek.

2. You have a guide who an expidite things, like tickets

3. You walk FAST back UP or get a BUMPY ride in a cart back up (note, I've heard the horse carts are on the way out to be replaced by Golf carts, which would be a HUGE improvement in terms of safety for both the riders and the horses pulling the carts which we felt were worked far too hard and due to that would not use them again.

 

I didn't see anywhere worth having lunch in ancient Petra. Not sure about the city and while it is a tourist town, and we didn't see much of it, nothing seemed overly inviting for dining. We stopped and had a snack on the way to Wadi Rum (souvlaki) arranged on the phone and quickly picked up by Abdulla. Dinner in Wadi Rum is possible possible but hopefully at least a little better than what we had.

 

You can gain almost an hour by making sure your guide is waiting, and you hurry off. Of course, you could be late

 

Oh, and ships time was an hour behind port time in Aqaba which would totally mess up your sunset in the dessert.

 

If I had one last piece of advice: Email Abdullah and book him (regardless of what you do) before someone else does on your cruise and then ask him!

 

Good luck!

Jenna

Thanks for your info, book with Abdullah, Tour of Jordan, he said there was not time to also do Wadi Rum

[Ex-Airbalancer]

does the ships tour to Petra, do an on your own transfer?

 

any idea how long the ships tours stay at Petra?

 

would be have time to walk up to the monetary?

 

Their tour is $340 CDN , you can check out Celebrity site for more info

[Cruise Junky]

If I had one last piece of advice: Email Abdullah and book him (regardless of what you do) before someone else does on your cruise and then ask him!

 

Good luck!

Jenna

 

I've snagged him for the November 2017 sailing. So happy you posted the info that day. Really looking forward to it. thanks

[need2bespoiled]

I am about to work on the final post of my report, review, blog or whatever you want to call this, and wanted to share this, due to the recent questions. This was the delayed shutter picture Abullah took on his phone of the night sky in Wadi Rum. You can see the Milkyway and many stars. Extra Credit for someone who spends the time to identify constellations. It was certainly wonderful, but I must admit, I can do this outside of my home in Western Maine, regularly as we have very, very little light polution and neighbors are far away.

 

 

For those who asked, Dee is resting and heading home in the morning and expected to be touring like half her age by next year. Cruise on!

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[need2bespoiled]

We sent our luggage down at about 8:30p and shortly after received a call our car was there. Since we only had one Sedan for the three of us, and 9 bags we planned to hire a taxi to follow us taking the extra luggage. People perceive the middle east as unsafe, but I would never have considered doing this in a place like NYC but in the middle east, when I asked the hotel about this, they told me it would be absolutely safe, even if none of us road in the Taxi and based on our experience, I believe them (remember the hundreds of dollars found in Petra?).

 

We arrived down to the entrance of the hotel, to a pretty typical site, so I took this picture to show how much staff and assistance is typically available.

 

 

We asked for our car and we were introduced to our driver and sent Toni off to the ATM to get some local currency to pay for the Cab. While she was gone, we found out, Etihad (or the Limo company) had come through, even though I was told in no uncertain terms there would be only one car. Go figure.

Luggage loaded and off into typical Duabi traffic and on to Abu Dhabi. We arrived in Abu Dhabi at the airport at roughly 10:20p as a rough guess and were met with porters with hotel style luggage carts. Luggage was rolled inside and we were seated at the First-Class Desk.

 

Toni was flying in business class but we were all checked in here as well. At one point, she went to grab her carry-on and her hand was almost slapped for trying to move a piece of luggage!

Darlene needed to do a little bit of extra gift shopping. Abu Dhabi has a number of really high end boutiques, like Changi in Singapore but not nearly as large and a very, very small local souvenir shop. From there it was on to the lounge (and Six Senses Spa). It’s definitely more like a high-end hotel than airport or even typical airport lounge.

 

 

It was almost 11pm by now but since we hadn’t had dinner we were getting hungry but before dinner I wanted to book our complimentary spa appointments. The menu isn’t huge but Dee and I both decided on extended the 15-minute foot massages to 30 minutes at midnight. In addition to the spa they also have a small Cut and Shave area which I believe is geared mostly towards the men. Sorry no pics.

 

From there it was off to the restaurant (in the lounge) for dinner.

 

To be continued . . .

[need2bespoiled]

One of the two bars and part of the restaurant

 

Our table, not bad for an airport! I should have included the views of the planes but the reflection made it tough to see.

 

They were out of the Bollinger I wanted due to the F1 travelers cleaning them out, so I let him chose some wonderful wines for me based on what I ordered. Unlike typical restaurants, they let us mix and match items off the tasting menu and standard menu.

 

The Arabic Mezze

 

Watermelon and Feta

 

Darlene’s Monk Fish

 

I missed pictures of dessert but it was very good. Service was impeccable and without being overly rushed, dinner was done in 60 minutes, in perfect time for our massages. If they can do it in an airport, Luminae can do it too.

 

To be continued . . .

[need2bespoiled]

After the wonderful massage, we hung out from about 12:30a until 2a or so sleeping, doing some email, and chatting. At about 2:15a about 30 minutes before we were scheduled to board Toni told us she was heading down to Customs so we headed out, for the long trip to the furthest gate to clear security (again), and US Customs. I arranged for a wheelchair for Dee as I suspected it would be a long walk, and it was. This security screening wasn’t overly fun, it was more thorough than any US Airport I have travelled though in at least a decade and then Customs was typical and friendly. I skipped Global Entry which is available since Dee doesn’t have it. From there we expected to head to the gate but there were others who we knew were on our flight walking back towards us telling us boarding had been delayed so we ducked into the small lounge closer to the gate. We were told they would let us know when our flight was boarding. While it is far, the option does not exist to go back to the first class lounge as we had cleared customs so essentially, we were in the USA at this point. To re-enter we’d have to clear UAE Customs and Immigration again.

 

It was almost 45 minutes before they told us they were ready to board and off we went. The gate area was still full but we could walk right into the gate area and on the plane as pre-boarding had apparently started. There were at least three jetways. Two on the top deck and one or two on the bottom for the 450 passengers or so, so boarding went very, very quickly.

 

There are three routes that Etihad flies the A380. The first-class seat on these planes is called an “Apartment” and there is one Residence. You can google it, but the residence has two rooms and its own bathroom and shower and a personal butler and chef. It was not used on our flight. My seat was very nice. Unfortunately, I did have to ask for a previous passenger’s wine spill to be cleaned up before I could sit down.

 

 

Opposite the seat there is a sofa that turns into your bed

 

A vanity filled with some nice toiletries

 

Dee was in an adjoining apartment so we asked to have the divider lowered (actually it slides to the side)

 

We stowed our bags, shoes off and got comfortable for the 15-hour flight to New York

 

A lovely pre-departure beverage was offered as well as Arabic Coffee, some dates. Moonstuck Duck couldn’t be held back when he saw I ordered Champagne even though his favorite airline is Lufthansa.

 

To be continued . . .

[need2bespoiled]

I explored my apartment and seat which has more controls than my electric seats in my car or actually any seat I’ve ever graced my, um, well, piece of anatomy at the back, with

 

And before I knew it, we actually we’re pushed back on time and with a short taxi and a long rumble down the runway, this beast was off.

 

Dee opted to have her bed made up pretty early into the flight (it was 4am by the time we were at 10k feet after all)

 

We had dinner 4 hours before, so for me it was time for another meal right? Just like being back on the ship? The chef came around, shared menus and made suggestions and ordered I did.

This was a candied walnut, freeze-dried beat and a yogurt of some type and super yummy

 

To be continued . . .

[need2bespoiled]

Dee and I ate across from each other, which wasn’t as comfortable as my own seat

 

I had a soup dish and then the short rib

 

The pudding for dessert was not finished, just not that hungry

 

and ice cream

 

In all honesty, this was not one meal, but a compilation of different food that was ordered throughout the fight. Food onboard was variable, some was good, some was bad. Apparently on flights to other countries they have fresh eggs, but the USA does not allow them to bring eggs in, so no poached or over-light eggs. Darlene’s scrambled eggs were gross (her description) so I skipped them. Still, how can you complain with a flight light this and views like this:

 

To be continued . . .

[need2bespoiled]

Normally I would be fine to shower in the lounge at the airport on arrival but the plan was to grab luggage and head to Newark to fly back to Maine. The only airline that flies JFK to PWM is Jet Blue. Since the limo from JFK to Newark was free, flights were cheap and luggage free due to my United Status, it worked out well. Since a shower wouldn’t be an option in the airport, and well, because I could, about 2 hours or so before landing (and my last meal), I opted for a shower on the plane. A shower, on a plane, at 40k feet! You’re limited to 5 minutes of water and they ask you to take no more than 20 minutes in the bathroom, but it turns out, it is plenty of time. I could have even washed my hair though Dee told me I shouldn’t chance it.

The bathroom with the shower isn’t huge (the other bathroom in front is larger, there are two bathrooms for the 9 people in First Class). But it is very nice.

 

The shower head is recessed into the ceiling to give maximum head room and the pressure is decent.

 

My iconic toe shot, in the shower, on the plane (ok, maybe I am a bit too excited about this but I thought it was really neat and I may never get the opportunity again!

 

For the last few hours of the flight, we were chasing the sunrise and provided amazing views

 

And light in the cabin

 

To be continued . . .