Arabian Sunrise 2

[pblack05]

Not sure whether this itinerary has been carried out before, but has anyone taken this cruise before? Conscious that it has 3 stops in India, and i would suspect that in order to take the excursions, they are likely to be a lengthy bus journeys - or am I wrong?  It would have been more helpful on the Marella website for them to highlight the tours and the prices etc - but on our last cruise with them, you can only see that when you have made a booking. Any thoughts?

[Cliffholl55]

We did this cruise in reverse (Dubai to India )  was a great cruise, Mumbai is easy either on your own or excursions as ship docks close. The excursion we did was well organised from laundry to main railway station to Mumbai hotel and Gate.  Oman we did our own thing and definitely go to the souk which is an easy walk, many bargains and bartering.

remember your need visa for India .

Edited July 4, 2023 by Cliffholl55

[Sweetpea-1959]

Who did you go to for your indian visas?

[Sweetpea-1959]

I'm with you there. I've been cruising with Marella previously Thompson for 25 yrs, and this is the first time I've had to get my own visa. I've been all over including Russia and Cuba. I don't understand why this is so different 

[bishop84]

2 hours ago, Sweetpea-1959 said:

Who did you go to for your indian visas?

Like a lot of countries requiring a visa there are a lot of commercial websites that offer to do your visa at an extra cost.

I googled the question and this came back as the official Indian Government website for e-visa applications: e-Visa (indianvisaonline.gov.in) 

Edited January 15 by bishop84

[Izzywiz]

 

The visa situation is governed by the country and not by the cruise line so the Indian government doesn’t permit visas on arrival in the way many other countries do. 

the Indian visa can now be obtained on line, thank goodness. Until very recently you had to attend a ‘face to face’ interview at your nearest consulate and the visa cost a fortune. We had to do a 160 mile round trip to get our visa in 2017!

 

If you do a search for ‘India visa for cruise passengers’ there is plenty of information on the India Government site. 

 

We have always found that it is much cheaper to obtain visas using the official website of the government of the country rather than through a third party.

 

I’ve just looked at the itinerary - very interesting - and see that you also go to Sri Lanka where you may well need a tourist visa. I’m not sure about Aqaba and Muscat as things change over the years. We didn’t need visas for our visits but that was a few years ago.

 

I completely agree with Cliffholl55 about Muscat. The walk along the promenade to the souk is very pleasant and the souk is fabulous- very clean and full of colourful stalls. The fruit based drinks are delicious too!

Muscat promenade

 

Souk

 
Fruit drinks….no alcohol

India is one of my most favourite places in the world but, if you have not been, it can be quite a culture shock (watch Best Exotic Marigolds Hotel!) so it might be worth considering ships’s tours in those ports.

Mumbai

 

[pblack05]

Thanks for all that info! However, it is increasingly likely that the Red Sea part will not happen and our cruise might get cancelled or amended. Our planned cruise leaves Colombo on the 12th April and is in Aqaba on the 25th April. Checking cruise mapper, there are no cruise ships anywhere near the Red Sea.

[Sweetpea-1959]

On 7/4/2023 at 2:46 PM, Cliffholl55 said:

We did this cruise in reverse (Dubai to India )  was a great cruise, Mumbai is easy either on your own or excursions as ship docks close. The excursion we did was well organised from laundry to main railway station to Mumbai hotel and Gate.  Oman we did our own thing and definitely go to the souk which is an easy walk, many bargains and bartering.

remember your need visa for India .

 

On 7/4/2023 at 1:08 PM, pblack05 said:

Not sure whether this itinerary has been carried out before, but has anyone taken this cruise before? Conscious that it has 3 stops in India, and i would suspect that in order to take the excursions, they are likely to be a lengthy bus journeys - or am I wrong?  It would have been more helpful on the Marella website for them to highlight the tours and the prices etc - but on our last cruise with them, you can only see that when you have made a booking. Any thoughts?

It all sounds very exciting ! I'll look into the website mentioned, thank you. We have a local indian consultate but they dont do consular services, you go through a third party company!!

Our ship goes out on 12th April too but it seems Marella is not going to admit the trip to red sea is cancelled until we've paid our full holiday, which is due this week. 

[Sweetpea-1959]

17 hours ago, bishop84 said:

Like a lot of countries requiring a visa there are a lot of commercial websites that offer to do your visa at an extra cost.

I googled the question and this came back as the official Indian Government website for e-visa applications: e-Visa (indianvisaonline.gov.in) 

Thank you.

[Sweetpea-1959]

17 hours ago, Izzywiz said:

 

The visa situation is governed by the country and not by the cruise line so the Indian government doesn’t permit visas on arrival in the way many other countries do. 

the Indian visa can now be obtained on line, thank goodness. Until very recently you had to attend a ‘face to face’ interview at your nearest consulate and the visa cost a fortune. We had to do a 160 mile round trip to get our visa in 2017!

 

If you do a search for ‘India visa for cruise passengers’ there is plenty of information on the India Government site. 

 

We have always found that it is much cheaper to obtain visas using the official website of the government of the country rather than through a third party.

 

I’ve just looked at the itinerary - very interesting - and see that you also go to Sri Lanka where you may well need a tourist visa. I’m not sure about Aqaba and Muscat as things change over the years. We didn’t need visas for our visits but that was a few years ago.

 

I completely agree with Cliffholl55 about Muscat. The walk along the promenade to the souk is very pleasant and the souk is fabulous- very clean and full of colourful stalls. The fruit based drinks are delicious too!

Muscat promenade

 

Souk

 
Fruit drinks….no alcohol

India is one of my most favourite places in the world but, if you have not been, it can be quite a culture shock (watch Best Exotic Marigolds Hotel!) so it might be worth considering ships’s tours in those ports.

Mumbai

 

Thanks for sharing your wonderful photos !

[Izzywiz]

Thanks for your kind comments.

It’s such a shame what is happening for all the ordinary people in the middle east and it is looking more likely that cruises will be cancelled. We have an Azamara cruise in May from Singapore to Athens which has already had the stop in Haifa cancelled and had Santorini substituted but I can see the Suez Canal transit becoming a concern.

We have sailed in that area several times and always had some sort of protection on the ships.

Our first time was on a Costa cruise in 2013 where there were shop window mannequins dressed up in protective clothing and holding fire hoses positioned around the ship. I’m not sure how effective they would have been in fighting off raiders!

The second time was in 2015 when we picked up a group of mercenaries with huge machine guns as we exited the Suez Canal on our way to Dubai….that was a little more reassuring!

On our last transit in 2017, we had the mercenaries again plus barbed wire and water cannon around the deck!

Fortunately, we didn’t have any trouble on any of the sailings.

I hope for all concerned that the situations improve because there are a lot of ordinary people who rely on the tourist industry for their livelihoods and they are the ones who will suffer if the cruise lines have to cancel.
 

[Sweetpea-1959]

Wow ! I'm amazed you would go on such a cruise again in that area!  After seeing your photos, I'm really surprised ...what cruise company was barbed wire and mercenaries!!

[Izzywiz]

We love this part of the world and are at an age when this will probably be our last trip to the area, unfortunately.

I’m a history buff and love India too so the Azamara itinerary gives us a chance to revisit Kochin, Aqaba and ports in Egypt. It also has a stop in Jeddah which is a new destination for us. 
Our 2015 cruise was on RCI’s Splendour of the Seas (now Marella’s Discovery and our favourite size and ship design) and was a repositioning cruise from Venice to Dubai.

The 2017 cruise with the barbed wire was on Fred Olsen’s Boudicca and sailed from Liverpool to Mauritius.

All cruise ships passing through the Red Sea area for the last few years have had their passengers take part in a ‘pirate drill’ and have had forms of protection. 
Happy cruising Sweetpea
 

[Sweetpea-1959]

Oh the cruises are a lovely way to see the world especially as you get older. I hope your have others! 

 

I'm really surprised that Fred Olsen was prepared to take the risk with passengers. I'm pretty shocked to say the least. 

 

Wishing luck to us all that we get the magic of a cruise !!

[Crusingnewby96]

Hey guys has anyone heard anything re this cruise.

We're doing our visa ourselves and just wondered if anyone knows what to put on the visa reference part- normally you put the hotel so would that just be the ship instead do you reckon?

Also the photos look great

[pblack05]

Phoned the "help line" on Saturday and despite me spouting common sense and highlighting that all cruise ships are not in the Red Sea. I was assured that there were no changes to this itinerary. I was assured that I would officially hear from them within 72 hours of my call. This will be Tuesday around lunch time. This cruise is now only some 66 days away, and in all likelihood, it will finish at Muscat. The ship will then go round Africa with no passengers and get to the Med for the 7th May Cruise from Majorca. Hopefully Marella will get in touch with all on this cruise and offer them alternatives or their money back - in a timely fashion. Surely that is the least that we can expect? I am really at a loss why this is not proving to be a big issue on this forum.

[pennib]

I agree. Thinking on the positive side, if anyone has not been to Mumbai and Cochin, there are some things that must be done.  In Mumbai, you must go and see the Dhobi Ghat laundry and in Cochin of course it is the Chinese fishing nets. Otherwise, watch out for oxen and the traffic!!

[Sweetpea-1959]

On 2/4/2024 at 10:07 PM, Crusingnewby96 said:

Hey guys has anyone heard anything re this cruise.

We're doing our visa ourselves and just wondered if anyone knows what to put on the visa reference part- normally you put the hotel so would that just be the ship instead do you reckon?

Also the photos look great

I'm completing ours through Marella referred company ..I asked question,  they said put cruise ship name. 

[Sweetpea-1959]

19 hours ago, pblack05 said:

Phoned the "help line" on Saturday and despite me spouting common sense and highlighting that all cruise ships are not in the Red Sea. I was assured that there were no changes to this itinerary. I was assured that I would officially hear from them within 72 hours of my call. This will be Tuesday around lunch time. This cruise is now only some 66 days away, and in all likelihood, it will finish at Muscat. The ship will then go round Africa with no passengers and get to the Med for the 7th May Cruise from Majorca. Hopefully Marella will get in touch with all on this cruise and offer them alternatives or their money back - in a timely fashion. Surely that is the least that we can expect? I am really at a loss why this is not proving to be a big issue on this forum.

If your on Marella Discovery 2, sounds like your on our cruise. Given a previous posting from Izzywizz on how her Fred Olson cruise went ahead with barbed wire and mercenaries, see photos in her post above; I'm not sure our cruise will be cancelled.... 

[Sweetpea-1959]

18 hours ago, pennib said:

I agree. Thinking on the positive side, if anyone has not been to Mumbai and Cochin, there are some things that must be done.  In Mumbai, you must go and see the Dhobi Ghat laundry and in Cochin of course it is the Chinese fishing nets. Otherwise, watch out for oxen and the traffic!!

All sounds great fun!! Looking forward to india and all the chaos! Spoke to one of our bank tellers, whose family visit India a lot, she said don't eat anything and don't touch things without washing your hands after, apparently our stomaches are a bit delicate for dealing with some of the bacteria.

 

Anyone know what injections we need?

[Tizzy-Jo]

1 hour ago, Sweetpea-1959 said:

All sounds great fun!! Looking forward to india and all the chaos! Spoke to one of our bank tellers, whose family visit India a lot, she said don't eat anything and don't touch things without washing your hands after, apparently our stomaches are a bit delicate for dealing with some of the bacteria.

 

Anyone know what injections we need?

Contact your GP practice. They will tell you what vaccinations you need. 

[pblack05]

1 hour ago, Sweetpea-1959 said:

If your on Marella Discovery 2, sounds like your on our cruise. Given a previous posting from Izzywizz on how her Fred Olson cruise went ahead with barbed wire and mercenaries, see photos in her post above; I'm not sure our cruise will be cancelled.... 

The thing is that cruise went ahead in 2017 - our cruise is April 2024 - and again looking at cruise mapper there are no cruise ships in the Red Sea currently - therefore - 99% no chance that Marella will risk their ship venturing the Red Sea for the Suez canal. And as pointed out elsewhere this cruise will likely finish at Muscat - thereby cutting short our cruise by 7 days or so. 

 

 

 

[Sweetpea-1959]

3 minutes ago, pblack05 said:

The thing is that cruise went ahead in 2017 - our cruise is April 2024 - and again looking at cruise mapper there are no cruise ships in the Red Sea currently - therefore - 99% no chance that Marella will risk their ship venturing the Red Sea for the Suez canal. And as pointed out elsewhere this cruise will likely finish at Muscat - thereby cutting short our cruise by 7 days or so. 

 

 

 

😞 disappointing really, but if so, rather sooner than later....Thinking positively, they hopefully they might come up with some other exciting itinerary. 

[bishop84]

6 hours ago, Sweetpea-1959 said:

If your on Marella Discovery 2, sounds like your on our cruise. Given a previous posting from Izzywizz on how her Fred Olson cruise went ahead with barbed wire and mercenaries, see photos in her post above; I'm not sure our cruise will be cancelled.... 

I believe that post is concerning anti-piracy measures such as razor wire and armed security. The current threat is mainly attack from ashore using missiles, rockets etc. This is why cruise and cargo operators have pulled their ships from that area and are diverting ships around southern Africa rather than the previously scheduled Red Sea and Suez Canal transits. AFAIK Marella appears to be the only cruise company still scheduling their ship via the Red Sea and still having the cruises on sale.

 

[bishop84]

6 hours ago, Sweetpea-1959 said:

All sounds great fun!! Looking forward to india and all the chaos! Spoke to one of our bank tellers, whose family visit India a lot, she said don't eat anything and don't touch things without washing your hands after, apparently our stomaches are a bit delicate for dealing with some of the bacteria.

 

Anyone know what injections we need?

5 hours ago, Tizzy-Jo said:

Contact your GP practice. They will tell you what vaccinations you need. 

 

Also the NHS website has health information including required vaccinations: India - Fit for Travel