The three retirement cruises that are now misnamed

Which tour was this, the overhyped one? We did something similar on October 2nd, Town of Amalfi. Had lunch in Minori, not bad but not at all memorable for sure. Not sure the dates are right, probably a different tour, but same opinion. Also very overpriced, I thought.

 

Azamazing in the Rain--it was fun, although aside the great cheeses thought the food was fairly awful. White Nights was better, although the queue for the lobster et al. was not great--terrific music.

It was the town of Amalfi 2Oct trip $199 each, we were the second coach to arrive for lunch. Have to disagree though on the Azamazing evening food, we thought it was good given the type of event it was - agree re White Nights

It was the town of Amalfi 2Oct trip $199 each, we were the second coach to arrive for lunch. Have to disagree though on the Azamazing evening food, we thought it was good given the type of event it was - agree re White Nights

We were on the same coach! Good to know what it was in USD, since we paid in Canadian dollars, and it was C$326 per person!! This was in May, but way out of line with current exchange rates. I had the feeling they were ripping us off. I will be careful not to do that again. At today's exchange rate it would be about C$260, and that hasn't changed much, in fact the C$ was probably higher in May.

I agree about Azamazing, not sure what you can for appetizers at something outdoors like that. I loved the selection of fresh cheeses, they were stellar. But everything else seemed to be doughy and/or deep-fried.

And now I wish I had saved the USD prices for our two other excursions, but l looked ahead to a May 2017 Quest itinerary, I see US$109.75 for the Pompeii half-day, and US$80.75 for the Naxxar/Mdina half day. Neither of the Canadian dollar amounts we paid seem out of line with these prices. But...the Exploration of Amalfi is now US$245.

Thank you for the wonderful post and photos, uktog! The chef's tour sounds fabulous-- I'd love to do something like this on our 2 week December 23, 2016 voyage out of Singapore on Journey, but there isn't one (unless it was added very recently). Enjoy the rest of your trip uktog!

The cruise continues to be a delight.

The advice from the ship's team this time - use a land discovery in Salaleh was absolutely correct. Unfortunately several guests thought it was a usual cruise ship ploy rather than genuine so views on this port vary very much depending on what the guest did and also did they have an open mind about Southern Oman? It is not sophisticated but is still quite developed.

We did the trip Salaleh and surroundings. There were 32 of us on the coach, and timekeeping was not an issue even with a large group. I think one problem for some sterling paying guests which is not Azamaras fault is the hopefully temporary demise of sterling. They see everything onboard now as expensive. Personally I was OK with the price of what was a good oversight of the area.

The seaside was beautiful.

Jobs tomb, if you accept that it was that is lovely

And the souk, well it's a typical rural souk aimed at tourists so was fine for the frankincense purchases.

Looking forward to Muscat tomorrow.

UKtog, thanks for continuing your review, even with the internet troubles! The time you spend to share with us, is appreciated!Love it!

We will soon be on the Journey! We leave tonight for Dubai...only 3 flights and supposedly about 28 hours and we should be there:rolleyes:

Connie

Thanks for the reviews and photos - much appreciated.

I received an email today with a lovely LCV Voyage document attached. I do hope there's some old-fashioned printed versions available on the ship next week.

Unfortunately there's a security issue with the Azamara website today, so I've not risked clicking the "read more" links in the document.

Thanks for the reviews and photos - much appreciated.

 

I received an email today with a lovely LCV Voyage document attached. I do hope there's some old-fashioned printed versions available on the ship next week.

 

Unfortunately there's a security issue with the Azamara website today, so I've not risked clicking the "read more" links in the document.

I was looking at the LVC Voyage for May 2017 and all balcony cabins are already sold out, but I can only access them via TA sites, as Azamara site cannot be accessed via the link:

https://www.azamaraclubcruises.co.uk/

It says page not available.

Unfortunately also I cannot see Uktog's photos, but I can read her review.

Muscat is an absolute gem. The people are so open and friendly and it's amazing that a country that was undeveloped with no health and education system in 1970 has become a forward thinking and surprisingly inclusive nation for this part of the world. Just shows what skipping a thousand years of government coupled with an enlightened ruler can do for you!

We opted for the ship's tour Mystical Muscat. Whilst the ship did offer the hop on hop off tour picking you up at the port, the free shuttle to Muttrah Souk (more on there later) took independent guests to the HOHO stop. I heard good reports about the HOHO bus.

The trip was altered as I had suspected it would be, when I booked it last year it included an inside visit to the Grand Mosque. However it was clear the arrival times/mosque opening times did not align and we did query it on these boards but this was one that remained a ??? before the start of this cruise. We were advised of the change on embarkation day. The mosque was viewed from the outside only, it was fabulous and I now so want to see it inside.

The contrast then was to go to the Muttrah Souk. En route, our guide was very good at explaining culture and what is the reality now for young Omanis. He was a really good informative guide, no stupid humour etc just honest clear answers and no questions were ducked, even ones that in our reserved British culture we would not have asked but others do!

I have been to souks and markets all around the world and again British reserve means I often find them intimidating. Not so here, yes the traders ask would you like, but a no thank you brings a big smile and no hassle. As a result I spent more than I might have otherwise. Ladies you can get beautiful beach coveralls for$5-8 depending on size. Although I had Omani rhials they happily take dollars and euros so no worries there (not so sure about the less than mighty pound, one trader did mention it but heaven knows what rate we would get,but that's another story!)

I love the fact although there were tourist items, this was a souk where locals shop, families out together, ladies choosing henna maybe for a wedding. A cultural note from our guide ,no close up pics of ladies in the market unless they agree.

We then had time to photo one of the Sultans five palaces in Oman the Al Alam Palace, used a bit like Buckingham Palace these days, the sultan rarely stays there unless he is hosting foreign guests. Another building from the 1970s but it adjoins two 16thc Portuguese forts - these forts are still current military establishments so cannot be visited.

Our final stop was at Bait Al Zubair museum a collection of Omani artefacts past and present including a recreated interior of a traditional Omani house. No photos are allowed inside however outside are. I was fascinated, I do not know about your cities, but a few years ago we had famous artists paint cows which were placed all around Edinburgh, in Muscat it was the oryx and there are about 30 on display, this one was my favourite.

The museum had a good gift shop, a little more expensive than the souk but good quality.

We loved our day in Muscat and are so glad we return to Oman next week. And those coming next week who want to use OBC on land discoveries, the Mystical Muscat tour is a really good overview if you do not want the heat on the HOHO bus.

Than you uktog for the wonderful pictures, which I can now see!

I am not a "museum person" but thought Bait al Zubair was fascinating and very well laid out. Well worth a visit.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk