GKTV32162

3 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

I've been enjoying your adventures.  Thanks for blogging.  I believe you're now in Ashdod, where I hope to be in another month on another cruise line.  However, the other cruise line doesn't do their own testing, and the people on the cruise were told that they would have to be tested by Israeli representatives when they docked as part of Israel's entry requirements.  I am hoping, but not expecting, that this testing requirement will be dropped by the time I get to Israel on my cruise.  However, I was wondering if you and other Viking Star cruisers ran into the same situation.  I don't mind being tested, but the testing was expected to take a half day away from their time in Israel, which threw a monkey wrench in some people's plans. 

 

Many people on Viking aren't crazy about the daily testing, but in this case I think it might be a great thing as you may be able to get off the ship faster than cruisers on another line.  So I'd love to hear if there were any hiccups or restrictions as a result of entry requirements in Israel.  I'm also curious if there is a shuttle in Ashdod (and in Haifa, assuming you go there the next day).  And are there any restrictions against going off on your own in either port, either on a non-ship excursion or just to walk around?  There has only been one or two cruise ships visiting Israel since the restart of cruising, so I'm trying to get an idea of what I might face when I (hopefully) get there.

 

And just as a comment: Viking usually has great Wifi for a ship at sea, but of course it depends upon how many people are using it, what they're doing with it, and where in the world they are at the time.  But I found the best place to go to get fast wifi was down in the living room on the Viking computers rather than in my room.  And I like the printers too....

 

As I mentioned is earlier entries, we lost a stop in Alexandria, Egypt so we could get to Ashdod today. We are doing that so we can be tested. Pretty stupid as we are being tested this morning by Viking. But, Viking's PCR test isn't good enough for Israel and they will test us this afternoon as well. No ody is happy about it.

As for the WiFi, it isn't the WiFi or location on the ship. It is the ship's satellite connection to the internet that absolutely sucks. Ask anyone on this voyage.

4 hours ago, Jjg34219 said:

Thank you for doing this! I make sure I follow you daily. Since you mention often how bad the internet is, how long does it take you to upload all of these pics?

I down sample lol the images to 800 pixels on the long edge, not great for printing but good enough for viewing online. That's the only reason it works as image go from 9-12 MB to around 100K. Because I load as I write, selecting images that pertain to paragraph I'm writing, I'd have to guess. But, to load up 10 images to insert takes perhaps a minute or two. So, 100 images might take ten minutes. It varies greatly every day.

9 hours ago, ldpetrillo said:

I loved your photos of the security checkpoints. Unfortunately, the Egyptian government does not appreciate the photos. Our guide in bus 3 had a passenger delete a photo he took accidentally of a police tower. He said he could lose his guide license for such photos. 
 

By the way, it was a dry heat. 

Thanks for the compliment.  Our guide never said anything about it.

7 hours ago, vslparis said:

Great blog about your day in Petra. I can’t believe how uncrowded it looks . You very lucky not to have the mass of humanity that would have been normal before Covid. 

We are also very early in the season. The weeks ago this was all covered with snow.

World Cruise Day 101/152 - Aqaba, Jordan - Magnificent Petra!
 

https://kolbsontheroad.blogspot.com/2022/04/world-cruise-day-101152-aqaba-jordan.html

3 hours ago, vslparis said:

Do you know if there was a tour to Al Ula offered from this stop ?

Not that I am aware of.

4 hours ago, njhorseman said:

Thanks. Both thumbprints appears to be what they do currently so your memory is likely accurate.

For Saudi Arabia, it was a full set, all ten digits captured as all four right fingers at once, all four left fingers at once, both thumbs at once.

2 hours ago, cruiselvr04 said:

Quite the experience.  I noticed the women wearing hats instead of scarves which I would find more acceptable. I did wear a scarf in some of the churches in Europe as well as kept my shoulders and knees covered.  
 

I would not like the fingerprinting and phone app.  What if you just didn’t carry a phone or is this not allowed? 

They had some solution for people that do not have a smartphone and wanted to self-explore, but I do not know what it was.

8 hours ago, Twitchly said:

Fascinating. I rarely hear from people who have visited Saudi Arabia, so this is all quite interesting. Jeddah looks scorchingly hot. And surprisingly empty.

The photos are from the old city. The main roads were jammed 

3 minutes ago, prunderw said:

Will Ship's Captain be allowing passengers on your cruise to go maskless starting April 1? 

I ask since your cruise started well before April 1 and Viking's recent letter only addressed removing mask requirement on cruises which start on or after April 1.  It would be a shame to be masked for the remainder of your cruise due to a technical requirement.

Nobody will know the accurate answer to that question until April 1. Since we have picked up our first COVID case since Uruguay, and since we didn't commence on/after April 1, I expect that the mandate will remain in place. But, like everyone else that may answer this, unless they're Viking Corporate, we will all just be speculating 

World Cruise Day 96/152 - Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - Clean, mostly welcoming, and a pain in the keister to get into
 

https://kolbsontheroad.blogspot.com/2022/03/world-cruise-day-96152-jeddah-saudi.html