Rare texanaust Posted March 11, 2017 #1 Share Posted March 11, 2017 Does anyone know if you can walk out of this port into Aqaba city or if shuttles are provided? We are sailing on Celebrity. Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jannandjohn Posted March 14, 2017 #2 Share Posted March 14, 2017 on my spreadsheet under my sig, there is a lot of stuff I copied from other sites.. YOU CAN'T WALK IN THE PORT AREA AND HAVE TO BE SHUTTLED BY SHIP SHUTTLE TO A CAR PARK IN TOWN THE MAIN REASON TO VISIT IS TO GO TO PETRA OR THE DEAD SEA..... EVERYTHING WORKS ON SIESTA TIMES.... EVERYTHING SHUTS AT 3PM AND REOPENS AT 6 PM Cruise ships dock at a commercial pier south of the city. Shuttles are usually provided into town for those not on a tour to Petra or Wadi Rum. The shuttle may drop off beside the Moevenpick resort at a bus terminal north of the city center. This seaside city has a small beach and lots of markets. The only sights in town are a museum and fort. Boats by the water offer glass bottom tours. Better beaches and resorts can be found in the South Beach area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare texanaust Posted March 14, 2017 Author #3 Share Posted March 14, 2017 on my spreadsheet under my sig, there is a lot of stuff I copied from other sites..YOU CAN'T WALK IN THE PORT AREA AND HAVE TO BE SHUTTLED BY SHIP SHUTTLE TO A CAR PARK IN TOWN THE MAIN REASON TO VISIT IS TO GO TO PETRA OR THE DEAD SEA..... EVERYTHING WORKS ON SIESTA TIMES.... EVERYTHING SHUTS AT 3PM AND REOPENS AT 6 PM Cruise ships dock at a commercial pier south of the city. Shuttles are usually provided into town for those not on a tour to Petra or Wadi Rum. The shuttle may drop off beside the Moevenpick resort at a bus terminal north of the city center. This seaside city has a small beach and lots of markets. The only sights in town are a museum and fort. Boats by the water offer glass bottom tours. Better beaches and resorts can be found in the South Beach area. Thank you for the info. We are going scuba diving and have done Petra before, so we just need to get to the dive shop in the city center. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bull Posted March 16, 2017 #4 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Not Celebrity, but .................. Not allowed to walk within or enter / leave the port on foot. We had a free shuttle between ship & town centre (not far from Movenpick) - don't know if provided by ship or port but what the hell, it was free. Mainly used by the crew to do a bit of shopping. We used it to get back to the port from an independent taxi tour taken on-the=fly. Since you've been before you don't need me to tell you that the town is a bit grubby (not unsafe) and has virtually nothing to offer - those who went into town were back within about an hour. JB :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tranquility Base Posted January 13, 2018 #5 Share Posted January 13, 2018 Does anyone know if taxis from town are allowed into the port area to drop you at the ship ? The last time I was there the last shuttle from town stopped operating many hours before departure time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayfairers Posted January 24, 2018 #6 Share Posted January 24, 2018 I didn’t feel unsafe in town at all in 2016 - wouldn’t walk around by myself, but with just DH and I no problems. You must take the shuttle into and out of the port area. We had an overnight in Aqaba and saw Petra one day, Wadi Rum the next. After the tour both days we stayed in town and took the shuttle back to the ship. We walked around much of the town exploring and, yeah, like many towns, it was a little grubby, but not that bad. Shopped some, had some beers, ate at a couple of restaurants, stopped by a pharmacy where the person working sold us some great meds for a cough. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koalapanda Posted January 28, 2018 #7 Share Posted January 28, 2018 May I ask what is the minimum time a tour might take from Aquaba Port to Petra and back? .....Is it possible to manage this journey in 6 hours approximately? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandma Cruising Posted January 28, 2018 #8 Share Posted January 28, 2018 Very tight time for this tour - it’s at least a two hour journey each way, which would leave only 2 hours to get to Petra. If you used a horse and carriage to get through the Siq both ways it’s just about possible, but you would get very little time to explore once there. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karenbeanpole Posted January 28, 2018 #9 Share Posted January 28, 2018 Is there anything to to in Aqaba besides the town? Anyone been to the beaches there? We have done Petra and Wadi Rum and the town itself (nothing there). Anyone tried snorkelling? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayfairers Posted January 28, 2018 #10 Share Posted January 28, 2018 No, never considered snorkeling there....wonder if the water is warm? Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koalapanda Posted February 1, 2018 #11 Share Posted February 1, 2018 Thanks Grandma Cruising for your reply I will take into consideration your advice and wise words for my excursion planning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Friendly face Posted September 16, 2018 #12 Share Posted September 16, 2018 Has anyone got a taxi at the Oort to take them to Petra? Are there any taxis at the port. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Friendly face Posted September 16, 2018 #13 Share Posted September 16, 2018 That should have been PORT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epixx Posted September 16, 2018 #14 Share Posted September 16, 2018 Has anyone got a taxi at the Oort to take them to Petra? Are there any taxis at the port. You will find taxis just outside the Oort gate. Negotiate a price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chloe kitty Posted October 21, 2018 #15 Share Posted October 21, 2018 We have been to Petra and Wadi, so would like to go to Eilat. Has anyone done this before?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bull Posted October 23, 2018 #16 Share Posted October 23, 2018 We had considered Eilat from Aqaba - it's ridiculously close, you can watch the Eilat traffic from the ship. But there are issues. We had a taxi-driver round-off our Petra trip by taking us to see the border crossing, but unless things have changed in the past few years an Aqaba taxi-driver can't take you across the border. You have to walk across and hope there's transportation on the Israeli side - if there isn't, it looks to be about a 45 minute walk from the border crossing to civilisation (urban area, bus stops etc). Same problem returning. There's also the matter of an Israeli stamp in your passport, which might bring issues later if at some point you visit an Arab country (when we ported at Haifa and Ashdod on a different cruise we were given an Israeli- stamped sheet rather than a stamp in our passports for that reason, but I don't know whether the same applies at the Aqaba/Eilat land crossing). The ship will probably hold your passport ahead of Aqaba (that avoids long slow lines for passports to be checked on arrival), but if you explain that you need it the ship will almost-certainly release it to you on arrival, with your promise to hand it back in when you return to the ship. I have little doubt you can fix something up in advance (sorry, can't help cos we didn't bother), but I certainly wouldn't recommend it on-the-fly. JB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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