Regarding Oman

[Skeezics]

I will also post on ports of call; however, sometimes questions get lost among all the postings. Just wanted to know whether you can do Sur and Muscat on your own? The shore excursions in place don't sound like our cup of tea. Would rather walk both cities. Thanks in advance. Barb

[jagi]

Can't speak for Sur, but it is possible to do Muscat on your own. I took the tour, but many passengers just grabbed cabs to the places of interest. If you are there on a Friday, you can't go into the Grand Mosque, but the gardens and views of the inside are worth seeing. The market is a lot of fun. Muscat is very safe so you should have no problem walking around on your own.

[cands]

Yes, very easy to do Muscat on your own. Grab a taxi, negotiate a price, and visit the Grand Mosque. Then tour along the spectacular coast and back into Muscat via the Al Alam palace.

 

Ask the driver to drop you off at the main Souk, which is very interesting. It is only a 10 minute walk back to the ship from there.

 

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/c-j-b/sets/72157613003276211/

[Keith1010]

Have been to Muscat a few times. Yes, it is very safe and you can do it on your own, but a couple of suggestions.

 

Negotiate the cost of the cab. And by negotiation I mean you should agree on the length of the ride and where you will stop and the time of your return. You will likely negotiate with someone who will speak english but the cab driver may speak very limited english so make sure that the person you negotiate covers all of this with them.

 

We actually visited the Muttrah Souk first as this is where our shuttle dropped us off and after walking around there for about an hour we then negotiated the cab drive. There were lots of cabs there.

 

We went to the Grand Mosque which I also highly recommend.. We visited the Sultan’s Palace where we could view it from the outside, as well as two Forts and we went by the Bait Al Zubair Museum. We visited a few other sites as well.

 

Some photos from inside the Grand Mosque.

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_A9KYk3Drl18/S5DJLCpLrwI/AAAAAAAAEtQ/Mvmti9SHRh4/s1600-h/P1010997.jpg

 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_A9KYk3Drl18/S5DJkjCaMwI/AAAAAAAAEtg/iYFq_4bQOkI/s1600-h/P1020012.jpg

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_A9KYk3Drl18/S5DJkN3ri3I/AAAAAAAAEtY/rUBbI2gh6Z8/s1600-h/P1020011.jpg

 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_A9KYk3Drl18/S5DIytCjTPI/AAAAAAAAEtA/lnXMvUP4i7M/s1600-h/P1010986.jpg

 

Keith

 

Outside the Grand Palace

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_A9KYk3Drl18/S5DKh_h_KaI/AAAAAAAAEuQ/VqZm2_jFfEc/s1600-h/P1020036.jpg

[jagi]

Thank you Keith. Both times I was there on a Friday so was unable to go inside. I will be there on my next cruise and hope it isn't on a Friday. The inside is astounding.

[Keith1010]

jagi you are most welcome. I hope you are able to get in on your next cruise.

 

If you ever get to Abu Dhabi the Grand Mosque that they have is the most elaborate Mosque I've ever seen. I can't even fathom how much money went into that one. I guess when you have as much oil as they do this was a drop in the bucket for them to build.

 

I could not fit the entire outside view of the mosque into one picture as I didn't have a wide angle lens with me that day.

 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_A9KYk3Drl18/S5jSJD61utI/AAAAAAAAFGQ/CGcmCtL3oCE/s1600-h/P1020605.jpg

 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_A9KYk3Drl18/S5jSTDbQN9I/AAAAAAAAFGY/O_o0A6p5U4U/s1600-h/P1020603.jpg

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_A9KYk3Drl18/S5jS3RPt2vI/AAAAAAAAFG4/7hY01ZN49Ug/s1600-h/P1020594.jpg

 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_A9KYk3Drl18/S5jSpy49U3I/AAAAAAAAFGw/WB4FtFvmJfw/s1600-h/P1020596.jpg

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_A9KYk3Drl18/S5jS4dq5WLI/AAAAAAAAFHA/xp8LELI16Z8/s1600-h/P1020589.jpg

 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_A9KYk3Drl18/S5jTijPHbeI/AAAAAAAAFHY/NOhRLnMbhf0/s1600-h/P1020565.jpg

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_A9KYk3Drl18/S5jTGyoAA2I/AAAAAAAAFHI/i5oG5Op-C5A/s1600-h/P1020576.jpg

 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_A9KYk3Drl18/S5jbiGfsQvI/AAAAAAAAFIY/2C9YeNd_1BQ/s1600-h/P1020566.jpg

 

Keith

[Skeezics]

Keith: Thanks so much for the information and the pictures. Do you recall what you paid for the cab? Want to have some sort of an idea. Barb

[Balloon Man]

I have been to Muscat and Sur (and various other places in Oman). Great country. Not yet gold plated like the Emirates. You have been given good advice about Muscat. As for Sur, well it's 10 years since I was there but then you could walk around it - quite safely - in no time at all. I met what I thought was a typical local man, with son on shoulder, who was watching our balloons night-glow. Started to chat with him in usual h-o-w a-r-e- y-o-u. style. "Absolutely fine, old chap." He said. As luck would have it I had found an officer in the Sultan's army who had been trained at Sandhurst!

[Keith1010]

Keith: Thanks so much for the information and the pictures. Do you recall what you paid for the cab? Want to have some sort of an idea. Barb

 

Barb, we went with one other couple. We negotiated a rate of $30.00 per couple for a total of $60.00 before tip. This was in USA currency and they willingly accepted this currency.

 

Keith