Shore Excursions in Israel

[russg140]

We are booked on the Ovation "Empires of the Sun" from Athens to Dubai. We just checked the shore excursion lists, both the "general" list for each port and the specific list for our cruise. Unbelievably it seems that there are no excursions for our cruise to Petra (!) and they aren't offering the overnight Masada/Jerusalem tour either. Petra was one of the reasons we booked this cruise in the first place. It doesn't seem to make sense. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[brontosphere]

It seems that cruise does not stop in Aqaba, Jordan for easy access to Petra. A few on Seabourn offer this stop but not yours apparently.

 

That said, Petra is incredible. Look for cruises that have an overnight stop there, so you can get to Petra and stay in a hotel (there is a Marriott!) and start the Petra tours first thing. You want as much time there as possible.

 

It's not an easy tour, lots of walking and uneven/rocky paths, no handrails.

 

I'm looking to get there again in the next year or two - the sooner the better. The political situation could deteriorate and make it not safe, or they might start restricting access so you can't get up-close and inside everything (like many places in Greece sadly).

 

Hope this helped.

[wdpmd]

If you stop in Eilat, Israel you are basically in Aqaba and can easily get to Petra. No idea if Seabourn will run an excursion but there are plenty of other tour agencies to choose from.

[russg140]

If you stop in Eilat, Israel you are basically in Aqaba and can easily get to Petra. No idea if Seabourn will run an excursion but there are plenty of other tour agencies to choose from.

 

We are concerned about taking an independent tour and having to do a border crossing from Israel into Jordan, possibly having a problem coming back in and thereby missing the ship. Justifiable concern? Because if we miss the ship it is 5 days at sea and we would have to meet it and find our way there.

[florisdekort]

We are concerned about taking an independent tour and having to do a border crossing from Israel into Jordan, possibly having a problem coming back in and thereby missing the ship. Justifiable concern? Because if we miss the ship it is 5 days at sea and we would have to meet it and find our way there.

 

 

Yes, very justifiable and very likely the reason Seabourn runs Petra tours from Aqaba only. Azamara didn’t offer Petra from Eilat either.

[russg140]

TA just heard back from SB. There is no ship excursion from Eliat to Petra on this cruise even though the port is listed as Eliat (Petra), so we are switching to the October cruise on Encore (similar itinerary) but the ship stops in Aqqaba with excursions to Petra. Fortunately there is still fairly good availability for the October cruise but our TA is going to have to work with SB to get us switched. Hopefully anyone else booked on the November cruise that is hoping to go to Petra will be made aware of this.

[cruising kirby]

TA just heard back from SB. There is no ship excursion from Eliat to Petra on this cruise even though the port is listed as Eliat (Petra), so we are switching to the October cruise on Encore (similar itinerary) but the ship stops in Aqqaba with excursions to Petra. Fortunately there is still fairly good availability for the October cruise but our TA is going to have to work with SB to get us switched. Hopefully anyone else booked on the November cruise that is hoping to go to Petra will be made aware of this.

 

Thanks for highlighting this important difference.