Rare Mcobean Posted April 17, 2023 Author #626 Share Posted April 17, 2023 On 4/13/2023 at 6:05 PM, Cathyvee said: Petra looks amazing. Curious - was your Luxor tour the included Viking tour? No, it was a Viking optional excursion. We wanted the addition of the Luxor museum and temple 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mstadleraz Posted April 17, 2023 #627 Share Posted April 17, 2023 We just completed 2 days in Haifa. A group of about 30 (2 mini coaches) participated in a Holy Land excursion through Guided Tours Israel. Yonatan was our guide and he was absolutely fantastic. I would highly recommend Guided Tours Israel as the guides (both Jewish and Palestinian) were very good at what they do. We were able to get into an area of the Church of the Nativity, others, including Viking, could not get access or would have waited for over an hour. With our guides persistence, we were able to enter the Holy Sepulcher even on the Saturday before the Orthodox Easter. Amazing two days! 3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pushka Posted April 17, 2023 #628 Share Posted April 17, 2023 2 minutes ago, mstadleraz said: We just completed 2 days in Haifa. A group of about 30 (2 mini coaches) participated in a Holy Land excursion through Guided Tours Israel. Yonatan was our guide and he was absolutely fantastic. I would highly recommend Guided Tours Israel as the guides (both Jewish and Palestinian) were very good at what they do. We were able to get into an area of the Church of the Nativity, others, including Viking, could not get access or would have waited for over an hour. With our guides persistence, we were able to enter the Holy Sepulcher even on the Saturday before the Orthodox Easter. Amazing two days! Fantastic to hear. We are using the same tour group in May from Mars. Did Viking pack you a lunch? We've been advised not to expect much in the way of food in Haifa and beyond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mstadleraz Posted April 17, 2023 #629 Share Posted April 17, 2023 2 minutes ago, Pushka said: Fantastic to hear. We are using the same tour group in May from Mars. Did Viking pack you a lunch? We've been advised not to expect much in the way of food in Haifa and beyond. We had local food and the meals were good. We wanted what the locals eat - Falafel and Shawarma. I enjoyed the mixed Shawarma which included fries and a drink. The prices ranged from $13 to $16 per meal. Day one had an overlook of Jerusalem which was a great view during lunch. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Mcobean Posted April 17, 2023 Author #630 Share Posted April 17, 2023 https://www.viking23.com/2023/04/17/the-suez-canal/https://www.viking23.com/2023/04/17/israel/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowsue Posted April 17, 2023 #631 Share Posted April 17, 2023 17 hours ago, mstadleraz said: We just completed 2 days in Haifa. A group of about 30 (2 mini coaches) participated in a Holy Land excursion through Guided Tours Israel. Yonatan was our guide and he was absolutely fantastic. I would highly recommend Guided Tours Israel as the guides (both Jewish and Palestinian) were very good at what they do. We were able to get into an area of the Church of the Nativity, others, including Viking, could not get access or would have waited for over an hour. With our guides persistence, we were able to enter the Holy Sepulcher even on the Saturday before the Orthodox Easter. Amazing two days! I agree - We used them too and had Charles as our guide. Highly recommend! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cathyvee Posted April 17, 2023 #632 Share Posted April 17, 2023 11 hours ago, Mcobean said: No, it was a Viking optional excursion. We wanted the addition of the Luxor museum and temple Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbviking2023 Posted April 18, 2023 #633 Share Posted April 18, 2023 On 4/17/2023 at 7:38 AM, mstadleraz said: We just completed 2 days in Haifa. A group of about 30 (2 mini coaches) participated in a Holy Land excursion through Guided Tours Israel. Yonatan was our guide and he was absolutely fantastic. I would highly recommend Guided Tours Israel as the guides (both Jewish and Palestinian) were very good at what they do. We were able to get into an area of the Church of the Nativity, others, including Viking, could not get access or would have waited for over an hour. With our guides persistence, we were able to enter the Holy Sepulcher even on the Saturday before the Orthodox Easter. Amazing two days! What he said! Ditto. Amazing two days. So emotional and fabulous in a small group 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbviking2023 Posted April 18, 2023 #634 Share Posted April 18, 2023 Finally finished our Luxor Egypt blog - it's a biggun! We had a packed day visiting so many sites and tombs of the Pharaohs! A great private tour booked by @BeckySt. Valley of the Kings Temple of Karnak Valley of the Queens Hatshepsut's Mortuary Temple http://twohappysloths.com 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruising denise Posted April 18, 2023 #635 Share Posted April 18, 2023 I have been in touch with El Tayeb based on the glowing, wonderful recommendations @mbviking2023 and @BeckySt have made. I was thinking to organize a group of maybe six people? He is willing to work with whatever size we want. I'd like to go with others but not a large group. How many people were in your group? What size group would you recommend? THANKS AGAIN! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pushka Posted April 18, 2023 #636 Share Posted April 18, 2023 3 hours ago, mbviking2023 said: Finally finished our Luxor Egypt blog - it's a biggun! We had a packed day visiting so many sites and tombs of the Pharaohs! A great private tour booked by @BeckySt. Valley of the Kings Temple of Karnak Valley of the Queens Hatshepsut's Mortuary Temple http://twohappysloths.com Wow. We will be doing this excursion but with Viking in a couple of weeks. We couldn't get a private tour happening as none wanted to take us for our time in Safaga so went with Viking Very keen to see Valley of the Queens which is the difficult one to get into. Nefertiti's tomb is still undiscovered. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomv2950 Posted April 19, 2023 #637 Share Posted April 19, 2023 4 hours ago, cruising denise said: I have been in touch with El Tayeb based on the glowing, wonderful recommendations @mbviking2023 and @BeckySt have made. I was thinking to organize a group of maybe six people? He is willing to work with whatever size we want. I'd like to go with others but not a large group. How many people were in your group? What size group would you recommend? THANKS AGAIN! I believe you are on viking sky wc and if you are we might be interested in doing this with you. We are leaving for Egypt for May 10 with the Israel pre and Jordan post with an additional 7 days on our own but probably will want to visit these sights again as they are memorable. Joanne and Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbviking2023 Posted April 19, 2023 #638 Share Posted April 19, 2023 6 hours ago, Pushka said: Wow. We will be doing this excursion but with Viking in a couple of weeks. We couldn't get a private tour happening as none wanted to take us for our time in Safaga so went with Viking Very keen to see Valley of the Queens which is the difficult one to get into. Nefertiti's tomb is still undiscovered. I think you have to book with Memphis Tours for the transportation. I'd about a4 hour drive from the port. LT is a great guide, not a driver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pushka Posted April 19, 2023 #639 Share Posted April 19, 2023 (edited) 2 minutes ago, mbviking2023 said: I think you have to book with Memphis Tours for the transportation. I'd about a4 hour drive from the port. LT is a great guide, not a driver. Yes, tried them with no joy. They didn't want to put in Valley of the Queens. Not to worry. Edited April 19, 2023 by Pushka Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbviking2023 Posted April 19, 2023 #640 Share Posted April 19, 2023 9 hours ago, Pushka said: Yes, tried them with no joy. They didn't want to put in Valley of the Queens. Not to worry. Interesting. Maybe you want to contact LT directly? We were able to go to Valley of the Queens without a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruising denise Posted April 19, 2023 #641 Share Posted April 19, 2023 3 hours ago, mbviking2023 said: Interesting. Maybe you want to contact LT directly? We were able to go to Valley of the Queens without a problem. Yes, I'd recommend that, too (contact him directly). He has already told me no problem for next year, assuming the ship docks as early as it is supposed to. He didn't mention anything about me needing to contact Memphis Tours for transportation. He only uses his WhatsApp for contact (posted above) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Avery Posted April 19, 2023 #642 Share Posted April 19, 2023 Is the ship scheduled to leave early? We also had no problem booking Memphis Tours from Safaga Port. Went to Valley of Kings/Queens, had a rooftop lunch by the Nile, boat across the Nile to Luxor/Karnak and still made it back to the ship so that we had showered and were sitting at the bar when the busses came back. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruising denise Posted April 19, 2023 #643 Share Posted April 19, 2023 17 hours ago, tomv2950 said: I believe you are on viking sky wc and if you are we might be interested in doing this with you. We are leaving for Egypt for May 10 with the Israel pre and Jordan post with an additional 7 days on our own but probably will want to visit these sights again as they are memorable. Joanne and Tom Hi Joanne and Tom - yes! We are Denise and Ed from Madbury, NH and we are on the Sky. If you are interested, I'll keep track of your info. My email is DENISEDLD@ATT.NET, in case you want to shoot me an email, sometimes that might be more direct than communicating via CC. I will also post about this excursion on our Sky WC roll call and see if there are two others who might be interested. I'm thinking six is probably ideal for a group size but will wait to see if those who went recently weigh in on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Mcobean Posted April 20, 2023 Author #644 Share Posted April 20, 2023 https://www.viking23.com/2023/04/20/rhodes/ https://www.viking23.com/2023/04/20/ancient-ephesus/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbviking2023 Posted April 20, 2023 #645 Share Posted April 20, 2023 (edited) We were in Israel for two days, but split our blog posts into three parts! We saw and did so many things and took so many pictures. The first part is ready - our visit to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Basilica of the Agony at Gethsemane. Also some views of the Old City (which is part 2). http://twohappysloths.com Special thanks to @mstadleraz for organizing the small group tours! Edited April 20, 2023 by mbviking2023 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SempreMare Posted April 21, 2023 #646 Share Posted April 21, 2023 On 4/6/2023 at 11:21 PM, Jazmyn49 said: We well remember the repercussions from the posting of mask wearing passengers in the tender at Komodo. Think before you post photos. For those of us who don't know, what were those repercussions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazmyn49 Posted April 21, 2023 #647 Share Posted April 21, 2023 Officials believing that the joking photo of the masks was indicative of a COVID outbreak. The ship had to leave the country and had great difficulty finding anywhere that would accept us. The outbreak was NOT on our ship but other cruises did have many cases. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pushka Posted April 21, 2023 #648 Share Posted April 21, 2023 5 hours ago, SempreMare said: For those of us who don't know, what were those repercussions? It was one of those grim times during early Covid when the ship had to exit the country and then struggled to find a port that would allow them access. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Mcobean Posted April 22, 2023 Author #649 Share Posted April 22, 2023 https://www.viking23.com/2023/04/22/istanbul/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbviking2023 Posted April 22, 2023 #650 Share Posted April 22, 2023 Our blog from Part 2 of the first day in Israel is up. Shore Days are getting closer together as we cascade towards London, so we're falling behind. Old City of Jerusalem, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Western Wall, Via Dolorosa, room of the Last Supper and more. http://twohappysloths.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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