Taj Mahal Excursion; Worth the Price

[JaneBP]

In light of the other query, I wonder if the Taj trip is worth it. It's quite expensve, especially as a single. It is the only place I really want to see in India at this point. I am booked on the Spirit for 12/08. Thanks!

[dd@sea]

Hi Jane,

I went to India two times - one land and one Seabourn. I loved the Seabourn trip because of Cochin (one of my favorites) and the other ports too. We were on a Hong Kong to Mumbai route. However, on the land trip, I was invited by a friend of mine to attend her niece's wedding in New Delhi. I went for 10 days and what a cultural experience! I loved it. However two of the days I went to the Taj Mahal. Please don't miss this opportunity if you have a chance. The Taj is best seen in the early morning light and at dusk. It may be pricey but you will be in good hands with Seabourn and one of your life's desires will have been achieved. I say 'go for it'! See you in November!

[cwn]

I am interested in this also. We will be on Seabourn in 2009. This is one of the tours we are interested in. I think it is two or three nights between two India ports of call. What are the flights, ground transportation and hotels like. What do you actually see? I think I read that the Angkor Wat tour is handled bt A&K. Does anyone know who handles this one for Seabourn? Thanks

[cruiseyguy]

A&K India handles Seabourn's Taj excursion.

[cwn]

They have a good reputation so it should be a nice trip. Have you done it?

[cruiseyguy]

I haven't done it. A large group on my Spirit cruise did and all were very happy with the excursion. I wanted to see Cochin and Mumbai/Bombay and decided the Taj would have to await another trip. The excursion IS very expensive and is available on several of A&K's land tours of India, which, on a per diem basis, are much better deals.

[cwn]

I would love to do a land trip to India, but my husband will not even entertain the idea. The cruise will be part of a slow trip around the world seeing places we loved on past trips and the ones we have always want to see. As much as I hate to miss the India ports, I want to see the Taj Mahal! Thanks for your info.

[GrannyLorr]

One way of doing a land tour of India, was pointed out to me here in CC by a fellow Seabournite. Its by train called "The Palace on Wheels"....thats the way I plan on seeing it one day....think its about 7 days.....Taj included of course.

[clarky]

We saw the Taj Mahal while on board the Palace on Wheels (7 day luxury train trip) and it was well worth it. India is not an easy country to travel in so your husband my find the Sebourn excursion the way to go. If you have no intention of coming back to India it would be a pitty to miss this wonderful experience. The passengers we spoke to who did this seabourn trip were very impressed with the arrangements.

 

We recently did 23 days on the Spirit Hong Kong - Singapore but gave Ankor Wat a miss as we travel to Asia frequently and wanted to spend more time visiting Cambodia however a number of passengers who took the Ankor trip raved about it and said it was worth every cent it costs and was in fact the highlight of their trip. Again if you are not coming back to do a land holiday this is another not to be missed excursion.

[cwn]

GrannyLorr, I have read your bog and plan to print out some of the comments. Thanks.

 

We hope to do the Rovos Rail trip to Tanzania fron South Africa at some point after this long trip. That is the rail trip my husband wants to do. I had read about the POW and told him about, but he just has no interest in a land trip to India. I talked him into a land portion in China a few years ago-he didn't want to do that one either, but I put it together as pre-part to a 16day SEAsia cruise that he did want to do. He was a good sport and I loved China, but he has no interest in going back. Therefore we are starting this cruise in Hong Kong after sending time in NZ and Australia.

 

clarky, thanks for the info. The tours are costly and just wanted to know that they are well done. I had read a bad report on the Luxor overnight, I think, from '06. We normally do a private car and driver/guide even for an overnight option, but those two didn't sound doable that way.

[B-2-Bs Best!]

Just a thought to those considering the Taj, and, Anghor Wat as well, another thread. Consider a pre or post cruise on your own. We've done one, "Anghor", and, will do the Taj, in December, on our own.

 

The bottom line is lesser cost and more time at the locations. We're doing a six day "Golden Triangle" at similar cost to the abbreviated ship visit which also includes leaving the ship for two days you've already paid dearly.

 

Our same rationale applies to Macchu Pichu, Xian, and Iguazu Falls, all of which we've done on our own, either pre or post-cruise.

[JaneBP]

That's a valid point, but India comes in the middle of the cruise for me. I figure I can see the most important part to me and then, go back if I want to do more; and certainly, there is alot to see. If India was at the end, I would definitely consider your option.

 

PS: My brother says 'Hi'. He's finally booking a Baltic trip.He's chekcing 'sea' days for Trivia.

[cwn]

We have the same issue-get on in Hong Kong and get off in Istanbul. So we need to do the Taj Mahal and Luxor during the cruise, though I agree with fact that we have already paid for our time on the ship. For that reason, we are thinking about doing Angkor Wat independantly before we get on the Ship.

 

My husband really wants to spend more time in Thailand than the cruise allows, so we may go there first, do the trip to Angkor Wat and then spend some time in Bangkok and back track to Hong Kong. It wouldn't be nearly as costly as another long haul trip to that part of the world. We will have plently of free time at that point!

 

We did 2 days Machu Pichu and 2days Cusco as part of a 6 day independant precruise trip to Peru this spring and are doing 3 days Igauzu Falls as part of a 12 day independant precruise trip to Argentina in Jan/Feb '08 (Crurise starts in Ushuaia-11days to Antarctica, hopefully a Polar Circle crossing and plenty of zodica landings).

 

I agree the precruise trips are definitely the best way to go if the ports work out. You can set your own pace and don't pay twice for part of the time.

 

Thanks everyone.

[clarky]

To CWN,

 

I agree that doing Ankor before is the way to go. If you fly to Bangkok you could then connect with Bangkok Air, they are a fantastic boutique airline that gets rave reviews (we have flown them and agree they are a fantastic small airline) they offer flights to Cambodia and around Thailand and I think they may fly to Hong Kong. Anyway go to their web page and have a look, this maybe a great option for you. Also my suggestion about Petra, your stop in Jordan is to hire a private guide and driver and perhaps find another couple to share with you because this will give you more time to explore Petra, as I mentioned in a previous post, while the seabourn excursion was great about 2 hours was taken up with having lunch at a five star hotel. I would much rather have spent that time exploring more of Petra (not to be missed, unbelievable). There are some fantastic hotels near Ankor that offer guided tours. I found my info from http://www.tripadvisor.com We also did a post trip to Cappadocia after spending 4 days in Instanbul (Seabourn also offer this trip) and it was fantastic. Hope this is of some help to you and good luck with all your travel plans.

[xcamtv]

We went on one of the first POW trips in 1992...A great way to see the old raj India..They stop the train for dinner and you have your own cabin steward...

[cwn]

clarky, thanks for the info on the tour options. I had forgotten about Bangkok Air. Will check it out. My husband wants to go to the interior in Thailand also. So will check out all options including on to Hong Kong.

 

I was thinking about a private car for Petra, I don't want to waste time eating on Tours!!! Actually I was even thinking about a private option for Luxor, but that is a bit more ify, though we have done it before.