aden, yemen

[commonsense2]

hi. i just booked a cruise on costa - dubai to savona, italy. one of the ports is aden, yemen. has anyone been? any tips? thanks!

[shabwa]

I'm afraid you have chosen a pretty boring trip, with lots of sea time and little shore time. However Aden can be a fascinating place, so include the Tanks and the market area in Crater (on the other side of the mountain). Steamer Point is a shadow of its former self, but has interesting Bays and places to swim to the south. I did the same trip earlier this year, but we also landed at Hodeidah and went up country, so we were able to see more of this fascinating land.

[commonsense2]

I'm afraid you have chosen a pretty boring trip, with lots of sea time and little shore time. However Aden can be a fascinating place, so include the Tanks and the market area in Crater (on the other side of the mountain). Steamer Point is a shadow of its former self, but has interesting Bays and places to swim to the south. I did the same trip earlier this year, but we also landed at Hodeidah and went up country, so we were able to see more of this fascinating land.

 

thanks for the tips. what are the tanks?

 

i don't think this will be a boring itinerary at all. we leave from dubai after an overnight there, make 2 stops in oman, one in yemen then jordan, sharm el sheik, alexandria and naples before finishing in genoa. not many cruise ships go through the suez canal and that's a plus, too. i love sea days (i've done 2 transatlantics with lots of them).

[TxnAquarian]

Don't worry Commonsense,

 

 

This won't be a boring itinerary for you. You actually have quite a few more ports than mine. I'm doing 14-days from Dubai to Athens, with an overnight in Dubai, one port in Oman(Salalah), one port in Jordan(Aquaba) and two ports in Egypt(Safaga & Alexandria), before arriving in Athens. We have a total of 8 days at sea and I'm looking forward to mixing these interesting detinations with time to relax onboard ship. Please let us know how your cruise was when you return. I'm very interested to hear how Yemen, and your other ports, were. I glimpsed at the itinerary on Costa's site and it looks like a great collection of stops.

 

Have fun!

 

 

Michael

[Grothj]

We stopped in Aden in 1999, before the Cole bombing. I found it fasinating..my husband was less impressed. The "tanks" are quite a site and makes you wonder just how they were created. The museum is very small and not very much in it, but what there was about the people of the area was interesting.

We were there on a Friday during Ramadan. The children were the most interesting. The little girls were dressed up in fancy dresses and the boys in nice shirts and pants. The boys especially wanted to say "hello" in English. All women were completely covered in black including their hands.

 

We were able to stay on shore after sun down and walk through the market.

 

Since this was before the terrible events of the past several years, we never felt uncomfortable even though we had a armed guard on the bus. I found that interesting because when we were let out at the market, we were free to wonder around on our own without any escorts at all.

 

I'm not sure I would do that today.

[Keith1010]

Commonsense2, your itineray sounds like quite a nice one. You mentioned that you are stopping in Jordan. Be sure to see The Lost City of Petra. It was amazing and I highly recommend it. Take lots of pictures. If you have a video camera take it as well. Truly amazing.

 

Keith

[editor@cruisecritic]

I've been -- and it was an unforgettable experience. I'd recommend booking the line's tour; my report is here: http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/virtual/virtual.cfm?ID=13&page=6.

 

Good luck.

 

Carolyn

 

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor

Cruise Critic

 

hi. i just booked a cruise on costa - dubai to savona, italy. one of the ports is aden, yemen. has anyone been? any tips? thanks!

[commonsense2]

Commonsense2, your itineray sounds like quite a nice one. You mentioned that you are stopping in Jordan. Be sure to see The Lost City of Petra. It was amazing and I highly recommend it. Take lots of pictures. If you have a video camera take it as well. Truly amazing.

 

Keith

 

thanks. i already have my tour to petra reserved. it should be fascinating.

 

I've been -- and it was an unforgettable experience. I'd recommend booking the line's tour; my report is here: http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/virtual/virtual.cfm?ID=13&page=6.

 

Good luck.

 

Carolyn

 

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor

Cruise Critic

 

very nice write-up. i just finished the whole thing. thanks!