Transiting the Suez Canal

At a rough calculation, this would be our 6^th time through the Suez Canal, once travelling north-south, but the rest of the time from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. It seems no matter how many times I have transited, I still managed to take nearly 800 photos. On the first cull, I am down to approximately 300 😊

It started at around 5pm when we anchored at Suez for an overnight bunkering.  We were surrounded by many cargo ships waiting for instructions as to when they could enter.

The Captain announced that we would lead the pack in the morning, only to be demoted if a warship had to join the Convoy.

Relaxing whilst in Anchor

Our Bunkerer getting into position to refuel us

Sunset at Suez

Leaving our anchor at around 4.30am the next morning, we were up on deck to ensure that we were able to capture the lights of the city of Suez as entered the mouth of the Canal. 

Palms must have been greased as we ended up No 3 in a convoy of 38 ships. 

Here is the Pilot and Tug getting us ready for our transit

The town of Suez, always looks lovely in the morning glow... 

The first of many dredgers we will see along our transit.

Those glass blue panels may try to keep the wind out, but really make it difficult to get a good shot out of the front of the ship.... Many risk damage to life and limb to get that right shot.

The Egyptian Flag is flown while we sail through the canal

 

Military can be seen all along the shores of the Canal

These conical structures can be seen all along the canal.  They house pigeons.

There are many ways to cross the Canal.  This is just one of the types of Punts that carry passengers and cars accross from one side to the other.

This is the first time I have see this type of swinging bridges... long enough to reach the otherside, I wonder if there is a set time they swing into position because there is not enough time to swing them out between ships.

Incase of emergency these pontoons can be dragged out into place to create a bridge between one side and the other.

Did I mention the Military

Constant dredging going on....

No better way to celebrate the transit than with a Balcony Breakfast.

Many different types of fishing boats and faluccas can be spotted up and down the Canal.

In the Great Bitter lake many ships just sit and wait for a job to come through and then just head out in the direction as needed. 

 

taking a nap

Half of the railway swing bridge

lots of monuments along the way

Monuments comemorating those who created the Canal... 

Pilot headquarters

Convoy in the Mist

still lots of fishing boats

Lots of waves and smiling faces as we pass boats of every size and shape...

lots of military manoeuvres going on

you know you are getting close when you pass the frienship bridge.

we spotted a train

one of the last punts just before we reached the Med.....

Aqaba or Aqua bar, the choice is yours…

We woke early to find the Coral Princess already halfway up the Aqaba Gulf.  Under the cover of darkness, we glided along. The moon was still high enough to create a golden trail toward the ship.  Up ahead were the twinkling lights of the three countries that bordered the end of the gulf. Egypt, Israel, and Jordan

Egypt, Israel and Jordan in the distance

Slowly the sun poked its head over the mountain that towers over Aqaba. Surrounded by rocky mountains, Aqaba seems so dry and arid, and yet there are man made pockets of greenery giving an oasis feel of luxury.

You couldn’t help but giggle at the constant announcements of arriving in the “Aqua” bar….  which is correctly pronounced “aka bar”

Since covid, Aqaba now has a cruise terminal…. Goodness me,  give them a terminal and now they want to do face-to-face immigration…. Its only purpose (well to us ) is to slow things down.  Benefits…. All scanning is done in the cool of the terminal.

We are now well practice in collecting tickets to be able to walk off the ship.  Just like tendering grab a ticket and wait to be called, minus any Elite priority.

This morning was simple, our tour started later than many others, which meant that by the time we were ready to disembark the wait was not long.  What also helped was that the majority of guests were on princess tours

Our tour was to spend the day at the Berenice Beach resort with a glass bottom boat trip, lunch, and use of the resort facilities for the day.

As per my previous post, we had to move as a group of 25, head into Aqaba to meet Eman and the shuttles to get us to the resort. Being a working port, it was our only option left.

Waiting for our ride where the shuttle drops you off from the ship.

Taxi drivers rushing the bus to tout for business

Berenice Resort is about 15 min along the highway back toward Saudi Arabia.  A little run down but it served our purpose well. On arrival, we paid our admission fee of 33JOD pp, which included our glass bottom boat ride, lunch, and use of the Resort up until 9 pm that night.

We were ushered straight down to the beach where our boat was waiting for us at the end of the pier.  The water looked inviting and the reef was not that far from the beach if you wanted to snorkel from the shore.

The boat was just big enough for all 25 of us.  For the first hour, the Captain maneuvered the boat over the Coral reef. 

The Jordanians being enterprising souls have sunk a yacht, plane, and army tank onto the sea bed to create an environment for the coral to grow….  Hard to capture in a moving boat, but still pretty amazing to see.

Submerged Tank

Then it was time to snorkel…. The waters looked choppy and the current seemed to swing our anchored boat around everywhere.  Not the strongest of swimmers I was really worried about being blown out to sea, never to be seen again….  I bit the bullet and decided to jump in, but never letting go of the tethered rope or Life-saving ring.   I still got to see a few fish… I was happy….  After a short time, I was back safely on the boat…..  

Garry making his signature entry into the water

As smooth as the water looks, the current was strong

When the captain returned after taking one of the other ladies for a tour of the reef…. He motioned that it was now my turn…. Apprehensive, I said no…. then oh “Just do it” … on with the flippers and back into the water…  For the next half hour, hanging onto the ring for dear life, our captain dragged me over the most amazing reefs, not great colour, but the formations were amazing and the little and big fish were just gorgeous.  He dragged me into every little nook and cranny along the reef….  I  tired but loved every minute of it… by the end, it was with welcome relief, that when I popped my head out of the water I could see our small boat just ahead…

A very happy but tired Jo being towed back to the ship.....

Arriving back at the wharf we walked back up to the resort for a delicious middle eastern lunch, of salads, dips and char-grilled meat. 

Stairs to Lunch

Lunch

 Topping it off was an amazing Jordanian version of bread and butter pudding, laced with cinnamon, sultanas, walnuts, and other culinary delights.

We spend the rest of the afternoon in and out of the pool.  Apart from all the angst, it was a very enjoyable relaxing day.

On our return to Aqaba town, we made a beeline for our favorite Kanefah store.  Two dinars or was it dollars? Can’t remember, but it got us a delicious slice of Kanefah.  Melted cheese base topped with a crumb, sprinkled with nuts, and doust with honey syrup….  Just yum..

Walking the streets just proved too hot and after a rather large juice, we ventured back to find the bottle shop. 

Shop no 1…. Big mistake by them,  would not take US$$ nor foreign credit cards, so we turned on our heel and walked straight back out, income lost....  Finding a more obliging bottollo, we manage to procure some prosecco and beer…. Along with everyone else in there from the ship….. 

Another great day!

The Saga on Aqaba Eve…..

I had arranged for a group of 25 to go to a resort in Aqaba, for something so simple, the logistics were a nightmare.  It all had to do with being able to get a shuttle on the pier as a private transfer to and from the ship… 

It all started when they wanted me to pay the 250JOD ($540) upfront for the shuttle.  This had to do with obtaining a permit to enter the secure port area.  Happy to pay, “just let me give you the credit card details”….. nup, sorry have to do a bank transfer…. Hmm, didn’t want to do that, and no matter how much I tried they would not comply… Not wanting to let everyone down, I decided to comply…..  Working out I could do it through St George online, the next hiccup was, no Jordanian Dinars in the drop-down currency box…..  I was ready to pull the pin on the whole trip by now….. ok you can pay in US currency, back to St George I go.  All went through without a hitch at my end, so now it was a matter of time to receive confirmation that they received the payment.

Two weeks had passed without a word, so I decided to chase it up.  According to the finance department, they had not received anything…. Bugger…. I kept telling them “Check with your bank” They kept telling me “check with your bank”…. Hey, I had a receipt saying it was done…  guaranteeing to Sinbad ( the company), that I would cancel before paying them another $, the saga went on.

After much too-ing and fro-ing, I decided to go back to St George which was now going to cost me $25 to follow up…… let's face it, I am down over $500

Well just like the immaculate conception, the money suddenly appeared in their account and dated 2 days after I sent it.  They made some noise about it appearing in AUD, but…. My paperwork definitely said USD

So now out of pocket $25 but I knew the money was there….

Finally thinking all the ducks were in a row, I relaxed and started to look forward to our adventure…. Or so I thought….

Less than 24 hours before arriving in Aqaba, I get a text (thank god for Whats app and Medallion net)… “They need a manifest”, ok not sure of the request….I sent them a list of participants….

Them: ” No we need a manifest with a travel agent stamp”

Me: “What I don’t have one, we are just a group of friends traveling together”

To cut a long story short, basically, they needed to prove to the port authority that we were all on the ship to enable them entry into the secure port area”

Several hours were spent running and down from the ship's printer, to guest services and the cabin to try and produce a document that would be accepted. As every updated document was rejected my patience was running thin.  This should have been addressed months ago… not now.

In the back of my mind, I knew that the only good outcome would be if we provided passport information.  So when the message came through “What would really help is to have a copy of everyone's passport”, I just rolled my eyes

No, not going to happen, it is now 5pm, everyone is scattered around the ship and nobody is going to give me such sensitive information to email to a random company, that has obviously never dealt with ships before…

The final outcome was they would pick us up from the shuttle stop in Aqaba town….

So what about the money I paid them to come on to the port…. Well, that also took a bit of debating and I finally got them to agree to a refund…  Transfer is a free service that they offer guests in and out of town…. Except…. They will pick us up at 9am and the first shuttle back at 6pm….  I knew that was not going to run with some of my guests, so I ensured I got my refund in cash so I was able to distribute this amongst everyone to give them taxi fare home….

Look it was a great day, and would do it again in a heartbeat, knowing what I know now, I would organize it a lot differently.