Booking tours in the Middle East from the US can be challenging but we had an excellent experience with Zaid Tours. The website was clear and allowed me to pay online, and communication was prompt. I was initially a little worried that I had to provide passport info but we were doing a shore excursion from a cruise and this was indeed required. I can't recommend strongly enough the benefits of doing a private tour over the cruise's own excursions for Petra. Our driver Muhammed picked us up right outside port security and left well in advance of the the cruise buses; with his smaller car he was able to take back roads that saved us quite a bit of time. It took us around two hours to get to Petra and we spent 2-3 hours there in relative peace; as we were on our way out we saw hundreds of our fellow cruise passengers just arriving! Muhammed was also great, spoke good English and provided us with bottled water and even Wifi in a clean, comfortable car; he answered lots of questions about Jordan and then took us on a quick tour of Aqaba on our way home. He also found us a fantastic guide, Iman, who had worked as an archeologist for UNESCO and was incredibly knowledgeable. Well worth the small premium over the ship excursion. Tour details: -Pickup right outside of port customs office according to your schedule -Approx. 2-hour drive to Petra, we made a rest stop at a scenic viewpoint. -Includes tickets to Petra, guide and optional horse ride. At Petra, the guide takes you through the main park one way and then you walk out by yourself (you can pay your guide extra to accompany you if needed). There is a pool of guides speaking various languages there and the driver organizes everything for you. -After spending 2-3 hours at Petra we had an included lunch with our tour. We went to Alqantarah which is a short drive from the visitor center. -The driver was flexible to stay with us through our 8PM deadline to get back to the ship (our pickup was 10:30AM) but we wanted to be back for our 7PM dinner. He showed us around Aqaba and then got us back in plenty of time. Hope this is helpful, and don't hesitate to book through Zaid!
Thank you. Looking forward to having you, your family, and friends with us again
