What kind of vehicle for Ramses Egypt Tours?

[petesweet]

I would appreciate comments from any of you who have booked a private tour with Ramses.

 

We are in the enviable position of being able to have as many or as few people as we like on our private two-day tour in Egypt. We are part of a group of about 100, so we can adjust the size of our smaller group easily.

 

So . . .

 

I'd be interested in hearing from various people who have taken the private tour. Our small group of four is the minimum. Since the cost goes down as we add people, we may want to expand our group. But we don't want to squeeze 7 (for example) in a van and have someone seated uncomfortably between two others if we can expand our group, say, to 12 and get a slightly larger vehicle where each person gets a window seat.

 

How many does a minibus hold? Does that make for an unwieldy group for touring?

 

All contributions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Kathy

[Kanuk2]

We are just back home after this wonderful trip to the Middle East on a Celebrity Equinox cruise that had 2 days in Egypt. We were a party of 4 and booked private tours for our group throughout the trip because we prefer the ability to customize and control how we spend our time. The day excursions we had arranged through Ramses Tours in Egypt certainly met and perhaps even exceeded our expectations.

The driver and guides were prompt picking us up and dropping us off at the terminal as arranged. Both guides, Rita for our day in Cairo and Giza, and Muhammad in Alexandria, spoke excellent English and were

well informed about the areas we visited . We were particularly impressed with the wonderful job Rita did of getting us to the key exhibits in The Cairo Museum that was packed with tourists,despite the fact that we were ahead of much of the cruise ship "bus traffic" .

Of course the Pyramids , the Sphinx and the desert were amazing!

In Alexandria, Muhammad provided an excellent description of the Mosque and we appreciated learning about some of the Muslim traditions. ( If you visit do have small change for the guy who looks after your shoes).

The library tour was really good. King Farouk's Place and grounds were interesting. A beautiful place with an interesting history. Too bad there are no tours available of the Palace itself!

After 2 days in Egyptian city traffic, we were calling our driver, Khalim, a "miracle man" for his obvious driving skills. Our air

conditioned van was clean and comfortable. One of the reasons we chose Ramses Tours was the assurances that their vehicles were air conditioned, late models in good condition and that their drivers obeyed speed limits!! Our van could seat 7, that would be tight and would crowd sight lines for some of the passengers. Go have a look at a van and visualize a driver, guide & passenger in the front and 3 passengers in each of the 2nd and 3rd row. It can be done but.... For us the space and ease of movement made the extra cost per person well worth it. Ramses Tours also made our English speaking guides available to us the entire time we were off the ship with us, unlike some other tours where you pick up and leave your guide in Cairo. All entry fees and tolls were included as promised. We felt very safe in the care of the Ramses Travel people and based on our experiences we would happily recommend them to others. If I can answer any questions email lbanyssa@gmail.com

[petesweet]

Thank you! That is exactly the kind of information I was looking for.

Now, if anyone has information about a larger vehicle (minibus?), I would welcome that as well.

Kathy

[kool kruiser]

We have just returned from a wonderful Holy Land cruise on the Royal Princess. During our two days in Egypt we used Ramses Tours for a two day overnight in Cairo/Giza. There were eight of us and we fitted very comfortably in a mini van, together with our brilliant guide and driver. I cannot speak too highly of Ramses and we had a truly unforgettable tour. We were extremely comfortable with not being required to make any payment at all until the conclusion of our tour on the second day. Our guide was both expert and fun and accompanied us throughout. The driver was also brilliant in navigating the quite ridiculous standard of driving and the trafficwhich we encountered. We paid less than one-half of the cost of an equivalent ship tour and did much more.

 

I would have no hesitation in recommending the company who fully met and even surpassed all of our expectations.

[v-bergen]

I just used Ramses at the beginning of October. We had the "mini" bus that seats about 14. We had 9 people and I would suggest no more then 8. There are 4 bench seats that fit 3 people each and a couple of fold-up seats in the back of the van. It is most comfortable to have only 2 people on each the bench seats. (and I am a small person). If you put 3 people together on the bench it is hard for the middle person to see anything as the windows on the vans are not very high like they are on buses. It was also a little bit difficult to get in and out from the back seat. It's not a problem if you all have good mobility. If you have anymore questions you can e-mail me v-bergen@hotmail.com.

[maryann ns]

This is what Ramses told me concerning our tour for 14 this November:

Your bus will be large enough for 26 persons, toilets exists in big buses only 40 & upove, you will however have a chance every one hour to go to a clean toilet on the way.

[petesweet]

Thank you, everyone, for these helpful replies. Exactly the kind of information I am looking for.

 

Kathy

[greypower]

We booked a Ramses tour for a one day tour of the Pyramids and Cairo while on a cruise with Royal Carribean in October 2010. I cannot say enough positives about our experience with this tour company. From the start the service was excellent and very responsive.

Originally it was to be a tour for just my wife and myself. However as we told people on the cruise about our plan we grew to five couples in the end. Each time I e-mailed Ramses tours about increasing the numbers their reply was always immediate and very accomodating.

The 14 seat mini bus they provided was clean, air conditioned and very comfortable. The tour guide, Islam, was professional, informative, attentive to our concerns and comfort and extremely knowledgeable. During the three hour drive from Alexandria to Cairo he took us from about 4000 BC to the present day explaining the history of Egypt, etc. And, we never became bored or tired from his discourse. He answered our questions and he engaged us in discussion.

In Cairo, Islam took us on a tour of the Museum of Antiquity and then to the Pyamids and Sphinx and again explained its history to us.

I could go on and on about this tour. Everyone in our group felt the same way about its high quality and professionalism. It turned out to cost less than half the price of the ships tour and was a day well spent.

If anyone would like further information, please do not hesitate to contact me at wweagle@rogers.com

[Javamonsoon]

Hi Kathy:

My wife and I just returned from a Holy Land cruise that included two days in Alexandria. We booked a private tour with Ramses Tours for a visit to the pyramids, I believe it was #3 and included the great pyramid, the Sphinx and Sakurra. We had a van that was very comfortable (of course there were just two of us), the driver and our guide, Maha. The driver was very good. I don't know if you are familiar with traffic in Giza, Alexandria, etc., but for an American, it seemed extremely chaotic. The driver handled everything very well. Our guide was very knowledgeable and personable also. All in all, our experience was very good.

[t1gg3r]

We also have just returned from our Oct 30 th Holy Land cruise with RCCL . We had taken our 9 year old daughter with us on the cruise and since she is currently obsessed with all things Egypt, I wanted to maximize our time in Egypt. We did a private tour - just the 3 of us as I wanted to have maximum flexibility with the itinerary and schedule. I looked at a couple of different private tour operators and decided to book with Ramses Tours. From the start, they were very willing to be fairly flexible and willing to adjust the standard tour to our choices and the email replies were very quick. All information was clear and questions answered completely. When we arrived, 2 hours late, our guide and driver where waiting. Because of the late arrival, they had adjusted the order of the tour to try to maximize the time we had. Our Guide - Lyn was absolutely amazing. She and our daughter bonded immediately. Our daughter, Sara has a fairly good knowledge of ancient Egypt and Lyn delighted in having extended discussions with Sara on this and other topics. The vehicle as a 7-8 passenger van which was extremely clean, modern and comfortable and had working seat belts ( something we rarely find when traveling). Having a separate driver, even for such a small group was wonderful. At each site, the driver would drop us off with Lyn at the entrance then head off to park. As we were finishing the tour, Lyn would call him on the cell phone and he would be waiting for us at the exit. We never felt unsafe or uncomfortable during the drive - even in the midst of Cairo traffic.

 

Overall, I was really impressed with my interactions with Ramses, and particularly with our tour guide. She did an excellent job of getting to know our interests and consulting us frequently about the schedule and our interests. We added in some activities at the last minute and discarded others ( a side trip to Dashur) to maximize our time. We also appreciated having a dinner of "egyptian Take-out" in the back of the van as we drove between the Cairo Museum and the Sound and Light show. None of us would have survived without dinner till after the show.

 

The entire tour including the optional extras ( sailing the Nile and Camel ride) ended up costing us less than the overnight tour through the ship. I would have no hesitation about recommending Ramses tours. I am hoping we can get back to Egypt in a few years for a longer stay and would definitely book a more extensive tour with Ramses again.

[Optifire]

Hi Kathy:

 

We were on the Celebrity Equinox in October and we used Ramses Tours for an overnight tour in Cairo when we stopped at Alexandria. I arranged the tour for our Roll Call Thread members and there was a total of 54 of us in all. We did not want to travel as a large group, so George was able to give us 5 minibuses with each one containing 10-12 people in each vehicle. It worked out wonderful. We were able to still get the discount price for 54 people for everyone, but the vehicles were kept at a small number so we were able to travel light. It made it so nice. Our vehicles did not stay together either, we all went at our own pace. There was no bathroom on board the vehicle as they are only on the larger buses, but if anyone had to use a facility, all they had to do was ask and a stop was made. Ramses promised us a tour of a lifetime and they deleivered that and so much more.

[Bobkesq]

We had a wonderful experience with Ramses and the talented guide Islam on our trip Dec. 21, 2010 while we were visiting on MSC Splendida. Ramses made our trip one that our family will never forget. Ramses came highly recommended and we now know why, the service, pricing, and commitment were exceptional. I saw 43 bus loads of passengers getting ready to leave our ship yesterday morning and I know that they did not get half the trip we did and paid more. We boked our trip completly through email communications and the response was always prompt and accurate. I would highly recommend them.

[Optifire]

I dont know if this is going to work or not as I am not good at going from one source to another. But I will give it a try to send the picture we took of Ramses Mini Buses that we used on our tour that we took with Ramses to give you an idea of their transportation vehicles.

http://thumb1.webshots.net/t/87/87/2/41/51/2818241510097949861NTisrR_th.jpg

[jlau321]

Anyone have recent pictures or comments of the private vans Ramses uses? Thanks in advance.

[caribill]

Anyone have recent pictures or comments of the private vans Ramses uses? Thanks in advance.

 

For pictures from our Ramses tour of May, 2011 (not recent, but more recent than this thread) see our report starting at post #101 at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=29465407&highlight=#post29465407

 

2nd picture is of the van. There were four of us on the tour. Van also held the driver and the guide.

[josey1964]

Great review and photos, thank-you.