Uniworld Egypt

[qmcmret]

I was planning to take a Uniworld cruise in Egypt in March of 2011. I have noticed on another site that the River Tosca is expected to be in drydock from February 5 to March 19 2011. Has anyone else seen or heard of this?

[Hydrokitty]

don't know anything abut the Tosca, sorry, but if you haven't already booked with Uniworld, would you consider another company? We did this tour in January, 2008 with Vantage and it was wonderful and the ships were both lovely.

[sands28]

I follow the Uniword news fairly closely and have not seen any information on another dry-docking of the Tosca. Uniworld is offerring a $400 pp discount if the River Tosca 2011 trips are paid in full by Sept. 30th!! Our online travel agent also discounted the trip by 10%. I would be happy to send you the contact information if you or anyone else will send me their email address. I have had my hand slapped by Cruise Critic for attempting to post the name.

[sands28]

If you want the contact information about our discount on-line agent and additional information on travel insurance please email me at sands28@comcast.net!!!

[Mzhelen]

Check the Uniworld website - I thought the drydock was for 2010 (just past)! We were on the Tosca a couple of weeks ago and can highly recommend the entire Uniworld experience!

[happymum]

Yes we too saw that and our agent checked with Uniworld. It seems the website that shows that is not Uniworld but another with the same name. 2nd that was true for those dated in 2010 not 2011. Check out http://www.Uniworld.com and you'll see that those dry dock dates are not there. Hope that helps! Also book fast, March is almost sold out!!!

[Uniworld]

After reading these posts about the River Tosca going into dry dock in February and March of 2011, we'd like everyone to know that is not correct. The River Tosca will be sailing its regular schedule in 2011. The schedule is shown on our website.

 

If possible, we would appreciate it if someone could post a link to the article indicating that the River Tosca is going into dry dock next year, so that we may have the opportunity to correct that information.

 

Thank you very much for your assistance in this matter.

 

Kind regards,

 

Uniworld River Cruises

[happymum]

The website is uniworldcruiseline.com which is apparently a division of Vacations to Go. We found this website by accident as we were Googling for Uniworld and this was the 1st site that came up. Not being familiar with them we thought it was Uniworld's official site. Have since booked on the Tosca for March 2011 :D

[Uniworld]

Thank you so much happymum for the website address and for booking the River Tosca. We look forward to welcoming you onboard in March!

 

With our appreciation,

 

Uniworld River Cruises

[Mzhelen]

The website is uniworldcruiseline.com which is apparently a division of Vacations to Go. We found this website by accident as we were Googling for Uniworld and this was the 1st site that came up. Not being familiar with them we thought it was Uniworld's official site. Have since booked on the Tosca for March 2011 :D

 

Happymum, we were on the Tosca last month. If you have any questions, feel free to ask - we had a spectacular time and highly recommend it!

[sands28]

...and have a few questions:

1. Did you do the Uniworld optional excusion to Abu Simbel, if so was it worthwhile and which airline did you use Egypt Air or AirMemphis?? How were the flights??

2. Did anyone on your cruise choose to go to Abu Simbel on their own by bus?? If so how was their trek through the desert??

3. Were you able to walk around Cairo safely on your own?? How bad was the traffic crossing the streets?

4. Did you get any pretravel innoculations and did you take any medications to avoid stomach problems.

 

Thank you, in advance, for the answers.

[Ozjohnno]

...and have a few questions:

1. Did you do the Uniworld optional excusion to Abu Simbel, if so was it worthwhile and which airline did you use Egypt Air or AirMemphis?? How were the flights??

 

On our trip Abu Simbel was included and I'm glad it was. Seeing both those temples was the highlight of a trip full of "Wow's". We flew Egypt Air and no problems other than it was an early flight out. Our flight stopped at Luxor on the way to Aswan then we flew on to Abu Simbel on another aircraft but you could have different arrangements.

2. Did anyone on your cruise choose to go to Abu Simbel on their own by bus?? If so how was their trek through the desert??

 

Not on our tour so I'm afarid I can't help here.

3. Were you able to walk around Cairo safely on your own?? How bad was the traffic crossing the streets?

 

We had no problem walking the streets. We always felt perfectly safe. The Egyptians are very friendly people. In fact we really enjoyed chatting with the locals. As for the traffic it is almost indescribable. There are more cars in Cairo than we have people in Australia so you can imagine how wide our eyes were. Yes we crossed the street using the advice we were given to go with another group of people. But seriously we never saw an accident in all our time there. I wrote this in our travel diary at the time.

"There are 22 million people living in Cairo and they all seem to drive cars. The traffic moves along at a brisk but not too fast with cars apparently changing position at will. There seemed to be a series of horn blasts that signified the intentions of the driver. As an example we were on the inside of about 5 lanes as we approached the entrance of the village and without indicating our driver just started tooting his horn and veered right. I don’t know to this day how everyone missed us but they did and our first experience of the chaos of Cairo drivers was over."

 

4. Did you get any pre travel inoculations and did you take any

medications to avoid stomach problems.

 

On our Doctor's advice we took the HepA, B and C series and ensured our Tetanus shots were up to date. We never heard of nor had a case ourselves of "Mummy's Tummy". On arrival we purchased a pack of Antinal from a local chemist as a precaution and never had to open the pack. Although you should always drink bottled water and use same for teeth brushing we found the fear of contracting the dreaded curse was far greater than the actual event happening. You are more libel to get dehydration headaches from not drinking enough water than anything else.

 

Thank you, in advance, for the answers.

 

I hope this has been of some help.

[qmcmret]

I too got my information from Vacations to Go that the Tosca would be in drydock from Feb to Apr. We are hoping to book a trip in March and are very much looking forward to sailing on the Tosca

[Mzhelen]

...and have a few questions:

1. Did you do the Uniworld optional excusion to Abu Simbel, if so was it worthwhile and which airline did you use Egypt Air or AirMemphis?? How were the flights?? Yes we did. And we definitely thought it was worthwhile!!! No doubt about it. Seeing those giant statues of Ramses, realizing they had initially been carved in a single piece out of the mountain - WOW! You're not allowed to take photos inside the temples, but if you slip the guard at the front of each a buck, you can stand in the doorway and take a couple of pictures. And our guide showed us a photo/postcard book available for purchase in several different sizes - if we wanted one, we gave him the $ and he picked them up for us all while we were all doing the touring. Saved us the hassle of dealing with the vendors (once you start to buy from one, they all start bugging you LOL).

We were on AirMemphis. Not bad. The return flight was really bumpy, but that was due to heat not to the plane. It was an older Fokker, but didn't seem to be run down or have any maintenance issues.

2. Did anyone on your cruise choose to go to Abu Simbel on their own by bus?? If so how was their trek through the desert?? No. If you were doing it thru Uniworld that wasn't an option. And if you were on the shorter itinerary, like we were, we had to fly back to Cairo that afternoon so wouldn't have been able to do the drive trip. I supposed if you were on the longer tour that was staying on the boat that afternoon/evening you could have opted for the bus trek on your own, but you likely would miss the Uniworld activities in the afternoon, which we were told included going to a Nubian village. I'd rather do the 45 minute flight than several hours driving across the desert.

3. Were you able to walk around Cairo safely on your own?? How bad was the traffic crossing the streets? I felt totally safe in Cairo, although we pretty much stayed to major populated areas. Yes, traffic is nuts but we just followed other people, or waited for quick breaks in the traffic and made a run for it. :D We went to the bazaar on our own one night, and most nights we were in Cairo we went out to dinner outside of the hotel. And a couple of afternoons after our tours we wandered around as well. I felt more comfortable and less conspicuous by wearing sleeves (cover your shoulders) and long pants. For the most part we were ignored like anyone else walking the streets, except along the Nile where the horse-drawn carriage guys kept trying to persuade us to take a "romantic carriage ride."

4. Did you get any pretravel innoculations and did you take any medications to avoid stomach problems. We both got tetanus boosters. And the Hepatitus B series (which you need to start 6 months before you go). I hadn't had H1N1 so my Doc recommended I get it because Egypt had been reporting some cases. As for stomach problems, we went to a pharmacy right down the street from our hotel (the Marriott) when we arrived and bought some Antonel. Took it for 2 days initially, then a couple of days later Dave's stomach started "hinting" at something so he took it for another day and everything was fine! We were so impressed with the stuff that we bought 3 boxes to bring home!

 

Thank you, in advance, for the answers.

 

Hope that helps!

[TucsonRick]

A few questions.......

How much was the optional trip to Abu Simbel?

Do the cabins have refrigerators?

Is room service available?

How much do you tiip?

 

Thanks

[Mzhelen]

A few questions.......

How much was the optional trip to Abu Simbel?

Do the cabins have refrigerators?

Is room service available?

How much do you tiip?

 

Thanks

 

Abu Simbel was I think $249 U.S. each. That included transport to the Aswan airport, flight to/from Abu Simbel airport, transport to the temples from the airport, entry to Abu Simbel, and returns.

 

Yes there are small fridges in the closet in the room. I don't think there was room service - the Tosca is small, only 80 cabins. And Uniworld gives you a tipping guide in your sailing documents. They provide an envelope that you then drop into a box at the reception desk on the boat. We tipped our guide personally when we got back to the hotel in Cairo. I don't remember the exact amounts - we followed the recommendations for the crew, but I know we went higher for our guide because we felt he was above and beyond our expectations.

[JEBurton]

Mzhelen:

 

I can't remember if I asked this question before, so forgive me if you have already answered it: Which restaurants did you eat at close by the Marriott in Cairo?

 

thanks (again maybe!)

 

john

[TucsonRick]

Mzhelen -

 

Thanks for you answers. I have a few more.....

 

One in our party has to use the restroom frequently. Are they readily available on shore excursions and on the small airplanes or are they few and far between?

Did you do the Lake Nasser portion on the Prince Abbas or just the Nile on the River Tosca? It seems that you would see the same sights on the return trip as you do sailing from Luxor to Aswan on the Tosca.

 

Thanks

 

Rick

[JEBurton]

Mzhelen - I found the info you previously posted about restaurants in Cairo so you don't have to re-post it. (The heat must be getting to me!)

thanks, john

[Mzhelen]

Mzhelen -

 

Thanks for you answers. I have a few more.....

 

One in our party has to use the restroom frequently. Are they readily available on shore excursions and on the small airplanes or are they few and far between?

Did you do the Lake Nasser portion on the Prince Abbas or just the Nile on the River Tosca? It seems that you would see the same sights on the return trip as you do sailing from Luxor to Aswan on the Tosca.

 

Thanks

 

Rick

 

I don't remember if there was one on the 45 minute Air Memphis flight - but I'm pretty sure there was. As for other places, there are restrooms but there always seemed to be someone there with a hand out for baksheesh (tip). Most of the tourist sites have an entrance where you hand in your ticket, and the restrooms are there. Even at the valley of the Kings there were restrooms. We brought little pre-packaged packs of paper seat cover, wet wipe & toilet paper as a precaution, but every restroom did have t.p.

 

We did the Nile on the Tosca trip. We spent a couple of days in Cairo (we went in a day early so we could do Coptic Cairo, the bazaar and a few other things not included in our Uniworld itinerary). Then flew to Luxor, cruised to Dendara, then back to Luxor, then down to Aswan. We did not cruise back up to Luxor - we flew from Aswan back to Cairo after the Abu Simbel trip.

[smeyer418]

The expected baksheesh for a bathroom is 1Egyptian pound.,,, 12 cents and they will give you paper....get EP at any bank and get small bills. no US coins- or Euro coins either....

 

there is extremely little street crime in Cairo. but traffic is by far the worst I have seen in the world...by a long distance and I drove a cab in NYC in college. Those of you who know Rome or Paris imagine traffic that is worse than both of those with rules like the Dominican Republic...

 

we went in a week before the tour and could have used more time....

[SunLover05]

We are going on the River Tosca 12/4/10. We are flying in 2 days early and wonder what you would suggest for restaurants, places not to miss, and any other helpful information. Did any of you arrange a guide to see the sights ahead of time? ( I scoured these boards for information before we did a Med cruise in 2007, and had private tours lined up ahead of time. They were all suggestions from others that had used the guides and highly recommended them and the itinearies. We had the best tours because of this information.)

Any help would be appreciated!

 

Denise

[smeyer418]

We are going on the River Tosca 12/4/10. We are flying in 2 days early and wonder what you would suggest for restaurants, places not to miss, and any other helpful information. Did any of you arrange a guide to see the sights ahead of time? ( I scoured these boards for information before we did a Med cruise in 2007, and had private tours lined up ahead of time. They were all suggestions from others that had used the guides and highly recommended them and the itinearies. We had the best tours because of this information.)

Any help would be appreciated!

 

Denise

 

 

I posted on another Thread the two tour groups I used. Debbi of Casual Cairo and ITBE....both I recommend without hesitation.

 

We used a guidebook to find restaurants and it was no problem. Its really what you want to do and what the tour you are on is doing? Do they go to Saquarra/Dashur? if not I highly recommend them. I wanted to go up to the Suez canal which we weren't doing otherwise(They took us to some of the battle area of the 6 day war-from the Egyptian prospective very interesting). We went out to a Oasis another day....but then again we went in a week early....

 

We also went to the Egyptian Museum by ourselves for a half day...so as not to be rushed through it...

get a guide book and read IMO...Its hard to tell you what you would like.

[Mzhelen]

We are going on the River Tosca 12/4/10. We are flying in 2 days early and wonder what you would suggest for restaurants, places not to miss, and any other helpful information. Did any of you arrange a guide to see the sights ahead of time? ( I scoured these boards for information before we did a Med cruise in 2007, and had private tours lined up ahead of time. They were all suggestions from others that had used the guides and highly recommended them and the itinearies. We had the best tours because of this information.)

Any help would be appreciated!

 

Denise

 

A good guide book is invaluable. We also got recommendations from our hotel. We ate at Negib Mafouz in the Bazaar (after shopping in the bazaar and haggling like crazy over item :D). Also, if you're at the Marriott if you go out of the hotel and turn right and walk along the Nile you'll find a series of banked "river boats." Each has multiple restaurants, many of which are quite good.

 

We were doing the shorter Tosca trip, so we hired a guide from Ramses to take us to the places not included via Uniworld: Coptic Cairo, the Alabaster Mosque, and extra time at the museum. If we'd had 1 more day we wanted to get down to Sakkara & the step pyramid.

 

You'll love the Tosca - the guides are great, the amenities nice, all the tours except Abu Simbel are included (I'd recommend adding that one on).

[SunLover05]

Thank you for the information. I believe I will contact Ramses and see about setting up a tour. I would rather be taken on a tour than try it on our own. Were they aware of what you would be seeing on the Uniworld tours?