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CAIRO - A question re timing


rhohea

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Could anyone who has visited Cairo (Port Said) tell us if this is achievable in 1 day. We have not been to Egypt or Israel so have lots of questions coming up.We dock at 6am & depart at 8pm. I have told them we depart at 7pm as I dont want to be late back.

0700 Meet and assist at Port of Entry

Transfer to Cairo

Approximately 3 Hour Drive

Day Tour Cairo

Sphinx

Ride a Camel

Giza Pyramids



Egyptian Museum

Transfer back to the Ship arriving before 1800



End of scheduled Program

Includes

Meet and Assist



Guide

Lunch

Transportation

Thank you all again for your help.

Rhonda

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Probably doable (I would skip the camel ride - you can do it Australia :D; save your time for the Egyptian Museum, which you cannot see in Australia). Also skip all the papyrus shops, unless you just have to have one.

See what Oceania offers for that day; if they offer a similar excursion then they deem it doable.

PS Also check the Ports of Call forum and see if others have done what you plan to do out of Port Said in the time you have.

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It is absolutely "doable" -- otherwise I doubt whether O would bother with Port Said. It is certainly "doable" from Alexandria, but know that it is a v-e-r-y l-o-n-g day, albeit rewarding. If you Go with O, you will most certainly be taken to one of the ubiquitous papyrus shops, and a lengthy lunch at some hotel. Honestly, I would have appreciated a good box lunch and more time at the Egyptian Museum.

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In my opinion, I would consider the timing doable but tight. Skip the camel ride and concentrate on the Sphinx, pyramids, and the museum. There is also the boat museum at the pyramids, which is fascinating, besides the Cairo museum, which is a must. (You can see Tut's treasures in Cairo up close). Don't forget, you have 6 hours of travel to and from Cairo, if everything is on time.

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Hi Rhonda,

It may be doable but will be a grueling day.

We did an overnight - were picked up by tour guide in Port Said, drove to Cairo, stayed overnight near the Pyramids and met the ship in Alexandria the next day. Still a lot of driving but allowed time to see more sights.

I can recommend the tour company if you want more info.

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We did Cairo from Port Said in one day the summer before last on Nautica...

Rather than a purely "private" tour, we booked a van for the full day through Oceania...The cost was actually comparable to what a private tour would have been...and less than Oceania's big bus tour when divided among six people...We had the option to control the itinerary...and we opted to visit Sakkara, Memphis and the Pyramids/Sphinx in Giza...

We were able to fit in the drive back and forth, all of the above sights and a nice lunch at Felfela (across from the pyramids) and the drive back to the ship...

Being that it was booked directly through Oceania, we felt comfortable that we would get back to the ship on time--or it would wait for us...

 

The drive back and forth to the Cairo area was escorted by an armed escort...and, apparently, there is some sort of protocol by which all of the traffic pulled over to let us by...

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I hope you did not choose Sakkara instead of the Egyptian Museum :eek:

 

Yeah, we did...

We were concerned with really getting enough time in the Museum due to the short visit and long drives...

I'd already seen all of the King Tut stuff when they sent it on tour...

And we actually found Sakkara to be quite interesting (Memphis not as much)...

We knew that, in one day, we were not going to see EVERYTHING...So we just wanted to make sure we saw enough to make it a nice day...and to avoid crowds...

Trouble with almost any port visit anywhere is that you have to make tough choices...

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Trouble with almost any port visit anywhere is that you have to make tough choices...

 

So true..

It gives a reason to return (and make sure this time you go on a cruise that visits Luxor as well :))

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Hi Rhonda,

It may be doable but will be a grueling day.

We did an overnight - were picked up by tour guide in Port Said, drove to Cairo, stayed overnight near the Pyramids and met the ship in Alexandria the next day. Still a lot of driving but allowed time to see more sights.

I can recommend the tour company if you want more info.

 

Hi. The tour company name would be most welcome. The quote etc that I have above is from my own research via google. A recommended company is much better. I can see you have many cruises planned as well. over the next year or so. We have to wait until April, 2012. Keeping our eye on a Nautica cruise in March next year that ends 9 days before the Riveria cruises start. Hoping the fares drop some more. Thank you so much for the reply. Rhonda

rhohea23@yahoo.com.au

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