Any advice on egypt and holy land

[Big Paul]

Just booked a last minute cruise on Thomson Celebration for Sept 12 2011 doing Egypt and the Holy Land

 

never been on a cruise before so any advice at all would be helpful. eg

what currencies do we need? is it essential to do the organised trips from thomson or are better deals available in the ports?

 

Really looking forward to this trip

 

Paul

[goonersue]

Me and my OH went on this cruise in May of last year. It was our 1st too, but we have just done our 3rd, with no.4 booked for next year!

Below is the slight review we did for that cruise, but I'm sure there are pleenty more if you search. Any more questions, just post them on the board.

 

Thomson Celebration – shore excursions review

 

Shore excursions are very expensive (£30 / £40 half day, £70 / £80 full day per person). During 14 days onboard we ended up going on excursions at 5 ports, comprising of 2 full days and 3 half days. The total cost of these was around £600. Afterwards we realised that there were certain things we could have done independently with a little bit of research for a fraction of the cost.

 

Advice. If it is a country with security risks then take an organised Thomson excursion. Otherwise be a little adventurous and use public transport, ensuring you are back at the ship in good time for sailing as unless you are on an organised tour the boat won’t wait for you.

 

On currency, don’t rely on Celebration Reception for currency. We took mainly travellers cheques and were severely restricted. The advice from Destination Services was ‘small denomination’ notes but Celebration Reception only ever had large denomination notes. Also, they were not well stocked. i.e. no Israeli Shekels, no US Dollars. And there is a 2% handling charge for Travellers Cheques.

 

Most ports around the Mediterranean accept Euros. And you can’t go wrong with either US Dollars or English Sterling.

 

Re Celebration facilities – eating and entertainment is very flexible. You can eat in the Lido buffet 24 hours, or waiter service (6 course dinner) in the Meridian Restaurant (gets very busy after 7.30pm). The Mistral A La Carte restaurant (£20 per person charge) is worth a visit at least once during a cruise.

 

Typical evening. Pre dinner drinks in the Hemmingway Bar, then Dinner in Meridian, followed by entertainment in the Broadway Show Lounge. After, take in a game show in Liberty’s, then chill out to live music in the Horizon Bar until 1am. For those on all inclusive, drinks are available from 10am until 2am. On the bottled water, cost onboard approx £1.50 for 1.5 litre bottle. If you buy it ashore you can get a 5 litre bottle for 1 Euro.

 

Overall as first time cruisers we were very satisfied. Very well organised from arrival at airport and transferring to cruise ship. Lots of day time activities if you want to get involved. Excellent and courteous service from the Indonesian Stewards and Pilipino Waiting Staff. You can either go formal or relaxed, it’s your choice.

 

Sue

[Keith Jackson]

Yes...watch out for burning bushes and always carry a good staff to part the sea

[jenny wren]

My advice for what its worth, having visited Egypt and Israel on several occasions, would be to take Thomson excursions in Egypt and Israel....it sounds expensive but they are alot cheaper than other cruise lines...and also are 'once in a lifetime' trips so well worth it ...in my opinion !!:) there is also the security issue in these countries and the sites are a long way from the ports so it is nice to know that, if you are held up at all, the ship will wait for you if you are on one of their excursions.....

Regarding what money to take....we did Egypt and Israel last year on the Spirit and we only took Euros which were accepted everywhere...in Egypt especially they accept any currency and often prefer dollars or euros or even sterling to the egyptian pound (readily available at post offices or Tesco bureau de change) ...euros are also widely accepted in Israel...if you should need shekels you could draw them from an ATM ashore....travellers cheques are considered old fashioned now ...we haven't used them for years!! we used up some dollars we had left over from a previous holiday and got euros from Tesco bureau de change who were giving the best rates....we only ever take ashore what we think we'll need split between us so if one of us loses it we've still got the others!!

 

We went to Nazareth and Galilee from Haifa last year which was excellent and a lovely day with lunch in a kibbutz and a varied day......we also went to Cairo from Port Said and the Greek and Roman Alexandria (but we have also previously visited El Alamein) so If I can give any further help with these please ask.

If you mention what other ports you go to I'll see if I know anything about them! :)

[Keith Jackson]

Oh.. and a good bullet proof vest:eek:

[cadge123]

we went on this cruise in june and it was fantastic. the excursions :- alexandria, cairo, jersusalem were amazing, you will defo enjoy. go with an open mind and just go with the flow, no need to dress up if you don,t want.....it,s your holiday, do as you would anywhere else. there are all sorts of different folk on board, but it,s so relaxed and theres something for everybody. it was our first cruise and we became a little worried and excited as it got nearer the time to go, but we so enjoyed it we are going on another cruise (red sea) next year. wonderful holiday all round :)

[Big Paul]

Thanks for the replies so far. all very helpful and reinforce our opinions on the trips. Having done the Nile previously we are aware of the security issues in Egypt and had virtually decided that we would do the ship excursions to both Cairo and Jerusalem, possibly finding our own way in the other destinations.

 

Ports of call:-

 

Marmaris

Alexandria

Port Said (cairo)

Ashdod (jerusalem)

Larnaca

Alanya

Marmaris

 

Not too long to go now:D

[jenny wren]

We have been to Alanya which has a long sweeping seafront which we found very pleasant to walk along....we only went for a half day so just walked around the shopping area and then along the seafront and back....some did excursions which they enjoyed.

 

Larnaca we did an excursion to some Roman ruins and to a mountain top village which was very interesting (not a Thomson cruise though !) not sure what there is to see in or around Larnaca .

 

I'm sure you will enjoy this itinerary we found it very interesting...the weather should be good, hot and sunny.....we have cruised on Celebration twice and loved it ....although it is not new and flashy it is clean and comfortable and the staff will be very friendly and polite and always smiling....in our experience!!:)

[db4111]

did b2b cruise in june2011 port said and alexandria were very dirty places the pyramid tour is a waste of money,leave at 6 am a total of 8hours travelling in guarded convoy for a couple of hours visiting and hassle hassle hassle stay on board....... the holy land.... what thomsons fail to mention is that in israel you have to be cleared by immigrationat 6am before you can leave the ship, that includes people who are stopping on board and all the crew. If you are of asian origin or coloured they can be aggressive and frightening I saw a number of couples crying as they were given the 3rd degree not nice at all.... the jerusalem and bethlehem trip is long but worth it:D I would recomend it but please take plenty of water

[jenny wren]

Big Paul...please don't be put off by bad reviews!! be prepared....I usually carry wet wipes in my bag to wipe sweaty hands and face.it is also advisable to take a bottle of water and make sure you have sunscreen/sunhat..it will be hot in Cairo...the coach journey is a long one but well worth it (in my opinion) and you can sleep on the coach if you're bored or tired ! our guide actually gave us information most of the way so we were not bored....I think we left nearer 0700 but obviously it will vary from day to day..but we did have 7 hours there including the lunch time.....you will be given a snack box from the ship to nibble when you like and you will be taken to a hotel for lunch...our first trip we went to museum in morning then lunch then pyramids finishing at the papyrus institute to buy souvenirs if you so wish or in our case to use their cloakrooms and a decent loo before the journey back to ship !! the second trip we did we went to Memphis and Sakkara and the Step Pyramid then lunch and then the Giza pyramids/sphinx followed by the Papyrus institute.

As you have done the Nile before you will be aware of the hassle from sellers...I have found that a firm 'No thankyou' works a treat ! having said that the concertina of post cards seem to be good value !!

 

Regarding the Israeli immigration...we just had to queue and walk through one of the bar areas where the immigration officer just checked passports and waved us through... so no hold ups in our experience and if you're going on an excursion they will wait for you.

 

Hope this all helps ....our motto is always 'go with an open mind' and we have never been disappointed !!:)

[Big Paul]

did b2b cruise in june2011 port said and alexandria were very dirty places the pyramid tour is a waste of money,leave at 6 am a total of 8hours travelling in guarded convoy for a couple of hours visiting and hassle hassle hassle stay on board....... the holy land.... what thomsons fail to mention is that in israel you have to be cleared by immigrationat 6am before you can leave the ship, that includes people who are stopping on board and all the crew. If you are of asian origin or coloured they can be aggressive and frightening I saw a number of couples crying as they were given the 3rd degree not nice at all.... the jerusalem and bethlehem trip is long but worth it:D I would recomend it but please take plenty of water

 

 

Sorry that you had such a bad impression of Egypt, but having done several trips to that country there are differences between their culture and ours but if you look beyond the first looks of the place and get to speak to some of the locals they are a wonderful people. As for the Israeli immigration I cannot comment as I have never been to that country but I will let you know my impressions when I return

[puds]

we went in April of this year 2011 and only the brits had the guts to go due to the uprising. so we had a great time great photos as nobody around to spoil the shot. AS YOU HAVE DONE EGYPT before you know what to expect;)

 

Egypt was our 1st cruise & we loved it so much ....:) we booked another and have just returned from it yesterday.

 

But having just come back from the med from a 2week cruise i must say its nice to just get off the ship and do your own thing ... with out all the egypt hassssel..

 

the ports on the egypt crises are working ports so not much to see tbh. and other then the port town its miles of sand and more sand so the trips are a must if you want to see the sites.