Uniworld-Egypt

[sawtooth]

Wow!  Enjoyed your review.

Really gets my juices going for our January trip starting in Jordon and then onto Egypt for 2/2/19 start.

Can't wait.

[Gracie115]

18 hours ago, sawtooth said:

Wow!  Enjoyed your review.

Really gets my juices going for our January trip starting in Jordon and then onto Egypt for 2/2/19 start.

Can't wait.

I hope you too will come back and tell us about your trip, we are doing the pre trip to Jordan and then Egypt in November next year.

[sawtooth]

2 hours ago, Gracie115 said:

I hope you too will come back and tell us about your trip, we are doing the pre trip to Jordan and then Egypt in November next year.

Yes, I will be sure to share.  I am ready to give back...I learned so much from others on this site.

[cormike1]

It is nice to be able to help out fellow cruisers that have questions.  We had no surprises on our trip because of all the help we received here on CC.  One thing I would like to add that I did not know beforehand.  Yes I knew to bring a lot of $1.00 U.S. for tipping but if you are Canadian or British, etc., Egyptians are allowed to take foreign currency (no coins) to the bank and have it exchanged for EP's.  I wish I had known that ahead of time as being CDN and having a crappy dollar exchange rate against the U.S. dollar, I sure would have liked to have brought CDN dollars instead of losing so much on the exchange.  So if you have anymore questions, feel free to ask here and everyone will try and answer your questions.

[Owlivia]

What about medical precautions? The Kaiser Travel R.N. recommends Typhoid (oral), inoculations for Tetanus, Hepatitis A and B; and Permethrin spray for clothing, as well as 30-35% DEET insect repellant. We will be traveling in April of 2019. Thank you in advance for any "buggy" input.

[fred111]

Interesting question about medical.  Best bet is go to the CDC website and follow their recommendations.  The only medical problems people on our tour had were a couple of instances of "mummy tummy" and a couple of cases of common cold.  We gave out our whole supply of Day and Nite Quil.  For mummy tummy, your tour guide will get you antonyl (hope I spelled it correctly).  It works extremely well.

 

We had no problems at all with mosquitos.  At a couple of locations we were bothered by common flies.  I brought along Deep Woods Off but we never used it.

 

[Gracie115]

On ‎9‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 1:02 PM, pinotlover said:

Gracie;

 

If you book any additional nights, pre or post cruise, in the Four Seasons through Uniworld, they will still pick you up and deliver you to the airport whenever you need. We booked extra nights in Cairo through them for the same price we would have gotten booking online and received the transfer services included.

 

I would recommend going in early for an additional day touring in Cairo and staying an additional day for the tour to Alexandria. The Alexandria tour will be offered when you get there, but you have to have the extra day scheduled to do it!

 

 

We are doing the 5 day Jordan pre trip and are thinking about arriving there a day early so we can recover from the long trip and to give us some cushion if we miss a connection on our flight.  Hoping we will still get met at the Amman airport the day earlier and I assume I should book the extra night through Uniworld, or should I do that on my own?

[sawtooth]

On 12/4/2018 at 4:13 AM, fred111 said:

I liked the Four Seasons Giza also.  Much more convenient for travelling to sites the last two days.  You might be right about the tea but they called it high tea.  I was really looking for a good gin and tonic.

So you stay at the 4 Seasons Nile for the first 2 days and then at the 4 Seasons Giza for the last 2 days.

I Did not notice that change on the itinerary.

[pinotlover]

Gracie, if you book the extra night hotel through Uniworld and give them your flight information, they will meet you at the airport.

[Gracie115]

1 hour ago, pinotlover said:

Gracie, if you book the extra night hotel through Uniworld and give them your flight information, they will meet you at the airport.

Thank you so much!!  Now that we are in 2019 we are starting to get really excited about this wonderful trip!

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, pinotlover said:

Gracie, if you book the extra night hotel through Uniworld and give them your flight information, they will meet you at the airport.

 

But you can probably book on that hotel's website for half the cost and use part of the savings to arrange your own transfer [as long as you know which hotel Uniworld is using]

 

Edited to add:  just noticed that this was for Egypt.  In that case I would probably pay the extra cost through Uniworld for the security of having an all-inclusive trip.

[Gracie115]

57 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

But you can probably book on that hotel's website for half the cost and use part of the savings to arrange your own transfer [as long as you know which hotel Uniworld is using]

 

Edited to add:  just noticed that this was for Egypt.  In that case I would probably pay the extra cost through Uniworld for the security of having an all-inclusive trip.

Actually the extra night is for Amman, Jordan, and we are looking at booking the extra night direct.

[Gracie115]

For everyone/anyone  who has been to Egypt and Jordan the last few years can you advise appropriate daytime wear?  We are going in November and had planned on pants & blouse for most of the sites, is this appropriate or do we need to be more dressed up than that.  

[fred111]

I'll answer a few questions as I can.

 

I would call Uniworld and see what hotel they book and book it on line.  I would email the hotel and ask them to arrange for transportation from the airport to the hotel.

 

We did change 4 Season hotels but it was no problem.  In fact, I liked the idea.  We saved time.  The reason for the change was that there was a huge conference/expo in Cairo and the Four Seasons  Cairo was fully booked.

 

As for clothing; some folks wore shorts while on tours but it was rare.  They also got some funny stares from the local people.  I wore light weight Eddie Bauer hiking pants and a light weight golf type shirt.  Very light, UVA/B blocking, and very comfortable.  I recommend a good pair of hiking shoes because of the walking on uneven terrain . I also recommend a light weight, collapsable walking stick.  We each brought two and loaned out one each every day.  I could have made a lot of money selling ours!!!!

 

 

[fred111]

Oh, also recommend a good hat.  The sun gets hot.

[pinotlover]

We have booked extra nights in the hotels in various Cities and Uniworld’s price has always been equal to or less than we could book the hotel direct.

 

I will add that we seldom get the hotel points for booking through Uniworld. So you give up the points to get free transfer. Not a bad deal! 

[pinotlover]

With Uniworld, we have found Jazz’s comments totally incorrect in Madrid, Cairo, Peking, Hong Kong, and Bucharest. Uniworld’s prices included up graded rooms, with outstanding views, and full breakfasts for the same or lower prices as available directly on line. 

 

Since Uniworld’s reservation includes upgraded rooms, one doesn’t have to change rooms once the program begins to upgrade to their rooms.

 

I would be interested to learn which cities Jazz had to pay premium prices to Uniworld for, no less the “ double “ prices she claims.

[djett]

On 12/7/2018 at 11:10 PM, Owlivia said:

What about medical precautions? The Kaiser Travel R.N. recommends Typhoid (oral), inoculations for Tetanus, Hepatitis A and B; and Permethrin spray for clothing, as well as 30-35% DEET insect repellant. We will be traveling in April of 2019. Thank you in advance for any "buggy" input.

My wife and I are Kaiser members and we followed their recommendations although they didn't recommend Permethrin spray. We took insect repellent but didn't need it in January. It may be needed during the warmer months. Fred III is correct in that  "mummy tummy" must be treated with the local remedy which your guide will supply as it's over the counter in Egypt. Luckily we didn't have to use it. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

7 hours ago, pinotlover said:

With Uniworld, we have found Jazz’s comments totally incorrect in Madrid, Cairo, Peking, Hong Kong, and Bucharest. Uniworld’s prices included up graded rooms, with outstanding views, and full breakfasts for the same or lower prices as available directly on line. 

 

Since Uniworld’s reservation includes upgraded rooms, one doesn’t have to change rooms once the program begins to upgrade to their rooms.

 

I would be interested to learn which cities Jazz had to pay premium prices to Uniworld for, no less the “ double “ prices she claims.

 

Sorry if my information was incorrect for Uniworld [actually, glad to hear that I was wrong!]  It was based on general experience with other cruise lines.  Mea culpa.

[Gracie115]

12 hours ago, fred111 said:

I'll answer a few questions as I can.

 

I would call Uniworld and see what hotel they book and book it on line.  I would email the hotel and ask them to arrange for transportation from the airport to the hotel.

 

We did change 4 Season hotels but it was no problem.  In fact, I liked the idea.  We saved time.  The reason for the change was that there was a huge conference/expo in Cairo and the Four Seasons  Cairo was fully booked.

 

As for clothing; some folks wore shorts while on tours but it was rare.  They also got some funny stares from the local people.  I wore light weight Eddie Bauer hiking pants and a light weight golf type shirt.  Very light, UVA/B blocking, and very comfortable.  I recommend a good pair of hiking shoes because of the walking on uneven terrain . I also recommend a light weight, collapsable walking stick.  We each brought two and loaned out one each every day.  I could have made a lot of money selling ours!!!!

 

 

 

12 hours ago, fred111 said:

Oh, also recommend a good hat.  The sun gets hot.

 

11 hours ago, pinotlover said:

 Uniworld’s prices included up graded rooms, with outstanding views, and full breakfasts for the same or lower prices as available directly on line. 

 

Since Uniworld’s reservation includes upgraded rooms, one doesn’t have to change rooms once the program begins to upgrade to their rooms.

 

 

 

Thank you all for the information, it is so helpful in our planning!!

[Owlivia]

18 hours ago, djett said:

Fred III is correct in that  "mummy tummy" must be treated with the local remedy which your guide will supply as it's over the counter in Egypt. Luckily we didn't have to use it. 

So "mummy tummy" is something that can't be mended with the OTC meds (antidiarrheal pink pills) that the R.N. recommended? She also gave a Rx for an antibiotic if the problem is severe. 

[djett]

50 minutes ago, Owlivia said:

So "mummy tummy" is something that can't be mended with the OTC meds (antidiarrheal pink pills) that the R.N. recommended? She also gave a Rx for an antibiotic if the problem is severe. 

Mummy tummy is caused by a bacteria unique to Egypt and our U.S. meds are ineffective in treating it. Be very careful and follow the directions of your guide as to what is safe to eat and drink. Plenty of bottled water was supplied for drinking and brushing your teeth. We didn't eat anything from street vendors. The water on the Tosca was filtered but still not drinkable for Westerners. Our guide said that Egyptians are used to the water and therefore immune to mummy tummy. It is not your normal upset stomach. 

[zelker]

44 minutes ago, djett said:

Mummy tummy is caused by a bacteria unique to Egypt and our U.S. meds are ineffective in treating it. Be very careful and follow the directions of your guide as to what is safe to eat and drink. Plenty of bottled water was supplied for drinking and brushing your teeth. We didn't eat anything from street vendors. The water on the Tosca was filtered but still not drinkable for Westerners. Our guide said that Egyptians are used to the water and therefore immune to mummy tummy. It is not your normal upset stomach. 

 

So does that mean avoid the ice on the ship, too?

[pinotlover]

Neither my wife nor myself remember any ice aboard ship. We had chilled  bottled water at all meals. We drank beer, interesting Egyptian wines, and brandies all without ice. Aboard ship I honestly don’t remember ice. 

 

Hot Tea was available but I don’t remember iced tea.I think that gin and tonic was made with very cold tonic but no ice. 

 

The only fellow cruiser we had we had to get mummy tummy was an idiot that skipped the tour to Abu Simbel and decided to do a DIY walking tour in Aswan eating street food after he was repeatedly warned not to do so. He was wiped out for about two days!

[djett]

1 hour ago, zelker said:

 

So does that mean avoid the ice on the ship, too?

I'm like pinotlover and really don't remember having anything with ice. I'm sure your Egyptologist will be able to advise you regarding the ice aboard ship. We also had one person in our group who got extremely ill but it was the flu.