Has/Does Carnival ever cruised to Egypt?

[Eli_6]

I think the answer is probably no, but I wasn't sure if it was perhaps a rare cruise like their Greenland cruises.  I watched "Death on the Nile" and that got me interested in a cruise to Egypt. Plus, I was supposed to take a land-based vacation to Egypt in 2020 with the Houston Museum of Natural History, but it was canceled due to Covid.  I found where both Celebrity and HAL go there. It looks like they have some nice cruises on those lines and it made me wonder if Carnival has ever ventured that way. 

[BlerkOne]

No. Carnival is primarily and American line. Carnival Corp has other lines that do more exotic cruises (to Americans), like HAL.

[LouChamp]

Aloha.  Blessed to have been to Egypt.  Carnival would be last on my list in my opinion.  First of all you need a Nile Cruise. They don’t have those small type ships/boats.  I know viking does and some other companies. If they dock in Alexandria the its a long land tour as the nile cruise is a combined land and river cruise. I would not trust Carnival for this.  Oceania, Viking,

HAL and those in that league. In general the best way to see Egypt is a combined land/river but not part of a longer voyage thats why i would suggest Viking River or one of their competitors.

[Eli_6]

32 minutes ago, LouChamp said:

Aloha.  Blessed to have been to Egypt.  Carnival would be last on my list in my opinion.  First of all you need a Nile Cruise. They don’t have those small type ships/boats.  I know viking does and some other companies. If they dock in Alexandria the its a long land tour as the nile cruise is a combined land and river cruise. I would not trust Carnival for this.  Oceania, Viking,

HAL and those in that league. In general the best way to see Egypt is a combined land/river but not part of a longer voyage thats why i would suggest Viking River or one of their competitors.

Thank you for your response!  My problem is that I have children and I don't think Viking allows you to take children.  HAL does, though. I was hoping to find a ship large enough to have some amenities for the kids, but that may be a pipe dream.  

 

The main reason I liked the Celebrity cruise was because it had an overnight stay in Alexandria which I thought would be long enough to see the Pyramids of Giza. 

[sanger727]

You could try MSC. They have quite a few that stop in Egypt. 

[RD64]

27 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

You could try MSC. They have quite a few that stop in Egypt. 

Yes - I believe it is the MSC Splendida that is doing the Red Sea cruises this winter.

[asalligo]

LOL, what we Carnivillains gonna do in Egypt?

Edited December 28, 2022 by asalligo

[mslhb]

I thought I saw that Royal Caribbean had an itinerary that stopped in Egypt. We are looking to do a Norwegian Fjords cruise in summer 2024. Since Carnival doesn’t have a Europe schedule out that far yet I started looking at Royal options.

[Eli_6]

55 minutes ago, mslhb said:

I thought I saw that Royal Caribbean had an itinerary that stopped in Egypt. We are looking to do a Norwegian Fjords cruise in summer 2024. Since Carnival doesn’t have a Europe schedule out that far yet I started looking at Royal options.

I think it is only as a part of their world cruise. When I went on the website, I can't find anything on a stop in Egypt except for as part of their world cruise.  You can do only a segment of the world cruise but it is still like 50-60 days. 

 

I used to think I wanted to do a world cruise, but after 3 weeks with my kids and husband in Europe this past summer with my two kids in tow, I now do not think that is wise.  I was more than ready to come home after just 3 weeks.  Although, honestly, my kids were probably better travelers than my husband... 

[Heartgrove]

Like RD64 mentioned, the MSC Splendida is currently sailing in Egypt, Red Sea, and Saudi Arabia this season. We tried MSC this past Fall and were on a Mediterranean cruise this past October aboard the Splendida. It is a wonderful ship with a great crew. What you might want to look at are the MSC Grand Voyages which are their repositioning cruises to/from Italy and Egypt. They have many activities for children along with the water slides as well. And the food is actually very good.

 

We are 4* on HAL and found MSC in Europe to be very good. So good that we are  booked on it's sister ship, MSC Preziosa, this September sailing from Hamburg, DE for a British Isles cruise.

[RD64]

I will try and post the link - although since it is from MSC Canada not sure if you can access it - the Splendida does a seven day cruise with embarkation available from Safaga (Luxor), Sokhna (Cairo), and Jeddah (UAE) - not something for the average Carnival cruiser.

 

https://www.msccruises.ca/Search Result?area=RED&departureDateFrom=01%2F01%2F2023&departureDateTo=31%2F01%2F2023&passengers=2|0|0|0

[Eli_6]

12 minutes ago, Heartgrove said:

Like RD64 mentioned, the MSC Splendida is currently sailing in Egypt, Red Sea, and Saudi Arabia this season. We tried MSC this past Fall and were on a Mediterranean cruise this past October aboard the Splendida. It is a wonderful ship with a great crew. What you might want to look at are the MSC Grand Voyages which are their repositioning cruises to/from Italy and Egypt. They have many activities for children along with the water slides as well. And the food is actually very good.

 

We are 4* on HAL and found MSC in Europe to be very good. So good that we are  booked on it's sister ship, MSC Preziosa, this September sailing from Hamburg, DE for a British Isles cruise.

Thanks for the suggestion on those repositioning cruises. Looking at them right now!

[Eli_6]

3 minutes ago, RD64 said:

I will try and post the link - although since it is from MSC Canada not sure if you can access it - the Splendida does a seven day cruise with embarkation available from Safaga (Luxor), Sokhna (Cairo), and Jeddah (UAE) - not something for the average Carnival cruiser.

 

https://www.msccruises.ca/Search Result?area=RED&departureDateFrom=01%2F01%2F2023&departureDateTo=31%2F01%2F2023&passengers=2|0|0|0

Thanks!  I saw those.  I wish they had 2024 posted.  

[Eli_6]

@Heartgrove  Your suggestion of the MSC World Voyages has just opened up an entirely new world for me. Wow, they have so many AMAZING routes and for cheap! 

[EllieinNJ]

RC Voyager of sea has two cruises in 2024 that stop in Egypt.  One in June and one in August.

[Heartgrove]

10 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

@Heartgrove  Your suggestion of the MSC World Voyages has just opened up an entirely new world for me. Wow, they have so many AMAZING routes and for cheap! 

 

Yes, the prices are very attractive. It is actually Grand Voyages, although they also do a MSC World Cruise once a year as well. When we did the MSC cruise this year, a week later we came home on a HAL Transatlantic. We will probably do a HAL cruise in conjunction with a MSC cruise again. 

[LouChamp]

Aloha. One other thought. We were fortunate to visit King Tuts tomb. For quite some time non pandemic related it was closed to the public. I believe it is now open once again.  If this is important to you, make sure your tour includes such a visit rather than be disappointed. not sure if cruise line tours include this visit. If not and you consider a private tour make sure there is enough time to travel from Alexandria to the Valley and back. 

[trvlgirlmq]

We have only cruised Carnival but I have booked Norwegian Viva for 2025. Amazing bucket list itinerary:

Istanbul (embarkation), Kusadasi, Santorini, Athens, Mykonos, Alexandria, Haifa, Ashdod (debarking)

I made sure the port time for Alexandria is long enough for the pyramids and it is!

[SuzWillCruise]

Carnival used to have shore excursions to Egypt on Mediterranean cruises. My SO was on a cruise when the Arab Spring uprising in Egypt happened and I was frantic because I was at home and couldn’t remember what stops were what day. They were probably on the LAST shore excursion to the pyramids that went smoothly. That was what, 2011?

[maryann2]

1 hour ago, trvlgirlmq said:

We have only cruised Carnival but I have booked Norwegian Viva for 2025. Amazing bucket list itinerary:

Istanbul (embarkation), Kusadasi, Santorini, Athens, Mykonos, Alexandria, Haifa, Ashdod (debarking)

I made sure the port time for Alexandria is long enough for the pyramids and it is!

Years ago ,following the Destiny TA to Venice, sailed on the Norwegian Jade from Rome. Should have visited Alexandria but it was cancelled due to unrest.  We spent 2 days in Israel which was amazing. One whole day in Jerusalem including Bethlehem. The second day Sea of Galilee visiting Nazareth Capernaum,  River Jordan etc.

 

[Eli_6]

17 hours ago, EllieinNJ said:

RC Voyager of sea has two cruises in 2024 that stop in Egypt.  One in June and one in August.

I will have to look at that. I couldn't seem to find it on their website.

[Eli_6]

I am seriously looking at the Celebrity for March 2025.  There is an overnight in Jerusalem and an overnight in Cairo. Plus, it is far enough out that I can save up my miles. 

 

I just tried to book a flight for my graduation to Edinburgh in November and it was like 1.5 times the miles it was just 6-9 months ago.  Then I looked at paying for it and OMG I was SHOCKED. I used to fly roundtrip business (lay flat bed) to/fro London for about 3k and could do an economy flight to Edinburgh (it is only 90 minutes) for $100-200.  NOW those same flights are running 5k-8k!!! If I want to fly my entire family, I am looking at 20k in business.  To say I am in sticker shot is an under statement.  I am low on miles right now because we did 4 roundtrip bus class this past summer to Edinburgh for The Open and I have 4 already booked with miles to Barcelona this year for our cruise.  I was going to bring my kids so they could see their Mom walk because my ceremony will be over their Thanksgiving holiday, but now I am reconsidering because flights are so high. And it is not even a holiday over there!!!

[LouChamp]

3 hours ago, trvlgirlmq said:

We have only cruised Carnival but I have booked Norwegian Viva for 2025. Amazing bucket list itinerary:

Istanbul (embarkation), Kusadasi, Santorini, Athens, Mykonos, Alexandria, Haifa, Ashdod (debarking)

I made sure the port time for Alexandria is long enough for the pyramids and it is!

Aloha. Sounds like a great ship with a fantastic itinerary. We love Santorini and the greek islands as well as Athens. Happy for you! 

[EllieinNJ]

1 hour ago, Eli_6 said:

I will have to look at that. I couldn't seem to find it on their website.

I never use RC website.  Too confusing.  Here is the itinerary from the TA I use.  It is only 7 days but I was thinking of doing a b2b with the Med cruise before.  Also my TA has a special group price for this cruise.

 

[Eli_6]

27 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

I never use RC website.  Too confusing.  Here is the itinerary from the TA I use.  It is only 7 days but I was thinking of doing a b2b with the Med cruise before.  Also my TA has a special group price for this cruise.

 

That's a great itinerary. Unfortunately, it is after my kids are back in school.