#### LIVE FROM THE GOLDEN PRINCESS #### (17 Days Starting 11/29/06)

[envy4u]

Larsen....Last time I heard from Tony he was in Singapore .

[greybear]

Hi Anubi,

 

Unfortunately, no, I did not do the overnight in Egypt. I signed up for the day trip that did the museum and the Pyramids/Sphynx. There are pros and cons for the day trip, as well as for doing the overnighter.

 

From the comments I heard from cruisers on the ship, you felt "rushed" whether you did the day trip or the overnighter. Our time spent at the museum was too short for my liking as we were given the choice during our "free time" to visit the Tutankhamun (spelling is horrible, sorry) exhibit and the two mummy rooms. The problem is we had just 20 minutes to do this; not nearly enough time. Also, if you want to see the mummy rooms, you need Egyptian pound (100 egyptian pounds per person for admission to both rooms, which is a bit less than $20 USD), something that I was not aware of :(.

 

Lunch at the Hilton was good, and the Pyramid experience (in my humble opinion) was great. There again, you are taken to an outlook point so you can get a panoramic view of the pyramids and take a few good pictures. You have approx. 15 minutes. At this location, you can "contract" with a bedoine (desert person) for a camel ride. However, this leaves you little time to gawk and gaze at the Pyramids if you are haggling over price for your camel ride.

 

You are then driven close up to the Pyramids and you can go walk around and explore. I'd say you have roughly 30-45 minutes here. However, I decided I wanted to go inside the Cephren Pyramid (the ticket required for admission is included in the day tour) which took approximately 20 minutes, by the time you actually get in and then out. It was the right decision for me, because I'm not claustrophobic and I absolutely wanted to feel the monument from the inside. The ambiance is not the best as you are not in solitude, being "one with the pyramid" :).

 

You also get roughly 30 minutes at the Sphynx to walk around. Really nice, although I couldn't get as close as what I wanted. I still don't know if it was because we were late (they usually close at 4:00 and we were running late) or if you always have to stand farther back:confused:

 

As far as the overnight goes, I heard from some people that the light show at the Pyramids was pretty cool (although the pictures didn't come out well). The lunch on the Nile was allegedly nothing to write home about. All in all, you get more out of the two day experience, but at the price Princess charges, the general consensus was that it was not worth the extra (plus you have to pack an overnight bag that you'll lug around with you, or not if you leave it on the bus). For those who did an independent tour (I believe Cruise Critic had one, they had a much better price than Princess and I do believe that this would be preferable than trying to fit everything in a day).

 

Bottom line is, you'd need a few days to be satisfied and even an overnight will possibly leave you wanting more. By that, I'm talking about sightseeing only. As far as the City is concerned, I do not care to see Cairo again. I'm not trying to fault anyone by saying this, but the sanitary standards, and life quality standards, are so far below what I'm used to in Canada that I found it unsettling. Also, get used to saying "No" a lot and to not make eye contact with vendors, or their merchandise, as the street vendors are quite zealous amd motivated. It didn't bother me that much, but some folks got irritated. I kind of miss it actually, I'm thinking of paying people to stand on the street corner and scream "one dollah" at me as I walk by. :D Also useful might be these two words Shukran (spelling may be wrong) which means Thank You, and LA-AA (again, spelling...) which means No. I belive that Aywa is Yes, but you may not need that one as much;) .

 

Hope this helps. I'm sorry for the full length novel (as a lawyer, I have a hard time keeping it short and sweet).

 

Best,

[envy4u]

Greybear ....Thanks for that info . On my list of to do things .

[sailors2]

Anubi,

My husband and I were on the Egyptian cruise. We locked into the ship's tours early and might have changed to private but couldn't. We took the Pyrimids and Egyptian Museum tour one day and the EZ Tour of Alexandria the next. The drive to Cairo is long but I found it interesting to see the Suez Canal and the small villages along the way. Our guide was good and freely answered questions. We went first to the museum,which was very crowded. I had gone to the museum website and printed out the layout. We told our guide we would meet her outside and toured on our own. I don't think we missed much of anything. By doing it ourselves we were able to maneuvre around crowds etc. Lunch at the Hilton was a buffet-with bottled water,wine and soda. It was o.k. My only complaint was that it would have been thoughtful if, several older tour members had been directed to the elevators ,rather than the staircase ,to reach the second floor buffet room. The Hilton also has a number of shops to the side of the lobby. The Overlook of the Pyrimids was worthwhile and a bit of a way to adjust to the zealous camel drivers etc. The time at the lower level was interesting although I would have liked getting closer to the sphinx. The drive back to Port Said was shorter than the a.m. but we had to walk a gauntlet of venders once we arrived at the ship.

We would have enjoyed more time in Alexandria. Our guide was interesting and informative. We learned about culture,camel racing and stories of the Middle Eastern tourists who drive out the residents in the summers. A tour of the gardens,the waterfront and the city-with a stop at the Faros Lighthouse site and a small market. The Egyptians would wave and welcome us as we passed. The ship docked in an area where about 15 merchants set up stalls. Our tour left time to shop as well as walk around. Perhaps,because Alexandria has a smaller population than Cairo, it seemed much more interesting and I would have liked having a second day there.

Although the buses into Cairo go through some very expensive neighborhoods it was possible to see one or two areas where the living conditions were indescribably poor. Cairo also has heavy air pollution and once off the airconditioned buses it was obviously poor air. Also the museum is not airconditioned and one has a tendency to be dustcovered at the pyrimids. Alexandria appears to benefit from the breeze off the Med and we noticed no air problem. It is a fascinating city to just observe-many markets,children,cafes,shops and restaurants,donkey and horsedrawn carts in amongst the cars etc.

Enjoy the anticipation of your trip........we would do it all over.

We enjoyed this cruise enormously.

Judy

[sailors2]

Anubi,

I forgot one special moment. As we disembarked for our Alexandria tour a full brass band,in military uniform,saluted us with music. Lovely!

Judy

[JotWorld]

Hi Anubi,

 

Unfortunately, no, I did not do the overnight in Egypt. I signed up for the day trip that did the museum and the Pyramids/Sphynx. There are pros and cons for the day trip, as well as for doing the overnighter.

 

From the comments I heard from cruisers on the ship, you felt "rushed" whether you did the day trip or the overnighter. Our time spent at the museum was too short for my liking as we were given the choice during our "free time" to visit the Tutankhamun (spelling is horrible, sorry) exhibit and the two mummy rooms. The problem is we had just 20 minutes to do this; not nearly enough time. Also, if you want to see the mummy rooms, you need Egyptian pound (100 egyptian pounds per person for admission to both rooms, which is a bit less than $20 USD), something that I was not aware of .

 

Lunch at the Hilton was good, and the Pyramid experience (in my humble opinion) was great. There again, you are taken to an outlook point so you can get a panoramic view of the pyramids and take a few good pictures. You have approx. 15 minutes. At this location, you can "contract" with a bedoine (desert person) for a camel ride. However, this leaves you little time to gawk and gaze at the Pyramids if you are haggling over price for your camel ride.

 

You are then driven close up to the Pyramids and you can go walk around and explore. I'd say you have roughly 30-45 minutes here. However, I decided I wanted to go inside the Cephren Pyramid (the ticket required for admission is included in the day tour) which took approximately 20 minutes, by the time you actually get in and then out. It was the right decision for me, because I'm not claustrophobic and I absolutely wanted to feel the monument from the inside. The ambiance is not the best as you are not in solitude, being "one with the pyramid" :).

 

You also get roughly 30 minutes at the Sphynx to walk around. Really nice, although I couldn't get as close as what I wanted. I still don't know if it was because we were late (they usually close at 4:00 and we were running late) or if you always have to stand farther back:confused:

 

As far as the overnight goes, I heard from some people that the light show at the Pyramids was pretty cool (although the pictures didn't come out well). The lunch on the Nile was allegedly nothing to write home about. All in all, you get more out of the two day experience, but at the price Princess charges, the general consensus was that it was not worth the extra (plus you have to pack an overnight bag that you'll lug around with you, or not if you leave it on the bus). For those who did an independent tour (I believe Cruise Critic had one, they had a much better price than Princess and I do believe that this would be preferable than trying to fit everything in a day).

 

Bottom line is, you'd need a few days to be satisfied and even an overnight will possibly leave you wanting more. By that, I'm talking about sightseeing only. As far as the City is concerned, I do not care to see Cairo again. I'm not trying to fault anyone by saying this, but the sanitary standards, and life quality standards, are so far below what I'm used to in Canada that I found it unsettling. Also, get used to saying "No" a lot and to not make eye contact with vendors, or their merchandise, as the street vendors are quite zealous amd motivated. It didn't bother me that much, but some folks got irritated. I kind of miss it actually, I'm thinking of paying people to stand on the street corner and scream "one dollah" at me as I walk by. :D Also useful might be these two words Shukran (spelling may be wrong) which means Thank You, and LA-AA (again, spelling...) which means No. I belive that Aywa is Yes, but you may not need that one as much;) .

 

Hope this helps. I'm sorry for the full length novel (as a lawyer, I have a hard time keeping it short and sweet).

 

Best,

 

Thank you for your excellent report! We are stopping there when we come thru the Suez Canal on the WC in 2008, and I just can't wait!:D Bill

[JotWorld]

Anubi,

My husband and I were on the Egyptian cruise. We locked into the ship's tours early and might have changed to private but couldn't. We took the Pyrimids and Egyptian Museum tour one day and the EZ Tour of Alexandria the next. The drive to Cairo is long but I found it interesting to see the Suez Canal and the small villages along the way. Our guide was good and freely answered questions. We went first to the museum,which was very crowded. I had gone to the museum website and printed out the layout. We told our guide we would meet her outside and toured on our own. I don't think we missed much of anything. By doing it ourselves we were able to maneuvre around crowds etc. Lunch at the Hilton was a buffet-with bottled water,wine and soda. It was o.k. My only complaint was that it would have been thoughtful if, several older tour members had been directed to the elevators ,rather than the staircase ,to reach the second floor buffet room. The Hilton also has a number of shops to the side of the lobby. The Overlook of the Pyrimids was worthwhile and a bit of a way to adjust to the zealous camel drivers etc. The time at the lower level was interesting although I would have liked getting closer to the sphinx. The drive back to Port Said was shorter than the a.m. but we had to walk a gauntlet of venders once we arrived at the ship.

We would have enjoyed more time in Alexandria. Our guide was interesting and informative. We learned about culture,camel racing and stories of the Middle Eastern tourists who drive out the residents in the summers. A tour of the gardens,the waterfront and the city-with a stop at the Faros Lighthouse site and a small market. The Egyptians would wave and welcome us as we passed. The ship docked in an area where about 15 merchants set up stalls. Our tour left time to shop as well as walk around. Perhaps,because Alexandria has a smaller population than Cairo, it seemed much more interesting and I would have liked having a second day there.

Although the buses into Cairo go through some very expensive neighborhoods it was possible to see one or two areas where the living conditions were indescribably poor. Cairo also has heavy air pollution and once off the airconditioned buses it was obviously poor air. Also the museum is not airconditioned and one has a tendency to be dustcovered at the pyrimids. Alexandria appears to benefit from the breeze off the Med and we noticed no air problem. It is a fascinating city to just observe-many markets,children,cafes,shops and restaurants,donkey and horsedrawn carts in amongst the cars etc.

Enjoy the anticipation of your trip........we would do it all over.

We enjoyed this cruise enormously.

Judy

 

Thank you also,:) for your excellent report & comments. I can't wait until the 2008 Visit, one of our highlights of the World Cruise for sure!;) My Best! Bill

[arlenemilt]

On my way to Christchurch to visit friends and fly out on Dec 17th from Christchurch to Auckland to Papeete.

 

Tony

 

Hi Baby Brother.....

I ate a whole lot of calamari for you last night. Sent you ALL the calories. :)

Bill, it's amazing that your IC is full and this one is always almost empty. Right now there are 4 people here, but of course most of the passengers must be chomping at the bit waiting to get on land. OK. we stopped. Time to go check out Curacao.

Arlene

[JotWorld]

On my way to Christchurch to visit friends and fly out on Dec 17th from Christchurch to Auckland to Papeete.

 

Tony

 

Glad to see you are almost there.:) I'll bet you can't wait to get back on a Ship, any Princess Ship!:D :eek: Safe Travels Bro, & keep us informed(even if is from a laptop on the Desert on A Camel named Clyde;)),K? BTW Talked to Shannon,South Africa, Asst Purser, back ofc, lovely young girl;) , I Mentioned your Name, She said to Say "Hi Tony!" Later....... Bill

[JotWorld]

Hi Baby Brother.....

 

I ate a whole lot of calamari for you last night. Sent you ALL the calories.

 

Bill, it's amazing that your IC is full and this one is always almost empty. Right now there are 4 people here, but of course most of the passengers must be chomping at the bit waiting to get on land. OK. we stopped. Time to go check out Curacao.

 

Arlene

 

Glad to see you're Eating again, sorta!:D Yup, this place is Full again this 10:45 AM, even with the 10:30AM Cooking Show filling the Princess Theatre to SRO, Now!;) The Weather is,(I'm ashamed to note, with your poor start so far) Perfect, Sun, Little White Cumulus clouds, Blue Sky, Slight Seas, Warm Temps, Low Humidity, High Barometer!:D Did I miss anything? The Weather continues to be "to Die For"! We are in our sixth day at Sea, & this is the Day Ft Laud boarding Passes Need to be printed, reservation checked, etc,etc,etc! Irene is at Line Dancing Again, she really enjoys that! I wish I could Dance with her, but I have two left feet, & one

ankle doesn't work well either.:( The Lines are long again at the Purser Desk, of course, day b/4 Ft Laud Disembark. Dinner Last night was Fantastic, let's see, We had two African Lobster Tails each, W/ DB, Beef Wellington, on my Plate Shared, Royal Phesant(sp) on her plate Shared, Wow, nothing left but, a few small bones & shells!:eek: One of our Best Meals yet, and of course we have never had a bad one! We enjoyed a lovely early morning on our Wide AFT Balc watching the SunRise at 7:30AM, Wow. "there's No Place Like Home,..... Except on a Cruise Ship!"

Later.............................................. Bill

[T&J]

Glad to see you are almost there.:) I'll bet you can't wait to get back on a Ship, any Princess Ship!:D :eek: Safe Travels Bro, & keep us informed(even if is from a laptop on the Desert on A Camel named Clyde;)),K? BTW Talked to Shannon,South Africa, Asst Purser, back ofc, lovely young girl;) , I Mentioned your Name, She said to Say "Hi Tony!" Later....... Bill

 

Bill she's a nice kid...say hello back to her for me!

 

Tony

[mississauga]

We are in our sixth day at Sea, & this is the Day Ft Laud boarding Passes Need to be printed, reservation checked, etc,etc,etc!

 

 

Hi Bill,

What does that mean? People are flying out of FLL and printing their boarding passes or does that refer to the ship? If the ship, you need boarding passes to get back on board?????:confused: I know you are on the ship until New Orleans. Are some getting off in FLL?

Thanks for taking us along for the ride. Looking forward to your next "Live"

Mary

[JotWorld]

Bill she's a nice kid...say hello back to her for me!

 

Tony

 

Will do, if I see her again.:) Also Frankie said Hi, As well as Claudio, again, this AM. at the Lobby Bar, quite the meeting place in the Morning. Also Maurizio, The "Italian Elton John",(A Ral Showman, do you know him?) who will be with you on the Golden until San Fran or later 4/07, was just sick with the Yellow Fever shot & also his Wife, & now she is sick with the Noro, Maybe:( . I know you just had that shot a few weeks ago.:eek:

Got to get ready for dinner soon, last dinner for Ft Laud Departures.;)

Safe travels, Tony, you current airline trip is, like a "World Cruise" !:eek: Later.................. Bill

[JotWorld]

Hi Bill,

 

What does that mean? People are flying out of FLL and printing their boarding passes or does that refer to the ship? If the ship, you need boarding passes to get back on board????? I know you are on the ship until New Orleans. Are some getting off in FLL?

 

Thanks for taking us along for the ride. Looking forward to your next "Live"

 

Mary

 

Yes, about 500 are getting off in Ft Laud.;) More Room for the Rest of us!:D Can't get off unless you are staying off, however, at 8AM we ALL must go through immigration:( Off & on inline:eek: You are Welcome & thanks for coming along, two more days of reporting left for me on this trip, till Friday PM!:) My Best! Bill

[envy4u]

Oh no Bill !!! We just received our yellow fever shots and other than a sore arm no symptoms yet .Too early I guess .

[Kiwi Kruzer]

they are just calling my flight now for Christchurch...gotta run!... Tony

 

Heres a twist of fate.....or well planned on Tonys part........

He will arrive in Christchurch on the same day that his favorite ship Pacific Princess is in town....wonder if he will spot it as he flys over.

(Position still says Fjordland,but it is in Lyttleton,the port for Christchurch)

[T&J]

Heres a twist of fate.....or well planned on Tonys part........

He will arrive in Christchurch on the same day that his favorite ship Pacific Princess is in town....wonder if he will spot it as he flys over.

(Position still says Fjordland,but it is in Lyttleton,the port for Christchurch)

 

Nope didn't see my little ship as I was flying over! I am here in beautifull little Timaru, NZ.....Finally!

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

[cactusrose]

Oh no Bill !!! We just received our yellow fever shots and other than a sore arm no symptoms yet .Too early I guess .

 

C. . .my husband and I had our shots on Oct 31 (along with HepA, Polio booster and tetanus) and had no reaction at all. So it doesn't happen to everyone, but if you do have a reaction it's usually 7 to 10 days after the shot.

[arlenemilt]

C. . .my husband and I had our shots on Oct 31 (along with HepA, Polio booster and tetanus) and had no reaction at all. So it doesn't happen to everyone, but if you do have a reaction it's usually 7 to 10 days after the shot.

 

That's how it was when we got our yellow fever shots. I had a sore arm and if Milt had one, he wouldn't tell me anyway. Macho. :) hahaha

Arlene

[JotWorld]

Nope didn't see my little ship as I was flying over! I am here in beautifull little Timaru, NZ.....Finally!

 

Tony

 

Tony, Glad to see you finally made it safe:) & sound(Are you still, after that set of connections & delays from He_ _?:eek: )

We Just got done Clearing immigration, everyone had to get off the ship, after the Disembarking PAXs did.:( Don't know why we could not have all waited until New Orleans:confused: No one is allowed off the Ship anyway, unless they are Staying off the Ship, so it just dooesn't make sense, as usual;)

Cloudy, rain clouds, 80+, humidity 75%, tipical So Fla weather, this time of year. Later.............. on our way to New Orleans @ about 11:30AM. Bill

[JotWorld]

We are having a "Gully Washer"(no I didn't learn this term in weather school):D ,with Lightning:eek: & Thunder,:eek: Wow! here at Port Everglades, Right Now!

Our First Real Rain since Arriving in Roma, 11/24 the Day after Thanksgiving! What TA, Best Weather you could have ever had for Nov/ Dec from Rome!:D

Later................................... Bill

Check out the Cam, Now! (A very rare occurence, indeed)

[easykruz]

We are having a "Gully Washer"(no I didn't learn this term in weather school) ,with Lightning & Thunder, Wow! here at Port Everglades, Right Now!

Our First Real Rain since Arriving in Roma, 11/24 the Day after Thanksgiving! What TA, Best Weather you could have ever had for Nov/ Dec from Rome!

Later................................... Bill

Check out the Cam, Now! (A very rare occurence, indeed)

 

Bill,

 

You're forgeting the rain, light shower on the sea day when you made the statement we had perfect weather, oh well, what me worry?

 

Dollar Bill

[JotWorld]

Just cruised out of Port Everglades, on our way to the Big Easy!:D

We're not even in the Shipping Channel yet, The Weather Stinks, Yup,

Stinks!;) Look it up on the CAM, Totally overcast, Rain, Fog, High Winds.etc,etc:eek:! Yup, the SUNSHINE State, alright!

Now I know why I left it after 35 Years, and took up Cruising with Princess instead!:D Later................... After Lunch................... Bill(On the Hi Seas, again & Loving it):)

[iluvcruzin]

Safe travels and enjoy your last couple of days Bill. Maybe they handled the customs portion in Ft. Lauderdale because New Orleans isn't able to handle it. The ship will come into dock with a temporary tent facility. Princess sent us a notification last week trying to deter us from arriving before 1pm.

 

Our cruise is either overbooked or is waitlisted as they offered me to switch to the Grand for a date after Feb. 10th. Incentives of shipboard credit and upgrades were offered. It was tempting but we declined.

 

I'm heading out early morning for the drive down to New Orleans. We are looking forward to this cruise. :)

[wendyandcliff]

Bill,

Incase I don't get a chance tomorrow, its a kind of crazy day, thanks for your hard work. I know you are on a cruise and having to spend most of your time on the computer can't always be fun. But you did a wonderful job keeping everyone posted on your travels. I really enjoyed it and I was able to keep my FNL posted on his wife's travels.

Thanks again, have a safe trip home. And be kind to my dear state of Louisiana.

 

Wendy