Help with Alexandria/Egypt tours needed.

[sea-explorer]

Just a quick update in case anyone else is in the planning stage.

I've contacted several companies and individual guides for quotes.

 

Not Decastro..a combination of deposit/hit & miss re guide & negative reviews/many other options out there.

 

Not Bestway..read several negative reviews on another Egypt forum

 

I have not yet heard back from Memphis or EgyptianExpress.

 

I have contacted Nile Blue & several guides recommended on the trip advisor forums. The only negatives I have read about Nile Blue were one about being worried about missing the ship as the driver got lost and one about the guide being there ready to meet them at the port, but then having to wait to set off under convoy with all the excursion coaches. I don't know if this is standard practice or not.

 

What is interesting is that the guides from the trip advisor forums seem to be charging less. I was quoted $120 each for our party of 4 by Nile Blue, and a range of between $75 & $100 each from the guides recommended on the Trip advisor forums.

 

Things may change, but at the moment I am unsure between Nile Blue as they seem to have a lot of experience with cruise passengers & good reviews on this site, and Rasha, an Egyptologist from the Trip advisor recommendations, & after searching through pages of posts, I have not come across anything remotly negative about her.

 

I would be really interested to hear comments from any cruise passengers who have used her in the past. Thanks.

[Radioactive]

We have been corresponding with Rasha Elashmawy for a tour of Egypt. We selected her because of her knowledge and credentials she quoted us and the recommendation by TripAdvisor. We are going on the Legend of the Seas October 18th. My only concern is the Visa blanket from the ship. Has anyone been on the Legend and experienced any problems using a private guide using the ship's Visa blanket?

[CAT GIRL]

We have been corresponding with Rasha Elashmawy for a tour of Egypt. We selected her because of her knowledge and credentials she quoted us and the recommendation by TripAdvisor. We are going on the Legend of the Seas October 18th. My only concern is the Visa blanket from the ship. Has anyone been on the Legend and experienced any problems using a private guide using the ship's Visa blanket?

 

We were on the Legend last Sept. and the ships visa worked

perfectly fine for us. We were on a private tour.

[Radioactive]

Thanks Cat Girl for your response on the Visa. Can you give me any tips on this particular cruise with the Legend of the Seas. You probably had the same itinerary that we will have in October. We have been to most of the ports on this cruise except for Cyprus and Egypt. I do not find many comments on Limassol Cyprus port. Any suggestions you may have would be greatly appreciated. Thank you again.

[Saga Ruby]

Thanks Cat Girl for your response on the Visa. Can you give me any tips on this particular cruise with the Legend of the Seas. You probably had the same itinerary that we will have in October. We have been to most of the ports on this cruise except for Cyprus and Egypt. I do not find many comments on Limassol Cyprus port. Any suggestions you may have would be greatly appreciated. Thank you again.

 

Cat Girl wrote what she calls her "novel" about her trip to the Eastern Med. If you ask nicely, she will send a copy to you. There have been so many requests that she could have published it by now.

 

Her travel "novel" is full of fine tips on local tourist sites, the joys and hardships of traveling in a foreign land - it's riveting reading and I highly recommend it.

 

Ruby

[EASYTRAVEL777]

Just a quick update in case anyone else is in the planning stage.

I've contacted several companies and individual guides for quotes.

 

Not Decastro..a combination of deposit/hit & miss re guide & negative reviews/many other options out there.

 

Not Bestway..read several negative reviews on another Egypt forum

 

I have not yet heard back from Memphis or EgyptianExpress.

 

I have contacted Nile Blue & several guides recommended on the trip advisor forums. The only negatives I have read about Nile Blue were one about being worried about missing the ship as the driver got lost and one about the guide being there ready to meet them at the port, but then having to wait to set off under convoy with all the excursion coaches. I don't know if this is standard practice or not.

 

Passengers from our cruise last fall hired both DeCastro and Nile Blue.

On this particular day, DeCastro was by far the superior experience.

As you mentioned above, standard practice is to join the convoy. Nile Blue's 2 buses were way in the back. All 3 DeCastro's buses were first in line. Both groups had left the ship at the same time and boarded at the same time. This procedure of stacking up the buses in a convoy lead to massive lines both coming and going. The way DeCastro handled this allowed us to start our tours 30 minutes ahead of the other crowds. It also allowed us to tour longer, as when we got back to the port, our bus again went to the front of the line.

 

What is interesting is that the guides from the trip advisor forums seem to be charging less. I was quoted $120 each for our party of 4 by Nile Blue, and a range of between $75 & $100 each from the guides recommended on the Trip advisor forums.

 

At the port you can hire drivers for even lower then this. Guides do not have the infrastructure to guarantee your save AND timely arrival back to the ship. Is it really worth saving some $$, if you miss the ship? Tour companies do have that infrastructure, As far as guides go BOTH DeCastro and Nile Blue guides were far superior to the ones on the ship's tours. I personally believe that DeCastro had the better and more organized guides.

Things may change, but at the moment I am unsure between Nile Blue as they seem to have a lot of experience with cruise passengers & good reviews on this site, and Rasha, an Egyptologist from the Trip advisor recommendations, & after searching through pages of posts, I have not come across anything remotly negative about her.

 

I would be really interested to hear comments from any cruise passengers who have used her in the past. Thanks.

 

Jerry

[sea-explorer]

Thanks for that. I do understand Decastro has been responsible for some excellent tours, & if you're one of the lucky ones, it will be the best, but if you're not....it could be spoilt. I know I could ask for a particuar guide, Dalia seems to be highly thought of, but anything could happen on the day, so I wouldn't want to get my hopes up.

 

Is it really worth saving some $$, if you miss the ship? Tour companies do have that infrastructure, As far as guides go BOTH DeCastro and Nile Blue guides were far superior to the ones on the ship's tours. I personally believe that DeCastro had the better and more organized guides.

 

Exactly! That is precisely my worry. You've been reading my mind. Apart from anything else, if the unthinkable were to happen, for example, the van broke down, I'm sure Nile Blue/Decastro & others would be able to conjure up another van or fit us in somewhere, wheras another guide, as excellent as they may be in Cairo, would struggle to provide the same service.

 

Thanks again for being a sounding board. My family leave all the organizing to me & it can be quite a responsibilty at times. You've been very helpful.:)

[Leejnd4]

I think it's fantastic that the negative reviews have been brought to their attention in this manner. It's certainly heartening to hear that he knows about them and takes them seriously, and one can hope that this will mean that they will work all the harder to ensure situations like that don't happen again.

 

The fact that they are hearing about it from potential clients mean that this system works! They know that they can't just do whatever and get away with it - one poorly handled client can cost a LOT of business down the road. So that gives us encouragement that they will be less likely to repeat the poor service.

[CAT GIRL]

Cat Girl wrote what she calls her "novel" about her trip to the Eastern Med. If you ask nicely, she will send a copy to you. There have been so many requests that she could have published it by now.

 

Her travel "novel" is full of fine tips on local tourist sites, the joys and hardships of traveling in a foreign land - it's riveting reading and I highly recommend it.

 

Ruby

 

Thanks for the great comments. Radioactive, give me your

email and I'll shoot it off to you.

[sea-explorer]

Thanks Al for your input.

I'm really glad I've got plenty of time to sort this, there is a lot to consider.

 

Radioactive...I can second the comment about Cat Girl's journal. I've just been re-reading the Rome section this morning. It's excellent..I don't think I need to buy a guide book now.

 

Thanks again Cat Girl.

[Luv2Trvl!]

Thanks for the great comments. Radioactive, give me your

email and I'll shoot it off to you.

 

Hi, I've been carefully reading this thread in preparation of our cruise in less than 2 weeks. CAT GIRL, could you please email us your recollections too? Here's an email address you can use: misha02 at hotmail.com (please replace "at" with @)

 

Thanks!

[CAT GIRL]

Hi, I've been carefully reading this thread in preparation of our cruise in less than 2 weeks. CAT GIRL, could you please email us your recollections too? Here's an email address you can use: misha02 at hotmail.com (please replace "at" with @)

 

Thanks!

 

 

Will do!

[mountainmare]

CAT GIRL--I'll add my thanks for your reort and for Dalias contact info.

 

BTW--we are cat people with a feral colony and two lucky house cats. We're involves with a local spay and release and rescue org.

 

sparky--you make a very good point about a larger company having the resources if there is a breakdown with the van. Something to think about.

[Trece]

Mountainmare, We have a TNR feral colony too, and MANY indoor lucky rescues (dog, cats, and even birds). Getting away is SO difficult. The plans & arrangements for them are often more complex and expensive than our own! Maybe it's not just coincidence that we both had great DeCastro experiences & both love Dalia!

[sea-explorer]

You are so right Mountainmare..it does take some thinking about. I think I've about come round full circle. I started off with DeCastro and Nile Blue, & think that is where I have ended up. (Still not heard from EgyptianExpress or Memphis tours..over a week now).

 

I've even had a few emails from one of the tripadvisor guides I contacted..lowering his price, lol. Perhaps I'm just strange, but that always has the opposite effect on me & puts me of them totally. If they can lower their prices, why inflate them in the first place?

 

Another way my mind works is regarding the issue of self promotion. Before I go any further I must clarify I don't mean on this board, but other forums that can be found using google etc. I have seen self promotion posts on occasson on this board..but not for long as pffft, they're gone. They can be seen on other boards though & they are quite obvious & laughable really. Also to clarify, I am in no way referring to any of des1rees posts or others on this board, I believe those 110%..yes, I know, & I'm supposed to be a mathematician. :D However, another thing we all need to be aware of when reading reviews is that some negative reviews could even have been made by rival tour companies. We really do have to keep our eyes open and in the end, try to make a balanced decision.

[princess_monika]

on March 2008 I had a tour to cairo from Alexandria Port when I was aboard Costa Romantica. The company that I arranged with is called "Ramses Tours". The service was very good. I had an excellent guide "Yousef" who really took good care of us. We did not face any delays or were forced to go to certain places for shopping like some do. The price was ok. What I liked most is that they accepted that I make the payment upon arrival which saved me the trouble of wiring money or Western Union & so!!!

I thought I should share that information with you.

[des1rees]

[ Also to clarify, I am in no way referring to any of des1rees posts or others on this board, I believe those 110%..yes, I know, & I'm supposed to be a mathematician.]

 

Hello there, thanks for clarifying that you are not doubting my posts...if you do a search with my name on Trip Advisor and even on these boards like the Celebrity forum) you will find quite a few of my posts. Travelling is my passion, and the day I stop being able to do it, is when the fun will go out of my life...

[Saga Ruby]

You are so right Mountainmare..it does take some thinking about. I think I've about come round full circle. I started off with DeCastro and Nile Blue, & think that is where I have ended up. (Still not heard from EgyptianExpress or Memphis tours..over a week now).

 

I've even had a few emails from one of the tripadvisor guides I contacted..lowering his price, lol. Perhaps I'm just strange, but that always has the opposite effect on me & puts me of them totally. If they can lower their prices, why inflate them in the first place?

 

Another way my mind works is regarding the issue of self promotion. Before I go any further I must clarify I don't mean on this board, but other forums that can be found using google etc. I have seen self promotion posts on occasson on this board..but not for long as pffft, they're gone. They can be seen on other boards though & they are quite obvious & laughable really. Also to clarify, I am in no way referring to any of des1rees posts or others on this board, I believe those 110%..yes, I know, & I'm supposed to be a mathematician. :D However, another thing we all need to be aware of when reading reviews is that some negative reviews could even have been made by rival tour companies. We really do have to keep our eyes open and in the end, try to make a balanced decision.

 

Having dealt with Egyptian tour companies on a personal level for months before arrival in Egypt and now reading about them on these boards, the information available on Cruise Critic and particularly on this forum, gives plenty of information for an informed choice of tour operators. The competition for travelers in Egypt is quite lively as tourism is the Number 1 industry in Egypt.

 

Sparky makes excellent points on this thread as does Al Cafferty. Just keep in mind that your tourist dollar is much sought-after in Egypt, that rival tour operators are posting on Cruise Critic as individuals for their own benefit, and I'm sure that CCritic members will make a good, informed choice. The information you need is contained in these pages.

 

Egypt is a beautiful, fascinating country. I hope your enjoy your visit.

 

Ruby

[patw]

With so many outstanding reviews of your "book," I cannot be the only one who has not read it.

My e-mail: patw46254@hotmail.com

 

Thank you so much for sharing!

Pat

[Leejnd4]

on March 2008 I had a tour to cairo from Alexandria Port when I was aboard Costa Romantica. The company that I arranged with is called "Ramses Tours". The service was very good. I had an excellent guide "Yousef" who really took good care of us. We did not face any delays or were forced to go to certain places for shopping like some do. The price was ok. What I liked most is that they accepted that I make the payment upon arrival which saved me the trouble of wiring money or Western Union & so!!!

I thought I should share that information with you.

 

Just an observation - when a brand new poster comes in here with only one post, touting a specific tour company, it should be looked upon with suspicion. Many tour guides do this to promote their own company. I personally never give any credence to a one-post member touting one tour guide or company.

 

Just food for thought, folks.

 

Princess Monika, if you are a real cruiser, apologies...but for future reference, you kinda need to build up some credibility before your reviews can be taken seriously. And if you are real, just keep posting (as long as all your posts aren't promoting that one company) and then people will give your reviews more credence.

[kruzin']

:) my dh and 90 others did a tour with hazeem with nile blue tours for 2 days back in Nov. with "we be gone" and had a wonderful tour..the camel ride was the highlight of our 27day cruise..thanks to all my fellow cruisers and nile blue for a wonderful experience...:)

Just a quick update in case anyone else is in the planning stage.

I've contacted several companies and individual guides for quotes.

 

Not Decastro..a combination of deposit/hit & miss re guide & negative reviews/many other options out there.

 

Not Bestway..read several negative reviews on another Egypt forum

 

I have not yet heard back from Memphis or EgyptianExpress.

 

I have contacted Nile Blue & several guides recommended on the trip advisor forums. The only negatives I have read about Nile Blue were one about being worried about missing the ship as the driver got lost and one about the guide being there ready to meet them at the port, but then having to wait to set off under convoy with all the excursion coaches. I don't know if this is standard practice or not.

 

What is interesting is that the guides from the trip advisor forums seem to be charging less. I was quoted $120 each for our party of 4 by Nile Blue, and a range of between $75 & $100 each from the guides recommended on the Trip advisor forums.

 

Things may change, but at the moment I am unsure between Nile Blue as they seem to have a lot of experience with cruise passengers & good reviews on this site, and Rasha, an Egyptologist from the Trip advisor recommendations, & after searching through pages of posts, I have not come across anything remotly negative about her.

 

I would be really interested to hear comments from any cruise passengers who have used her in the past. Thanks.

[WeBeGone]

Hey Kruzin' - that WAS a good time wasn't it. We went back in Feb and spent 12 days with Hazem and Ghada, Vicky, and Nile Blue. It was magical to cruise on the Nile and see the sights we couldn't see in an overnight.

[sea-explorer]

:) my dh and 90 others did a tour with hazeem with nile blue tours for 2 days back in Nov. with "we be gone" and had a wonderful tour..the camel ride was the highlight of our 27day cruise..thanks to all my fellow cruisers and nile blue for a wonderful experience...:)

 

Thanks kruzin (&webegone :) )

 

Although I haven't confirmed yet, I think we will be going with Nile Blue.

I'm just sorry now we won't have longer.

[kruzin']

:) sparky 1664 you will have a great time...I notice you are from Kent..I will be going on the Splendor 8-30-08 and am spending 2nites precruise in Dover planning to see Canterbury on 1 or those 2 days...Anything you can advise me not to miss , you being a local? thanks....

[kruzin']

:) I noticed the photo is of you and your dh...I know that photo wasnt taken in Nov,,,It must have been your Feb trip...that was my trip of a lifetime ...was riding with someone easier than solo? those stirrups can be a real hassle...

Hey Kruzin' - that WAS a good time wasn't it. We went back in Feb and spent 12 days with Hazem and Ghada, Vicky, and Nile Blue. It was magical to cruise on the Nile and see the sights we couldn't see in an overnight.