Red Sea cruise

[iant]

Hello I am going on the red sea cruise next April for my wifes 60th never been on a cruise before any advice cost of tripsetc any information at all is welcome.

[kruzseeka]

Hello and welcome :)

 

This is the link from the Thomson site which will tell you about the ports of call and describe the trips and costs.

 

http://www.thomsonbeach.co.uk/th/cruise/viewPorts.do

 

I believe it's not comprehensive as usually we find there is a bigger selection in the Destinations Guide which will be in your cabin when you get on board. I haven't done this cruise so can't comment on the excursions although from what I read it seems that some can be quite long ones (due to distance from the ports to the main 'attractions') and therefore rather more expensive.

 

For many itineraries, DiY approaches are possible (and cheaper) - although despite the cost the Thomson excursions seem to be much better value than many of the prices quoted by many of the other cruise lines on here. (We certainly paid about 50% more for trips on an American line than typical prices on Thomson!!!! :eek: One reason for continuing to choose them!)

 

I'm sure there will be some members here who will be able to give you some specific advice if you need it on the Red Sea trip but you could also try a search by entering 'Red Sea' or any of the ports in the 'Search this Forum' in the right hand corner box of the threads list and it should pull up threads which relate to your cruise.

 

Happy planning - it's all part of the fun! :)

[Cymro1953]

Hi,

You can also download a Red Sea Magic Excursion brochure on the Thomsons Cruises website, it's on the left hand side Request a Brochure. Click the link and it opens the brochure as a pdf. file. You can then save it if you want.

http://www.thomsonbeach.co.uk/th/cruise/viewItineraryList.do

 

 

Berwyn

[Smee]

We are going on this cruise over Christmas, some of the excursions look very long and time consuming so we will choose carefully.

Petra and the Pyramids are a must see for us after that we will have a more thorough look when on board.....:)

[jodanuke]

We went on this cruise 2 years ago. Yes some of the trips were very tiring, around 2 hours or more by coach, full day there, then 2 more hours back through the desert. We went in January and the desert at night was completly black.

 

Armed guard on all organised trips when we went.

 

BUT Petra and the Pyramids well worth the long journey.

 

Peter

[jenny wren]

We 've done this itinerary twice and my tips would be to do the Thomson excursions rather than try and do it yourself. The prices are good for what you get. It would be very tiring to do all the 'big' excursions on offer..but as someone has already said the Petra and Pyramid ones are probably the most important to see. The Luxor trip is very long and I think its the day before you travel home....we did Luxor on a Nile cruise and there really is too much to see in a day in my opinion. There are half day trips of one sort or another if you don't want to do full days. The weather should be quite hot in April so remember to drink lots of water when you go on your trips.

 

If you have any questions feel free to ask...I'm sure you will love the ship!!

[iant]

What was the cost of excursions in general?

[kruzseeka]

What was the cost of excursions in general?

 

 

Have you looked at the links posted earlier on the thread? the prices are on the trip descriptions.

[iant]

I have printed the guide off but I don't see any prices. cheers

 

Ian T

[kruzseeka]

Hi Ian T,

 

Try this one - it's not the printable guide, but the ports of call off the Thomson website. You'll have to scroll down to find the ports you're going to (they're a bit mixed up and the order's not altogether logical i.e. alphabetical, so it's easy to miss the ones you're looking for!) There you will find some of the excursions on offer (as I've said before, I think there may be more available in the Destinations Guide when you get on board) but the length of the excursion and the prices are at the end of each description.

 

Don't forget to select the appropriate season in the box at the top of the list 'Summer 2009' or 'Winter 2009' whichever is relevant so the correct mix of destinations is displayed.

 

Hope this helps!

 

 

http://www.thomsonbeach.co.uk/th/cruise/viewPorts.do

[jenny wren]

From memory and a VERY rough guide full day trips were 70 - 80 pounds per person and half days were 25 - 35 pounds per person and I think children were half price.

 

I know the prices were good compared to other cruise lines we've been on and good value for the money! Hope this helps .....

 

kruzseeka... sorry...just seen that you put the link on your post. What a good link didn't know that existed !

[Smee]

As far as we are concerned some of the excursions are maybe a once in a lifetime opportunity, we have been lucky enough to have already been to many of the worlds greatest sites but some of the ones on this cruise we would do at any price.....:)

[jenny wren]

Yes I certainly agree with you that these are once in a lifetime experiences....I never thought years ago that I would ever be in a position to see the Rose Red City of Petra or even the Pyramids....so for us the price was irrelevant really they were 'must do' trips regardless of the cost!!

[iant]

I would certainly agree with that thank you for all your help this is my first cruise I am looking forward to it

[jocap]

Hi Iant-we're going on this cruise in Feb. Has anyone brought up the need for injections going to Egypt? Our practice nurse wants DH back in a month-he has diabetes 2-to discuss injections for both of us.I'm not sure whether it's mainly because we're staying in Sharm first, and certainly DH had these years ago when he went diving in the Red Sea-but I'm interested what others may think-jocap.

[History addict]

Went on this trip a few years ago and it's a fabulous itinerary. We did Petra and the Pyramids (+ Cairo archeological museum) as full day excursions and given the distance travelled I think they were well worth the price and not trips I would attempt to do independently.

 

Personally I don't think you can do Luxor justice in a day as there is just too much to see there. If you are interested in tombs and temples then best thing is to do a week long nile cruise from Luxor to Aswan and back. Luxor has the temples of Karnak and Luxor as well as the Valleys of the Kings and Queens, Hatchepsut's temple and the Colossus of Memnon. A nile cruise will take a couple of days to do all of these properly - I don't think you can do it justice with a day trip from the coast a few hours away. Nile cruises are far cheaper than sea cruises and have the excursions and entrance fees thrown in for free. I've done it twice now and the sites are amazing. I was only there in February and am ready to do it again already.

 

For days not out on long excursions on the Red Sea magic cruise I'd recommend taking advantage of glass bottomed boat trips, submarine trip (from Hurghada) and snorkelling - the fish and reefs are fantastic. We did a learn to dive day which was a terrific experience and we went out diving on the reef on our first day to a depth of 9m. It was an experience but to be honest we saw as much when we were snorkelling.

 

BTW, we walked along the beach at Sharm and went on a local glass bottomed boat trip which was fantastic value - very easy to DIY here.

 

This is a superb itinerary where you can get to see a lot of world class sights all in one cruise plus reef snorkelling too. I think we'll be doing this one again soon also....

[purdypuss3]

Does anyone know is the trip to Cairo going when you do red sea magic at the min

[skybosun]

We are on escape to the east and have the same question. Are the trips to Cairo still running?

[Ceabea]

We are going on this cruise over Christmas, some of the excursions look very long and time consuming so we will choose carefully.

Petra and the Pyramids are a must see for us after that we will have a more thorough look when on board.....:)

 

oooh so are we! and thats our 2 'must do's' as well. Christmas day at sea - should be fun :D how was it??