overnight vs. 2 day trips in Egypt

[ptcellen]

Hi,

We will be in Egypt on Nov. 10,11,2009 and will be docked in Alexandria from 7:00a.m.-10:00 pm. and in Port Said from 9:00a.m.-9:00pm. Can't decide if we should do an overnight or 2 day trips to Cairo. Don't want a tour of Alexandria. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thank you in advance.

Ellen:)

[Tripmaven]

The question is how much do you want to see in Cairo? The overnight trip allows you to experience the city for a longer period. Also, keep in mind the transit time from Alexandria and Port Said is about the same time length, which is 3 hours each way.

 

Personally, I don't think I could have tolerated two days of this amount of time in transit.

 

If you do the overnight with the ship tours, they are traditionally more expensive than independent. Again, this is a personal decision.

 

Good luck with your decision.

[MercedMike]

The big thing to consider here is the travel time. Both Port Said and Alex are about three hours from Cairo. If you do two day trips, that is six additional hours of travel. There is sooooo much to see in Cairo, you want to spend those six hours sightseeing, not in transit. There is really no reason to do the two separate trips except to save a couple of meals and the hotel charge. This is probably a once in a lifetime experience for you, so don't let a few hundred dollars keep you from full enjoyment of it.

 

For a report of our overnight trip to Cairo with Egyptian Express, Check out our review and pics at http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/holyland2.html

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[Benita]

I would do the overnight in Cairo. There is so much to see and saving 6 hours of driving time is worth skipping a night onboard.

[ptcellen]

Hi everone,

Just wanted to thank you all for your responses. We are taking every ones advice and doing an overnight. We are still waiting to get final figures from Ramses. We have from Nile Blue and if we don't get satisfaction from Ramses, we will go with Nile Blue, also highly recommended.

Ellen:)

[Marie-Claude]

Hi Ellen!

 

I would also agree that to make the most out of your time in Cairo you should avoid transit time and do an overnight!! I wish I could!!

 

We booked our 1 day tour with Ramses Tours and so far, the communication and planning have been outstanding and the prices really competitive.

 

If you contacted Ramses, you should hear from George within 24 hours, if you haven't, you may want to check your Spam or Bulk inbox... in case of doubt, send another email! You'll get a quick response!

 

MC

[CRUISERTN]

We will be doing an overnight with Ramses in November. The cost of two one-day trips to Cairo with them was the same amount as doing their overnight, including the hotel, and saving 6 hours of time traveling is most important. Only extra expense is a few meals, and should be well worth it to spend more time in Cairo and less time going back and forth.

[Heelan]

OK, you guys. You've just about got me talked into an overnight in Cairo. I'm not crazy about the ship's intinerary. Seems like we can either do the bazaar or the museum, but not both. I also don't want to miss the pyramids and sphinx. Or the library in Alexandria. Is this too much to ask? Am I being unrealistic? I'll probably contact Ramses, I just need some feedback before I do. Thanks in advance.

[cruisemom42]

OK, you guys. You've just about got me talked into an overnight in Cairo. I'm not crazy about the ship's intinerary. Seems like we can either do the bazaar or the museum, but not both. I also don't want to miss the pyramids and sphinx. Or the library in Alexandria. Is this too much to ask? Am I being unrealistic? I'll probably contact Ramses, I just need some feedback before I do. Thanks in advance.

 

I'm a book lover, a book editor, and come from a family of librarians. However, I feel compelled to say that, compared to the delights that are on offer in Cairo for sightseeing, the new library in Alexandria is not a "must see". Of course, if you have a personal mania for architecture or libraries, by all means see it, but otherwise I'd advise spending as much of your time in Cairo as you can.

[ptcellen]

Hi Heelan,

I am the original poster and I wanted to let you know that we just booked the overnight with Ramses. We customized our own tour,took away some of the mosques, and added the bazaar, the Ben Ezra Synagogue(which is on the regular tour) the hanging church and the Citadel. Also the pyramids, spinx and the egyptian museum with the mummy room and the sakkarra step pyramid . A lot to do in 2 days, but we wanted to do it all. George is very accommodating. If you have any questions, you can e-mail me at ellenpsherman@comcast.net

Ellen:)

[Heelan]

Hi All-thanks so much for the feedback. Now I'm thinking we'll take a pass on the library in Alexandria, and I'm definitely e-mailing Ramses. If you have any suggestions for something we really mustn't miss, I'm interested.

[kool kruiser]

We have just returned from a wonderful Holy Land cruise on the Royal Princess. During our two days in Egypt we used Ramses Tours for a two day overnight in Cairo/Giza. There were eight of us and we fitted very comfortably in a mini van, together with our brilliant guide and driver. I cannot speak too highly of Ramses and we had a truly unforgettable tour. We were extremely comfortable with not being required to make any payment at all until the conclusion of our tour on the second day. Our guide was both expert and fun and accompanied us throughout. The driver was also brilliant in navigating the quite ridiculous standard of driving and the trafficwhich we encountered. We paid less than one-half of the cost of an equivalent ship tour and did much more. George was also only too happy to tailor the tour to our needs.

 

I would have no hesitation in recommending the company who fully met and even surpassed all of our expectations.

[ptcellen]

Kool Kruiser,

Thank you so much for your excellent recommendation of Ramses tours. We leave 1 week from today and are getting very excited. We will be 8 on our tour as well. Looking forward to our overnight in Egypt. Did you stay at Le Mederian Hotel and if so, did you have dinner in the hotel and was it reasonable? Again, thank you.

Ellen:)

[gkkapp]

Here are links to photos of our room for our overnight in March. Ate in the "European style" restaurant (can't remember the name) at the hotel. No problems with "mummy tummy". The prices in Egyptian pounds may look high but when converted were not bad at all. Don't remember how much but less then $20.00 pp.

 

<<<Karen>>>

http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/...um/Bedroom.jpg

 

http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/...ittingroom.jpg

[twopats]

OK, you guys. You've just about got me talked into an overnight in Cairo. I'm not crazy about the ship's intinerary. Seems like we can either do the bazaar or the museum, but not both. I also don't want to miss the pyramids and sphinx. Or the library in Alexandria. Is this too much to ask? Am I being unrealistic? I'll probably contact Ramses, I just need some feedback before I do. Thanks in advance.

 

Through a friend who had used Mohamed K two years ago, I contacted him and arranged for a tour from the Grand Princess which docked in Port Said and in Alexandria the next day. Originally I had planned on just my husband and I, but it ended up with three couples which worked out great and lowered the cost considerably. Mohamed, whose English is excellent, is one of those guides who is totally flexible and only wishes to show you the highlights YOU want to see. However, we put ourselves totally in his hands, as we did not know exactly what should be seen and what should be skipped. His tour includes two lunches, entrance to all sights (except the sound & light show), a Falucca ride on the Nile, and everything except the gratuities at the end of the trip. If you want to do the Nile Dinner Cruise, he will gladly arrange it, but we were just exhausted that night and passed on that offer. We stayed at Le Meredian Pyramids, which was a wise choice as this hotel is only minutes from the pyramids and the sound & light show at 6:30 p.m. The Marriott and Hilton are 45 minutes to an hour's drive away. After you experience Cairo traffic, you have a generous outpouring of gratitude to the driver he uses! His van was very comfortable, air conditioned, and what I really appreciated was the police car either ahead of us or behind us, plus the undercover policeman in the Grand Bazaar who kept any aggressive vendors at bay. Highest recommendation for Mohamed K.! You can email him at komaty_mathotmaildotcom. Trish

[Queen of the Queen]

Hi Karen

Which hotel did you use? and which tour operator?

We are in the process of booking a tour for Feb. with Ramses Tours

Thanks for any info you can share

Lorraine

[gkkapp]

Queen of the Queen-

 

As per my post we stayed at the Le Mederian and DeCastro was our tour operator. Read James 30's post for a good description of their service. We docked in Alexandria rather then Port Said. Mr. Wael Soliman was also along on our trip and I can't speak highly enough about him. He is VERY proud of his country.

 

<<<Karen>>>

[kool kruiser]

Kool Kruiser,

Thank you so much for your excellent recommendation of Ramses tours. We leave 1 week from today and are getting very excited. We will be 8 on our tour as well. Looking forward to our overnight in Egypt. Did you stay at Le Mederian Hotel and if so, did you have dinner in the hotel and was it reasonable? Again, thank you.

Ellen:)

 

Yes, we stayed in Le Meridien. We saw the sound and light show (IMHO rather a waste of time ) and then had dinner on a nile dinner cruise. The belly dancer and especially the whirling dervish were great. The hotel breakfast was excellent.

To be honest, we were VERY careful with what we ate and thankfully had ne tummy issues

[ptcellen]

Hi gkKapp and Kool Kruiser,

Thank you both for your feedback and the pictures of the rooms and information on the restaurant. We expect to be extremely careful what we eat, as we can't afford to get mummy tummy. We go to Israel right after Egypt, and don't want to miss our time in Israel. We heard pro's and con's about the light show, but will still give it a try. We leave on Friday for Athens, and our cruise starts Sunday. Again, thank you both.

Ellen:):)

[maya james]

We used Ramses tours in Alexandria.

Our tour guide's name was Islam, he was Excenllent ,very professional and

knowledgeable.

We will definitely use Ramses Tours again.

Ellen and Ramsey