Thanks for your advice. Tiffany is quite a good swimmer but not sure how long she could go for without putting her feet down for a rest but I suppose if she is looking at the fish she might not even notice. I have heard that the buoyancy is pretty good which should help her.

The courtesy bus does go early so will probably opt for the taxi like you did. Did you feel safe going off of the hotel site?

Did you purchase any of those aqua shoes for the sea and if so was that in the UK or when you got there?

Thanks again.

We spent alot of time around the pools and didn't use aqua shoes as you couldn't put your feet down in the water when in the sea. I did intend to get them there as you don't know the set-up till you get to these places. I didn't see many people at the Crowne Plaza using them.

You're not allowed to touch the coral as it's a living creature, although some of the russians were walking on it :evil:. This seemed stange as its cordoned off so you cant go on it easily without going under ropes, I was suprised to see this as it must be awful to walk on so why do it? Perhaps they didn't understand the signs.

The water does tend to keep you afloat so I'm sure she will be fine especially if she takes to the snorkelling. We bought the snorkels in the hotel which I imagine was probably more expensive than buying them in Namma.

We did feel safe when we went into Namma Bay, we were only there for a week and didn't do any trips. We were on our flight home the evening of the Dahab bombs. I wouldn't let it put me off of going back.

Thanks doepsmc for all your help. I don't think i will buy the aqua shoes then it would be a waste.

Did the Russians outnumber the Brits and was this a problem for you? The only trip that we thought we might do is the quad biking but having said that as we are going in August I might not be able to move from the sunbeds

I think that's a good idea about the aqua shoes. You can always get them there if you feel the need, and it saves the room in the suitcase if you don't.

We didn't find the Russians a problem (more sort of amusing ). When we were there the hotel was a mix of Brits, Italians and Russians nobody seemed to dominate and everyone rubbed along OK. Although we couldn't really talk to each other cos of the language barrier. Don't know if it's seasonal though, with certain nationalities going at certain times.

All the young male Egyptian staff were nice and well meaning and most of them had good English, so no probs ordering drinks etc. They seemed to quite like the Brits, got the feeling we tipped better than some of the others so got better service.

Did you read my review? Its in the hotel section under the name Chris, I think its the one before last, as Elaine has put in a brief second one.

CarrieBMW,

There are some guys just by the Jetty who work for Safari travel. (think thats what its called if my memory serves me well).

These guys are pretty good, trips very, very reasonable, believe you me i compared many.

They rent out buoyancy vests for about £2. Even if you only snorkel for an hour or so, they will save your vest in case you want to go back in again later (no further charge).

There is also a very shallow part of the beach, about 4 to 5 metres before the cordonded off part where the live coral are.

Here you can see loads of fish, depth is about knee high and ground is sandy. However this part has many sea urchins (black spiky things). For this you WILL need aqua/beach shoes.

Just off the jetty (the blue one) the depth is actually about 12metres deep, (looks shallower but water makes things seem nearer) i know as i did alot of scuba diving in the far/near garden reef and recovered someone's mobile phone and sunglasses from this jetty!

Don't worry about your daughter needing to stand, the Red Sea is very very bouyant, with a vest as extra bouyancy she will feel very comfortable. My seven year old daughter loved it.

I can post some photos if someone could tell me how to.

Kind Regards

Barney

Thanks Barney that's great news that she can have a vest to help her (I might even get one myself just to be safe )

I will leave the aqua shoes till we get there I think. Do you happen to know if it is better to get the snorkels in the UK or also wait until we get there?

We will book the trips with the guys down there if we think we can handle any in that heat

CarrieBMW

You can buy snorkels in Naama bay and i think they sell some in the shop just by the hotel lobby.

Could also buy one for between £5 & £10 from a well known internet auction site too.

I was looking recently and seen some for £4.95.

The ones with a splash guard on top are best in case the waters a bit choppy.

Just to correct my previous post:- The depth at the side of the blue jetty IS about 6 metres, loads of coral reef and columns, but the very end of the jetty is where the sea bed starts to slope down and thus deeper.

Look out for the giant Napolean fish and the moray eel, usually to the left of the jetty.

Its all coming back to me now........ one day again hopefully soon

Barney

I still have the leaflet of the guys who work off the jetty at the CP that do the trips. I'm keeping it incase I can get back there next year!

I think like Barney says they are called Gammel/Safari and Water Sports. It was Mahmoud who explained them all to me on my first morning.

I also had the thomson/portland trip leaflet, and Safari/Gammel seemed less expensive.

He did the quads that you are interested in and so did Thomson, but on thomsons leaflet it gives a minimum age of 16 which will be no good for your daughter, im not sure if there are options on quads for younger children.

Thats it - Gammel!

doepsmc, cheers.

You can also barter with these guys, we booked a second trip and they even knocked a bit more off aswell.

1st trip - Ras Mohammed by boat
2nd trip - Jeep safari and camel ride.

Although it was the wife who used her charms to get a good price!

Excellent thanks guys. So I take it then if you were returning to Sharm you would be happy to return to the Crowne? I guess it must compare pretty well with the rest of the hotels there then.

Is it really scary going on a camel? We were going to do this is Lanzarote but the camels didn't look very happy

Not sure how it compares to other hotels in Sharm as we were first timers. But it suited me and my family and we enjoyed our stay. We very rarely go back to the same hotel twice as there are loads of different ones to try, but if I was to do B&B and the price was right (I got a great deal with Portland last time), we would be happy to use the Crowne Plaza again.

Thanks doepsmc. Like you we don't like to return to the same hotel but if you would consider it for the right price then it sounds as if its good and meets requirements.

Did you make friends with any of the staff or is the resort too big?

Not friends exactly, but we spent a lot of time round the roman pool and one waiter looked after us, brought us our drinks etc and they will also move the sunbeds about for you because they are wooden and heavy. The same lad looked after us when we ate at Via Vento on a couple evenings (that's the Italian a la carte that's at the front of the roman pool), but we did tip him for most things. No good a names though so I cant tell you who he was.
Yes the resort is big and spread out. I heard there is 5 pools, but I only managed to find 4

How much were you tipping on average and what currency did you use? We are HB and I gather you were BB do you think the food will be OK in the evenings?

Sorry for all the questions but am curious

We were tipping in Egyptian Money, small amounts here and there.

Sorry can't help with half board but I would imagine it will be in the big restaurant where everyone has breakfast. The food in the Italian, Via Vento and the CView BBQ was fine, but these are restaurants where you order from a menu and get waiter service. I would imagine that it will be a buffet as this is what most hotels seem to provide these days.

I got a very pleasant surprise on Saturday when my wife came in from shopping to tell me that we were off to the Crown Plaza Resort in August. As this is the first time that we have ventured any further than Spain or Greece I'm after some tips or advice about our holiday. Is the hotel popular with families? We have an active 12 year old lad who likes nothing better than to pal up with other kids for a fortnight. This is the first time that we have done an all inclusive deal anywhere - is the food ok and is the beer and soft drinks palatable? What are the shops that we should look for in Naama Bay and where are the bars? I know that we are in Egypt and this is probably a stab in the dark but are there bars where you can have a pint and watch the footy? What type of jabs will we need before we set off? I would appreciate any advice that you can provide - thank you in advance.

Nika

Hi

Stayed here for a weeks chill out in April. I have a 13 and an 11 year old. They amused themselves with the swimming pools they seemed to like the Roman one and the one by the Crowne Club rooms the best. My daughter liked the snorkelling, my son less so. Him and his Dad used the tennis courts at the sports club quite a few times and enjoyed that. Although it might be to hot for tennis in August.
We also went into Namma Bay a couple of times. Shopping and mooching around. There is a shuttle mini bus, plus the CP has its own taxi rank.

Sorry can't comment on the AI deal, infact I didnt realise the CP offered AI. We were B&B. Perhaps it's something they offer in the summer months. There is a buffet restaurant which was used for breakfast and that HB guests had there evening meal in, I would imagine that would be used for AI. We ate in the CV BBQ and Via Vento but these are a la carte so I guess you would have to pay. Didnt get round to eating in the Tapas bar.

There seemed to be a fair number of families with kids between the ages of 10 and 15 and I expect there will be even more in August. Have you read the reviews on HT also there are loads on trip adviser? Have a great time.
Edit: Not sure what footy will be on in August, but the Camel Bar in Namma bay would be the place.

Hi
You have a very nice wife!!! This hotel is very good indeed, it is ideal for famillies of all nationalities not just full of Brits like some hotels!!! The food was ok i'm not a great food person but it was ok. We were b&b so we had to pay for all our drinks and other bits and bobs we had a bar bill of about £500 for 2 weeks that included lots of lunches and dinners. The pools are great the sea even better we didn't see our kids for 2 weeks (14&10)
Egypt is not spain or Greece things are alot slower, but the people are so much nicer they can't do enough for you.
There is alsorts of shops in Naama Bay something for every one, also loads of places to eat from Mcds to mexican and back, a trip to Old Sharm is also well worth a visit don't be put off by the state of the place it just adds to the charm.
Plenty of bars with footy on I do believe Egypt are the African Champions so they are into to footy,not a proper sport like Rugby.
As for jabs go to your local health center they will advise better than me.
The Crowne plaza is a lovely Hotel a very enjoyable 2 weeks lazing by the pool. Only 1 negative point is that the music the animation team play all day is far too loud!!!!
If you require any more info please get intouch

Hi everyone.

Just recieved a potential spanner in the works with regard to our holiday at the Crowne Plaza Resort in August. Our Travel Agent has just informed us of building work going on around the hotel...Has anyone been there recently who can advise how disruptive this building work is and how much it could affect our holiday. The Travel Agent have told us that they will transfer us free to another hotel or give us a full refund. The fact that they are willing to help so much has got me thinking how bad the building work actually is.

Thanks in advance.

Nika