Hi, Charliegirl,

If this is your first visit to Egypt and you are really interested in the history of the monuments visited during the cruise, I would say pay the 99 quid. There will be a guide with the tours who will explain what you are looking at and deal with the transportation and the admission fees, which I assume are included? You will also be sure of arriving back at the boat on time!

Hi,
We're off to egypt at the beginning of September, starting off in Sharm (Red sea HV) then travelling to luxor for the 7 days all inc cruise with first choice then back to sharm for the last 3 days, can anyone tell me whether this is a good way to see Egypt? and if anyone knows what sort of time you have to leave the hotel to catch the plane to luxor?
Also are mossie's a problem on the boats?
One last question, like an idiot i booked the holiday to start 2 days before we get paid are there oportunities to get to cash points whilst on the boat or trips?!!??
Thanks x

Hi,
Wife and I are thinking of going on Nile cruise with Discover Egypt next May for 2 weeks, (1st week Full board Nile cruise with 10 free excursions and 2nd week 7 nights B&B at El Gouna). The boat is called Viking 11. The total price is £1476 from Manchester. Any info? as we have never been on cruise before.
thanks
baz.

Hi Nett,
The 7 day cruise part of your holiday is indeed a great way to see part of Egypt. You will visit wonderful ancient monuments, temples and tombs that you will remember for ever.

The resort of Sharm El Sheikh is a great place to relax, but as a purpose built resort, it is not the "real Egypt"

There are lots of atm machines around Sharm and also in the major towns and cities along your cruise route. Whilst on the boat, you can normally charge everything to your cabin and pay before departure.

Regarding mossies, I have never found them to be a problem on the cruise. A good insect repellent should suffice. More of a problem is sunbathing whilst the boat is moving and getting very burnt due to the breeze! Smother yourself in high factor!

Have a great time!

Thanks Carrot2502, I'm going for the factor 30, Pink is not my colour!!

x

Hi

Just booked our first cruise, me & my teenage children (will be 18 & 17) who are dying to see Egypt.

Just worried about how 'smart' we will have to be at night, dining etc. My son doesn't do 'smart' as a rule. Jeans hung with the crotch somewhere near his knees is more his thing - preferably with a well worn t/shirt!

Will he get away with cut-off trousers and t/shirts or will he need a suit?

Don't think I will have the same problem with my daughter though!

Hi To All
we are thinking of going on a cruise on the "MS Grand cruises "" all inclusive , next year .....thinking of the " Superior full board cruise "" ....it is with Airtours ..
has anyone been on this cruise .. Any info would be great
Thanks
kathy x

Hello, has anyone had any experiences of the MS Semiramis?

I checked the reviews thread, but couldn't find anything

any info would be great

thanks very much

Thinking about a Nile cruise next year, either Thomsons or Thomas Cook. I've two questions:

1. We want to take out 14 year old and our 17 year old. Has anybody any experience with taking teenagers on a Nile cruise? Is there any entertainment onboard the ships?

2. It will have to be in August during the school holidays. Is the temperature unbearable at this time of year?

Many thanks!

Sorry if this has been covered before but the better half wants to do the 'full nile cruise' ie south of cairo to the Aswan dam.
We live in Cyprus and have done the 3 day tour to Cairo from Limassol to the museum etc but the missus wants to go further afield.
Any recommendations further along the Nile appreciated

Hi there,

Sorry, but no cruises available from Cairo. The cruises are from Luxor to Aswan and Vice Versa. I love cruising the Nile, so i am always wishing that it was possible to do this too lol.

Jan

I have been very lucky enough to win a Nile Cruise through African Safari Club and we have booked for April 2008. I have read you need a Visa for Egypt and was wondering do you have to get this beforehand or can you get one when you land at the aiport.

We will be sailing on MS Da Vinci so if anybody has heard anything about this ship I would be delighted to hear.

Sorry if this is a stupid question but I haven't been to a Country where you need a Visa beofre

Hi sugarbabe61

Congratulations on your win, I am sure you will enjoy the Nile cruise.

You buy your Visa just as you enter the airport at the small banks on the left, pay it with an English £10 per person, very easy and somebody will show you where to go.

I don't know anything about your boat but these links may help -

http://www.africansafariclub.com/egypt/msdavinci.php

http://www.youtravel.com/hotel_search.asp?HID=2570

Graham

Hi Graham

Thanks for the info and for letting me know re the Visa. African Safari Club were using MS Star of Luxor but in November this year are changing the vessel to MS Da Vinci. Apart from their own page and the link you provided there is not much else about this ship.

My only other worry about going to Egypt is making sure we avoid upset tummies !!

Sugarbabe 61 - we have just come back from a week's cruise on the Star of Luxor - all 4 of us have come back with stomach upsets resulting in time off work, and in one case, a course of anti biotics - we have no idea where we got the problem from because we were very careful about hygiene - we used alcohol gel before and after using the toilets and also before meals - my wife even used concentrated disinfectant on the cabin toilet and hand basin every day. Large numbers of guests also seemed to be suffering to a greater or lesser extent.
Other than the stomach problems the holiday was very good - tours well organised (altho' very tiring with the early starts) and the boat generally very comfortable. Food was adequate altho at times a bit boring and the meat was occasionally a bit tough.
We anchored next to the Da Vinci on one day - it was just starting its first cruise after coming out of refit - they were obviously behind schedule as they were still putting furniture together throughout the first night! but it looked pretty comfortable from what we could see.
The hassle from streetside vendors has to be seen to be believed - its the worst I have experienced anywhere - we found the best way was to physically push them to one side as if you stop they are on you like a pack of hunting dogs.
Had a very unfortunate experience at check in when leaving which I have documented elsewhere - won't be going back to Egypt in a hurry!

Brewerdave

Thanks very much for your reply and information. Sorry I am late in replying but I am just back today from a cruise around Greece and Turkey. The stomach upsets are what really concern me with Egypt as I keep reading about them. I have read things like don't eat fruit, salads, ice cream and if you have a shower, make sure you don't swallow any water! All rather horrible and unpleasant.

A couple at our dinner table on our cruise last week have done a Nile cruise and they were lucky as they didn't get the stomach upsets.

I too would take the gel and hadn't thought about using disenfectant in the bathroom so that is a good idea. I am off to read about your other bad experience in Egypt. Thanks for taking the time to reply though.

sugarbabe61, there is stacks of extra information here regarding preventing tummy upsets, in case you would like any more As well as around toilet times and meal times, I always made sure to thoroughly wipe my hands with antiseptic wipes after I'd handled money (particularly paper money which tends to be very dirty and, apparently, bug-ridden!) and I didn't suffer tummy probs to any notable extent.

HTH

Choirgirl

Thanks very much for that. Some interesting reading for me!!

Thanks again

Hi Sue,
My wife and I and six friends first went on a Nile Cruise in January 2006 with Thomsons on the Presidential fleet (Ms Commodore)on a full board basis. On arrival at the boat it looked a bit tired, but we were wrong it was brilliant!!! We returned in January 2007 this time with Airtours on the (Grand Fleet) Ms Suntimes (Superior all inclusive) it was fabulous!!!!!!
We are returning in January 2008 (16 people) again with Airtours on a standard All Inclusive. I guarantee you will have a fantastic time. There are almost no negatives to his holiday, the scenery, excusions, food, staff, crew etc. are wonderful. At your welcome meeting the rep will almost certainly ask that you pay your tips for the crew and egyptologist/guide upfront, they tend to ask in the region of £25 per person for the guide and £20 per person for the crew. Do not be bullied into paying this there and then. We strongly objected to paying for services we had yet recieved, we tipped as we went along with amounts that we felt appropriate. We were asked a couple of times during our holiday if we would pay up front, we refused. it did not spoil our holiday in any way whatsoever, we tipped the guide (who was excellent) an amount we felt he deserved, he was delighted. Thomsons have the correct approach to tipping, at the end of your holiday, you are given two envelopes in which you put what amounts you wish one for the crew and one for he guide, these are then placed (unmarked/unopened) into a box at reception.
Dress code is just smart casual for meals and what you feel appropriate
for daytime.
Have a great time, take lots of photo's for lasting memories of a unforgettable holiday.

Sadra