hi everyone,
see everyones getting excited about the hols !
can anyone tell me if men can wear burrberry caps and sarongs in the resturaunts ? or shall i take my dinner jacket !
sponge bob how many photos will your disposable underwater camera take , might get some myself how much did they cost ?
still no joy on the room front ! first choice don't seem to be doing much about it , they are just passing the buck ! told us to take photos of the rooms and if we are not happy with them might get a refund if we are lucky ! but i am sure any of the rooms will be fine , after all i don't intend on spending much time in them , what do you say eh marg ?
how many kids have you got marg , and how many are in your party ?
cannot wait to meet some of the people off this website , you all sound like crazy guys , i think i will be the only sane person there !
how big are the sharks and can you swim with them ?
see you soon skully !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are home now and I want to fit into anyones suitcase that is going within the next 2 weeks.

We had a fab time. We have no complaints.

Everyone have fun and you will enjoy yourselves.

You dont need a visa unless you are travelling to Cairo, Luxor, Rus Mohamed or going on a boat trip. We did not buy one and were told we could travel 260 kilometres before we needed one. This covered St Catherines Monastery and Dahab which was well worth visiting. If you plan to stay in the sharm el sheikh area don't be pressured by your rep to buy a visa. If need be as I said early you can pop back to the airport and obtain one if necessary.

Will write more later.

Hi Nicky

I think it was you who asked who I had travelled with in the past to get free luggage allowance for nappies I have travelled with air 2000 as was (firstchoice airways) airtours or mytravel and thomas cook airways, just ring customer services and explain you have a baby and you can not guaratee getting nappies of your choice at your destination therefore have to take a pentiful supply they should then book this onto thier system and sent you a letter to show at check in.
Hi skully,sponge bob and joe90,
Seems like our little party is getting bigger each day hope the bars can cope with us all!! I am going with another family we are taking our 13 year old daughter and they have a son of 15 and a daughter of 11.
Not long now 27 days to go!!
Just hope sharm airport has got its act together when we go.
See you all soon.
Marg

sarsew

were going on the 17th of july I have one daughter aged 9

and cannot wait to meet some mates anyone else going at this time with any kids the same age

hi

can anyone please explain what to expect at the airport im worried

Hi Everyone

We are back from our fabulous holiday. We had such a lazy time. It was very relaxing doing nothing all day. Well what can I say.

The staff were very friendly, but a little slow and they often forgot your drinks order. Thus resulting in sometimes 2 drinks appearing instead of one. Our first week was great as it was fairly quite and the themed restaurants did not get booked so quickly but by the second week there was more people so I suggest booking these restaurants as early as possible. These can only be booked one day inadvance. It is a vast complex and the tuf tuf train will take you around the perimeter. It runs on the half hour starting from reception. The pools looked lovely ( I don't swim) and the kids all look like they were having fun with their blow up rubber rings etc. Tipping was not necessary until the last day. The food was excellent and a wide varitey. Our disappointment was that there was no ice-cream for the kids during the day. At least we did not see any. The only time it appeared was in the evening in the main restaurant. The rooms are very good and an adequate size for us as a couple. Our fridge was not stocked up which was a shame but perhaps a tip would have changed things, but we weren't too bothered.
The hotels to the left of the complex were happy to have us wandering around. There are a few shops in the next hotel grounds which were interesting and can be reached by walking along the path that runs parallel with the beach. The Magic life complex was like fort nox and was not keen to let us in. We needed to use the ATM and was told they had one.
I felt very safe whilst I was away.
Naama Bay was ok but we found it too hot during the day and the best time to go is around 4pm. Again the bus gets busy so book early.

The entertainment was ok. Yes there was some and it was good but we did feel they could have offered a lot more.

The rep was very friendly and gave us her life history in 5 minutes flat. She made us feel at ease. There was no pressure to go on any of the trips or hard sell. We were shown her pictures she had taken on the trips. The trips to Cairo are around £190.00 each and £140.00 approx for Luxor. Others varied from £30.00.

Bear in mind that everyone has different views of a holiday. One lady on our holiday said she hated the food too stoogy, did not think much of the hotel, and as for the sea well. She had stayed in far better places. Her views were so totally different to ours and you would have thought she had stayed somewhere else.

The coffee is very strong and horrid in the main restaurant.

A must is a free haircut. The young man that cut our hair was really good and deserved his tip. Again in high season he will be very busy. He also does highlights, colouring, pedicures. etc.

if you have any other questions there is always someone with the answer.

Can anyone tell me if there are hair dryers in the rooms, my wife is asking does she need to take one? Also is there no ice cream for the kids during the day.
Is ther any where to buy snorkling equipment, flippers, mask etc or is it better to take from home.

thanks

Nigel

Hi" can anyone tell me if you can use buckets and spades on the beach,
what type of sand is it,all the pictures I have seen there never seems to be kids playing in the sand?
So far we have skully ,marg,kkazz,jo90,and my lot all going to be there during the first two weeks of July, anyone else?
What a party!!!!!!

Sponge Bob.

hi sponge bob ,
i think it will be some party like !
do you drink alcohol ? how many are in your party and have you got any kids ? i have 3 boys 13 ,9 and 6 they are football mad ! anyone know if there is a footy pitch at the lti ? maybe if we can get enough folks together we could have a footy match ,the english against the germans! do you think they would be up for that ?
is there karoke on at nights ?i do a fantastic jimmy somerville !
how will i know who you are , will you be drinking at the beach bar at nights ? maybe we could set a date and time ?
not long now skully

Answers to some of your questions

Hairdryers are in the rooms but to be honest my girlfriend didnt think that it had much power.

There are places to buy snorkelling equipment in the hotel but to be honest it wasn't that cheap - you can however go into Naama Bay and haggle haggle haggle.

Buckets and Spades - I did see some kids on the beach with them but to be honest it is not like a carribean beach with loads of soft sand it is more a grit and sand mixed together which is why you dont really see that many kids playing on the beach. Trust me it wasnt that nice when you grazed your legs playing football on it. Guess I should'nt have been slide tackling the Germans!

Thanks for that info danb4footy - I'll take my own snorkling stuff, its good quality gear anyway - also going to do a diving course does anyone recomend the on at the hotel or off site?

Hi

The people we met out there went with the onsite divers from the hotel. They had a great time and it didn't take up too much time from their holiday. Dont think that the price was that bad either (around £25 I think for almost 1/2 day).

The Camel diving club is supposed to be pretty good also.

Hiya Nicolaw

sorry havent been logged on for a while - were going on the 27th june for 2 weeks so let me know re the nappy situation when you get back.

Back to cash, how many ep's can you take with you???? is it 500 or 5000???

jo

really pleased were flying on a monday from comments made earlier, although i did rear way back that thomas cook are crap to travel with!!!! which has warmed the cockles of my heart seeing as thats who were travelling with!!!!! hopefully it will be better for us!!
Is the airport really bad if you get delayed..my little un iwill be almost 2 and a half, and has too much energy for her own good!! either that or i have too little.

I see there are lots of us out at the start of july do any of you have young kids...like mine, its a shame their just a bit too young to be alowd in the kids club........are they really rigid on age?????!!!! or if i put her in stilts will they be fooled!!!

it was 4 weeks yesterday.............cant wait!!!
jo

The best place for shopping is in the supermarkets in Naama bay. They have some great deals and are not expensive. Saves a lot time instead of haggling. The shop on the beach was not too expensive for the beach shoesand swim wear. We saw them at a similar price in Naama bay. There are several supermarkets in Naama bay selling childrens t-shirts for £3.00 approx and Adults as well. I bought some lovely ones for me.
There is a supermarket just up the road from the hotel. turn right out of the hotel, or turn left down at the beach and walk along the path heading up by the Luna Vista hotel. Best time to go is after 4pm when it should be a lot cooler.
Depending on who you are travelling with. My travel e.g Airtours recommend a certain diving school. When you go to the group meeting on the first day there is a representer there who will explain about the dives etc. You can book up with him. I don't know what the other tour operators offer. But Airtours don't recommend anyone else. Also under your insurance if you take the Airtours recommendation you are covered for diving whilst away. Not sure how you stand if you go else where.

The diving with the Airtours reccomended dive school has to be booked via the Airtours rep so he will probably be on comissoin. Not surpring he dosn't recommend anywhere else!!
Did three days diving with the Werner Lau (dive centre on beach) from their main school in Naama Bay, couldn't fault the service.
http://www.wernerlau.com/egypt/index.htm

Enjoy you stay

One week to go!!! Can't wait!
Can anyone recommend what I should do regarding snorkeling equipment?
We're not big divers, will only use a mask/pipe/flippers for a week, and then possible next year etc!
Should we get something in this country before we go - if so - are there any high street names that anyone can recommend and how much should we pay?
Or, should we wait until we're out there? - if so - where should we buy (close to the hotel) and again, how much should we pay?
Anyone got any last minute tips regarding taxi transfers / Monarch / hotel etc before we go??

One week to go for me too and I really cant wait!

Done my packing (almost, sure i can think of a few other things to pack), and raring to go!!!

Can anyone tell me what time the last bus leaves Naam town at night? Just wanted to know if we went there at night what time would we have to leave to get the last bus?

Many thanks and happy hols to all who are going soon!!!

kkazz/Skully
Have you had any luck with your room bookings? We have had an email from First Choice confirming that although our invoice specifies a Double Room we have been allocated a Family Room. They have said that it is loaded into their system as a Double so that they can keep track of the numbers of adults and children!! I sent then the link for the hotel website and fact sheet - http://www.tropicanahotels.com/en/azure/azure_sheet.swf
which gives the sizes and descriptions of the rooms available and they have confirmed that the room that we have been allocated is the one described on the Hotel web site as being a Family Room. It does seem from the hotel fact sheet that you couldn't get a family of 4 in their standard room.
I would be interested to hear which room you were given when you get back.

have a great holiday whichever room you have got.
dsj37