Hi any one going on the new thomson red sea magic?
if any one is going i wonder if they could give me some info on
what excursions they are doing and how much they are. also so do the rooms have tea and coffee facilities? and do we need any jabs for egypt?
any info will be fab.

We (family of 4) are booked on this over the New Year. Thomsons info states on one letter that no visa are required, and on another letter that Egypt entry visa is required!

The Jordanian & Egyptian sites both state that entry visas are required, but I'm loathed to splash out on visas up front if it turns out the ship organise group visas.

I'm presuming group visas cover those brave enough to get taxi's rather than coach tours.

My partner and i cruised the Red Sea on Discovery last November. Excellent. We got our visas at Sharm airport (very easy) cost around ten pounds.

Petra is about a 2 - 3 hour coach journey from Aqaba. The coaches are parked up in a car park and then it is quite a long walk into the old city. Take plenty of water with you to drink as there is very little in the way of refreshment when you get in there. It is possibly about a mile to walk into the old city and then out when you have finished....there are donkeys and horses and carts which can carry you (at a price of course) but we chose not to use that means of transport as the animals did not look well looked after. It is really not to be missed, absolutely amazing is an understatement!

I don't think any vaccinations or injections are required, we didn't have any although our tetanus are up to date. Just wise while ashore in Egypt to be scrupulous about handwashing, and only drink bottled water. No ice in drinks or salads to eat and you should be fine.

I think it would be wise not to travel any distance independently in Egypt at present, the organised tours are always accompanied by police motorbikes and cars, and coaches travel through Egypt in convoy at quite high speeds.

We did trip to Cairo from Safaga, which was around a 2 hour coach journey, visited the pyramids, and the museum saw the sound and light show at the pyramids, all very good.

Can't give info on journey time to Luxor as we did that on a Nile cruise at a later date.

We have stayed in Eilat on the Red Sea several times in March and November and it is not just warm it is hot!!! February in Luxor and on the Nile was well into the 70's. So you don't have to wait until April!!

One tip we learnt from the cruise was not to try and do everything as the heat drains your energy, even tho we drank gallons of bottled water!! So best to choose carefully which trips to go on and save a bit of time for relaxation!!!!

We are off on the relocation of Thomson Spirit in October starting in Palma Majorca and ending up in Sharm el Sheikh which we are looking forward to and are contemplating doing a cruise and stay Red Sea/Hurghada next year (possibly March).

whenever you go I'm sure you will enjoy it!!!

excellent port, many thanks. Am really looking forward to this now. Just hope my wife doesnt get the cruising bug afterwards! I want to go back to Florida in 2007!

BTW has anybody been in one of the 4berth inside cabins? Is it do-able in a smidge of comfort or will we be in each others way?

If anyone else is going 9th-16th let me know, would be nice to meet up and have a drink.

I did a Red Sea cruise just a couple of years ago. We went with Page & Moy on the Ocean Majesty. One of the disadvantages if you want to see Valley of the Kings is it is a long long coach ride. You have to be up the crack of dawn and sit forever in a coach and then you obviously have the journey back. I think the best way to see Egypt and all its antiquities is to do a Nile Cruise. The cruise company arranged the visas and we did not have to have any injections. We went in November and it was 40degrees in the Valley of the Kings.

We did 4-birth inside last New Year on the Airtours Carousel. 2 adults + 9 & 13 year old.

It's not spacious, but the only time we felt cramped was when getting ready for the evening, once we sorted out a routine it was fine.

Also we ended up only unpacking half the daytime clothes for the first 4 days and leaving a case full for the last 3 days. Draw space was a bit limited.

As long as you're not the non-snorrer then its also ok. My son and I got grief most nights from the other half. Didn't really understand why, cos I didn't hear a thing !

Hi Suzy2pea,
We too will be doing a cruise & stay on Thomsons Spirit and Iberotel Palace in Sharm el Shiekh this Christmas - our first cruise holiday. The cruise brochure does not mention tea/coffee making facilities in the cabins so assume there are none. I think maybe its because there is 24 hr room service available etc. As far as visas are concerned the Thomson Cruise brochure states, on p211, - "British passport holders on a Cruise holiday are not required to obtain individual visas for any destinations featured." But on my booking confirmation it states the opposite ie "entry visas are requird". My intention is to get ours at the airport when we land. For a cost of £15 it isn't a lot compared to the overall cost of the holiday, and at least you'll have peace of mind.

Hello

I am going on the Spirit Red Sea Magic on 17th ( )

We have had our tickets and it only mentions 3 excursions. Petra, Cairo & Luxor. Each of them are 12-13 hrs in duration and cost approx £65 each.

This is all I know at the moment but will put a little report up when I get back!

I am so excited!

Hi Glitterygirl

Looking forward to reading your review when you get back. Hope you have a great cruise.

luci

Looking forward to your review Glitterygirl as we are going on the 24th. Have you heard anything about improved security for Petra since the bombings in Jordan?

We have got the details of the trips and they do sound like they could be long long long days but hey we have a couple of days at sea and that should give us chance to get our breath back.

Ooooohhhh getting excited its really really soon now, all we have to consider now is do we do the Christmas shopping before or after!!!

I don't think this cruise has been as popular as Thomsons would have hoped for. I have seen it advertised for as little as £339 in December which is a bargain.

luci

I have just returned from a weeks cruise on Thomson Spirit doing the Red Sea magis, plus a week in Sharm el Shielk. My first impression of the ship was that it was very small and a bit dated. Once we have arrived on the ship we were shown to our cabin, which size wise was fine, but we had asked for a double bed and were given 2 singles. I am advised that there are hardly any dougle cabins on this ship. We went immediately to the Compass Rose restaurant for dinner as we were starving. The food in this restaurant was pretty bland, and we ended up eating mroe in the Lido restaurant as the week went on as the food seemed fresher and hotter there.
The entertainment is a little cheesey and the cruise as a whole is very much 'butlins at sea'. However the entertainment crew do work very hard and you see them in every guise, from organising the life jacket drill, to running pool side games, to being a member of the song and dance team in the evening. All the young singers and dancers are excellent, much better than anything you find on X factor, but the stuff they are performing is so old fashioned - I'm putting this down to the the Entertainment Manger Sue Denney, who despite claiming to have worked in 'show business' all her life, is distinctly Blackpool pier in her approach to entertainment, and again is very dated, to the point of not realising that she was making racist remarks at times. Also the comedian that they had flown in 'straight form the UK' delivered ancient material, including the kind of jokes that I heard at school.

The excursiosn however were fantastic - Petra was a 2 hour drive each way from the port, Cairo 2 1/2 - 3 hours drive each way and Luxor at least 3 1/2 hour drive each way. I would say each trip was worth it, althought quite expensive, as you get an egyptologist with you the whole day, and they definately know their stuff and are very enthusiastic with their knowledge. The groups are generally quite small, so you do feel that you have actually learnt something on each trip.

The lack of space on the ship was the biggest problem on the day at sea, or when we were at a port, when not everyone would get off the ship. On these days, there was no space to sit outside on the deck at all unless you got up at 7am, and reserved a bed. This is a problem that need sto be looked into as, there was almost a physical fight one day, when a women took the sun bed of an elderly mad, while he was having lunch. He was furious when he returned and a load slanging match ensued.

The clientele on this ship were nearly all smokers, which may or not bother you, but personally I found it a little sickening when each time we stopped at one of the wonders of the world, 30 peoplw would light up yet another Lambert and Butler and puff with it while walking round ancient temples etc. It was also stiffling in the High Spirits Bar, as this too was not big enough for the amount of passanegers on board.

Overall Egypt was fsacinating, but hopefully some of the larger cruise liners will start doing this route soon.

Hi Anna Louise and welcome to HT!

Thanks for posting your review which I'm sure will help our members. If you would like to post a permanent review, which will not fall off the boards, you can do so by clicking on Cruise Reviews at the top of the page.

Also can you remember how much the excursions cost? Another member has posted that this information would be very useful rather than just saying they were expensive.

Many thanks.

luci

I hope this does not upset anyone but I have to agree with quite alot of what Anna has said

Although I enjoyed the week we spent on the ship it is very small for the amount of people that they take on board. We spend most of our holiday getting very frustrated that you could not find a sunbed unless you were up with the lark, and when I go on holiday sorry, but that is not what I want to be doing. We found out during our time on board that there were approx 970 on board but the ship holds 1274. So god knows what it woudl have been like if it was full!

The Captains cocktail night was a joke. We queued for over half an hour had 3 photo's taken to be ushured into the Broadway lounge and given a warm glass of bucksfizz! After the captain got up on stage and said about 5 words he left his untouched glass of chamgane and b*ggered off!! It was then another half an hour queue to get in the resturant.

I have to disagree about the food in the compass rose though, we actually chose to eat there over the lido resturant as we found that a little bit like littlewoods cafe!

Initially I thought that the excursions were expensive, but after a brilliant day at Cairo & the Pyramids I thought that they were worth their money.

would I go again??? Not sure.....if I thought for one minute that it would be as crowded on board as ours was then No.

I will be cruising with Thomson's in April and will be taking my two son's with me aged 14 and 9. Can anyone tell me what the kids clubs are like and I am still deciding whether or not to go all inclusive as I don't drink alcohol but my partner does, will the all-inclusive include 'still' juices as my son's cannot drink fizzy drinks. We will be going on the 3 excursions offered, can you take drinks off the ship with you?

Sorry, I can't help you with the kids clubs. I have to say that there were about 4 children on board but then again November to Egypt is not a family orientated holiday!!!!

I would not do All Inclusive. We did not and I am glad. On the drinks menu there were supplements on most drinks if you were on the AI package, so you would end up spending money on drinks anyway.

They are not that expensive to be honest.

On the all da excursions they give you a lunch box to take with you. But they only seemed to give you these on the ones where you were off the ship for 12 hrs.

Hope this helps.

Hi Glitterygirl,

It will be the first time for me in that area.

I don't travel well by bus, so three or more hrs at a time put most trips out for me. Usually just stay on board or go for a short walk just to stretch my legs.

With this in mind, can you tell me the position. Will I have to get a visa at Sharm airport?or does the ship arrange them as required?

Thankyou in anticipation.

Dave

hi there again dave, when are you going on the cruise.

Hi Laine,

Nice to see the upside down donkey

Feb 23rd for 7 days. Last year at this time the weather was not so good in the Tenerife area,going for the sun and a calm sea plus all the entertainment.

Seems like Sue Denning is in charge this time.

Are there any regulars on board? Staff that is

Cheers

Dave and John