Just got back from vacation in Brussels which was preceded by this cruise. It was my first cruise, so I'll have to do a write up as it'll give new cruisers some perspective.

Just for now, though, Shelledpea all of the tours you listed are long day tours.

Petra we left around 7:30am and came back around 5-5:30pm
Pyramids we left around 7:30 and came back around 6:30-7:00pm
Luxor, etc. we left around 6:30 and came back around 8:30

Luxor was a LONG day. 3.5 hours each way in a bus isn't pleasant, but Luxor is by far the tour you don't want to miss. The tombs in Valley of the Kings were amazing.

Hope that helps.

cheers saint2e

Hi we are going Thomson red sea magic cruise on Celebration in November and wonder if anyone could help me with a couple of things. First do we need to get a visa before we travel to egypt? And also has anyone been on the quad bike excursion if how much does it cost, and also do has need much driving experience to handle the bikes?

Merged with existing topic which may have some information in earlier posts.

luci

AlisonB,

When I went back in April they Cruise ship arranged the Visas for me. They hold on to your Passport when you first board, and arrange the Visas for you, and when you go off on excursions, they give you your Passport while you're off the ship.

I didn't do the quad bike excursion, so I can't comment on it.

Hope the answer to your first questions helps.

We have recently booked to go on this cruise abroad the Thomson Celebration departing 29 November. At time of booking we were not offered the All Inclusive option. Does anyone know if it is available and if so how much it costs?

One of the reasons for taking this cruise was because of the stop in Jordan. Does anyone have any information on the trips here?

There are several references to Jordan throuhgout this topic so you can either settle down with a cup of coffee and have a long read or use the Search facility to find the relevant posts.

HTH

luci

When we did this cruise Thomson arranged the visas...we didn't have to worry about anything like that.

The trips in Jordan were to Petra, Dead Sea, Wadi Rum are the three I can remember. I think if the amazing history is of interest to you then the trip to Petra is a must. It was quite tiring as there is quite a bit of walking and it was quite hot the day we went but we took plenty of water and there were seats to sit and rest on the way back. Quite pricey on the ships excursion but there were taxis willing to take people there. We have done the Dead Sea from the Israeli side in the past and that was quite a nice day out. We have also just got the shuttle into Aqaba and wandered around the town which was quite pleasant...no hassle from the locals which made a nice change!!

Hi All
Hubbie and I have wanted to go to Egypt and do a cruise and stay for as long as we can remember but I cannot seem to find what I want. We want to do the red sea cruise (7 nights) as the ships are a lot larger than ones that sail the Nile (I have a back problem and cannot climb over half a dozen boats to get to the shore) and spend 7 nights in Sharm El Sheikh. Does anyone have any tips on what they have done or any reviews of holiday companies. We want to do this in July of 2008.
Help please
Ginny

Merged with Red Sea Magic topic which will have information in earlier posts.

Thomson do the Red Sea, but normally only during the winter. More HERE

luci

Hi folks

My fiance and I are thinking about going on the Thomson Celebration Red Sea Magic cruise second week of January. We are 31 and 35 years old and we wondered if people knew what the age range is likely to be. We don't mind holidaying with the older age group, but we don't want to stand out and would like to mix with couples our own age too.

Thanks

Truthdog

Hi truthdog and welcome to HT!

There is likely to be a mixture of ages on the cruise, but not many families with it being outwith school holidays. That may also push the average age up a bit.

luci

We are going on this cruise leaving on 29 November from Bristol and I have a couple of questions.
Can you buy duty free fags on ThomsonFly aircraft or on the Thomson Celebration? If so how much do they cost?
What currency(s) should we take with us?

You should be able to get duty frees cigs on both the flight and the cruise as you are travelling outwith the EU.

You should find suggestions on currencies in earlier posts.

luci

Hi Paul + Sheila
The duty free cigs on Celebration in September were £14.95 for 200 B+H

Johnny C

Thanks for the information. I reckon that will be cheaper then on the plane.

Can anyone tell me please if the Captain's do on the Celebration is the same as the Spirit's was last year i.e. The show's still went ahead in the Broadway or is it cocktail party in Broadway followed by the meal in the Meridian.

TIA

UL

Hi all, Looking to book some trips for our cruise on the Nile. Having had a look through the posts am going to have a look at Memphis Tours. Can anyone give any recent experiences with the trips on offer for the Red Sea Magic cruise?

Also, if anyone is travelling on this cruise and might like to book a tour with us (There's only the 2 of us) then please drop a message here and we'll arrange something.

Hi all sorry for the lack of posts but after doing a couple of Spirit cruises I discovered Skiing but I'm back now

Yippppeeeeeeeeee just booked up for Redsea Magic at the end of Feb even prebooked our secret little cabin thats one of the rare doubles with extra space (shhhhhhhhhh )

So whats going on folks, this threads rather lacking in upto date info last real info was April last year which in my book could be pretty out of date by now.

Whos been on the cruise in the last few weeks then, anyone ?

Also noted that theres no AI option on booking !!!! (did it over the interweb) is there the option on board ?

Anyhow cant wait to go and have looked back over the thread and the trips look good.

We've done Spirit in 2003 and 2004 round the med and had a fab time, hopefully the celebration will be similar , I wonder if I'll see any of the old Spirit crew on there as I had heard that some moved over to it when they got the Celebration.

Fur