We had booked a private overnight tour with Ramses tours, based on the positive reviews by Cruise Critic. We sailed Jan 24 on NCL Jade. The ship was delayed 4 hours by authorities, who decided to do a thorough inspection of the ship. When the ship was finally OK'd to depart, our guide, Yasser, was waiting for us, front and center as we exited the port doors. Yasser was a young, hard working person who greeted us like family. I apologized to Yasser for the delay, and Yasser positively responded that the delay allowed him to enjoy the beautiful gardens at the terminal.
Yasser was a bright and professional individual. Despite our delay he was determined to stick with the plan and get us to all the sights promised by Ramses Tours. He was often on the phone confirming times and making reservations.
As we pasted thorough Alexandria we heard the bells for the Call to Prayer. He explained these to us along with the proposed plan for the balance of the day. A lot of his plans hinged on the 3 hour drive to Cairo. The drive along the desert road was fairly unremarkable, except for the check points. Tourist Police would occasionally stop the vehicle at check point, but we never felt unsafe. There was plenty of traffic along the road, so it looked much like any desert road in North America. Luckily we didn’t have any delays and got to Giza by 3 pm. They closed at 4 pm, so this gave us one hour, which was fine with us. The driver dropped us off and Yasser looked after us. We never got bothered by any Vendors, and Yasser was always offering to take our picture. I had brought 2 cameras on this trip. One was my SLR Digital and the other is a small compact digital. I rarely take pictures with my husband or I posing, I prefer landscape and local shoots. Yasser was always offering to snap pictures of us, however, after returning home and looking at all the pictures of my husband and I, I am thoroughly enjoying them. We had also planned on doing the camel ride, and Yasser ensured that we got to experience this. He negotiated 2 camels just as they were closing up (around 4 pm). The sun was starting to set and the view, the shadows and the lighting was magical on that camel ride.
Yasser then drove us down to the Sphinx. We got out for 10 minutes. We never felt rushed. When we were finished, Yasser would call the driver and he would be there immediately to pick us up.
After Giza, we drove over to the Egyptian Museum. Yasser guided us through the museum showing us the highlights. We saw a number of people from our cruise ship (who had taken the ships bus tour), wandering through the museum. It was nice having a guide take us through though and explaining the highlights.
After the museum, we were driven to the hotel for a couple hours to rest. We had wanted to go to the Sound and Light Show and than a local restaurant for dinner. Yasser made us reservations at a lovely restaurant on the main street, the Queen Cleopatra Restaurant. We enjoyed local cuisine and then went back to the hotel for the night.
In the morning Yasser picked us up at 7:15am and we got to the Alabaster Mosque for opening. After the Mosque we went over to Sakura and Memphis. The drive through the country side was interesting. We saw all modes of transportation including, cars, vans, trucks, 3-wheeled cars, and donkeys along the road. It felt like a trip back in time.
We were given some time to shop. I asked to go to a bazaar to buy souvenirs. The nice thing about having the private guide was that they were ready to leave, as soon as we were. We have been on bus tours, when you are stuck on the bus waiting for one member of the group who forgot the time.
I felt like we were very efficient in our time use. Ramses tours policy is to get you back in Alexandra 2 hours before the ship departure time. Once we were back in Alexandra, we were given a short tour of the town and the library. We were one of the first tour groups back to the ship. We said our goodbyes and then wandered around the port.
Many of the ship’s tours were pulling up to the ship at and even after departure time. Some of this was probably due to the late arrival the previous day.
After comparing notes with fellow shipmates, I felt we had a more positive experience in Cairo. Those we spoke to were impressed with our account of what we experienced with our tour guide.
I hope these comments will help anyone considering an independent tour of Cairo.
Tour of Cairo and Alexandria
in Africa & Middle East
Posted
We had booked a private overnight tour with Ramses tours, based on the positive reviews by Cruise Critic. We sailed Jan 24 on NCL Jade. The ship was delayed 4 hours by authorities, who decided to do a thorough inspection of the ship. When the ship was finally OK'd to depart, our guide, Yasser, was waiting for us, front and center as we exited the port doors. Yasser was a young, hard working person who greeted us like family. I apologized to Yasser for the delay, and Yasser positively responded that the delay allowed him to enjoy the beautiful gardens at the terminal.
Yasser was a bright and professional individual. Despite our delay he was determined to stick with the plan and get us to all the sights promised by Ramses Tours. He was often on the phone confirming times and making reservations.
As we pasted thorough Alexandria we heard the bells for the Call to Prayer. He explained these to us along with the proposed plan for the balance of the day. A lot of his plans hinged on the 3 hour drive to Cairo. The drive along the desert road was fairly unremarkable, except for the check points. Tourist Police would occasionally stop the vehicle at check point, but we never felt unsafe. There was plenty of traffic along the road, so it looked much like any desert road in North America. Luckily we didn’t have any delays and got to Giza by 3 pm. They closed at 4 pm, so this gave us one hour, which was fine with us. The driver dropped us off and Yasser looked after us. We never got bothered by any Vendors, and Yasser was always offering to take our picture. I had brought 2 cameras on this trip. One was my SLR Digital and the other is a small compact digital. I rarely take pictures with my husband or I posing, I prefer landscape and local shoots. Yasser was always offering to snap pictures of us, however, after returning home and looking at all the pictures of my husband and I, I am thoroughly enjoying them. We had also planned on doing the camel ride, and Yasser ensured that we got to experience this. He negotiated 2 camels just as they were closing up (around 4 pm). The sun was starting to set and the view, the shadows and the lighting was magical on that camel ride.
Yasser then drove us down to the Sphinx. We got out for 10 minutes. We never felt rushed. When we were finished, Yasser would call the driver and he would be there immediately to pick us up.
After Giza, we drove over to the Egyptian Museum. Yasser guided us through the museum showing us the highlights. We saw a number of people from our cruise ship (who had taken the ships bus tour), wandering through the museum. It was nice having a guide take us through though and explaining the highlights.
After the museum, we were driven to the hotel for a couple hours to rest. We had wanted to go to the Sound and Light Show and than a local restaurant for dinner. Yasser made us reservations at a lovely restaurant on the main street, the Queen Cleopatra Restaurant. We enjoyed local cuisine and then went back to the hotel for the night.
In the morning Yasser picked us up at 7:15am and we got to the Alabaster Mosque for opening. After the Mosque we went over to Sakura and Memphis. The drive through the country side was interesting. We saw all modes of transportation including, cars, vans, trucks, 3-wheeled cars, and donkeys along the road. It felt like a trip back in time.
We were given some time to shop. I asked to go to a bazaar to buy souvenirs. The nice thing about having the private guide was that they were ready to leave, as soon as we were. We have been on bus tours, when you are stuck on the bus waiting for one member of the group who forgot the time.
I felt like we were very efficient in our time use. Ramses tours policy is to get you back in Alexandra 2 hours before the ship departure time. Once we were back in Alexandra, we were given a short tour of the town and the library. We were one of the first tour groups back to the ship. We said our goodbyes and then wandered around the port.
Many of the ship’s tours were pulling up to the ship at and even after departure time. Some of this was probably due to the late arrival the previous day.
After comparing notes with fellow shipmates, I felt we had a more positive experience in Cairo. Those we spoke to were impressed with our account of what we experienced with our tour guide.
I hope these comments will help anyone considering an independent tour of Cairo.