cormike1

I have been following older posts of travellers going to Egypt and some said they tipped a lot with U.S. $'s such as when the kids come out to the ship and try and sell you bookmarks, etc. I was surprised at this but I wonder which currency the Egyptians would prefer?

Things have been hectic around our home for the past week and I completely forgot to check your blog Jeannie. So glad I noticed this thread when I got onto CC. Off I go to catch up. Safe travels and I am looking forward to following along with you and G's adventures this year. Stay well both of you!

Firstly, yes, it is unlikely, but my point in posting was to make it clear that it is both easy, and frankly cheap, to hire guides transport etc. in Egypt.

 

In our case, our TA has a local counterpart in Egypt and they sorted it all out at short notice with our ship.

 

We also added an unscheduled trip to the museum in Luxor on a different day which we arranged via our onboard guide with only a couple of hours notice.

 

There are a lot of local people very happy to get the business from the few tourists that are traveling these days and nothing is too much trouble.

Thanks so much for that info Mark_T. I would prefer to hire locally as like you and others have stated, they are happy to get the business. I will keep that in mind and we might have to see what else can be offered if the flights to Abu Simbel are cancelled. I appreciate that idea.

When we were there earlier this year, it turned out that all flights were cancelled on the day we were due to go, but we just hired a private minivan, 2 drivers and our own guide for the 2 of us.

 

 

Price was incredibly reasonable and it gave us complete freedom over how long we spent there, a very memorable trip.

 

Just a little advance notice though, like the Valley of the King's you cannot take photos inside the structures there, only from the outside. ... but of course your guide will be able to obtain the 'official' photo pack for you at a low price :)

 

Also, your guide will not be able to 'guide' inside either, so expect to spend a little while outside while they explain what you are going to see once you go in on your own...

That is what I am afraid of....it being cancelled for some reason. I don't know if my husband would go for hiring a private guide to drive there unless there were more than the 2 of us. Where did you find the private guide Mark...from the ship`s staff recommendation or online. I am sure it would mean me missing out on seeing Abu Simbel. But I am not thinking that will happen....thinking positive....and I will not let it ruin my trip if I don't get there. Hey I am still visiting my #1 bucket list item that I have been fascinated with for many, many years!

Hi Toofarfromthesea,

We are leaving at the end of this month for a Nile cruise and have booked through Insight Tours. We have done 3 other river cruises with Viking, Avalon and AMA and enjoyed each of them. We look at the itinerary and price and choose from there. I have to go that route because my husband feels safer with well known company. I chose our particular tour with Insight because we would sail to Abu Simbel and dock and not leave until after the sunset over the ruins. The other tours only offered Abu Simbel as an optional tour to fly there and I figured the way my luck runs there would be a sandstorm so we wouldn't be able to go. As it turns out, we got a notice about a change in our tour, the day after final payment I might add. Supposedly due to "technical difficulties" we wouldn't be able to sail the Aswan part of the cruise at all which of course includes Abu Simbel! There is a cheaper tour that leaves the same day as ours that offered AS as an optional tour, flying there for a couple of hours and returning to Aswan later in the day. I believe that both tours were not full and they have combined the two of them declaring "technical difficulties" to us with the more expensive tour. They have included AS as a tour for us but we are flying there like the other tour is doing only we don't have to pay additional monies. I did have the option of cancelling and receiving the full amount back in the form of a credit needed to be used up within 2 years, with Insight. Who knows what the next 2 years are going to bring us and we have dog sitter/house sitter, car service, etc. already booked of course. So I will keep my fingers crossed that we won't have a sandstorm or any other problem and that I will get to one of the main things I am looking forward to seeing, Abu Simbel. I am still going to Egypt which is my #1 bucket list item so I am still a happy camper but I don't believe it was "technical issues" lol. I will post a review when we get home and will be happy to answer any questions at that time. I got a lot of help here on these boards which was great!

We have done 3 and have been the only Canadians on them. We have quite a few friends that have river cruised but not with us. I think it is becoming more popular but it is more expensive than regular cruising so I know the price keeps a lot of people away. We are doing the Nile at the end of October and I would think it might be only the two of us from Canada. We shall see.

We did this cruise last Sept. on the Oosterdam and loved it. If you can, spend a few extra days beforehand in Barcelona as there is so much to see. We stayed 3 days afterwards in Venice and then took the train back to Rome to spend 5 days there. A wonderful trip! We had midship balcony so can`t help you with that question.

Cormike...

 

I did the opposite and said my income was 25K!!! And yes, there's no place for us to be Canadians... but I did want them to note what ports I liked so I filled in the form for my own entertainment... perhaps we should all do it again and fill in completely random opinions just to mess with their results!

 

Hope you are doing well... we sailed SA with you!!!

 

Turangi!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Hi Turangi.....I recognize your name lol. I usually don't do surveys but this was a bit different asking about the Ports you wanted to visit and how safe you felt about going there, etc. I thought it was a bit different than the usual ones and was hoping at the end there would be a comment line. Never made it of course. I can't remember a survey asking my "race" and certainly didn't want to answer that along with "income" I thought of going back and putting in fake NY and a huge salary after reading everyone's comments but was just fed up getting almost through it and not being able to complete it the first time.

We are doing well Turangi....still travelling, still ocean cruising, river cruise coming up and bus trip in March in Spain. I hope you are doing well and still travelling also. Take care!

absolutboy20.....I am really enjoying your review and pictures. We did this cruise on a Princess ship and seeing your pictures makes me want to do it again! Thanks for taking the time to do this. Wonderful review!

I forgot about the race question. That was really weird.

I am the original poster of this question and I to forgot about the "race question" That one really upset me. What the hell does race have to do with how safe you feel in a port or how many cruises you do a year or have you cruised on other lines. NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS CELEBRITY! I have never been asked that before. That question really made me angry:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Cormike1, could you have booked your previous cruises through a US TA, as I have had that survey a few times & never had a problem. All I had to do was scroll through the US states before the Provinces came up. We have always booked in Cdn $.

If Only...no I usually book on my own directly with the cruise line and also in CDN money. I know the CDN Provinces are usually at the bottom of most surveys and I did scroll down all the way but they were not listed. It would not let me leave it blank either. Too bad as it was an interesting survey which I was willing to do as a lot of them I choose not to. Oh well.

Did anyone else receive the survey from Celebrity about your cruising history and where you'd like to go, etc. I got about 3/4 through it and it asked for our yearly household income. I never answer that and there is usually a "prefer not to answer" line but on this there wasn't and you could not go to the next screen until you answered that. I ticked off $250,000.00 (I wish) just to get to the next screen and then it asked what State you are from. No where to answer my Province in Canada. So that took care of my survey. Surely to god in this modern technology age there is a way to send out a survey to only U.S. residents or to have a spot for "other" travellers to be able to take a survey. Anyone else find this frustrating!

Thanks everyone for your answer. I think it sounds like there might be 1 wall that might be magnetic. I might bring some small magnets along just in case. Thanks again.

On a cruise we were on a few years ago a couple of women were sitting outside the Explorers Lounge for the first couple of days making those scarves that are crocheted round that were the rage then. They had a whole bunch draped over the backs of the chairs. They were selling them. It didn't take too long for them to be told to put their wares away as they were taking away revenue from the shops. I have to say, it made the hallway less elegant and kind of messy looking.

Thanks for that great review Becky! We are doing the Rocky Mountaineer and then the Alaskan cruise in 2019 so I love to read which tours people took and how they enjoyed them. I appreciated you taking the time to post all this info and the pictures were wonderful. Thanks again.

Lois....one river cruise you might like is Basil to Amsterdam on the Rhine. You can do this one in early April....we did ours April 13th-23rd so that we would end up in Holland to see the tulips. If you like Spring flowers, this would be an ideal cruise to take. You go to Keukenhof Gardens which is an amazing excursion! We did ours on Avalon back in 2008 and loved it! Have fun planning your 60th.

Thank you for that great review and your amazing photos. Loved the ship in the puddle and the basilica pictures. I grew up in Montreal and it has been a long time since I have been in Notre Dame. I have wanted to do this cruise for quite awhile as I think it would be neat to sail out of Montreal. We have been to Boston and love that city. Your photos have peaked my interest again. Thanks for a great review!

I really think that if you had done your homework and asked lots of questions, used this website, etc. you would have been better informed and NOT booked a river cruise! You can easily read the river cruise reviews and realize that you are "toured" all together on excursions, you can look at the cabins and read the size and see the layout. People have actually posted pictures of the cabins on the river cruise ships and the ocean cruise ships. If you had read the itinerary before you booked your cruise you would know exactly what you were going to see and go to. How can you do a river cruise and say that "Palaces, Museums, Churches" are not your thing.....what is your thing to see other than the cities and the attractions within the city and surrounding area. What kind of different experience" were you looking for? You certainly can't control the scenery and there are ugly parts of every city you see all over the world so why should cruising along the Rhine be any different. With all the social media around today you can find out anything you want just by searching, reading and asking questions. Sorry you had a disappointing experience.

Glad you enjoyed the review. You will love the Rocky Mountaineer, most people do. It is a drop dead gorgeous part of the world up there around Banff.

 

I am so glad that you will be able to do a Nile cruise. It was amazing for us. We are so glad we did when we did. Choosing the one that goes to Abu Simbel is a smart move; plus you get more time there. Have a great time.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that everything will remain quiet in Egypt! We had this booked back in 2011 when the riots broke out and had to cancel. Like you it is my #1 on the bucket list and I was so disappointed. I am sure we will have a wonderful time. It has been a long time coming lol. Happy travelling!

Enjoyed reading your review and glad that you loved some of our Province of Alberta. We are going to do the Rocky Mountaineer and Alaskan cruise with our British friends in 2019 so I enjoyed reading the places you visited. I have read a lot of your reviews before this one and noticed you went to Egypt quite a few years ago. We are doing a Nile cruise in Oct/Nov. and I read your review from start to finish. Even though it was quite a few years ago, I don't think much will have changed. I really enjoyed reading it and took some notes. We chose this particular tour because it sails to Abu Simbel and docks there until the evening and we see the light and sound show before sailing on. That was the one spot I wanted to see and did not want to risk it as an optional tour. Thanks so much and please continue to post your review and pictures. Loved them!

I started looking for a Nile river cruise mid March of this year. I wanted to sail as near to Nov. 6th as possible as that is our 35th anniversary. Viking was all booked up so we went with Insight Tours. Basically the same cruise only I was thrilled because Insight stays right at Abu Simbel into the evening and I believe other companies offered it as a optional excursion. That was the most important place for me to see. If you don't mind another company, look at others PatriciaF as we have done 3 other river cruises, all with different companies and we have been pleased with all of them; Viking-Danube, Avalon-Rhine, AMA-Russia

Which itineraries are all sold out? I don't quite understand your post. Sorry.

Two things came to mind, you won't be able to take your camera into the Valley of the Kings, but you will be offered a package of photos and a CD at a very reasonable price.

 

Similarly at Abu Simbel you will not be allowed to take photos inside the monuments (nor will your guide be allowed to 'guide' you inside) but you will be allowed to have your camera with you and you are free to take photos outside. Again there will be a pack of photos available at a low cost, but no CD this time.

 

The photos are decent but don't expect too much from the claims that they are 'professional' quality. I don't doubt the photographer was paid, so I'm sure they are technically accurate to call them 'professional' :)

Thanks Mark_T for that info. I have bought things like that before when we were not allowed to take pictures inside so that is good to know ahead of time. Abu Simbel is why I booked with Insight....we dock right there and stay until evening so I hope to get awesome pictures at sunset!

Thanks so much for doing this review. I really enjoyed reading your daily accounts and it brought back so many memories. We did this on the sister company. We went to Tivoli on our first night and sat and listened to an orchestra drinking a wonderful white wine in the park. We chatted to a Danish couple and exchanged "country" tidbits. Such a civilized way to enjoy a lovely summer evening! The only city we only found so-so was Berlin. We were not overjoyed and as you said, it was such a long journey. After reading what you did, that sounds wonderful. Thank you for bringing back some great memories!

Thank you to all of you for those helpful thoughts. I will definitely get lots of U.S. $1 bills. What an amazing trip this is going to be. We will not be venturing out on our own at all. We are not that "adventuresome" and usually get a guide if we want to explore a new city. This is pretty tour intensive so we don't have much free time for going on our own. It is covering everything we really want to see so that is a plus as I would think we won't be back to this area of the world again. Thanks again and anything else you think of that might be helpful, please pass it along.