najames

Your probably right Zuke. I was surprised when the Mohamed was emailing me within 5-10 minutes after every email reply.

Heck, for all I know there will be a camel in the parking lot with my name spray painted on it, nobody else there, but at least I'm booked now. :D

This could be me riding my camel in from the ship, ain't stoppin for no wascully wabbits either.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=23826507

Grrr, timed out, I'll try it again.

Right or wrong, I booked with Memphis Tours, looks like it cost me about $20pp more than Ramses Tours. I got quick, well thought out replies with additional logical explanation, no lectures.

I asked if the guide will also be at the pier in Alexandria.

"There will be three people waiting for you there, The representative who will charge the rest of the payment and follow up with you all the day, The English speaking guide who will be with you since you arrive till you leave and the driver. So, the guide and the driver will be with you during all the tours."

I didn't ask for a specific hotel, but wanted to stay at the Marriott.

"Marriott is amazing and it works well as on the first day you eill finish at the museum and it is close to your hotel.On the second day you will start early to be at the first place at 8 am. Also, staying at Marriott is a great experience and I do not want you to miss it."

This is an example of what I was looking for and received without asking.

"Note:

it is better to start the first day eith the pyramids and the museum as the museum still opens till 6:30 pm and you will not be ableto do the Sakkara, Memphis and Dahshure together on the first day as they all close at 4 pm so it will be better to do them on the second day but you will start early at about 7 am and after you finish you will go directly to Alexandria."

Thanks go out to Mohamed Mokhtar.

Just a couple of notes: I've been planning my 3rd and 4th visits to Egypt this year, so I know a bit about planning and emails....

 

Don't ever lose sight of the fact that, as good as their English is, there is definitely a language barrier. You probably also noticed that Egyptians like to speak very politely and in a wordy, flowery, way. So you have to figure out how to interpret what is really being said.

 

As others have posted, be very clear in what YOU want to do, but also understand that, timing-wise, doing EVERYTHING may not be possible -- and ultimately, they are responsible for getting you back to the ship on time for your departure. Without having been to Egypt, it's hard to understand just how bad the traffic really is! Make sure that if you propose adding something, you also realize that something else will probably have to be omitted due to time constraints.

 

Finally, emails do have a way of getting lost between here and Egypt. Some providers seem to work better than others. But if you don't hear from someone in Egypt right away, don't just assume they didn't respond. Email again.

 

My 2 cents.....;)

I try to be very conscious of trying to remember that their native language is not English. My DW is originally from Bangkok, Thailand too, although very fluent in English.

That is precisely why I was asking Ramses for suggestions on the schedule. I haven't been there, I have not taken any tours there, I don't know the traffic, and I don't know how long it takes to get between the sights. I was hoping for some simple recommendations from them since I assume they do this daily. Isn't that part of a tour company/guide's job?

I emailed Rameses again, pasting in Zuke's schedule, asking if they could do it and some other questions. They want me to confirm it but didn't provide a price or answer any questions, they already have our schedule.

I've traveled in Australia, Asia, and South America without any problems booking tours, but this Ramses/Egypt thing is....uhh better stop here. I've emailed Memphis Tours to see what they say, shouldn't be this difficult.

"Greetings from Ramses Travel Company of Egypt

so your final itinerary is:

Day 1 Dahshur, Saqqara, and Memphis, and staying overnight at the Mena House

Day 2, head over to the Giza Plateau as early as we can, and head over to the Egyptian Museum around 11am and spend the remainder of our time there.

with accommodation at Mena HOuse.

is this right?

so as soon as possible reply me to confirm

To confirm:

You have to send names, cruise line name, arrival date, time, port and departure date, time & port

Please contact me if you need any additional information .

Looking Forward to Welcoming You in Egypt

_______________________________________

Mohy for H.George"

Wow, thanks for the quick replies, it really helps to have other views. I was hoping for some suggestions when I emailed them instead of the answer I got.

The response was signed "Ahmed for H.George".

I think you hit it right on the head Zukini. He thought I was adding in based on what I wrote, instead I was I was actually looking for suggestions. This is what I actually wrote. It is their standard schedule with the other pyramids added in.

Jim

> Thank you for the reply George!!

>

> I am interested in the tour from Alexandria you listed below, likely

> just for 2 people, but I have a few additional questions.

>

> 1) Can the schedule be changed? Can we also stop in Dahshur at the

> red/bent pyramids if time allows?

>

> 2) Also can we stay at the Cairo Marriott Hotel & Casino? Rates?

> They have a good rate online if I need to book it separately but I

> don't know if you price it that way.

>

> Perhaps something like this itinerary below? Many others have said

> they did this and liked it.

>

> Itinerary 1- Day 01- drive to Cario, see the Citadel, the Mohammed Ali

> Mosque, lunch, Khan El-Khalili bazaars, Egytpian Museum, check into

> hotel for dinner.

>

> Day 2 - drive to Memphis, step pyramid in Saqqara, Dahshur Red & Bent

> pyramid, lunch in Giza, Great Pyramids and Sphinx and then back to

> Alexandria,

That does seem to be a strange time to make the run to Dahshur, since it is the furthest south of the sites you will be visiting, and then you'll need to backtrack to get back to the ship.

 

We had a similar request with Ramses for our itinerary, also in the spring of 2011...we want to spend our time primarily at the ancient sites.

 

We've worked out seeing Dahshur, Saqqara, and Memphis on Day 1, and staying overnight at the Mena House.

 

Then, on Day 2, we'll head over to the Giza Plateau as early as we can, and head over to the Egyptian Museum around 11am and spend the remainder of our time there.

 

Edited to add: Please note, I'm NOT an experienced traveler, at least as far as Egypt is concerned. This will be my first trip there, and I've been relying heavily on advice from others on Cruise Critic.

This is exactly what I really wanted to do. :mad:

I am surprised at the glowing reports about Ramses. I emailed them twice before I got a reply. I read several people here saying it was nice to stop at the red/bent pyramids too, so I requested it. I can book the Cairo Marriott for $137 online so I asked about it too. I really don't want to do some of the things on their tour, but was going to go along with it beause I don't want to seem offensive. This was their reply. :confused:

Greetings from Ramses Travel Company of Egypt

1. kindly note its the same visits but in your itinary you will just

change the days

2. to add dahshur there will be no time as Ramses knows that there are so many wonderful places for you to see in Cairo. And so little time to see them when, you have a schedule you must respect.

Please allow us to paint you a picture in words about Cairo and staying in a time frame.

In 1863 Cairo was very close to still being an medieval city. With street plans that changed very little in 500 years. However Cairo was starting to transform in the late 1800's into a city that could be compared to Paris. Now Cairo is a city of over 18 million souls that live there year round and that number continues to grow. This population count does not count the daily guests in Cairo which is also a very high number of its own. Add to that number the traffic: Cars, buses, trucks, trains, trams, and humans. Cairo has its own amazing traffic situation. 8 million vehicles on her old street plans.

What would your current city or town be like with such numbers of people and vehicles?

In Cairo traffic moves at its own pace minute by minute. No one can predict how long it will take from point A to point B. One must always allow for traffic time and situations.

It is a fascinating adventure, but also a serious fact in travel time.

That is why Ramses

factors in all concerns connected to your travel time here in Egypt.

We at Ramses want you to truly experience the Cairo Museum or the Pyramids in leisure and not with a stop watch that is ticking away the time you must hurry and blast off to the next site! That is not the proper way to share our beautiful land with you.

You are guests in Egypt. You are not here to run in a marathon race of how many sites can you see in "X" number of hours. We welcome you and wish to give you a relaxing visit. For you to feel Egypt's soul where ever your presence graces our land.

We are aware of your time and the serious fact your ship will leave the dock at a certain time and respect this and give you what is best for you to enjoy your time here with us.

We know other agencies offer you the whirlwind tours of Cairo. We write to you now as a friend and suggest you be quite careful with such offers. We know our land and cities. We never offer anything to our guests that may cause them stress and problems.

Please ask us any questions or concerns you may have about your travel time here in Egypt. We are professionals and promise to always be honest and respectful with our information to you.

so we can add dahshur instead of memphis or sakkara so please feed me back

for marriott there will be extra 60 $ per person in the meantime we can offer mena house with extra 30 $ per person

Please contact me if you need any additional information .

Looking Forward to Welcoming You in Egypt

I don't know about others, but it's driving me nuts to book a penguin tour here. I'd like to see some kings, rockhoppers, gentoos. I can see the Magellans on another port excursion.

I can't go to Volunteer Point because our NCL cruise stop over is evidently too short and the trip is not offered, 9am to 4pm on Dec12.

I read through this thread and decided I wanted to do a Kidney Cove trip, next best, but evidently it isn't offered. Emailed them.

Sparrow Cove doesn't stop in Stanley, directly ship to boat.

The Rockhopper Adventure trip is by boat says "You'll circumnavigate the island and stop in two areas to view from the boat", but evidently doesn't let you actually get out of the boat.

The other Ride to Rockhopper trip evidently only has Rockhoppers and doesn't stop to see any gentoos or kings, plus is too far/difficult to walk to see Gentoos they said.

This only leaves me with Lagoon Bluff to have a chance to see Gentoos and Kings. I wouldn't be able to see any Rockhoppers. :(

Gixer, chime in. Am I understanding this correctly?

http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/shorex.html?destinationCode=SOUTH+AMERICA&previousValue=PSY&portCode=PSY&startingRowNumber=0&selectedDateRange=&priceProgramCode=BESTFARE&packageId=&shipCode=&dispatch=shorexSearch&dispatch=nonItinerarySearch

Pretty easy links.

http://weather.sun-sentinel.com/tropical/tracking/at200802_5day.html