Beepsmom

For those of you saying that you don't understand OP's statements about Nassau feeling unsafe......have any of you not read the Security Message from the Department of State about the Bahamas?

It starts out "Security Message for U.S. Citizens: Nassau (Bahamas), Spike in Violent Crimes

Crime

Western Hemisphere > Bahamas; Western Hemisphere > Bahamas > Nassau

1/28/2014

The U.S. Embassy in Nassau advises U.S. citizens residing in and traveling to The Bahamas to be aware of their surroundings and remain on heightened alert to avoid being a victim of crime. " (https://www.osac.gov/pages/ContentReportDetails.aspx?cid=15046) Also see this article warning US citizens about travel to Nassau in particular (http://www.cruiselawnews.com/2013/05/articles/caribbean-islands/warning-us-citizen-murdered-in-nassau-cruise-passengers-urged-to-avoid-travel-to-the-bahamas/)

So to say that the OP's fear were senseless are not based in fact....Many people are uncomfortable or fear for their safety in Nassau....give the guy a break!

I keep getting conflicting stories on whether the ship will provide or we need to obtain one prior to our cruise on the Rotterdam Oct. 28, 2013. Holland tells me only IF we use THEIR excursions and Ramses tours tells me the ship WILL provide a stamp on our passport as long as we have a "vacant" page in our passport book.

What did YOU have to have for just DAY excursions - we are NOT overnighting. We will be in Cairo and Port Said.

Debbie in MS

I was on a cruise on the Noordam in April (we were in Egypt May 9 and 10)... for both Egypt and Turkey, Holland America collected our passports and an official from those countries came on board and stamped our passports with visas. They were $20 each per person and the cost was added to your shipboard account. It was very easy.

As for using their tours, not everyone takes a tour at all.....and they offered this service to everyone on the ship regardless of their plans. Also, keep in mind the travel advisories issued by the US State Department....the ship might not go to Egypt at all depending on the political situation....yesterday, an advisory was issued for Americans that only ESSENTIAL travel in Egypt is advised.

We have never had a car break down but to head that scenario off, we look to see when we are sailing..if we are sailing at 6pm we tell the guide

we MUST be back at the ship no later than 4pm..that way, IF there is a traffic problem, or IF a tire went flat, there is time for the guide to call the company to come get you and get you back! With someone like Ramses they will have several tours going on at once and IF your car had a problem, they could always squeeze you into one of their other cars just to make sure you got back on time. We usually do a mix of private tours and

ships tours depending on what is offered. We love having a small group to travel with and no lines etc!

Sherry

definitely good ideas about returning to the ship early. Just to add some information for anybody planning a trip with Ramses....we DID have some car problems in Cairo...and it was immediately taken care of....our guide, Hussein, arranged for another Ramses driver to take us to our next scheduled stop and when we were done there, we had another van with our original driver. We were very pleased with the way they handled it!

This is our first time on HAL, we leave next Saturday for this same cruise. There are 6 of us traveling together and we want to sit at the same table, and with just the six of us. Since this is a very port intensive cruise we wanted to plan day to day, which is the reason we choose As You Wish Dining. After reading here it seems like there are nothing but problems with the system.

 

Your experience makes me want to make reservations for the entire week ahead of time, and then change it each day as we know our schedule.

 

Are the problems with those who walk up and think there will be a table available ? I figured if we made reservations before 4 pm each day we would be fine. Also can you call in the reservations or do you have to show up in person to make them ? We may want to head off for the day, and not be around to stand in line to make reservations.

I can't answer for the ship you're going on, but we just took a 26 day Mediterranean cruise on the Noordam in April/May 2013. We had "as you wish" dining because of the many ports/tours we were taking. It worked out beautifully. They would let us make 4 days reservations at a time. All we had to do was call from our cabin phone...you didn't have to wait in any lines. They did have 2 different check-in lines...one for people with reservations and one for "walk ins". We only encountered 1 or 2 nights when we couldn't get a table for 2 at the time we liked. We even found a wait staff/table that we really liked and we would request a specific table, which we were able to get 95% of the time. We are going on the Noordam again in November and we are looking forward to the "as you wish" dining again. Hope you have a good experience as well!

I am in the process of booking a private tour with Ramses for May. The website says that Ramses is the only tour company that lets you pick your guide. Does anyone who has used Ramses before have a specific tour guide (Egyptologist) that you recommend?