It Is Time To Return To Egypt!!!

Another option for the visa is now available online at: visa2egypt.gov.eg. This just became available within the last week. There is a long discussion on the Egypt forum on TripAdvisor. Most of those folks are reporting success and the cost is the same as on arrival - $25USD. The process after application apparently takes 12 to 48 hours. You print out the visa from an email and keep it with your passport. We're going in January and I plan to apply soon.

Wonderful information. Thank you !!!

I wonder if there is anything similar for Jordan.

Greetings from Vancouver Island.

 

Thanks to cormike1 for the original report, and to all the other replies/comments. They are very helpful as I prepare for my Nile cruise with Uniworld in mid-March.

 

I was particularly interested in the Egypt visa process - sounds like it is a non-event. Did anyone notice what hours the visa place is open? My flight arrives in Cairo at 7PM, so I'm assuming I can get a visa then. (Perhaps the visa office is open 24/7?)

 

Also related to the visa - I'm flying Lufthansa from Frankfurt to Cairo so is it safe to assume there are no problems boarding the flight without a visa? (Can't imagine there would be if visas can be issued on arrival.)

 

cormike1 - how long was the balloon flight? It's on my bucket list.

We flew Lufthansa from Munich to Cairo....really nice airline.....use real cutlery lol. Nothing even mentioned about the Visa. It is Egypt that requires it before you even leave the airport and you are asked to show it numerous times before you exit. We arrived at 5:30pm and it was open....as others have said...if a flight is expected, it stays open. It would have cost us about $75 to get it here in Ontario as opposed to $25 in the airport. I realize it would not be nice to have a huge lineup and others waiting for you but I hoped that was not the case and it wasn't with us thank goodness.

The balloon was 45 minutes. At the time we took it we paid $120 U.S. and it was worth every penny. Depending on the wind of course, we flew over the Valley of the Kings and the Nile. Amazing to see it from the air and then go tour it on the ground. If you can, do it...you won't regret it.

Another option for the visa is now available online at: visa2egypt.gov.eg. This just became available within the last week. There is a long discussion on the Egypt forum on TripAdvisor. Most of those folks are reporting success and the cost is the same as on arrival - $25USD. The process after application apparently takes 12 to 48 hours. You print out the visa from an email and keep it with your passport. We're going in January and I plan to apply soon.

That is great news! I certainly would have applied for it online if I had the choice.

Rumba;

 

 

 

We flew Business Class. Undoubtedly the worst BC service I have ever experienced. The seats are angle flat not lie flat, and I kept sliding down. Finally gave up and slept with my feet on the floor to braced myself in.

 

 

 

They do not serve alcohol aboard the flight. Many passengers bought their own in the airport and consumed it during the flight.

 

 

 

Food and service were poor . Only advantages were (a) a lot cheaper than alternatives; (b) non stop JFK- CAI for the overnight flight. We flew back through LHR with the first leg on Egyptair. Was happy to change over to UA at that point!

 

 

 

One big pain. UA doesn’t fly to JFK, so we had to do the EWR to JFK transfer. Then, since we got into JFK early , we had to sit outside of checkin, with our luggage, for several hours waiting for Egyptair to open up.

Pinotlover,

Oh my[emoji30]

Thank you for the review.

Always good to hear from actual travelers!

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WE are going on a Nile cruise in February, my husband sent off our Passports to get the visa. We were concerned that as we have to get a connecting flight from Cairo to Aswan we would be pushed for time. Do you need any innoculations for travel to Egypt?

WE are going on a Nile cruise in February, my husband sent off our Passports to get the visa. We were concerned that as we have to get a connecting flight from Cairo to Aswan we would be pushed for time. Do you need any innoculations for travel to Egypt?

Here is the CDC link:

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/egypt

WE are going on a Nile cruise in February, my husband sent off our Passports to get the visa. We were concerned that as we have to get a connecting flight from Cairo to Aswan we would be pushed for time. Do you need any innoculations for travel to Egypt?

We did not get any special shots and we did not go into any jungle area. We never felt any mosquitos and the only bugs around while we were there were lots of flies wherever there were cattle, camels, etc.

Greetings from Vancouver Island.

 

Thanks to cormike1 for the original report, and to all the other replies/comments. They are very helpful as I prepare for my Nile cruise with Uniworld in mid-March.

 

I was particularly interested in the Egypt visa process - sounds like it is a non-event. Did anyone notice what hours the visa place is open? My flight arrives in Cairo at 7PM, so I'm assuming I can get a visa then. (Perhaps the visa office is open 24/7?)

 

Also related to the visa - I'm flying Lufthansa from Frankfurt to Cairo so is it safe to assume there are no problems boarding the flight without a visa? (Can't imagine there would be if visas can be issued on arrival.)

 

cormike1 - how long was the balloon flight? It's on my bucket list.

Contrary to Pinotlover's comments, we had no problem getting our visa at Cairo Airport. Our Uniworld rep was right there, inside security, waiting for us. It took about 5 minutes and there was nobody else in line. Obviously your experience may differ.

But I must say how jealous I am--we loved our trip and loved Uniworld. Would go again in a heartbeat.

As for currency, it's very hard to get small Egyptian bills, let alone coins. Since you have to pay out small tips almost everywhere you go, and pay for washrooms at the various tombs and sites, try to horde them. We also shared bathroom breaks with fellow cruisers since none of us had small change. There is an ATM downstairs in the Four Seasons, if that's where they put you in Cairo, but of course no small bills there either.

Contrary to Pinotlover's comments, we had no problem getting our visa at Cairo Airport. Our Uniworld rep was right there, inside security, waiting for us. It took about 5 minutes and there was nobody else in line. Obviously your experience may differ.

We had the same experience (not with Uniworld though) our rep was inside security and the first thing he did was to go off and get our visas, no more than 5 mins waiting.

We had been told several times that reps were no longer allowed to meet guests inside security, but I guess nobody has told the reps :)

We're going on Uniworld's Egypt cruise in January. I live in Southern California and have Kaiser Permanente HMO. I called their travel clinic last week and they recommended vaccinations for tetanus, Hepatitis A and typhoid. They also prescribed Zithromax for diarrhea if needed. You might want to check with your personal doctor to make sure you're up to date on your vaccinations. Better safe than sorry.

We were advised and got Hep A and typhoid shots also.

Uniworld advised us very carefully where and what we could and could not eat. Only one cruiser got sick on our cruise. We all, except for he, went to Abu Simbel for the day, while he opted to stay in bed and then explore the town more. He ate street food from street vendors in Aswan against the advice of Uniworld. A sick puppy he became!

We're going on Uniworld's Egypt cruise in January. I live in Southern California and have Kaiser Permanente HMO. I called their travel clinic last week and they recommended vaccinations for tetanus, Hepatitis A and typhoid. They also prescribed Zithromax for diarrhea if needed. You might want to check with your personal doctor to make sure you're up to date on your vaccinations. Better safe than sorry.

Apparently there is a specific local remedy for "Nile belly" that's recommended. I can't remember the details, but our TA recommended it as well. It's not something you can get here, apparently, but only in Egypt. Sorry, I don't remember the name, but perhaps someone here knows it.

Everybody should be up to date with tetanus, regardless of where you are going. We had already done Hep A/B and Typhoid so we didn't need any shots for Egypt.

Apparently there is a specific local remedy for "Nile belly" that's recommended. I can't remember the details, but our TA recommended it as well. It's not something you can get here, apparently, but only in Egypt. Sorry, I don't remember the name, but perhaps someone here knows it.

Antinal is the one most people talk about.

We had no problems ourselves and to be honest, the few people on our trip who did have problems were mostly suffering from dehydration after failing to make proper use of the plentiful and safe bottled water that was available.

Antinal is the one most people talk about.

 

We had no problems ourselves and to be honest, the few people on our trip who did have problems were mostly suffering from dehydration after failing to make proper use of the plentiful and safe bottled water that was available.

I agree Mark, we had no problems either, but were very careful. I would also take Imodium as a backup.

We also were up-to-date on shots so didn't need any. It is Antinol for "Mummy Tummy" they call it and as soon as anyone starts feeling lousy, they give you that and you feel better within a couple of hours. Aside from our small group of 10, there was a group of 17, approx. 30 and a large group of about 50. The last group took the train from Cairo to Luxor and boarded our ship there. A few got sick from eating/drinking something on the train. No one else did. We were supplied bottled water the whole trip and were even told to try and not get any water in our mouths when showering. All was great with our group. Even having tea at a few places seemed to be okay....maybe because the water was boiled but we were told it was okay to have it so we trusted our guide.

I wanted to post an update on the online visas. (I posted earlier in this thread about the new availability to get Egypt visas online.) My husband and I are going in January so this week I went to http://www.visa2egypt.gov.eg to check out the website. DO NOT use any other site you might find doing a Google search. They are third parties and will charge you more. The official government site I listed charges $25 each for a single entry visa, the same as on arrival at the airport. I registered with a login and password, then created a new visa request for myself. It's a little confusing if you're traveling with a family member as under FAQ is says you should apply for a family visa if you are traveling with family members, but elsewhere it says every adult need their own visa. I just applied for my husband under a separate request, using my same login account. It only took a few minutes to fill out the info, which is mostly from your passport, plus the company you are traveling with. I uploaded and attached a copy of my passport photo page. (I have this stored on my computer as a pdf, so that was easy.) It was a little tricky when I went to pay with my credit card as they immediately denied the charge, so I had to call the card company to tell them it was okay to process the charge.

In less then 24 hours, I heard back from the website that the credit card charges were approved, and less then 12 hours later the visa was sent via email. I printed out the visa and also downloaded it to my phone in ibooks as a backup. I can also easily access it through my email. My husband's visa was equally as easy to obtain. It probably took me a little longer than just doing it at the Cairo airport, but now we have them and I feel good about that. Plus, I know I paid the "correct" price and won't have to have that cash on hand, plus the hassle when we're tired and jetlagged. :)

Brilliant! If it's the same price, and just as easy, there's no reason not to do it online. Thanks for the info!

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This seems like very important information, so I have copied your post (and jpalbny's) into a new thread* to make it easier to search in future. Thanks!

* Official Website for Egypt Visa

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2576496

Booked our outbound flights last night! :)

Viking River question: For those who traveled from Aswan to Abu Simbel, were you bussed or did you fly? How long was the trip and how long did you stay in Abu Simbel? What was the cost of this optional excursion? Did you leave at 4 AM?

Viking River question: For those who traveled from Aswan to Abu Simbel, were you bussed or did you fly? How long was the trip and how long did you stay in Abu Simbel? What was the cost of this optional excursion? Did you leave at 4 AM?

When we made the trip from Aswan in February last year things had recently changed for the land route and it was no longer necessary to join a convoy.

The road doesn't open until about 5am from memory, and there will be a bit of a queue building up so you will still want to leave early, probably around 4-4:30am.

Drive time is around 3 hours each way.

Cost for the road trip will vary according to how many people travel together.

We arranged for a private trip for just the two of us which included 2 drivers, air-conditioned mini-bus and a properly qualified English speaking Guide, which came to a total of around $150 from memory.

Our ship provided a packed lunch for us (free).

On the day we did the trip all flights had been cancelled, but even if the flights had been available we still would have taken the private trip since it left us completely free to follow our own timetable and we got to see the desert, mirages and avoid hanging around an airport for such a short flight.

Thanks, Mark. This is an optional tour on our Viking Ra trip, so we would be going with them and not on our own.

Thanks, Mark. This is an optional tour on our Viking Ra trip, so we would be going with them and not on our own.

Sorry, missed the 'Viking' bit :)

Sorry, missed the 'Viking' bit :)

Great information anyhow. :)

Viking River question: For those who traveled from Aswan to Abu Simbel, were you bussed or did you fly?

Excursions just opened for us last night and we booked Abu Simbel among other things. The description for this excursion includes "Note: Departure from the ship may be early in the morning; roundtrip flights Aswan–Abu Simbel included"