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manoftheworld

By manoftheworld,
in Africa & Middle East

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paul929207

paul929207

Posted
Posted
hi, every body i am doing shore excursion in Alexandria, Egypt with my 12 day round-trip on the Norwegian jade 12th DEC 2010. i also look for the best tour operator but i want those who are not money oriented. and those who can give me good price.

 

thanks

terry

You will have difficulty finding a tour guide who isn't interested in making money.

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BurBunny

BurBunny

Posted
Posted

There are a number of tour operators who are frequently mentioned here with excellent reviews, such as Nile Blue, Memphis Tours and Ramses. I suggest you read back a few pages at the reviews which have already been posted.

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Flowrider

Flowrider

Posted
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I would write to george of ramses tours, we organized an overnight tour for our dec 5th cruise and he was great adjusting the tour for our interests. I started with the idea of organizing 1 group of 10 or 12 and more people were interested, we ended with 4 groups of 12. During this time we have made a very friendly group and i am sure we will have a great time during the tour.

If you want to get a group together, i suggest writing to george at ramsestours@gmail.com and telling him what you want to do in your tour and once your tour has been structured, post the general idea in the meet and mingle of your ship line and people with same interests will join you.

We corresponded for over a year, you have only a month so i would act fast.

Have a great cruise

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cruisemom42 Great Review Rare

cruisemom42

Posted
Posted

I think you'll find almost all of the private agencies to be pretty value conscious in Egypt. However, to think that a tour operator isn't motivated by money seems a little naive.

 

Guides/tours charge different rates in different countries. In wealtheir countries with more highly regulated tourism, the cost is going to be higher. In less wealthy countries and/or those with less regulation, the cost is lower.

 

There is usually a pretty narrow range of prices in each individual country for these types of tours. I would suggest that if you find a guide or tour that costs substantially less than the common going rate, you might want to beware -- something may be fishy.

 

Having said that, I can highly recommend Egypt Private Excursions. I used them recently in Alexandria and I am using them again when I return to Cairo in a week. They are somewhat newer than a couple of the "big" agencies mentioned a lot on these boards. For that reason, they seem (to me anyway) to try very hard to provide a great tour at an excellent value.

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Mexfolkart

Mexfolkart

Posted
Posted

Paul..we are also going with GCT end of January..a couple of questions..we want to see the Pyramids at night..could you do that from the hotel desk or did you pre-book it..those who did it...also what money do they use in Egypt? Someone said take US dollars..???

How was it to take Taxi's around?

Any advice? We plan to go to Abu Simbel but think not Alexandria..your thoughts?

Thanks, Sherry

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PROCRUISE

PROCRUISE

Posted
Posted
Paul..we are also going with GCT end of January..a couple of questions..we want to see the Pyramids at night..could you do that from the hotel desk or did you pre-book it..those who did it...also what money do they use in Egypt? Someone said take US dollars..???

How was it to take Taxi's around?

Any advice? We plan to go to Abu Simbel but think not Alexandria..your thoughts?

Thanks, Sherry

 

Sorry, not Paul, but I'll give my two-cents worth. We did a 13 day private tour of Egypt with Traveland-Egypt from 9/16-10/1/10. Probably the most phenomenal trip we've ever taken!

 

The evening sound/light shows at the Pyramids can be booked through your hotel. During our stay at Le Meridien Pyramids in Giza we could have book the show right in the lobby of the hotel. Actually we never found time to do this but could sit on our balcony, which faced the Pyramids, and see the lighting effect each night.

 

Abu Simbel is an absolute MUST see as opposed to Alexandria.

 

We never converted any USD to Egyptian pounds and never had any problems. Granted, when you hand out a tip of 1 USD just to use a restroom, that's a big tip, but we didn't mind. Take LOTS of one dollar bills with you because tipping in Egypt is simply a way of life.

 

Most importantly, enjoy the adventure, culture, beauty, and the people of Egypt.

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smeyer418

smeyer418

Posted
Posted
Sorry, not Paul, but I'll give my two-cents worth. We did a 13 day private tour of Egypt with Traveland-Egypt from 9/16-10/1/10. Probably the most phenomenal trip we've ever taken!

 

The evening sound/light shows at the Pyramids can be booked through your hotel. During our stay at Le Meridien Pyramids in Giza we could have book the show right in the lobby of the hotel. Actually we never found time to do this but could sit on our balcony, which faced the Pyramids, and see the lighting effect each night.

 

Abu Simbel is an absolute MUST see as opposed to Alexandria.

 

We never converted any USD to Egyptian pounds and never had any problems. Granted, when you hand out a tip of 1 USD just to use a restroom, that's a big tip, but we didn't mind. Take LOTS of one dollar bills with you because tipping in Egypt is simply a way of life.

 

Most importantly, enjoy the adventure, culture, beauty, and the people of Egypt.

 

 

Nice post. I too was in Egypt for an extended period(three weeks) and had no problem changing money but they will happily accept US bills. I also got EGP from the ATM with no problem.

 

Almost all tour companies are in it both for customer service and to make money. Baksheesh(little bribes) is a way of life in Egypt and this hasn't changed from when Samuel Clemens went there(read innocents abroad)

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smeyer418

smeyer418

Posted
Posted
what about the vaccinations we should have? is there certain advice i should follow? should i take any medications with me?

thanks

 

 

ask you health professional. make sure your DPT is up to date. Take along something for stomach upset and diarrhea. Have a anti-biotic with you. Don't eat anything not cooked and drink bottles water. Its called the Mummy's revenge.....

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smeyer418

smeyer418

Posted
Posted

how are your negotiating skills? Most taxis at the major hotels will charge you more than a street hail-if you know what the expected amount should be. If you are staying at the Meridian expect to pay extra as the Taxi will baksheesh the doorman to get rides. A yellow street cab without a meter you negotiate before you get in. I stayed at the Mena house and the house car drive us to downtown for less than a cab would have charged. That being said the cabs are not expensive by NY standards but we were also staying in a small hotel on Zamalek island and I would ask the concierge about how much he would pay for a cab from x to y. I added a couple of EGP to his amount and would negotiate with the driver and no one ever refused or expected more.

There is hardly any street crime in Egypt-its extremely safe crime wise. Never felt any problem except for the traffic and crossing the street.

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manoftheworld

manoftheworld

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Posted
ask you health professional. make sure your DPT is up to date. Take along something for stomach upset and diarrhea. Have a anti-biotic with you. Don't eat anything not cooked and drink bottles water. Its called the Mummy's revenge.....

 

thank you for the advice its really worth thinking of

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manoftheworld

manoftheworld

Posted
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Posted
how are your negotiating skills? Most taxis at the major hotels will charge you more than a street hail-if you know what the expected amount should be. If you are staying at the Meridian expect to pay extra as the Taxi will baksheesh the doorman to get rides. A yellow street cab without a meter you negotiate before you get in. I stayed at the Mena house and the house car drive us to downtown for less than a cab would have charged. That being said the cabs are not expensive by NY standards but we were also staying in a small hotel on Zamalek island and I would ask the concierge about how much he would pay for a cab from x to y. I added a couple of EGP to his amount and would negotiate with the driver and no one ever refused or expected more.

There is hardly any street crime in Egypt-its extremely safe crime wise. Never felt any problem except for the traffic and crossing the stre

 

i think traveling is about experiencing new culture. your adventure with the taxi in Cairo is really something to talk about.i happened to spend three days in Damascus, the capital of Syria. we were advised to take the bus from the airport to the city of Damascus because taxis are really expensive. the first we were taken by surprise but the second day we were able to estimate the tariff we should pay. i guess you can surf the net for taxi companies in Cairo you might find good service.

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cruisemom42 Great Review Rare

cruisemom42

Posted
Posted
has anyone tried to hire a car in Cairo? can i drive with my Canadian license?

 

If you mean hire a car to drive yourself, I would STRONGLY encourage you not to consider it. In all the travels I've done, the traffic in Cairo is the absolute worst I've ever seen. Drivers make 7 lanes out of 4, horns are used constantly to communicate, headlights are "optional" at night....

 

For some idea of how bad the driving conditions are, I suggest you visit YouTube and search "Cairo traffic". Here's one good example:

 

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smeyer418

smeyer418

Posted
Posted
has anyone tried to hire a car in Cairo? can i drive with my Canadian license?

 

 

I have driven a cab in NY.NY state spent many thousands of dollars teaching me to drive including sending me to a high speed/low speed chase course. I would NEVER drive in Cairo. You can hire a car and driver for about $50US per day in Cairo. Cairo has the worst traffic of any place I have seen in the world by far. I can give you an email address that we used to hire a car and driver. I do think of most things as an adventure and have driven all over the place in other countries.

In Cairo you will have no idea what the "rules" customs are and I assure you that they will be alien to you.

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Turtles06 Great Review Rare

Turtles06

Posted
Posted

I would also urge you NOT to drive yourself in Cairo. I am from NY, so it's not like I don't know about crazy traffic. But Cairo was insane. Drivers leaning on their horns permanently because six or more lanes of cars are driving in two lanes, and everyone is playing chicken.

 

Don't do it -- you'll have a much better vacation. Really.

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pkamison

pkamison

Posted
Posted

US dollars are accepted by almost all in Cairo ( also charge cards for bigger purchases in larger stores). There is a bank open 24 hours a day in the lobby of the Mena House Hotel. We changed a small amount for tips-decent exchange rate.

The Sound and Light show can be booked by the concerige at your hotel - note the show in English is booked at a different time so you will want to make sure its the right show/time. We had a private driver and it was the best - he dropped us off and picked us up very precisly. DO NOT think about driving there - it is impossible in Cairo - unlike anything you have ever seen.The Nile dinner cruise was fun and the food was decent (if you are there for a second night this is worthwhile.)

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