Question about RCCL excursion to Cairo

[ChefPeg]

Hi,

 

I am just curious and i am getting excited about my upcoming cruise in June.

 

I would like to know if anyone who has cruised to Egypt ever went on the excursion medevil Cairo. It takes you to the pyramids, lunch on the Nile and shopping.

Has anyone ever had lunch on the Nile?

 

Any help would appreciated.

 

Peggy

[hinkley]

Hi,

 

I am just curious and i am getting excited about my upcoming cruise in June.

 

I would like to know if anyone who has cruised to Egypt ever went on the excursion medevil Cairo. It takes you to the pyramids, lunch on the Nile and shopping.

Has anyone ever had lunch on the Nile?

 

Any help would appreciated.

 

Peggy

 

Go to http://www.cruisemates.com Kuki is on the May 7 cruise & is giving a detailed report , He will anwer questions .

Jean

[ChefPeg]

Go to http://www.cruisemates.com Kuki is on the May 7 cruise & is giving a detailed report , He will anwer questions .

Jean

 

Thank you very, very much. I enjoyed reading Kuki's report. It seems he had a nice time on his excursion on the Nile and shopping. I feel a little better about it now.

I'm now waiting for his review of Turkey, we're going there too.

 

Again thanks,

Peggy

[Fblack]

Can you post a link to his report?

[tomko2]

:confused: Unfortunately I was not able to pull up the reference report on the other site; i.e. Kuki's report.

 

Has anyone been on this excursion from the Legend of the Seas? If so, was it Good - Bad - Ugly?

 

Many thanks

 

Kathy

 

If I have posted this in the wrong place please set me straight - thx

[ChefPeg]

:confused: Unfortunately I was not able to pull up the reference report on the other site; i.e. Kuki's report.

 

Has anyone been on this excursion from the Legend of the Seas? If so, was it Good - Bad - Ugly?

 

Many thanks

 

Kathy

 

If I have posted this in the wrong place please set me straight - thx

 

I just returned from the Legend on the Med cruise. It was wonderful!!

 

My DH and I had originally booked the Nile cruise with shopping excursion but we heard some really bad things about it.

When we boarded the ship we changed it to the pyramids and tombs excursion and it was fantastic. I had heard the caravans tour was good too.

 

You can read mine and several others' review if you go to our thread. It's the RCCL's roll call for legend on June 12th.

 

Any more questions?

[eileen & jay]

Will be taking the "Classic Cairo" tour on our upcoming 11/10 Celebrity cruise. Has anyone taken this particular tour on RCCL? Any comments...

 

Thanks Much!!!:)

[leek]

Hey now - we'll be on the same 10 Nov. cruise and were thinking about doing a private trip as my mom has mobility issues. Would you want to join us? We have 3 - my mom, my husband and me....

[SELLER8]

Peggy,

I could not locate your thread for June 12th. I am interested in this tour for May '08 on the Legend. How did you like it? Was Memphis, the cemetery of Sakkara & the step pyramid worth seeing? Was there much to see there? How was the lunch at the hotel? I have heard about people getting sick after eating the food in Egypt. If you had to do it again, would you go on the same tour?

Thanks,

Larry

[ChefPeg]

Peggy,

I could not locate your thread for June 12th. I am interested in this tour for May '08 on the Legend. How did you like it? Was Memphis, the cemetery of Sakkara & the step pyramid worth seeing? Was there much to see there? How was the lunch at the hotel? I have heard about people getting sick after eating the food in Egypt. If you had to do it again, would you go on the same tour?

Thanks,

Larry

 

Hi Larry,

 

I would do this excursion again in a heartbeat!! I would go back to Egypt this minute if I could!!

 

This was a wonderful excursion, I highly recommend it. We saw so much and we never felt rushed. We felt completely safe and welcomed everywhere we went.

 

When we were in the tomb at Sakara it was amazing to see all the pictures and writings still on the walls. Memphis was worth it just to see how huge the statute of Ramses really is. And the other sphinx in alabaster is cool too.

 

The spread they had at the hotel was incredible. We wanted for nothing. There were so many items to taste that I could spent at least another hour eating there. The hotel was beautiful and extremely clean. No one on our trip got ill.

 

If you have any more questions please feel free to ask. I love Egypt so I enjoy talking about it any chance I get.

[SELLER8]

Thanks Peggy!

I think we will do your tour in Egypt. Have you heard about any good tours in Cypress? I have seen a lot of postings with negative feedback on this port. Your insight would be helpful!

Larry

[ChefPeg]

Thanks Peggy!

I think we will do your tour in Egypt. Have you heard about any good tours in Cypress? I have seen a lot of postings with negative feedback on this port. Your insight would be helpful!

Larry

 

I'm not sure who these people are who have such a negative outlook:confused: . I just don't get it, Cyprus is lovely.

 

I loved Cyprus, it is beautiful! We went on the Nicosia and Lefkara Village excursion. We really enjoyed this one too. We visited a very ornate Cathedral, St John's. Then to an archealogical museum, very interesting. The country side is lovely and the bus ride is very nice. The lunch was very tasty, we went a very well known taverana, they call it a buffet lunch but I call it eating family style. The food was very good and fresh and lots of it. We also went to the checkpoint, very interesting and scary too. The country is divided in half.

 

We shopped in a very, very quaint village and bought some handmade lace, not like the lace you are thinking, it's an embroidery of sorts. Gorgeous! The people are extremely friendly.

 

I can't remember what else we saw but it was well worth the money. my DH and I loved Cyprus so I am not sure where all the negative reviews are coming from but we had a great time.

[SELLER8]

I am glad to hear Cyprus is not a bust! I am thinking about a private tour to Ephesus. Did you take a private tour or one offered by the cruise line? I am wondering if I need a Visa if I do a private tour in Kusadasi? Can you comment on this?

Thanks,

Larry

[ChefPeg]

I am glad to hear Cyprus is not a bust! I am thinking about a private tour to Ephesus. Did you take a private tour or one offered by the cruise line? I am wondering if I need a Visa if I do a private tour in Kusadasi? Can you comment on this?

Thanks,

Larry

 

We took the "Turkish Towns and Villiages" excursion through the ship. It was my second favorite port(Egypt is the first:rolleyes: )and excursion. Our guide was amazing, he was probably one of the best we have ever had.

 

I absolutely loved Turkey, it is such a beautiful country. I would love to go back there again someday.

 

If you get a chance to shop for Turkish carpets do so. I bought 3 carpets in Turkey and 3 in Greece. Now that I am home I wish I had bought more. I can't express to you the exceptional quality and beauty of these works of art. I can't find anything here that even remotely comes close to what we paid.

 

Since we did all of our excursions were through the ship I can't tell you whether or not you will need to purchase a visa. I have heard two sides of this. Some people needed to obtain their own visa others did not.

 

The way the ship handled it was perfect. No trouble at all. Drop off your passport and then pick it up a few days later. It was for that reason I would recommend booking only ship excursions or if you are set on a private tour, go ahead and get the visa while you have a lot of time to get one.

[SELLER8]

Thanks for your insight! Who had better prices for carpets, Greece or Turkey? Did you have to ship them home? If so, do you have to pay duty when they clear customs?

[MercedMike]

Hey now - we'll be on the same 10 Nov. cruise and were thinking about doing a private trip as my mom has mobility issues. Would you want to join us? We have 3 - my mom, my husband and me....

 

I don't know if you have already booked your tour, but I also have mobility issues, and recently we used Egyptian Express for a private tour and found them to be wonderful in considering my mobility while at the same time still providing a full and enjoyable tour for my companions.

 

You can see our pics and a link at

http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/holyland2.html

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[MercedMike]

Thanks for your insight! Who had better prices for carpets, Greece or Turkey? Did you have to ship them home? If so, do you have to pay duty when they clear customs?

 

We definitely loved the carpet buying experience in Turkey! We are eagerly waiting for ours to arrive. There is no duty as they are considered "handicrafts." No visa is required for Turkey, ship's tour or private.

 

For our report and pics, check out

http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/holyland.html

 

And for something really -- well -- INTERESTING, try the Turkish Bath!!:D

[ChefPeg]

Thanks for your insight! Who had better prices for carpets, Greece or Turkey? Did you have to ship them home? If so, do you have to pay duty when they clear customs?

 

Turkey-we had the carpets shipped because they were way too heavy to even think about carrying. If the carpets are handmade, like Mike said, no duty.

 

Greece-I hadn't expected to purchase a carpet in Greece, let alone 3:eek: . The prices in Greece are excellent, it's just they are different than from the Turkish carpets. Same, no duty or shipping. If you like I can e-mail you the name of the place we bought ours in Rhodes.

 

Both had great prices and shipping was included in the price. You have to haggle a little but they do not take offense to it. It was more fun than anything else. At least the people we dealt with.

 

I received all my carpets about a month after I got home. I had forgotten all about them and here they showed up. Two of the carpets from Turkey were natural and not dyed. I'll try to find a picture, I had not seen anything like them before anywhere. Two of the carpets I bought in Greece are silk instead of cotton. Oh my Goodness, they feel soooooo incredibly soft when you walk on them barefoot!

 

I envy you going there, I want to go back!! You will have such a great trip.

[SELLER8]

I would be interested in where you purchased the carpets. You can e-mail the information to: lkramer@graphicsales.org. Were they expensive? How large and thick are they? Could you charge them or did you have to pay in their currency? Do you remember what you paid for them compared to their asking price? This may help in my negotiations. I would presume the Turkish carpets were made in Turkey? Were the Greek silk carpets made in Greece? I didn't think Greece was know for their carpets?

I am staring to look forward to the trip. May is still a long way off and I still have a lot of planning to do.

Thanks for your help!

[ChefPeg]

I would be interested in where you purchased the carpets. You can e-mail the information to: lkramer@graphicsales.org. Were they expensive? How large and thick are they? Could you charge them or did you have to pay in their currency? Do you remember what you paid for them compared to their asking price? This may help in my negotiations. I would presume the Turkish carpets were made in Turkey? Were the Greek silk carpets made in Greece? I didn't think Greece was know for their carpets?

I am staring to look forward to the trip. May is still a long way off and I still have a lot of planning to do.

Thanks for your help!

 

I'll look for the carpet information and get back to you tomorrow.

 

You will find all different thicknesses of carpets. You will find one you will love I'm sure, it's hard not to do, lol. There are so many it was tough to chose just one.

 

We charged all our carpets in both countries. You can almost tell them the price you want to pay and they will most likely accept it (within reason). You can get them down pretty low if you keep after them. We only bought carpets that were made locally. They are stamped/sewn with the weaver name. In Turkey I had to sign my name on the back of both carpets to assure I was getting the two I chose.

 

I didn't know Greece made carpets either. The ship's shopping guide had mentioned carpets and I was intriqued. When we were shopping, we stopped in and looked around. Since we already bought carpets in Turkey plus we already had a huge carpet at home already, I really didn't need another carpet. They are gorgeous! I even bought two little carpets (18x24) that look like flying carpets, they were machine made but they were only 20 euros each. I truly wished I had bought a lot more of those to give as gifts. So pretty for the money.

[MercedMike]

The particular place we went in Kusadasi was Turkmen Art & Rug. It was recommended by our guide (of course, I am sure she got a commission). It was particularly interesting because we not only got a demonstration of the different weaving techinques, we also got to see how the silk is unwound from the locally raised silkworms.

 

My DW is a pretty good negotiator and without playing too much hardball she got them down to 50% of what they asked originally. I think if we had spent another half hour and bargained hard we could probably have gotten another 10% or 15%, maybe.

 

Our friend bought a beautiful silk rug. She is not a hard bargainer, and settled pretty quickly at about 1/3 off the asking price. We both felt the beautiful work we got was well worth the price we paid.

[SELLER8]

Peggy & Mike, It sounds like negotiating is half of the fun! I like to purchase something at each port as remembrance. I like the idea of signing your name on the back of the carpet, the free shipping and no tax! Any recommendations on what to buy in Egypt? Although, I don't know how much time there will be for shopping? The tour sounds action packed.

Larry