Has anyone flown to Luxor during their two port days in Egypt?

[Trece]

We have been to Egypt three times already including two land/river tours but next year will be on a Princess cruise with a couple who has never been. I've been toying with the idea of disembarking in Alexandria, immediately flying to Luxor for the day, flying back to Cairo that night to stay at Mena House adjacent to the pyramids in order to begin with the Pyramids the next day, touring the Egyptian Museum, then being driven to Port Said to return to the ship. Basically this is similar to the overnight excursions many have done except that since I doubt they will return to Egypt, I really want them to see Luxor (my favorite city).

 

Has anyone done this and how did it go and about what did it cost? I've used DeCastro for some day trips on our last land/river tour and know their reliability and yes, I know this is a large undertaking, but I think it can be done & I thought I had read where someone had done it but I can't find the post.

 

Any help?

[Saga Ruby]

Last November, I had dinner with a DeCastro executive who was flying back to Cairo from Luxor the next day, so I know it can be done. As far as Alexandria having a viable commercial airport, I don't have that information.

 

As you know, time constraints for touring from ports can be eaten up by the convoys, so before I went to Egypt on Oceania, I looked into chartering a helicopter from Port Said or Safaga. For reasons of national security, the Egyptian government doesn't allow this kind of tourist travel.

 

My only concern would be that flying in Egypt on a time schedule might be unreliable and you don't want to miss the ship. I would never assume that scheduled flights in Egypt are dependable.

 

When you get your plans finalized, tell us what happened. I would have liked to have had more of a tourist day in Luxor or Cairo rather than spending 60% of my waking hours "on the road again."

 

Ruby

[Trece]

Ruby, I almost thought maybe it was you who had done this version but I guess I was wrong. Darn! We've taken maybe six or seven internal flights through the years in Egypt and never had a problem with delays on any of them except returning from Abu Simbel years ago (sandstorm). However, this is one of the reasons I want to return to Cairo that night (the flight is about an hour as I recall) vs. waiting until the next day, so in case there is a flight problem we do have some wiggle room (that and positioning ourselves for the pyramids the next morning). At this point this proposal has not been made to any companies. They may shoot it down in a heartbeat. I just thought I'd question if anyone had done it. I will definitely keep you posted as I feel my way through this! Thanks for your input, I've followed your posts on a lot of different boards/threads and they are always very enlightening. :D

[Saga Ruby]

Thanks for the kind words! To me, that's what message boards are all about - a generous exchange of travel info and news. I have been the beneficiary of lots o' good info on these boards. The tiniest little sentence or phrase sent me off to research something and shazaam! I found what I wanted, with thanks to all these wonderful CCritic members.

 

About the Luxor flight - I can confirm that the flight is one hour because I asked Moustafa how long it would take him to get back to Cairo. So we know that one. I'm just hinky in some countries about flights - as you know, Italians delight in strikes against planes, trains, and metros. And in so many countries, the concept of queuing in a line at a ticket counter is up the chimney - it's push, shove, holler, to get your boarding pass at a counter. But your personal experience "in country" in Egypt lets you make informed decisions so more power to you.

 

I admire you taking the time to see Egypt properly, by land. This razzmatazz about the convoy slog to see Cairo or Luxor for one day had a profound impact on me. It was such a poor way to see this magnificent land. Yes, I tagged base at the tourist looky-loos, but what did I really learn? Very little. Having said that, I'm forever cured of 12- to 17-hour shore excursions!!

 

I had to smile at your member name - by any chance does someone in your family have the moniker of "Doce" or "Catorce?"

 

Cheers and holler if you need anything!

Ruby

[Trece]

It was my turn to smile at your comments on the name TRECE. So few people pick up on it. Actually, DH and I do animal rescue work for "fun" (more heartbreak than fun, however) and to insure that between travel and animals we are continually broke. There is a tendency now & then to run out of names!! Trece at her needy moment in time happened to be #13, and it also kindof tipped the hat to the fact that she only has three legs (that's the heartbreak part I spoke of, so many horrible things are done to animals). We've used lots of great names, some of which only travelers can appreciate. Two of my favorites are Tzaziki (after the Greek yogurt dish) and Baba Ganoush (whose new owners - lovely people but non-travelers who didn't appreciate the exotic & changed his name to Brutus). I might add I do take some artistic license with spelling, as well as pronunciation, because we call her Tracey, pronounced the "American" way. Oh, and we have an Ikea, who has one blue eye & one yellow eye like the Swedish flag & the store colors, and Calabash after a hotel we liked in Grenada. I obviously can go on & on here. :D

 

Anyway, we've flown Cairo to Luxor or reverse twice I think and the flight is an hour. The Luxor airport is in town and not that large. Granted both times we had a guide baksheeshing our way (now there's another good cat name!). I think it can be done, but I would bow to the opinion of the companies that I approach about it (and because of the unusual request I would get more than one opinion, if not for price, but also for the opinion about whether it's a do-able endeavor).

 

We want to go back to Egypt even after going again next year, maybe 2009, combining maybe a week just in Luxor with a week river cruise, maybe stopping in Cairo just to use the airport and visit the Egyptian museum again, since you can never see enough of it (and I am NOT a museum person). Maybe you'd like to come??

 

I agree with your first paragraph 150%. The stuff I've learned from CC is phenomenal. A highlight of the day is logging on, especially when I've posted and am looking forward to the responses I'm going to get. Like yours! Thanks again for your input!:D

[slgjhg]

Hi All,

 

Acouple of years ago, my husband and I and many from our ship, the Royal Princess, arranged tours with DeCastro Tours. At that time Moustafa had not reached his currently elevated position with DeCastro. We had a very unusual request. Pick up and tour of Alaxandria, drive to Cairo, transport to Aswan and Abul Simba, return to Luxor to join the convoy from Luxor to Safaga.

 

It was all easily accomplished, with a supurb job done by our transfer people with DeCastro. There were some rather exciting moments, but that is for another thread. We had a very difficult itinerary and they were so wonderful in every aspect. They even managed to get us business class from AbuSimbal to Aswan on our return flight.

 

In Luxor, we veged for the afternoon, it was 132, in the evening we went to the show at the Karnack Temple. It was wonderful, and upon our return to the hotel, we saw buses of the Princess people going back to their hotels.

 

I hope this helps, and have a wonderful cruise.

 

Regards,

 

Shannon

[suzieque]

You did that in only 2 days?? Wow! We only have 1.5 days on my itinerary ; noon in Alexandria, and depart Port Said the following evening. I think the side trip to Luxor will have to wait for another trip to Egypt for us!:-)

Suzie

[Saga Ruby]

Trece, congrats on your work in animal rescue. I cannot bear to deal with what you see - I would have nightmares for months. On the brighter side, I can commiserate with being broke from your rescue work and travel.

 

Some people spend their money on spas, cars, and McMansions - I kept the old car, kept the old house (which I now own), and kept on keepin’ on as I traveled the globe and put my daughter thru medical school and my son into the pilot’s seat of a Delta jet (whew!). Wouldn’t trade my travel experiences for the world. Oh wait - I did!

 

Before my Middle East Nautica cruise, I read "The Yacoubian Building" by Alaa Al Aswany which was a bestseller in Egypt. That one small book was an enormous help when I was in Egypt, Oman, and Dubai in teaching me about the reality of ordinary lives in the Arabic countries, far beyond the shiny "Welcome Tourist!" faces we usually see.

 

The saddest sentence in that book was about how a widow was happy to be "allowed to sleep underneath the mailboxes" of the Yacoubian building - where she lived before her husband’s death - because it kept her from sleeping in the dangerous streets. When you talked about using baksheesh to get your goals accomplished, it rang a familiar bell.

 

I mentioned to my Giza guide that I had read this controversial book and she was astonished, then related that the book had been made into a movie with all the top Egyptian film stars. She said it was shown in local theaters for 2 weeks then pulled by the authorities. I mentioned this to Moustafa of DeCastro Tours and he just laughed, saying that was not true.

 

Trece, at what point did you decide to spend more time in Egypt on and off thru the years? Where else have you traveled?

 

Ruby

[Saga Ruby]

Oops! I forgot! I wanted to thank you again for that referral to DeCastro Tours last year. Who knew that Moustafa would hop into my van and ride into Luxor with me, then have dinner with me and the asst manager of the hotel?

 

Back last year, I had trouble finding a URL for DeCastro and you saved my bacon by passing it along. I assume it is lots easier now to book with them. One funny thing - on the random event, I get personal emails from all over the world asking for a recommendation - or not - for DeCastro. Moustafa owes me big time for talking up DeCastro! Wa-hahahaha!

 

Thanks again, Shannon.

 

Ruby

[Trece]

Shannon, You've been very reassuring & encouraging! I'm not losing my mind (well, that's debatable I guess). Can you elaborate a little about your details? I know it's not precisely what we plan to do, but I'm more interested in the logistics. Like "disembarked ship in Alexandria, picked up by DeCastro on dock, toured Alexandria, met by DeCastro rep and drove to Cairo airport, flew to XXX" etc. I assume you had a DeCastro rep with you every step of the way (except maybe not on the flights)? I guess what I'm saying is that I'm most interested in the hand-holding parts of your arrangements - not so much for us, but for our friends, who haven't been to Egypt. I would really appreciate it - thanks!!

 

Ruby, Ironically, while we all know what the best parts of travel are (we wouldn't be on CC otherwise!), sometimes the human and animal situations are the wost part, because if human life isn't valued, you can only guess at how terribly the animals are treated. I'd encourage people to contribute to human charities in these countries, but also to visit and contribute to Brooke Hospital for Animals, which is a British charity that has facilities in Egypt & Jordan. They focus on the the horses & donkeys by which many earn their living in these countries. We visited their facility in Luxor in 1999 & they were so welcoming.

 

I will have to read the book you suggested, it sounds interesting (also interesting that you got two different versions of the official reaction to the movie). I can recommend "In the Eye of the Sun" by Ahdaf Soueif which is probably not controversial but in the sense that "Gone With the Wind" contains a lot of historical detail, this novel contains a lot of historical detail about Egyptian politics from 1967-1980. It's pretty long though.

 

DH pushed Egypt bigtime back in 1999, which was our first visit. It wasn't too long after the Hatshepsut massacre and tourism was way down, so our Gate 1 group numbered only nine (which included us and three friends). It was wonderful. In 2000 we went to Israel & crossed into Egypt just for the day to go to Mt. Sinai, since we were in that vicinity. Last year we realized we had just not gotten enough & the lure of Egypt was so strong that we decided to go again, this time with OAT, which features only small groups (in this case, 14). And we still feel we want to go back. I can't put my finger on it. I love everywhere in the world we've been, but the pull of Egypt is very strong. DH is really into the details & he says he's an Old Kingdom afficionado and I'm a New Kingdom afficionado. Admittedly part of it is that Europe is getting way too pricey. I note you were on Nautica, we've been on Regatta twice, but it's now far too expensive for us. Keeping the old car ('92) and the old house ('22) only goes so far these days, with the animal expenses way out of control. In Egypt at least I feel there is still some value dollar, and the people really need our tourist income. I'm ready to use a local operator like DeCastro for the entire visit too (this is for the trip in a few years' time as well as the port stop next year).

 

Sorry to end abruptly but we are having a major thunderstorm and I want to turn my computer off but don't want to lose everything I've written! :D

[Saga Ruby]

I disembarked Nautica in Port Said, walked down the gangway and past two lines of vendors, thru a small glass "house," then past more vendor stalls with the usual entreaties of the vendors. Out on the street, I walked past lines of shore excursion buses over to a small park where white minivans were lined up.

 

I walked up to a guy in a group of guys and said, "DeCastro?" As I walked toward the minivan line, an Egyptian man dressed in an exquisite bespoke suit came up and shook my hand. I said, "DeCastro?", he nodded and motioned to follow him.

 

Since I owed DeCastro $300, I was asking him as we walked if I was to give him the money. He smiled broadly, shook his head "No," and motioned to keep walking. We were almost to the minivan before I realized that he didn't speak a word of English. He gestured to a white minivan and walked away. My driver came up, said his name, and did not pretend to speak English - he was literally a chauffeur.

 

After the usual hair-raising ride into Cairo from the port, we stopped at Mena House for a rest stop, the driver went into the hotel and came back with my female guide for the Giza Plateau. I asked her if I was to give her the remainder of Amount Due and she took the envelope as I hoped the money would get to DeCastro's home office.

 

At the Plateau, the guide walked over to purchase tickets for the Plateau, we both stepped thru a pretend screening device in solitary spendor with no staffing in the ancient sands, and walked on to the Great Pyramid.

 

My guide and I had a buffet lunch at Le Meridien, then the driver and I were off to the races to return to Port Said. I asked Moustafa in Luxor if DeCastro had received final payment from me and he smiled, saying, "Yes, we have your $300 in cash." Big Whew! for that one.

 

At each point that I wondered where my driver was, or who my guide was going to be on site, someone would magically appear. I asked my Giza guide if we could drop her somewhere close to her neighborhood and she said she always rode the subway to Giza. No worries.

 

DeCastro was there to help me have a fine visit in Cairo or Luxor and they accomplished that goal. Many times I wondered what was going on, and it turned out the guide was purchasing a ticket or getting a good table at the lunch buffet - I developed a sense of trust with DeCastro and was never disappointed although many times I was clueless about what was going on.

 

I would mention that my Luxor driver was silently nervous that I be on time for the convoy returning to Safaga. Moustafa had told me to be ready no later than 7:00am to leave my hotel and get to the starting point of the convoy which left at 8:00am. When I came out of the Al Moudira at 6:45am, my driver was wreathed in smiles, relieved that we had plenty of time to make the convoy starting point. In downtown Luxor, we parked in a line with other minivans in an alleyway, waiting for the convoy to start.

 

My driver brought me a cup of tea with green mint for flavouring. At the stroke of 8:00am, the colonel of the cavalcade marched over to his driver in the Jeep, made a gesture, and the minivans started back to Safaga. On this return trip, there were no tour buses, only minivans. There also was almost no traffic on the road for the 3+ hour trip.

 

There was one tiny bollocks at Safaga. The port authorities claimed my driver didn't have the proper permit to drive to the gangway, so I got out of "my" minivan and into the one behind me which delivered the 3 of us one hundred yards to the ship. My driver was unhappy at this turn of events - I watched from a distance as everyone argued and shouted - I could see my driver was saying he had the permit to leave me directly at the ship. I guess not enough baksheesh had changed hands.

 

I realize now that the guides work with the rest of the tourist industry every day, so when I wanted to freshen up, or eat, or find a minivan, everyone knew what I wanted before I could ask. Obviously the DeCastro staff is known everywhere because the 3 days I was with DeCastro went so smoothly.

 

I would like to mention that ships' tour offices always use that genteel threat about missing the ship if you're with a private agency. In every single case on a 25-day cruise, I was back at the ship hours before the official tours showed up.

 

Trece, where do you live? Major thunderstorms?

 

Ruby

[bcscot]

Wouldn’t trade my travel experiences for the world. Oh wait - I did!

 

 

 

:) !

 

[bcscot]

Wouldn’t trade my travel experiences for the world. Oh wait - I did!

 

Ruby

 

I tried to quote this & got it wrong last time but hopefully I have got the hang of doing this now.

 

I thought this was just too good a quote to waste.!

Thanks Ruby.

[Dbedros]

My DH and I did this with DeCastro in 2003 on Princess. The ship stopped in Port Said, where we got off and we met it in Alexandria the next day. I believe we may have been the first cruise ship passengers for Moustafa. At the time there was nothing on the boards for Egypt private guides. I emailed the Egyptian Embassy in Chicago and they sent me a link to 10 or 12 companies. After several emails to all of them DeCastro won my business as Moustafa was the only willing to get us to Luxor. I wanted this because I figured we would not get back. I was not sure of the recommended hotel and asked for the Le Meridien and he changed me immediately. My DH was giving me drama because I had to send a deposit, which was something we had never done. The trip was so very good that I posted on the boards, which is something I was not doing at the time. I was one of the readers only.

We were met at the port by a driver (little English) and representative (excellent English). We picked up our private guard (good looking young guy in an Armani suit and with an Uzzi) and left with the buses. During this time everyone had to leave for Cairo at the same time with guard vehicles. We toured the city with commentary on the way. We also left the buses behind. We stopped prior to the pyramids to pickup an Egyptologist, who was with us at the Pyramids and Sphinx. We got history and details from him. We had lunch at the restaurant near the Sphinx and decided to skip the Egyptian Museum. We were taken to the airport and put on the plane for Luxor where we were met by a driver and representative. We stopped at the hotel to leave our small carryon, refresh and have a complimentary drink. The driver returned at the designated time with our guide. We saw some of Luxor on the way to Luxor Temple. It was night and my pictures were not the best. We went to the Papyrus shop and a Coptic church for my DH. He tends to change my private tours in the middle of them. I did not make it to the embalming place, but settled for a Papyrus print of the procedure. We were tired and returned to the hotel for a late dinner. We agreed to meet at 7:00am the next morning. Had breakfast (included) and met our guide and driver in the lobby. To my surprise the guide had the driver take us back to Luxor Temple so that I could get better pictures. From there we went to the West Bank. We went to the Valley of the Kings and Queens (visited Tombs), The Colossi of Memnon, Tombs of Deir al-Madina, and my favorite Karnak Temple and the Sacred Lake. They took us back to the airport and put us on our flight. We were met and drove to Alexandria, where we got a tour of the city. We were scheduled for dinner but passed as we were tired and wanted to get on the ship. Our guides were knowledgeable and fun. Each of Moustafa representatives was very good and Moustafa contacted us throughout our trip to verify that everything was okay. Trece, I hope this helps and reassures you.

Ruby, Moustafa he sent me an email thanking me for the write up and I received and email when there was a change to their web site.