should i choose Decastro Tours for my group??

[Larry2lar]

Dear all

 

i need your accurate comments .

we are a big group ,will visit Egypt in December2007

we received a package details with the price from Decastro tours, "our contact (Mr Soliman Senior Tour Operator)"

but we have some doubts because of some bad comments we found about this company .

 

i would like to know if any person used this company ?

and what about their payment policy??

 

thank you

Larry

[neicie]

We used them in May this year and found them very professional. They require half the money by wire transfer at time of booking and the final payment once on the tour. We customized our tour and got to do everything we wanted but maybe not long enough at the bazaar or museum. They also had unscheduled stops at a papyus factory and a carpet factory so if you arent interested in these places make it clear you dont want to stop there.

[Deloresgardella]

We will be using them in October. There will be 5 of us. I will comment on them when we get back. I have heard some really good things about the company. They are very good about answering their email promptly.

Delores

[eh2zed]

We used Memphis Tours and they were very good.

[EASYTRAVEL777]

For a large group, I do not think any company can compare with De Castro tours.

I have spent over a year in communication with Moustafa Mourad the General Manager. I have a very large group of 100+ in November.

See my websit at http://easytravel777.com/index.html

I have communicated withh all of the others. Some are good, some a real bad. It is not just the cost, but the little things that Moustafa has suggested to make this tour an enjoyable one in a lifetime experience.

[kdowneymd]

As one of the individuals who did not have a good experience with DeCastro (please read posts from late June early July) I can only say, let the buyer beware. Overall there were good points (the pyramids and the Cairo Museum are just magnificent and little can ruin that experience) but also negative points. It may have been our individual guide but Mustaffa's responses to our complaints were inadequate and did not address the issues. I would not accept the recommendations of anyone who has not experienced their tour yet as my pre-cruise dealings were relatively acceptable as well. Until you get off the boat and all goes well, no-one's pre-cruise internet responses mean a thing

[Larry2lar]

thank you for your reply.

 

i visited your website , it is a very good with attractive info.

i see that you have good impression about Decastro tours.

actually i agree with you, their trips are very good with full details and my group of 80 persons enjoy it ,also we are very happy with the fast replies on our emails that full of questions .

actually Mr Soliman is very patient .

 

But when we read the comments from the clients who had trips with Decastro , we find good comments and bad comments . we know that those comments from individual clients and not from groups , but if Decastro tours is not able to arrange the trip for small number without problems then what about the big groups ????

 

this what exactly we are thinking about and we need to take our decision as soon as possible .

 

thank you

Larry

[Larry2lar]

Hi Kd

 

thank you for your reply

 

can you please send to me the details of this bad experience with Decastro tours??

 

thank you

Larry

[EASYTRAVEL777]

If it helps in any way, Moustafa, will be joining us on the tour, just to make sure everything is done to insure that this is a great tour.

I am having three buses, with 6 guides, and he is along to assist in any way.

[kdowneymd]

Larry here is a copy of my post from end of June:

We just returned from the 6/12 sailing of Legend. We used DeCastro Tours for our day in Alexandria, the sights were phenomenal the tour guide not)There were 7 of us and we booked the the tour including the pyramids, the cairo museum and I added on for $10 per person for each, a camel ride and a visit to the El Kahlili Bazaar fro a total of $575 fro all of us. I pre-paid for the entire trip using wire transfers and Soliman was very responsive until I had sent the final transfer and I needed to email him to make sure he had received the transfer (I had notified him the day of the transfer) 7 days later. We were greeted as soon as we were off the boat and were actually one of the first to leave the port whihc was helpful as we arrived at the pyramids our first stop before the rest of the groups Shortly after we left the port she (our guide)reviewed our itinerary and stated that if there was time at the end of the day we could visit a papyrus and/or perfume institute and if time the Bazaar. I briefly mentioned we were supposed to visit the bazaar.Our guide, spoke to us during the 2 hour drive to Saqqara. We stopped the Mena hotel (literally right next to the pyramids)to use the bathroom and she had us change money to Egyptian pounds to buy tickets to the pyramids. Several minutes later she went to the ticket booth and returned with our tickets. We paid as a group of 3 adults and 3 adults and 1 child. She handed us the change and had my brothe-in-law not counted we would not have realized she had not given us the correct amount. An honest mistake perhaps except that it took us a least 5 tries to get her to return the correct amount, she kept just giving a partial amount. At the pyramids, we were asked if we wanted to ride a camel. I indicated that I had already paid for this and she stated she had no knowledge adn we proceeded to wait approximately 1q5 minutes while she called DeCastro to confirm this.After the pyramids and the Sphinx, she suggested that we stop at a "bazaar/papyrus" stop to see if we wanted something to buy or watch a demonstartion prior to lunch (a so/so restaurant where our sole choice was chicken or beef) and then on to the museum. We indicated we did not want to stop there. She answered that we could just look and if we didn't want anything we would leave. I stated no thank-you. Nonetheless we pulled up to the "International Bazaar" with a number of tour buses parked in front. It was quite uncomfortable when I had to tell her, we did not want to go in and please continue. From that point on, she never picked up the microphone and gave us any information about what we were seeing until we were inside the Cairo Museum, she did explain a number of things about what we were seeing. After the museum,I had to insist to go to the El Khalili bazaar (which I had also paid for). I understand that athe tour agency and guides receive commissions on sales but we specifically stated we did not want to spend our time in that way.On our way to the museum, she announced that I owed $375, again a phone call to confirm I owed nothing which I finally had to have her tell me she had confirmed this. This could certainly have just been an off day and not one of their better guides but my advice would be to absolutely confirm everything prior to setting out, carry printed out receipts with you (my mistake not to have done so) and consider other tour groups

 

As I said, everyone can have opinions but until you are there, promises mean nothing. The fact that Soliman or Moustafa is to be with a group should hopefully prevent some of the problems we experienced. As I said it is such a wonderful place, the day wqas not ruined by any stretch but it certainly could have been better. Good luck

[Andiamo!]

Please contact Hazem at Nile Blue Tours. After a process of elimination last year, I chose them for our group because at the time they were the only ones who were willing to book our tour without a deposit, due to the high bank transfer charges to Egypt. (They know that once you arrive in port you are not going to change your mind about visiting the Pyramids, so it is safe for them!).

 

The entire group had a wonderful time and everyone showed their gratitude by leaving a big tip. Hazem Abbas, the manager, is a wonderful person and very easy to work with. He is extremely consciencious and demonstrates a lot of concern because he wants everything to go perfectly and for everyone to be totally satisfied.

 

Try them out. Their email is info@nilebluetours.com and Hazem's email is manager@nilebluetours.com. If you'd like, tell him that Vicki from Cruise Critic sent you and I am sure he will take particularly good care of you.

 

No matter who you decide to go with, I am sure you will have an amazing time! Enjoy!!!

[Dbedros]

Larry2lar,

 

We wanted to do Luxor from our cruise. DeCastro met and exceeed my request and I stand by recommending them. It is accurate, but you must remember that all post are opinions, especially when reading post such as kdowneymd, who has posted in several threads. This poster should have asked to speak to someone at DeCastro when things were not going according to plan. When the guide had them on the phone was a perfect time. Most of the posters for Decastro say that they are contacted during the tour to verify that everything is okay and it seems strange that the poster did not actually speak to a rep on the phone during the tour. Kdowneymd please do not blast me as I am not saying your account is not accurate, just that it is your perception and opinion. Below is mine:

 

My DH and I toured with DeCastro in 2003 on Princess. The ship stopped in Port Said, where we got off to start our tour. We met the ship in Alexandria the next day. I believe we may have been some of the first cruise ship passengers for DeCastro. 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 one 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 (my request) 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 DeCastro's representatives was very good and Moustafa contacted us throughout our trip to verify that everything was okay.

 

Although, it has been 4 years since I used them I can only give you my opinion and perception. You still have to make the decision.

[kdowneymd]

An experience from 2003 may really not be applicable in 2007 and not necessarily be a reliable review nonetheless, I would certailnly not blast anyone and I believe I tried to make certain in my posts that this was our experience and there were other reviews that were positive. At no time were we offered the opportunity to speak directly with someone at the DeCastro office and frankly after six cruises all of whihch we have had independent ours and never had this occur, I must admit this simply did not occur to me. My point is simply let the buyer beware, make certain you have receipts for all previosly agreed items and have a back-up plan for if the guide isn't all that could be desired. In retrospect, perhaps our directly speaking with a DeCastro office representative and voicing our concerns could have provided a better experience. The responses from DeCastro did not address my concerns posted and hardly lead me to be re-assured.

[kdowneymd]

I see I really must edit my responses more carefully, my spelling typically is that not atrocious.

[joybelles9]

Dear all

 

i need your accurate comments .

we are a big group ,will visit Egypt in December2007

we received a package details with the price from Decastro tours, "our contact (Mr Soliman Senior Tour Operator)"

but we have some doubts because of some bad comments we found about this company .

 

i would like to know if any person used this company ?

and what about their payment policy??

 

thank you

Larry

 

Hi Larry

No we have not used this company but have just returned from the holy land cruise with the princess and can highly reccommend Teymour info@temotours.com they have smaller vans and lots of larger aircon buses Teymour is really good to deal with and for all groups will offer good discounts cost goes down approx $5 pp over 4 and free seats on each bus for organiser He also does not require any deposit so if for some reason the trip is cancelled you have not lost any money he provides a driver a company rep and an egyptologist for $190 usdpp this was for a group of 6 this is what we got pick up from port said taken to cairo Visited the Pyramids and sphinx at Giza then onto the step pyramids then to Memphis and rameses statues on to Le Meridan pyramid hotel ( we upgraded to Le meridian from 5 star in cairo with a pyramid view room which cost another $20pp) we were then picked up and taken to the sound and light show then on to a dinner cruise on the nile on boat crystal nile with belly and derverish dance show (this was another $20) The next morning we were at the Cairo museum and had 2 hour tour with egyptologist taking us all through each dynasty and on to the mummies room and King tuts treasure room from there we were taken to the huge mosque and then on to Khan khali bazaar for some serious shopping at the gold markets then on to alexandria and a photo shoot at the fort regarding food we took food ordered the evening before for lunch from the ship everyone in our group had sanwiches fruit and juice and water delivered to the room and we ordered Rolls juice water an fruit from the hotel for pickup at breakfast as we visited during Ramadan and being muslim the driver rep and guides were not eating They had a fridge box on board and this was most welcome during the heat and kept all the food cold another thing to consider with a bigger group is "pit stops to the powder room " we only had a van which did not have a toilet on board the driver managed several pit stops for us tolarger hotels where we could also change money hope this helps anyway my email is tonyandjoy@ you can use either hotmail.com or aapt.net.au see our comments on royal princess roll calls sept 5-17 have a great trip wish we were going again

[backes]

We recently returned from a HAL cruise that included a day in Alexandria. We had scheduled a tour with De Castro ahead of time based on comments that we read on this site as well as on several other internet sites.

 

Unfortunately, our experiences with De Castro were not too good. Before our trip, they were very prompt and professional in their email replies to our questions. Once we were in Alexandria, things changed completely. Our guide was a young woman who spoke very, very poor English, and our driver spoke no English at all. It was very obvious that she did not know her way around any of the sites which we visited. She was basically lost in the museum, and she actually disappeared when we arrived at the pyramids! As others have mentioned, the Egyptian sites are so magnificent that we still enjoyed ourselves, but we were greatly disappointed with De Castro and the tour which they organized for us. We felt as if we were on our own the whole time, with just a driver and no guide.

 

Perhaps it was just the luck of the draw and we got a poor guide. Many people report that they've had wonderful experiences with De Castro, but unfortunately, ours was extremely disappointing.

[voltdoc]

We recently returned from a HAL cruise that included a day in Alexandria. We had scheduled a tour with De Castro ahead of time based on comments that we read on this site as well as on several other internet sites.

 

Unfortunately, our experiences with De Castro were not too good. Before our trip, they were very prompt and professional in their email replies to our questions. Once we were in Alexandria, things changed completely. Our guide was a young woman who spoke very, very poor English, and our driver spoke no English at all. It was very obvious that she did not know her way around any of the sites which we visited. She was basically lost in the museum, and she actually disappeared when we arrived at the pyramids! As others have mentioned, the Egyptian sites are so magnificent that we still enjoyed ourselves, but we were greatly disappointed with De Castro and the tour which they organized for us. We felt as if we were on our own the whole time, with just a driver and no guide.

 

Perhaps it was just the luck of the draw and we got a poor guide. Many people report that they've had wonderful experiences with De Castro, but unfortunately, ours was extremely disappointing.

 

Sorry to hear you had a bad tour. Did you get the guides name?

[Number 6w]

We just returned from our Sept 5 cruise to the Holy Land and spent 2 days on an overnight with DeCastro. I have to tell you that this has been one of the highlights of our lifetime of worldwide travels.

 

Our tour guide Dalia was very knowledgeable about everything from culture to sights to traffic. Our entire group of 9 was able to see everything we wanted to see (and perhaps more) for a fair and reasonable price. We had an absolute blast! I did hear that some people weren't impressed with the Le Meridien hotel in Cairo, but for the 6 hours or so that we were there, it wasn't so bad.

 

Please remember that you will be visiting not just a foreign country, but a predominantly Arab 3rd world country. Things are not like they are here and sometimes people just need to go with the flow. Just because you are only given a choice of chicken or beef for lunch doesn't mean it's bad.

[backes]

voltdoc,

 

Unfortunately, we did not get her name. She did introduce herself to us when we first met, but neither one of us could understand what she said. We asked her to repeat herself several times, but then we gave up.

 

Before our trip, I was impressed with the prompt and professional service from De Castro, and I even corresponded with a couple of Americans who had used De Castro in the past and were happy with them. Perhaps our guide was new or was a substitute for another, more experienced guide who couldn't make it to work that day. In any event, upon our return home we sent a letter to De Castro informing them of our unhappiness with our tour but we have yet to hear back from them.

[lindaann]

We were on the Royal Princess at the beginning of June. We used De Castro for our 2 day overnight in Egypt. We also had Dalia as our guide. We have nothing but good things to say about them. De Castro delivered everything they promised. They were professional, courteous and friendly. Anything we asked of them - they did it with a smile. Their goal was to make sure we saw the sights and had fun doing it. We had complete confidence in them at all times. In the bazaar in Cairo our assigned security guard/tourist policeman followed us around every step of the way (even though it was unnecessary) and wouldn't let us out of his sight for a second. He even did the haggling for us for our souvenirs so we wouldn't overpay. The merchants don't like messing around with the police in Egypt so I actually think he did get us the best price.

By the way we stayed overnight at the Meridian Pyramids Hotel in Giza. It was a top notch 5 star hotel with a terrific front desk, lovely rooms and great food. Some people on this board have said they didn't like the place. I cannot understand that at all. It was a lovely place.....and we really did have view of the Pyramids from our window.

[Andiamo!]

I think I've read that some people didn't care for the Meridien in Cairo, but I've only heard good things about the Meridien in Giza. That could explain things. It was recommended to us by Nile Blue Tours. We are a group of 80+ arriving at the end of November. Since you've been there, any recommendations on where to have dinner? I saw from the hotel website that there are a number of options on site.

 

Thanks!

 

Vicki:)

[lindaann]

I think I've read that some people didn't care for the Meridien in Cairo, but I've only heard good things about the Meridien in Giza. That could explain things. It was recommended to us by Nile Blue Tours. We are a group of 80+ arriving at the end of November. Since you've been there, any recommendations on where to have dinner? I saw from the hotel website that there are a number of options on site.

 

Thanks!

 

Vicki:)

 

We checked in to the Meridien around 6 or 7 pm after an extremely long day of touring. We were exhausted. We ate at the Nubian style restaurant outside near the pool. It has an inside area as well if its too chilly to sit outside. It was delightful and the food was terrific. Huge quantities for a very reasonable price. There was live entertainment as well. There were several other food choices at the hotel. We only spent a quick overnight stay but my memory is that there wasn't really any place close to the hotel that might offer other dining choices. The hotel has lots of food, so your group should be able to find something to their liking. The included buffet breakfast was outstanding.

[Andiamo!]

We checked in to the Meridien around 6 or 7 pm after an extremely long day of touring. We were exhausted. We ate at the Nubian style restaurant outside near the pool. It has an inside area as well if its too chilly to sit outside. It was delightful and the food was terrific. Huge quantities for a very reasonable price. There was live entertainment as well. There were several other food choices at the hotel. We only spent a quick overnight stay but my memory is that there wasn't really any place close to the hotel that might offer other dining choices. The hotel has lots of food, so your group should be able to find something to their liking. The included buffet breakfast was outstanding.

 

Thanks, Lindaann. Sounds great!

[alsas]

We had only good experience. I did not pay by wire transfer as it was to expensive. Mustaffa was delightful and said we could pay at pick up. Good company would use them again. Happy sailing Alsas

[thuyronald]

Hello,

 

We used Decastro for our two day tour of Cairo and Alexandria during our cruise last month and had a wonderful time. We had 14 people and enjoyed our quick Egypt tour. We would definitely use them again.

 

We are planning to use them again for our upcoming Egypt and Jordan tour.

 

Thuy