LIVE from the STAR (Aegean/Egyptian) Nov 21-Dec 3

[Lady In Pink]

I'm curious, as I don't know who you are, but what do you have to do with Vicki getting her upgrade. Princess upgraded her...So if she goes on the October 5th 2008 cruise with us, she could possibily get an upgrade on that cruise from Princess.... Or are you employed with Princess???and do you give out the upgrades!!!!

 

Vicki, we want you on our October 5th Cruise. Laura and Linda, don't you both and the rest of our CC Group want Vicki with us...

 

Laura & Linda have you heard from Hazem? Is the Tour for us going to be the same as Vicki had for hers????

 

The review from TOTO was great....

 

SANDY M:o

[dforeigner]

Hi everyone,,... I typed a big long part 2 and it got lost again in cyber space... :(

 

I don't have time to post now.. so I will continue when I am home. We had a relaxing 2 days at sea. disappointed we didn't win the 3500 at bingo today.. oh well.

 

Had a drink this evening with a few of the CC bunch, good times...

 

I am all packed and ready to put my luggage out.

 

I have a credit on my casino account so I will have to go lose the last of my money on wheel of fortune!

 

Safe travels to all heading home tomorrow... Noel and I are off to Disneyland Paris on Air France.... talk to you again after the 8th, unless I find someway online between now and then. Take Care!

 

Thanks for the reviews and enjoy shaking hands with the mouse in Paris.

[UpgradeMan]

I'm curious, as I don't know who you are, but what do you have to do with Vicki getting her upgrade. Princess upgraded her...So if she goes on the October 5th 2008 cruise with us, she could possibily get an upgrade on that cruise from Princess.... Or are you employed with Princess???and do you give out the upgrades!!!!

 

Vicki, we want you on our October 5th Cruise. Laura and Linda, don't you both and the rest of our CC Group want Vicki with us...

 

Laura & Linda have you heard from Hazem? Is the Tour for us going to be the same as Vicki had for hers????

 

The review from TOTO was great....

 

SANDY M:o

 

Boy enquiring minds want to know everything I guess! I am not an employee but I was the ONE that had to do with her getting her upgrade and NOT Princess....the semantics are really no ones concern. I will be on the Oct 5th sailing as well and Vicki might do that cruise as well....stay tuned!

[UpgradeMan]

Hi everyone,,... I typed a big long part 2 and it got lost again in cyber space... :(

 

I don't have time to post now.. so I will continue when I am home. We had a relaxing 2 days at sea. disappointed we didn't win the 3500 at bingo today.. oh well.

 

Had a drink this evening with a few of the CC bunch, good times...

 

I am all packed and ready to put my luggage out.

 

I have a credit on my casino account so I will have to go lose the last of my money on wheel of fortune!

 

Safe travels to all heading home tomorrow... Noel and I are off to Disneyland Paris on Air France.... talk to you again after the 8th, unless I find someway online between now and then. Take Care!

 

Safe trip back today to Paris and onwards to home! Was nice finally meeting you both.

[UpgradeMan]

Uogrademan,

Could you elaborate a little on what your 4 day private tour would look like. Sailing the Nile and Luxor have been on our list for a while. Also, what possible temps in Oct?

We will be sorry when your cruise ends. It has been a pleasure being able to share your adventures.

Judy

 

Hello Judy....

 

I am in the early planning stages with Hazem but essentially I am thinking of taking a 3 day Nile cruise from Port Said when we disembark and the making my way down to Luxor and Aswan and doing the Valley of the Kings for 1.5 days before returning back to Cairo and flying to Rome on Oct 17th to catch the ship again on turnaround day.

As soon as I have a detailed itinerary I will post it here and also on the Roll Calls for Oct 5/2008 and also the Nov 10/2008 Egypt cruises.

 

P.S I am on the following cruise that begins today from Rome to Fort-Lauderdale!:)

[sailors2]

UpgradeMan,

I will continue to follow the threads you mentioned. I have looked at several cruises on the Nile that others have taken. From what I read the experience at Luxor is phenomenal!

Someday we will do a TA. Hope you do continue to post as you sail across. Enjoying someone else's trip is almost as good as doing it oneself.

:) Judy

[UpgradeMan]

UpgradeMan,

I will continue to follow the threads you mentioned. I have looked at several cruises on the Nile that others have taken. From what I read the experience at Luxor is phenomenal!

Someday we will do a TA. Hope you do continue to post as you sail across. Enjoying someone else's trip is almost as good as doing it oneself.

:) Judy

 

Judy this is what Hazem is proposing for me on the October 5th 2008 cruise and I am awaiting pricing from him.

 

4 days / 3 nights cruise

DAY 1:

Arrival to Aswan. Meet and transfer to the Nile cruise, then start Aswan tour the temple of Isis (Philae temple), the unfinished obelisk and the high dam of Aswan, overnight on board



DAY 2:

Breakfast then visit the double temple of (Kom Ombo) , in the afternoon visit the temple of the falcon god Hours in Edfu, overnight on board.





DAY 3:

Sail to Luxor, arrive then visit Karnak and Luxor temples, overnight on board





DAY 4:



Breakfast then visit the Valley of the Kings and the temple of queen hatshapsut, the colossi of memnon, and transfer to Luxor domestic airport for a flight to Cairo

THE RATE INCLUDES:

· 03 nights on board a Nile cruise on full board basis

· sites entry fees

The domestic flight

· A qualified tour guide during the tour

· Meet and assist in the airport

· All taxes and service charges

· all the transfers are by A/C coaches

THE RATE EXCLUDE:

· The entry visa to Egypt

· The personal expenses

· the tipping

· drinks in hotels and cruises

· the international

· Any other item not mentioned in the program

[Andiamo!]

Hi everyone! The ship just got in this morning and I'm already sitting in my favorite chair in the living room, waiting for a repairman! I am sure most people are still in transit. I just read through the whole thread - let me just make a few comments in response to some of the questions some of you have had.

 

Teenagers: We travelled with our 17 (almost 18) -year-old daughter. The first half of the cruise she was almost always by my side, enjoying herself and refusing to go to "Off Limits" (the teen center). She finally met up with some really nice kids in the hot tub and then I hardly saw her again. She loved Athens, Kusadasi and Istanbul - and was really sorry we had to skip Mykonos.

 

When we first arrived in Cairo she was a bit frightened by how very different and exotic everything was. Within no time at all she was having a wonderful time and says she wants to go back to Egypt some day. Considering how "un-excited" she was about this vacation, she had a great time and I wouldn't be surprised if she's hooked on cruising.

 

Family Suite: This was just perfect for us - and such a great surprise!! The family suite is composed of 2 or 3 rooms + 2 bathrooms so it is very large, but not as luxurious as some of the other suites (ceramic instead of marble bathroom for example). Our side was very nice, but Ashley had her own "room" which was actually not very nice, not as nice as an inside cabin anyway. She didn't have a night stand since there was a doorway between the two beds. She never noticed through since she was thrilled she had her own space and we were probably even more thrilled.;)

 

Cass's evening in the casino after her last post: I ran into Suffolk last night and heard that Cass had just won $1100 in the casino! Congratulations, Cass!! (I am SO sorry I didn't see you to say goodbye! I wanted to give you a big hug and wish you a great time in Paris!!)

 

Private excursions in Cairo: I think that Cass said not to hesitate doing a private shore excursion in Egypt. I would add that Nile Blue is totally reputable and professional, and I would strongly recommend using them. They will soon be updating their website which is at *****. They will totally personalize any trip for you and do exactly what you would like to do whether you are a group of 2 or 200.

 

Hello to all my CC friends I haven't been in touch with for a while. Shall we make a date for next fall??? :)

 

Vicki

[Pia1913]

Judy this is what Hazem is proposing for me on the October 5th 2008 cruise and I am awaiting pricing from him.

 

 

4 days / 3 nights cruise

 

DAY 1:

Arrival to Aswan. Meet and transfer to the Nile cruise, then start Aswan tour the temple of Isis (Philae temple), the unfinished obelisk and the high dam of Aswan, overnight on board



DAY 2:

Breakfast then visit the double temple of (Kom Ombo) , in the afternoon visit the temple of the falcon god Hours in Edfu, overnight on board.





DAY 3:

Sail to Luxor, arrive then visit Karnak and Luxor temples, overnight on board





DAY 4:



Breakfast then visit the Valley of the Kings and the temple of queen hatshapsut, the colossi of memnon, and transfer to Luxor domestic airport for a flight to Cairo

 

THE RATE INCLUDES:

 

 

 

· 03nights on board a Nile cruise on full board basis

· sites entry fees

The domestic flight

· A qualified tour guide during the tour

· Meet and assist in the airport

· All taxes and service charges

· all the transfers are by A/C coaches

 

THE RATE EXCLUDE:

 

· The entry visa to Egypt

· The personal expenses

· the tipping

· drinks in hotels and cruises

· the international

 

· Any other item not mentioned in the program

 

 

OOPS! Ship's computers don't always do what we think they're going to do. :D

[UpgradeMan]

Hello to all my CC friends I haven't been in touch with for a while. Shall we make a date for next fall??? :)

 

Vicki

 

Shall we???? It's confirmed you are going!!!!...start planning Group Leader!;)

[Colo Cruiser]

OOPS! Ship's computers don't always do what we think they're going to do. :D

 

Come on you can translate can't you??? :eek:

[LARGIN]

Come on you can translate can't you??? :eek:

 

Right.. Tony can't be perfect all of the time.. :eek::eek::eek:

[murfisto]

A&M told me where to find you. just got back from another (yawn) western caribbean cruise (carnival, yuk) with 2 of our daughters, their better halves and our younger grandson: we will not repeat that experience!!! nice to see you are still at sea (at least most of the time) and actually visiting places new to you. Ro says 'hello, and we miss your company!' she's looking at segments of the world on the PP coming up in about 4 weeks. we'll see what we can get but it will be good getting back on the PP. our current schedule leaves lots of gaps as you can see below. Ro's trying to fill them in with some interesting itineraries. getting steadily more difficult. we still do not want to do land trips with changing hotels daily and sitting in buses hours on end. oh, well. we'll just keep looking. let us know about your experience in northern egypt. we have difficulty returning to the middle east with politics being what they are.

you must be doing well considering the differences in currency values over the last year or so. hope you continue to do well in the office and stay well. our very best to you and J. Murray;)

[wedon110808]

Did any of the women cover their heads in Turkey? We are trying to figure out what to do. Soon-to-be DW does not want to cover her head, but figured that she could as you all.

 

Any suggestions would be amazing! Thanks!!

[Andiamo!]

Did any of the women cover their heads in Turkey? We are trying to figure out what to do. Soon-to-be DW does not want to cover her head, but figured that she could as you all.

 

Any suggestions would be amazing! Thanks!!

 

Covering your head isn't necessary at all. I did it in the Grand Bazaar last year and noticed I wasn't hassled as much by the vendors. This year we were hardly bothered at all and I'm trying to figure out why. Could it be because our 17-year-old daughter was with us and that would have been too disrespectful?? I truly don't know. She was bothered a lot on her own (when she was a slight distance from us) but not when we were all together.

 

Women should cover their heads in the Blue Mosque, though. And take off their shoes, of course. They give you a plastic bag to carry them in -which you leave at the exit when you put your shoes back on.

 

Vicki:)

[envy4u]

I never wore one in Kusadasi but the vendors did try to get us to come into their shops. They can be aggresive. We never went into a Mosque however proper attire would need to be worn there.

[Pia1913]

Did any of the women cover their heads in Turkey? We are trying to figure out what to do. Soon-to-be DW does not want to cover her head, but figured that she could as you all.

 

Any suggestions would be amazing! Thanks!!

 

We spent several weeks in Turkey a few years ago and never once were we told to cover our heads. Our arms, yes, but not our heads. The shoes though always had to come off. Trusting soul that I am, I carried them with me. Most people left them outside. Nobody ever lost their shoes. :) We were a group of 14.

 

Pia

[Ethel5]

OMG This is sooo funny! You're the second person who thought UpgradeMan was the (in)famous Tony. I WISH he were still posting, but he's done with that unfortunately.

 

If you're friends though and would like to get a message to him, you can email me at vaubert2 at aol dot com and I'll forward it on to him.

 

Vicki:)

 

Looks like a duck; acts like a duck; quacks like a duck.......

[Andiamo!]

I guess this thread is drawing to an end. Cass is in Paris, and no one here is doing a Live From the Star. (At least not yet.) Sniff, sniff. Another one over...oh well...c'est la vie...

[Pia1913]

I guess this thread is drawing to an end. Cass is in Paris, and no one here is doing a Live From the Star. (At least not yet.) Sniff, sniff. Another one over...oh well...c'est la vie...

 

Arrivederci Vicki.

[Andiamo!]

Ciao, ciao, Pia!

[sailors2]

UpgradeMan,

Your proposed tour with Hazem looks very good. I have seen the approach to Luxor by boat on the travel channel. It would seem to be just about the right amount of time too!

Have you sailed from Italy yet? Someday we'll do that.

Thanks for sharing and I will check out the other threads.

Judy

[luvspa]

Thanks to everyone for this live thread. I really enjoyed it . Hope everyone will post thier reviews when they get home and rested.

 

Kim

[senior lady]

It might have been asked before, but do you have the web site for Blue Nile Tours???? This cruise is on my "to do" list:D

[Andiamo!]

It might have been asked before, but do you have the web site for Blue Nile Tours???? This cruise is on my "to do" list:D

 

The company is actually called Nile Blue Tours so that is why you probably had trouble finding it (a lot of people do!). Their website is soon going to be updated, but their web address won't change. It's *****.

 

They will personalize any excursion you'd like to do. Just tell them what you want and they'll organize it for you.