Overnight in Egypt and Israel on our own?

[DYU]

Hi - I just booked the Egypt & Holy Land cruise on Pacific Princess. One reason I chose this ship was the itinerary with 2 days in Egypt and 2 days in Israel so that I could overnight in each. I just got an email from my travel agent with regard to an overnight in Egypt which confirmed was possible "if you book their (Princess') ovrenight". I absolutely do not want to do this. Unfortunately I can't through to Princess right now to get any further information. Can anyone tell me if they have done an overnight on their own (either with Princess or another line)? Does anyone know the reason you cannot go on your own? Is it because of not having a pre-issued visa? (My husband has to get one anyway, so I would get one if that's the case.) I am seriously thinking of cancelling this cruise and going with the much less expensive HAL with similar itinerary and then going back to Cairo on my own. Thanks for any help.

[jotabecu]

Hi - I just booked the Egypt & Holy Land cruise on Pacific Princess. One reason I chose this ship was the itinerary with 2 days in Egypt and 2 days in Israel so that I could overnight in each. I just got an email from my travel agent with regard to an overnight in Egypt which confirmed was possible "if you book their (Princess') ovrenight". I absolutely do not want to do this. Unfortunately I can't through to Princess right now to get any further information. Can anyone tell me if they have done an overnight on their own (either with Princess or another line)? Does anyone know the reason you cannot go on your own? Is it because of not having a pre-issued visa? (My husband has to get one anyway, so I would get one if that's the case.) I am seriously thinking of cancelling this cruise and going with the much less expensive HAL with similar itinerary and then going back to Cairo on my own. Thanks for any help.

 

 

You can go on your own; we came back from Royal Princess in October along the same route, and stayed overnight in Cairo, the trip arranged by an excellent local tour company, there are several of them, look in this board for referrals. It was at least half of the Princess cost and extremely detailed. The same holds true for Israel. Good luck and enjoy your trip.

[lindaann]

We were on the Royal Princess this past June and did the "Holyland" cruise. We did private overnight excursions in Egypt and Israel as did probably 30 or 40% of the ship. They are very easy to arrange with excellent tour companies in either country. In our view, far better than a ship's tour. As the previous poster said just search this board going back 3 or 4 months and you will find the names of many excellent touring companies. Nile Blue and Decastro Tours in Egypt are often mentioned and recommended.

[cruisemom42]

There's absolutely no reason that you can't do an overnight on your own. Here's a very recent (within the last couple of days) post on a group of Princess cruisers that did an independent overnight in Cairo (see post #76):

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=664850&page=4

 

I'm waitlisted for the Pacific Princess Holy Lands cruise for 6/25 and am definitely planning on an overnight in Israel. Have already done an overnight in Cairo on previous cruise.

[DYU]

Thanks so much everyone. I am so relieved and very excited about this cruise!!

[MercedMike]

UM -- with all due respect it sounds to me as if your TA doesn't know what they are doing. There is absolutely no reason you need to book a Princess tour. This board is full of recommendations for good independent tour companies in Egypt and Israel.

 

We used Egyptian Express http://www.egyptianexpress.com/ which is a premium company but still much less than the ship's tours. Your TA can book it for you and process your credit card (and even get a commission) if they have any clue.

 

Check out our report and pics at

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

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[havepassportwilltravel]

We left the Royal Princess in Agadir, Morocco in the Spring of 2005, drove over the High Atlas Mountains to Marrakesh with NO arrangements for overnight lodgings ahead of time, and then met the ship in Casablanca the next day. A young businessman helped us find a hotel in town, and I booked the one-way car rental while on board from a computer in the internet cafe. We simply informed the purser's office that we would be back on board in Casablanca and collected our passports. It was a WONDERFUL adventure...with hardly an American in sight.

 

We'll be on the Pacific Princess in October and will definitely find ourselves off the ship for some overnights. Usually we rent cars and do our own touring. Other times, I make arrangements with local tour operators through recommendations from these boards. Seldom do we do ships' tours, and we've never been left behind. But, if we are, we're always ready to fly to the next port. :-)