Egypt Tour and Nile River Cruise Review

[slidergirl]

I was trying to not get on my brain's hamster wheel and start obsessing about things for my trip, but your report made me jump right on. I'll have questions now for months!

 

Anyway, did you get any immunizations for your trip? If you were up to date, which ones were you checking on? I know about the usual - flu, tetnus - but what about Hep A, B, C, E? Any thing else you needed to prepare for, medically? I know about the antibiotics and Lotrimin/Lomatil, but was anything else suggested?

[MMDown Under]

We have just posted the review of our Egypt tour and Nile River cruise to our website www.thepreismans.com . It was an awesome experience. We saw some amazing places. I still can't believe that I have actually been there.

 

 

Have saved your review to read at a later date, as, like others, I love your reviews on your website. You not only create wonderful memories, but also provide a priceless resource for future travel planning.

 

Have just revisited your review on Venice, which, of course, enhanced our excitement for our pending visit in December.

[MVPinBoynton]

4yanx,

Thank you. Glad it was helpful in your planning. If you are seriously considering changing your Crystal Med cruise, be sure to find a top notch river cruise boat. Nile River boats won't compare to a Crystal cruise; but I am sure that there are some real first class ships.

 

Slidergirl,

I had to get a tetanus because I was due, but there was nothing required. We always keep up our Hepatitis shots and check if anything is needed for the places we go. The CDC didn't recommend anything, but I was glad I had them anyway.

 

MMDown Under,

We are so glad you have enjoyed our reviews. We certainly enjoyed your country.

[banditoo]

Mike and Carol

Thanks for the wonderful review and tips! Your website is amazing! We have booked for a Nile cruise January 2009 and will be doing many of the things you have described. I will definitely plan to purchase some cartouches for my kids and self (gold and silver as the girls don't like the gold color). What would be a ballpark price to pay? Did you negotiate in the jewelery store you refer to or are prices set? Any tips would be appreciated.

[MVPinBoynton]

banditoo,

Glad you enjoyed the review. If you go to the website for the jewelry store we used, http://www.gouzlan.com/ , you can see their selection and prices. They have other things too. The price he gave it to me for was a bit less than on the website; but since I had been looking at cartouche prices for awhile, I did not attempt to bargain the price down because I thought their prices were reasonable, especially for the quality.

[marie61]

As we are in the midst of planning our dream trip to Egypt, I really, really appreciate your honest comments about what you experienced. I know I will love all the sights, but I need advice re. the mechanics of the trip: what hotels worked, what activities worked (or didn't). I learned an incredible amount from your account so thank you very much.

 

One question: like you, I don't want to be sick on this dream trip. Can you advise what to avoid (that you and others didn't)? I've heard no ice cubes, no salads, no fruit (unless you peel it), only bottled water. What else? I saw that you ate ice cream :eek: which I would have thought was risky. any advice is appreciated.

 

thanks

[MVPinBoynton]

Hi Marie,

I am glad our review has been helpful in your vacation planning. Egypt is a wonderful place to visit. You already know what foods to avoid. Seriously, I wasn't that sure if even the food that was prepared had been cooked to a proper temperature or hadn't been exposed to the numerous bacteria. As long as you have some antianal around if something should strike, I think you can be comfortable about eating with caution of the items you are already aware of. I had the greatest fear of missing out on any of these wonderful excursions, so in addition to the antinal, I also brought immodium as a backup to stop diareah in case the antinal took a little too long to kick in.

 

I'm glad you asked about the ice cream. We only ate the pre-packaged Magna brand bars. They were wonderful. Where you can have problems is from ice cream that is scooped out and put in a cup or cone. Pre-packaged ice cream should be very safe.

[seafun]

Actually this is a trick question... As I drove home tonight I looked up and noticed "what time it was..."

Give up? :) Why, it's exactly one lunar cycle since you were at the Luxor Temple, photographing the full moon above the obelisk!!

I find myself admiring the moon and remembering what phases it was in when I was in Egypt. The tiniest sliver of a moon rising over the pyramids, helping to augment the Sound and Light show, the waxing moon as we sailed up and down the Nile, and then the full moon over the Red Sea, lighting up the night with a million sparkles on the water....

Ah, the lovely memories... :D

[MVPinBoynton]

Tom,

Thank you for reminding me what time it was. Full moons will always remind me of my magical night at Luxor. What fond memories there were of so many special moments and sights. Thank goodness we both have plenty of photos to help us always be able to remember what we saw.

[seafun]

But it show that our minds were thinking alike -- totally appreciating the magical sights of the Luxor Temple. And the moon above the obelisk, well, that was just frosting on the cake! :)

[MVPinBoynton]

But it show that our minds were thinking alike -- totally appreciating the magical sights of the Luxor Temple. And the moon above the obelisk, well, that was just frosting on the cake! :)

 

Of course we were thinking alike. We were both visiting one of the most beautiful temples in the world while it was being illuminated by the biggest night light in the sky.

[MVPinBoynton]

Tom,

Weren't the Luxor at night photos the ones you lost? After being there, I would have been devastated if I had lost those. Especially since my wife didn't go on this tour.

[seafun]

I lost the first set of photos at Luxor, the day and night that we started the 7 day cruise. On the last night of the cruise, back in Luxor, I was able to go out and take some more photos.

Unfortunately, I was in a rush to get there, and forgot to take an extra memory card, so I could only take 40 or 50 pictures, and had less time than the first time around.

Still, I'm grateful for having a second chance. And for people like you.... I may be "borrowing" some of your photos from your postings. :D

[MVPinBoynton]

Help yourself Tom. One of the reasons I enjoy putting lots of photos on our reviews is that I get notes from so many people that are grateful that I took a photo of something they didn't get or it didn't come out right. There are some unfortunate folks who lose all their pics due to camera malfunction or whatever that are really glad to have someone elses to borrow.

[cruisemom42]

Help yourself Tom. One of the reasons I enjoy putting lots of photos on our reviews is that I get notes from so many people that are grateful that I took a photo of something they didn't get or it didn't come out right. There are some unfortunate folks who lose all their pics due to camera malfunction or whatever that are really glad to have someone elses to borrow.

 

 

Someone on our trip unfortunately lost his camera in Aswan going through security in the airport. He forgot to pick it up on the other side -- went back just a moment later when he realized.....and it was gone. (And of course, the guards hadn't seen it...no idea where it was...:rolleyes:)

 

The rest of us all shared our pics amongst ourselves after the tour was over. I think I benefited more than most as I am NOT the world's best photographer!

[MVPinBoynton]

Photo and camera loss/theft happen way too often. It has to be traumatic on a special trip like Egypt. It is good to have friends that will share their photos. To me, it would be tragedy to not have photo memories of a vacation to a place that we might never be able to visit again.

[Benita]

My husband is a bit of a camera geek. He has a web site on pbase (http://www.pbase.com ) which costs him about $25 a year. He likes to post between 10 and 50 of the best photos per trip. He gives the web site out to the people on our tours who are interested and they are free to view them as they please. Sure helps those who lost their cameras.

[MVPinBoynton]

Benita,

Pbase is a great site. I like to go there when I am researching ports to see photos of what to see. I have a SmugMug account where I put my favorites and Carol puts a link to a bunch of photos at the end of each of our reviews for people to get copies if they want them.

[Benita]

Hi MVP - I am in Boca - we really should be outside, enjoying the great weather today - got to break myself of the cruise critic habit. We were in Boynton last night - love the King Crab legs at Prime Catch.

[MVPinBoynton]

Benita,

Unfortunately I am at the office in Boca trying to catch up. We haven't tried the Prime Catch king crab legs; but love them at Snappers. They are very good, plus they serve them with heavy duty scissors. This really makes it easy to open them.

[Mephysto]

I do appreciate this is a rather late reply to your post, but I just could not refrain myself from doing so.

 

Yours is a wonderful planning material and is an awesome foresight of what to expect for any who plans a trip to Egypt, like we do.

 

We will arrive in Cairo on the 4th June/2009 and leave from Tel Aviv on the 30th. (Starting to get nightmares due to heat:p) Still trying to figure out what to do and how long to stay in Egypt and Israel, maybe Jordan as well.

 

Our stay does not yet contemplate a cruise of the Nile, but now, who knows.

 

Thanks once more for your superb information.

[ruecatt]

My son and I are planning a trip to Egypt this May. Iloved looking at all your pictures. I have a couple of questions if that's ok.

 

On our tour there is a couple of chances to see light and sound shows. What did you think of the one you saw? Is it worth paying for?

 

Also, is it ok for women to wear capri type pants? I was told not to wear sleeveless tops such as tank tops or anything that show my shoulders, but I was sure about showing a little leg :rolleyes:.

 

I will be traveling with my 12 year old son, any advice for us?

[seafun]

There's a LOT of Egypt tour information (that might answer many of your questions) at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=735948

If I could get the time off from work, I'd be heading back there right now! :)

[CAPinBoynton]

My son and I are planning a trip to Egypt this May. Iloved looking at all your pictures. I have a couple of questions if that's ok.

 

On our tour there is a couple of chances to see light and sound shows. What did you think of the one you saw? Is it worth paying for?

 

Also, is it ok for women to wear capri type pants? I was told not to wear sleeveless tops such as tank tops or anything that show my shoulders, but I was sure about showing a little leg :rolleyes:.

 

I will be traveling with my 12 year old son, any advice for us?

 

I did wear capris some of the places. However, I found that a loose fitting, light weight skirt was more comfortable because it let the air circulate. I wore short sleeved blouses and didn't tuck it in.

 

Wear closed toe shoes rather than sandels because of the extreme dust. The dust is so fine that it sticks to you like baby powder and is difficult to just brush away.

[MVPinBoynton]

I do appreciate this is a rather late reply to your post, but I just could not refrain myself from doing so.

 

Yours is a wonderful planning material and is an awesome foresight of what to expect for any who plans a trip to Egypt, like we do.

 

We will arrive in Cairo on the 4th June/2009 and leave from Tel Aviv on the 30th. (Starting to get nightmares due to heat:p) Still trying to figure out what to do and how long to stay in Egypt and Israel, maybe Jordan as well.

 

Our stay does not yet contemplate a cruise of the Nile, but now, who knows.

 

Thanks once more for your superb information.

 

 

Sorry for the delay in replying, we have been out of town. I am glad you enjoyed the review. If you don't include a Nile River cruise, you should definitely at least plan a trip to Luxor. Visiting the Karnak and Luxor Temples along with the Valley of the Kings is something should not be missed when in Egypt.