Egypt Private Excursions

[BillPizzaiolo]

We were slated to join a group in Egypt. However our cruise changed its ports of call...we canceled all our reservations. We hoped to use Egypt Private Excursions as we heard so much good stuff about them. They put together a once in a lifetime package for us which we hope to use when things settle down to a new normal in Egypt. Maybe next year?
Bill & Jerzeetomata

[San11]

We are trying to decide where to stay for our overnight. Would it be better to stay at the Oberoi Mena House or to stay at Fairmont Nile City Hotel in Cairo

[havcamwiltravel]

Originally Posted by San11

We are trying to decide where to stay for our overnight. Would it be better to stay at the Oberoi Mena House or to stay at Fairmont Nile City Hotel in Cairo

It depends on where you want to be. If you want to be close to the center of Cairo and perhaps have a Nile River view, then choose the Fairmont. If you want to have closer access to the Pyramids, Sakkara and Dahshur, and perhaps a Pyramid view room, then choose the Mena House. I did not stay in Cairo, so I can't tell you much about what the pluses and minuses are. But I did stay in 2 places in Giza, one being the Mena House and can tell you that I may not choose anywhere else to stay when I return to Cairo. It was that good.

For a full report and links to other reports check out this thread:
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1563179

[manoftheworld]

Originally Posted by San11

We are trying to decide where to stay for our overnight. Would it be better to stay at the Oberoi Mena House or to stay at Fairmont Nile City Hotel in Cairo

I stayed at menahouse oberoi but I read good reviews about Fairmont Nile City and next time I will be with EPE
wish you best of luck

[lover007]

Originally Posted by manoftheworld

I stayed at menahouse oberoi but I read good reviews about Fairmont Nile City and next time I will be with EPE
wish you best of luck

I stayed at mena house oberoi too but I see Fairmont Nile City has a good rate online
Please check out this link
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...ity-Cairo.html

[San11]

Thank you so m uch for your feedback. You have given me much to think about and research, I can make my decision

[San11]

Can we go inside a pyramid

[manoftheworld]

Originally Posted by San11

Can we go inside a pyramid

I think its not recommended if you suffer from heart problems, back pains or breathing. consequences might be not good

best of luck and I wish you a great tour with EPE
terry

[San11]

Originally Posted by manoftheworld

I think its not recommended if you suffer from heart problems, back pains or breathing. consequences might be not good

best of luck and I wish you a great tour with EPE
terry

Thanks for your helpful comments.

[azevedan]

Originally Posted by San11

Can we go inside a pyramid

Yes, you can. Tickets can be tough to come by (so I read on the other forum threads) in busy times. We were there in March, and our guide got tickets for our group of 6 into the Great Pyramid.
Inside, you will need to stoop to climb up the ramps to the main chambers. So, you will be in a confined space, stooped over, climbing. We were all reasonably fit 50-somethings, and none of us had a problem physically. One of us was pretty claustrophobic, and me somewhat, but we both did okay (though I was *very* glad it was not crowded inside).
You can stand up in the main chamber(s). It's lit inside, but I had a flashlight (just in case ) for good measure.

[azevedan]

Also, it's pretty spartan inside - nothing like the vibrant decoration in the tombs in the Valleys of the Kings and Queens. Still, I can look at a picture of it and say, "I was inside there!"

[San11]

Originally Posted by azevedan

Yes, you can. Tickets can be tough to come by (so I read on the other forum threads) in busy times. We were there in March, and our guide got tickets for our group of 6 into the Great Pyramid.
Inside, you will need to stoop to climb up the ramps to the main chambers. So, you will be in a confined space, stooped over, climbing. We were all reasonably fit 50-somethings, and none of us had a problem physically. One of us was pretty claustrophobic, and me somewhat, but we both did okay (though I was *very* glad it was not crowded inside).
You can stand up in the main chamber(s). It's lit inside, but I had a flashlight (just in case ) for good measure.

Thanks for your informations

[San11]

I would love to budget my trip so I need to know what is the average of the appropriate tipping

[manoftheworld]

Originally Posted by San11

I would love to budget my trip so I need to know what is the average of the appropriate tipping

i hope this might help. the prices are based on Egyptian pounds


Waiter/waitress at breakfast restaurant at hotel: 5-10 LE pr. meal
Waiter at cruise: 50 LE once if on a week long cruise. Less if cruise is shorter. You will most likely have the same waiter for the whole cruise. Of course, if your waiter does not provide a good service, you should reconsider how much you prefer to tip.
Driver taking you sightseeing full day: 50 LE (Full days are usually only in Cairo)
Guide taking you sightseeing full day: 80-100 LE (Full days are usually only in Cairo)
Driver taking you sightseeing half day: 25 LE
Guide taking you sightseeing half day: 40-50 LE
Waiter at lunch restaurant in connection to sightseeing: 5-10 LE
Feluccaman taking you sailing for one hour: 10 LE (if the agreed price for the trip does not include tips)
Guards around the sites: 1-2 LE
"Groundskeeper" in mosques (the man handing you shoe-covers, showing you special things etc): 1-5 LE

thanks
terry

[San11]

Originally Posted by manoftheworld

i hope this might help. the prices are based on Egyptian pounds


Waiter/waitress at breakfast restaurant at hotel: 5-10 LE pr. meal
Waiter at cruise: 50 LE once if on a week long cruise. Less if cruise is shorter. You will most likely have the same waiter for the whole cruise. Of course, if your waiter does not provide a good service, you should reconsider how much you prefer to tip.
Driver taking you sightseeing full day: 50 LE (Full days are usually only in Cairo)
Guide taking you sightseeing full day: 80-100 LE (Full days are usually only in Cairo)
Driver taking you sightseeing half day: 25 LE
Guide taking you sightseeing half day: 40-50 LE
Waiter at lunch restaurant in connection to sightseeing: 5-10 LE
Feluccaman taking you sailing for one hour: 10 LE (if the agreed price for the trip does not include tips)
Guards around the sites: 1-2 LE
"Groundskeeper" in mosques (the man handing you shoe-covers, showing you special things etc): 1-5 LE

thanks
terry

Thank you terry

[cruiser5454]

Thank you so much for your review, I was wondering which hotel you stayed in your overnight tour?

Again thank you so much for your review.

Originally Posted by cruisemom42

We ate at Fish Market, an absolutely lovely restaurant overlooking the harbor. The food was delicious (fresh fish, grilled and served with rice and french fries (?), we also had a good selection of Egyptian mezzes to start with -- and delicious fresh pita bread made on site.

See the section on "Lunching" in the link from CC: http://www.cruisecritic.com/ports/newport.cfm?ID=179

I paid at the end of the tour. We had no problems because we spent the entire day in Alexandria. I was back to the ship between 5-6pm, and the tours from Cairo came back much later. We didn't sail until 11pm.

[cruiserbank]

Originally Posted by deadzone1003

We were aboard the Star Princess that visited Egypt on Oct. 24-25. Our guide was a lady named Dahlia who was excellent. We were a group of 13 from the roll call. If I had to do it all over again, I would have kept the group size at 6-8 as I felt that would have been the ideal size. However, we couldn't complained about the cost as Princess was charging 3 times what we paid and we certainly saw and did alot more than the Princess excursion. Dahlia is one of EPE's best guides and is used quite often for the week long assignments. The first day she did talked alot more than we like, not that she was boring, but that our group was a bit older and standing around and listening was a problem for a few of us. I mentioned that to Dahlia and the 2nd day of our overnight trip was simply great - the highlight was that we were able to climb (part-way) the Great Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu). The first day we had already entered the Pyramid of Teti at Saqqara so none of us needed to visit another pyramid. We rode the camels at Giza and went to numerous spots where you can take your ideal picture of the pyramids or the Spinx. We stayed at the Mena House Oberoi which was an excellent hotel and an ideal spot. My wife and I had the pyramid view room, but in October the sun sets by the time we got to the hotel and we really couldn't enjoy the view until the following morning. We ate at the Indian restaurant at the Mena House, very good though a touch expensive. In all a great experience and highly recommended.

Thanks for the great feedback on your tour. Sounds like you had an awesome time.

[ccemom]

We used Egypt Private Excursions for our overnight tour of Cairo in October. We loved them, and Ayman was an excellent guide. From what I understand, their website was hacked a few months back, and their website is now egypt ports of call dot com.

[choices-choices]

We are visiting Egypt with 2-day stop in Alexandria in Oct. 2013. We booked our tours with w/Egypt Private Ex their web site is the same http://www.egyptprivateexcursions.com/ the site is not hacked

However, you're probably best off just emailing David directly at info@egyptprivateexcursions.com

[ccemom]

When I thanked H David for our wonderful excursion in October, he asked me to let others know that their website had changed to Egypt Ports of Call. They had been hacked in September and the website and email address were down, but they were working on fixing the problem. It seems as if both websites are valid.