Cairo from Alexandria

Our ship docks at 8:00 a.m. and departs at 11:00 p.m....my question is has anyone done a one day to the pyramids and Cairo in one day. I understand it is about a three hour ride (depending on traffic) each way. We would also have to figure on time for both lunch and dinner. Needless to say I wouldn't want to miss our ships departure time.

I would be using a private guide and would also appreciate any positive (or for that matter companies to stay away from) suggestions of guides or tour companies.

i did this, with the same port times as you. i hired a driver and guide - no issues. this was before all the serious unrest started.

i would not go the 'private' route today. i would stick to the ship's tour with the current unrest in the area.

It definitely is duable but using a commercial tour or through the ship is recommended. They travel with guards up/back to Cairo.

We did a private tour last month from Port Sokhna to Cairo. This was a two and a half hour drive. We used Ramses Tours. You might like to look at this

http://www.ramsestours.com/egypt-shore-excursions/tours-from-alexandria-port/

It was the highlight of our trip. We had Mina as our guide and he was superb. For 3 people a modern minibus was provided to give us plenty of room. You have a great late departure so have time to do a worthwhile tour. We didn't want to stop for lunch but Mina got us some takeaway food which he insisted was freshly cooked for us. It was delicious and no ill effects!

If your day in port is a Friday perhaps give the Cairo Museum a miss as Tahrir Square is next dor and that is demonstration day after Friday prayers. However we felt very safe and arguably less of a target than a coach load of tourists...

If you look through our roll call thread (Mariner of the seas, Barcelona-Dubai), you will see that many people have organized private tours from Alexandria to Cairo, some 1 day, some 2 days.

It can give you ideas on who to contact, what itineraries are possible, and what prices are current.

We did a 2 day tour from Ramses, but they have good 1 day tours too. They are very competent and able to change the plan on the way because of traffic problems, opening hours and other considerations. They even knew where all the western style clean toilets were. I would not go on a ships tour: less flexible, bigger crowds with the pace determined by the slowest person in the group (or the one without a watch).

We usually take private tours on our cruises. And we did hire Ramses for a very nice one day tour of Alexandria. But for the second day, which included Cairo, we elected to use a ships tour. We were just too worried about getting back late and missing the ship. It was a very long day and as I recall we arrived back around 7:45PM. I think our ship left at 10:00PM. We elected to take a ships tour because the ship will never leave one of their own tour groups behind if they arrive back late. I once saw a few independent travelers left behind in Italy because they ran in to traffic getting back to the ship.

I've only done the overnight tours but it's definitely doable in 15 hours. Just make sure that you're very specific about what time you want to be back if you're using a private tour. If your ship leaves at 11, I'd tell them 10 to be on the safe side.

I used Ramses as well (just happened to work out that way) but there are plenty of reliable companies, just do your homework to find the one that you're most comfortable with. Bon Voyage! :)

Yes you can, its easy to Pyramids & Egyptian museum in between from 8 Am until 9 PM, its enough time to cover both sights, just rent a taxi or find any tour guide or local travel agent work with that type of tours... Don't worry its great tour don't miss it

Thanks...that's what I thought. I am looking at Ramses tour company and will just tell them I must be back at the ship no later than 9:00 which gives me a two hour cushion for anything unexpected.

I read many good reviews about travel agents in Egypt like:

Ramses tours http://www.ramsestours.com/egypt-sho...exandria-port/

De Castro Tours http://www.decastrotours.com/offshoretours.asp

Le Caire Travel http://www.******************/Shore_Excursions06.html

Memphis tours http://www.memphistours.com/

Have fun

Our ship docks at 8:00 a.m. and departs at 11:00 p.m....my question is has anyone done a one day to the pyramids and Cairo in one day. I understand it is about a three hour ride (depending on traffic) each way. We would also have to figure on time for both lunch and dinner. Needless to say I wouldn't want to miss our ships departure time.

I would be using a private guide and would also appreciate any positive (or for that matter companies to stay away from) suggestions of guides or tour companies.

Thanks....I'll look into them.