Mzhelen

Thank you so much for this detailed review! We are thinking about booking this trip so this was incredibly helpful.

Thursday arrive Vancouver

Friday morning sightseeing in Vancouver (still deciding on a tour versus the HO HO bus, then board ship in afternoon

Saturday crusing Inside Passage

Sunday Ketchikan: Misty Fjords flight with Island Wings. Then if time, bus to Totem Bight

Monday Icy Straight point: Whale Watching with Captain Dan (Misty Bay Lodge)

Tuesday Juneau: Mendenhall Glacier Helicopter & Guided walk with Temsco. Then town in the afternoon

Wednesday Skagway: White Pass train up, bus back with Chilicoot

Thursday Hubbard Glacier

Friday arrive Seward. Still deciding on what to do and how to get back to Anchorage.

We did a 1 day tour with Ramses before our Uniworld trip started, and our guide Mohammed was fantastic!

A few suggestions to get the most out of your trip: ALL of the guides stop at several shops: a perfume essence shop, an Egyptian cotton shop, and a papyrus shop. Those stops take quite a bit of time, so if you are not interested, let your guide know in advance. We did the essence and papyrus, and even bought a beautiful one, only to have those duplicated on our Uniworld tour.

We had an airconditioned mini van and driver, and just the 2 of us and our guide. We were able to leave items in the van, they always had cold bottled water for us, and were very flexible. I wanted to make a stop at the Hard Rock cafe (I collect the pins) and they worked it out to do a quick stop there for me to run in.

This was very helpful - all the information that everyone supplied! We're doing our first Celebrity in June, so this will help us make an education decision!

Just remember to have your GUIDE negotiate the camel ride or photo! And make sure to do it in the area where there are lots of camels. There are horror stories of people negotiating on their own, getting up on the camel, then the owner telling you to pay a huge increase in order to get down off the camel! They are tall animals so jumping down is not a good idea - our guide told us about one woman who did and broke her pelvis and spent a month in a Cairo hospital.

The guides all know the camel owners, and I'm sure they get some kind of a "finder's fee" but at least you know your guide will be looking out for you to prevent you from getting hurt or ripped off.

Hi

Have a few questions.

Since this is our first time to Egypt we are just letting Ramses plan the tour...except for a shopping stop...

Did any of you change any money into Egyptian Dollars??

We are planning to go to the bizarre and wondering what currency would be best.

Also did anyone eat at the Mena House? (We are not going to do the dinner cruise or light show) Or is there another restaurant anyone would recommend?

 

There will just be the two of us...any other recommendations?

 

Thanks!!!

We changed money after we got to Egypt - got a much better exchange rate than what we found in the U.S.

Don't be afraid to bargain like crazy!!!

Can anyone tell us about the cartouches? I understand that the tours all have vendors who take orders on the first day and pick them up on the return to the ship.

What kinds of prices can we expect to pay and did they accept US$? I want to make sure that we carry enough cash with us to cover shopping as well as the tours.

 

Thanks

I went with sterling silver ones. Mine are a relatively simple design, and cost me $20 each. Mohamed ordered them for me, and then I paid him in U.S. dollars at the end of the tour after he picked them up and I approved them.

You can also get an idea of prices at hotels, on your ship potentially, and if you go to the Khan al Khalili bazaar there is a reputable shop right across from the Mefouz Negib restaurant so you can comparison shop.

Procruise, I would not worry about the shorts. Just the fact that you've mentioned it means you're aware of the way you present yourself, and will no doubt dress in a way that offends no one.

 

The way it was explained to me was "modest shorts are okay in most places, as well as short sleeved shirts." The problem comes with tank tops, spaghetti straps, short shorts, bikinis, etc. The sight of elbows and knees should not be offensive in most places other than mosques. I think if you remember to cover the uppermost thighs (no Daisy Dukes, lol), the armpits (no wife beaters or tank tops) and extreme cleavage exposure, there should be no offense taken.

 

Most Egyptians are very happy that we are there spending money and will overlook our clothing choices.

 

I agree with Seafun. Talking to our guide our first day, he said it really is more when you're going to religious sites. The idea is to keep in mind that the mosques are still used as houses of worship, so to respect their religion dress modestly: short sleeved shirts rather than sleeveless, and preferably long pants. Dave brought the pants that have legs that zip off to shorts, and those were perfect. I wore long pants while touring in Cairo, but shorts at Valley of the Kings and various temples in Luxor and Aswan.

And Seafun, a belated thank you for all of the time you took to write up your trip! I read it all avidly and took a lot of tips/ideas from what you wrote that helped make our trip special!

We are also looking at going with Ramses tours. How did you pay them at the end? In US$..and if so, did you carry all that money with you for the two day tour? I'm not sure I want to carry all that cash.

Thanks for your help.

We only did a 1 day, but we didn't want to carry all the cash with us all day so when we got back to our hotel Dave waited with the guide in the lobby while I ran upstairs to get the cash. They prefer U.S. cash.

Our driver also picked up the cartouches we'd ordered while we were in the museum, and we paid him after we'd reviewed them and were happy with them.

Thank You for your post!! We have booked with Ramses for November! We have been debating about the Oberoi, think that is the route we will go.

 

Another question (s)....

We are taking the overnight with just the 2 of us,(for the reason you mentioned above) anyone else ever take that tour with just 2? Thinking we can cover a lot more territory:D

Did you go to the Khan el-Khalili market, as this is one of our major destinations....lastly, did you go to the pyramids the first day or the second morning??

Thanks!!!

With 2 people you can definitely move quickly!

One thing I will caution you about: decide IN ADVANCE and tell your guide if you have any interest in papyrus, Egyptian cotton, or essences (perfumes). Every guide from every company will assume you want to see these and will take you to them. We personally were interested in the papyrus, but we didn't tell our guide "no" on the perfumes until after we'd spent at least 1/2 hour with them going thru their info/pitch. We politely left and then let the guide know we weren't interested in the cotton. These 3 items are big sellers in Egypt, so the guides routinely include them on their itineraries.

If you ARE interested in any of the 3, your guide will take you to good, reputable places. And be sure to bargain - even the posted prices are negotiable. We went to another perfume place with our Uniworld tour a few days later, and even though they said they couldn't negotiate, we managed to get them to throw in a nice perfume bottle and room diffuser.

And if you are using a credit card, check the price before you sign - one place we went to added a 3% "bank processing fee" to the agreed-upon price. No other places had done that, so when we challenged them they refunded it. No big deal, but I think a few people in our group didn't realize it and paid it.

Be prepared at the market for a lot of people bugging you to come look, come buy. For me that was part of the fun, but after a while my sig. other started geting annoyed LOL. And remember to bargain like crazy: I bought a medium sized set of the glass perfume bottles and an inlaid wood box. The guy started at $200 American, and I ended up paying $40 (and I could have/probably should have gotten it for $30 but my SO was getting hungry and wanted to go eat).

A bit off topic but I'm curious if any of you had Hep A and or Hep B shots prior to your cruise? We're doing the Ramses tour with the overnight in Cairo and wonder if the shots are necessary.

We did the shots, along with tetanus boosters, just as a precaution although it's certainly not required. The hep shots are a couple of rounds, so you should start 6 months before you go.

We also did H1N1 shots because Cairo has been experiencing some cases and we hadn't done them here in the U.S. 6 months ago when it was prevalent here.

We had Hosni (driver) and Mohamed Abaza as our guide and they were great. Hosni negotiated all the crazy Cairo traffic well, and was always there waiting for us. Mohamed was incredibly knowledgeable, took us where we wanted to go, was flexible and made sure we covered what we wanted to cover. He's an Egyptologist and actually spent time working for Dr. Hawass, the head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (he's the one you see on all the Discovery Channel shows). He also gave us lots of tips for getting around on our own, and any other information we wanted to know. We felt very taken care of.

We just got back from Egypt and wish we had a few more days! 14 days should be good to cover everything. Our recommendations:

Cairo:

- Egyptian museum (use a guide, and plan at least 4-6 hours to really do it right). You want to see the Tut exhibit, Hall of Mummies (which costs an extra 100 Egyptian pounds, Egyptian cash only, but worth it), and all the key sights.

- Coptic Church, great for history

- Alabaster mosque (built by the same King who built the Blue Mosque in Istanbul)

- Khan El Khalily bazaar. It's a lot of fun, if you get into the spirit of it. You'll be "accosted" by every stall-holder trying to entice you in and buy. Make sure to bargain like crazy! Thanks to the boards here I knew what to pay for things. I ended up with a medium-sized set of glass perfume bottles and a nice sized inlaid-wood box for $40, when the guy started at $200! And had I kept pushing I might have gotten it for even less.

Giza

- Pyramids. Give yourself enough time to walk around and see everything. We really could have used more time, but were on a schedule.

- Sphinx

- Solar boat museum

- Camel ride. Do NOT try to negotiate on your own - have your guide take you to someone he trusts and do the negotiating. And don't pay until you get off. Some of the "drivers" pull a scam where they negotiate a price with you, then refuse to let you off the (high) camel unless you pay even more. Apparently about a month ago a woman refused to pay the extra, jumped off, and broke her hip. She's been in a Cairo hospital ever since. Our guide took us to a group of drivers he's worked with, and they charged a flat fee while the guide stood there supervising.

Sakkara

- The step pyramid, the oldest pyramid. We never made it there and it's our one regret.

Luxor

- The 2 temples

- Luxor museum. We used the time after dinner to rush down there, and were the only ones from our boat to do so. We only had an hour there (it's open until 10 pm) but it was SO worth it!

Abu Simbel - not to be missed!

We were on a short trip so didn't make it to Alexandria, although we wish we had!

not super crazy, but we went on a cruise last february on the norwegian sun, and there was a couple in there 60's that were SUPER SUPER tan....like disgustingly. They were both in relatively good shape, and both wore tiny tiny swimsuits. The thing is, when you tan so much, any part of your body that hangs over will become white...like the man boobs on the guy, and the cheek line of the butts on both of them, and the lady had various ones all up and down her from where her skin would fold over.

 

Well, I have a 7 year old sister, and I would usually bring her to the pool in the morning, and about half way through the cruise, she asked me, "Laura, why do those people have stripes."

 

I replied, trying to be funny "because they are of zebra descent."

 

Well, as you well know, that age has no shame, and she went up to the lady and man and said "hi, i've never met zebra people before."

 

I was mortified...

I just fell off my chair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D:D:D:D

This is the BEST thread in the history of online boards!!!!

I'm still in the planning stages of our first cruise, but I will share with you an event that is legend and gets re-told often in our family.

 

My Aunt and Uncle were going on a cruise for their anniversary. They were having my Grandparents babysit my two cousins, one whom was a baby and a six-year old boy.

 

My Aunt and Uncle took my Grandparents out for dinner pre-cruise to thank them. My Aunt was paying for the bill and everyone else walked out of the restaurant onto the sidewalk in front.

 

My Uncle felt something wet and smelt something. He pulled my cousin away from his chest to see that her diaper had leaked all down the front of his suit and white shirt. My Grandpa who was standing beside him, turned and saw this and immediately lost his dinner onto the sidewalk.

 

My six-year-old cousin -who to this day is totally a sympathetic puker - saw my Grandpa throw up and he too lost his meal on the curb.

 

By this time my Uncle and my Grandma are killing themselves laughing. My Grandma sits down on the sidewalk and literally pees herself and her dress and coat laughing.

 

My Aunt came walking out of the restaurant onto this scene and stood there with her mouth open trying to figure out what could have happened in the few minutes since she had last seen them!

OMG I'm literally CRYING laughing so hard at this! Almost joined your Grandma at peeing! :eek::D

Wearing their cruise card on a lanyard around their neck.

I do that just because it's convenient - many of my shorts don't have pockets! :eek:

Seafun, thank you SO much for your indepth reporting! We leave in 28 days for my "bucket list" trip and you gave so many wonderful pointers that I've written down! I truly believe my trip will be that much more wonderful thanks to you! :)

IF you are good at poking a small hole in the ziploc at the bottom (not where the zipper part is), you can theoretically zip the bag closed and then "roll up" from the zipper while you push the air out. You have to be careful not to push too hard or too quickly or you'll split the bottom of the bag.

I'd suggest trying it a few times first to see if it works for you. I'm a bit of a klutz :eek: and just keep splitting the ziploc, so I popped for the space bags. I also like that the space bags come in different sizes - I can fit a jacket, a pair of jeans, a pair of pants, a light robe and a couple of shirts in the big space bag, which then flattens up just the right size to cover the bottom of my large suitcase.

Good luck!