havcamwiltravel

HAVCAM...,

 

Thanks so much for the heads up. I, too, am so excited. Yes, I have been working with a private tour guide for a full 2-day "custom" tour of Cairo BEFORE I meet the Tauck people to begin the tour with them. Our guide, "Moustafa", almost brings tears to my eyes every time he writes. He is obviously SO grateful that we're coming and is SO PROUD of what has transpired in his country. He never refers to "Egypt". It's always "my new FREE Egypt". .....& That never fails to put a lump in my throat!

 

On a humorous note, because I specified that I wanted to see sights that most tourists do not even see, he has officially named our custom tour "Ken's-Stuff-Most-Tourists-Will-Never-Get-To-See,-But-Locals-LOVE!" I can't wait. :-) (We'll get to see all the usual stuff - pyramids, sphynx, camel rides, museum, yadda, yadda, yadda, with our Tauck guide.)

 

Thanks again,

 

Ken

I had exactly the same experience when communicating with the tour companies about booking an overland tour in June. They were continuously sending me videos and news articles to show me how Egypt has become the "New Egypt". Their enthusiasm was completely infectious.

Since then, I have booked an overland 5-day tour with Memphis Tours in Egypt for June and I am completely stoked about getting there; I can hardly wait.

As a result, it seems that it's not just going to be an amazing trip to Egypt because it is, after all, Egypt ... it's going to be an amazing trip because I will get to visit Egypt, in all of its ancient splendour, at the time when the New Egypt is just emerging.

Tauck is a tour company. Not a cruise line. We fly into Cairo, and after about 5 days of touring & sightseeing, we fly on to Luxor where we then board the "Nile Adventurer" for the river cruise. I believe the "Adventurer" is owned by Abercrombie & Kent (?). The Nile cruise is about 5 days, then we fly back to Alexandria, do some more sightseeing, then return to Cairo for one more night before our flight out. So far, Tauck is still saying that all tours after June are still scheduled to depart. I sure hope that "holds"!

I went to an adventure tour company's presentation this week for a presentation on their offered tours to Morocco and Egypt. The young (30-something) tour guide had just returned that week from a month long tour of Morocco, Egypt, Israel and Jordan. She was beaming from her experiences.

She was in Egypt not long after the revolution, and was in Israel when the most recent deadly explosion occurred in Jerusalem. It was interesting to hear her perception of the tourism situation in the Middle-East.

Her description of just how much the Egyptian people are bending over backward for the tourists there now, and the outright joy and jubilation of Egypt's young people over the outcome of the demonstrations was quite uplifting. She said there's some palpable fear in the older generation but that is well tempered by the enthusiasm of Egypt's younger generation and the real desire of all Egyptians to move forward with the reforms.

While touring Israel, she learnt of the bus station explosion from her mother here in Canada before she heard anything about it in the news. She pointed out that being away from the 24-hour news cycle when that happened makes the event real and frightening but not personal and terrifying. She took great pains to explain she did not want to appear to downplay the events but certainly said that she "felt safe" everywhere she went.

She also pointed out that when she visited the Pyramids in Giza, she could easily count the number of tourists at the site; she and her partner spent an hour in the burial chamber of a Pyramid completely alone. She toured Saqqara and Dahshur with no other tourists there.

She didn't have to point out the obvious: if you are adventurous enough to go to Egypt now, you will have a travel experience unlike many have had in recent decades, with the opportunity to visit the sites without the madding crowds.

I just got my call from RCI. They said that the itinerary is changed to Istanbul, that I have until Feb. 16 to change anything and that THERE WILL BE NO FURTHER CHANGES IN THE ITINERARY, no matter what changes there are in Egypt.

Too bad, so sad.:mad:

Are you sure about that? My understanding is that most lines are keeping their options open.

 

""As we're not scheduled to call in this region until May, at this time, we haven't canceled any calls," said Princess spokeswoman Karen Candy. "Any decision we make will be based on the security and safety of our passengers and the advice of our security team, as well as various officials and government entities," she added, echoing a common statement from the lines."

Yes, it's posted on their website on the HOME page; there's a red 'UPDATES'

link and it takes you to that info.

I posted this on our cruise Roll Call thread and you might want to take note:

Also, you might want to check the news agencies because it looks like they are saying that the protesters in Egypt may be going home. They are reporting that Mubarak may step down as early as today.

So, RCI may have jumped the gun. Stay tuned ...;)

That sounds exactly like my plan...to stay at Mena House and relax...hope we actually get to stop in Cairo..we are booked on Celebrity to stop in Alexandria/Cairo in late August and we have decided to leave our reservation as is with the cruise itself.(not booking with Ramses yet) ..hoping that if we don't make it to Cairo, they will substitute maybe a stop in Turkey...Celebrity has not made any decisions yet because their first cruise to Egypt doesn't go there until August 10...Royal Caribbean has cancelled Alexandria as a stop for all of their cruises through June.

I just found out this minute that RCCL has cancelled its visits to Egypt up to the end of June. Soooooooooooo disappointed. Istanbul is the replacement port.:(

I'm going to have to make some decisions, including maybe postponing it until later this year.

Hi Marie-Claude, we are trying to decide where to stay for our overnight. Would it in your opinion be better to stay by the pyramids at the Oberoi Mena House or stay in Cairo? I know the pyramids is scenic and would be lovely, but as far as night time activities and convience, what is your opinion? Anyone else's input would also be greatly appreciated.:)

Hi Janina, everyone has to decide for themselves what they want to do in the one evening they have in Cairo on a two-day excursion,and it's tough to fit everything in. There are so many choices.

Most people, it seems, choose to go to the Sound and Light Show or a Nile Dinner cruise. I suggest you research the posts on this site and the various videos on YouTube to see what others have said and done about those two choices. I did exactly that and it actually made me change my mind about what choice to make. (Now, I haven't actually done it yet, so take this with a grain of salt. My wife and I will get there - hopefully - in June)

I've read from many posts and seen from many videos, that the Sound & Light show is a tad dramatic/superficial (many say: cheesy) and that the Nile Dinner cruise is just a cruise-on-a-river-in-a-city with not-so-great food. (Yes, I understand it's THE NILE, but you're not exactly in the desert, are you?).

So, we decided that instead of choosing either of those 2 options, we will get to the Oberoi Mena House at the end of the afternoon, check into our Pyramid view room in the Palace section, and spend the whole rest of the evening enjoying the Mena House's very attractive amenities. We booked into the Palace section because once again, from what I've read in these posts, the Palace section is apparently the best part (read: more authentic character) of the Mena House to stay in, with spectacular and unrestricted views of the Pyramids; better than the views in the newer section.

But also, we have reserved a table for two in their Indian restaurant, the Moghul Room, where we expect to have a great meal and enjoy some authentic entertainment. And if we get to our room in time, we can even catch the light show on the Pyramids from our very own balcony.

I know we will be rushing around furiously from site to site for two days so I'm hoping that this plan will give us a chance at some very good quality 'down' time and an exciting evening, nonetheless. In fact, I think am looking forward to my stay at the Mena House almost as much as I am looking forward to seeing the sights.

Hope this helps.

Just a quick post, here, to give an alternative point of view for those thinking about staying at the Oberoi Mena House but worried about not having much time to enjoy its opulent amenities. After reading hundreds of posts about the Nile Cruise and the Sound & Light show (and the videos online) my wife and I decided that we would not care for a Nile Cruise in the middle of Cairo and we would rather save a few hours and view the lighted Pyramids from a luxurious room at the Mena House. The sound part of the S&L show sounds pretty cheesy and we're lifelong students of Egyptian history.

We figure that we may only be here once so why not spring for a Pyramid view room in the Old Palace section and spend our evening having a great meal, enjoying authentic Egyptian entertainment and hospitality and walking around this amazing hotel and grounds. It may not suit everyone's tastes but we are looking forward to this as a way of highlighting our stay in the land of the Pyramids.