Anyone Recently Used Ramses Tours?

We probably overtipped our driver and guide but we had left all the small transactions (entrance fees, lunch etc) up to them and I just gave them $100 over the tour price to cover it all. The total was still less than Princess wanted for a much less comprehensive tour.

That extra money was probably worth more to them than it would be for you. I will never forget that after our 2-day Cairo tour a couple of years ago, we gave our guide's assistant a 50 dollar bill. He was worth every penny of it and more to us because he was so nice and helpful...but from his reaction you would have thought we gave him a thousand. I was never so happy to "over-tip" as I was that day. :)

We just returned from our cruise and used Ramses in 3 ports in Egypt. I cannot praise them enough and highly recommend them. We were two couples and specified, no shopping, no factory stops. Ramses made no attempt to dissuade us or trick us into a shopping stop (something another company had done to us a few years back). We spent as much time as we wanted at Luxor and Karnak, Sharm El Sheikh and Cairo and had time for a sunset felluca cruise on the Nile. I found all their guides to be extremely knowledgeable and each spoke excellent English. At one port, the ship's arrival had originally been scheduled for 8AM, but we were an hour early and had no way to contact Ramses. They were right at the dock as the ship arrived. Apparently they always check on the the ship's latest schedule. I would not hesitate to use Ramses againi.

Hi,

We (wife and I) used Ramses last week in Alexandria going to the attractions in Cairo. We were pleased - especially of the flexibility being alone in the van.

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Wondering if anyone has recently used Ramses Tours for an overnight tour while in Egypt? Will be using them in a few months and was wondering if someone could give a review of how their recent tour was with them. I have read many posts from people who are booked with them for upcoming excursions, but not from anyone who has actually used them recently. Did you visit everything as planned? Any info will be most appreciated.

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I just want to tell you what a wonderful experience we had with the two tours we took -- full day Cairo and half day Alexandria.

Nivene (guide) and Achmed (driver) were just exceptional and went out of their way to make sure that we had a great visit. Nivene is probably the most knowledgeable guide I have ever had.

These two tours were a far-cry from the experience we had in Jordan (Petra). We booked this tour through Cruise Critic and I understood it was a Ramses Tour but I am sure it was not. We were to have been picked up at the Port at 6:00 a.m. and they did not come until after 8:00 a.m. There were two tour groups and both had the same experience. We then had to walk nearly a mile to the gate as we were told the buses could not enter.

When we arrived in Alexandria I was apprehensive that we would have the same experience and we were very pleased to see our guide waiting at the Port (and I understand she had been there for twenty minutes). In addition, when we visited the Library a gentleman approached Nivene and asked her if she could help find a book in the bookshop and she very quickly got him the information he needed. I am sure you are well aware of her outstanding qualities as a tour guide and representative of your Company but I just wish to confirm that we were more than pleased with our experience in Cairo and Alexandria.

The above is a letter I wrote to Ramses Tours on my return from Egypt (Brilliance of the Seas - April 19 - May 4). I cannot speak highly enough about the two tours we had with them -- just outstanding.

Chinooks

for our one day private tour to cairo. We were torn between the choice of two options at $75. One included the museuam..the other included the nile cruise. Ahmed, said we could do both for just another $15....so everyone is happy.

Just a question for those that have taken Ramses overnight tour .

We have booked with them due to all the great things said on CC about then.

What would be the best group size for this tour if we all stayed in the same hotel.

I know they give a bigger discount the more you have in your group but would 12 be to many

What would you all recommend

Thanks for your feedback

JH

JH: I booked Ramses and then opened it up to our CC group. We ended up with 54 people in all. So we ended up with 5 mini buses with 10 in the first three and then 12 each in the last two. 10 was a good number for the tour. Not too many. The majority of our group stayed at the Oberoi Mena House, but there were some that stayed at the Meridian. They were pretty close together so it was not a big deal that we all had to stay at the same place. Even though we had 54 people on that tour, Ramses and all the tour guides made each person feel as if it was their own personnel tour. They accomodated each persons wish. Have a great time.

Wondering if anyone has recently used Ramses Tours for an overnight tour while in Egypt? Will be using them in a few months and was wondering if someone could give a review of how their recent tour was with them. I have read many posts from people who are booked with them for upcoming excursions, but not from anyone who has actually used them recently. Did you visit everything as planned? Any info will be most appreciated.

There are two Ramses tour companies...be careful!...check out tripadvisor reviews.

When i booked i asked ramses about this isuue, they said its the same company any way their website is ramsestours.com, the email of the owner yousef@ramsestours.com or info@ramsestours.com

When we booked with Ramses Tours, George and I became friends over the many emails that went back and forth getting the details of our tour in place for our visit that was a year in the making. We have stayed in touch since returning home and on this issue of two Ramses Tours, he said that it is indeed the same agency. They have many different contact addresses, but it all leads back to the same Ramses Tours.

When i booked i asked ramses about this isuue, they said its the same company any way their website is ramsestours.com, the email of the owner yousef@ramsestours.com or info@ramsestours.com

I used Ramses with the info@ramsestours.com ....there had been a problem during the time of the Cairo unrest and that's when the company name was confusing...not sure what it was all about but there definitely was a rift and new contacts. Our tour guide was Mimmo and he was the best guide we have ever had in all of our extensive travels. I still keep in touch with him. Our trip was 11/11.

When i booked i asked ramses about this isuue, they said its the same company any way their website is ramsestours.com, the email of the owner yousef@ramsestours.com or info@ramsestours.com

I used Ramses with the info@ramsestours.com ....there had been a problem during the time of the Cairo unrest and that's when the company name was confusing...not sure what it was all about but there definitely was a rift and new contacts. Our tour guide was Mimmo and he was the best guide we have ever had in all of our extensive travels. I still keep in touch with him. Our trip was 11/11.

Just a question for those that have taken Ramses overnight tour .

We have booked with them due to all the great things said on CC about then.

What would be the best group size for this tour if we all stayed in the same hotel.

I know they give a bigger discount the more you have in your group but would 12 be to many

What would you all recommend

Thanks for your feedback

JH

Contact them and ask them what vehicles they have available.

Contact them and ask them what vehicles they have available.

We were 22 in our group and were fine..could have taken more since there was room in our bus.

Just firmed up a visit to pyramids,Giza in sept...thanks for all the positive comments on this company...shoul we minimize our trip to Cairo?

Mike

My husband and I toured Cairo (overnight) and Alexander May 4 & 5th with Ramses. We had a great time and unique experience . Our communication with Yousef & Ahmed pre-trip was good and we sent many emails back and forth concerning details.Our guide Kareen was very good and flexible as we changed things during the day. He got us in and out of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo when there were demonstrations that day in museum area.

We spent the night in Cairo, saw Pyramid light show, ordered pizza and ate that at a local coffee house sipping mint tea..and watched the action outside on the street as people began to come out in the cooler temperatures. I couldn't believe I was sitting there, We found the people friendly and polite..what a wonderful experience. Thank you Ramses tours! Cruisy Susy

Our Ramses guide Mohamed took us to an Egyptian restaurant after the Sound and Light Show...fantastic food and very reasonable.

In Egypt, we arranged a customized overnight tour for 4 couples with Ramses Tours (AKA Ramasside Private Tours). Our tour was a modification of their “Port Said Overnight I” (base price $250 pp). The customization included a visit to an additional pyramid site (Dahshur; $20 pp extra), the Solar Boat Museum at Giza ($10 pp extra), and a felluca ride ($15 pp extra, but complimentary for our group). Some of the group also added a 5-star dinner cruise on the Nile ($55 pp extra) and others took a 15-minute camel ride ($15 pp extra) at Giza. Payment was in cash (USD) at the end of the tour.

It was quite easy to make the arrangements by e-mail. Most of my correspondence was with Ahmed El Attar, Senior International Sales Executive. Mr. Ahmed responded promptly to all my questions and sent copious information about the tour. Nevertheless, several points of confusion arose during the tour. For example, our guide had not been informed that the felluca ride was to be complimentary for our group; a quick call to Mr. Ahmed straightened that out. Also, the dinner cruise (with Nile Crystal) was not the one that had been listed (Nile Maxim) in the itinerary, but Mr. Ahmed had good reasons for suggesting the substitution and was ready to change the reservation to the original venue if we wished.

None of the tour companies was allowed to pick up passengers inside the gates at Port Said. Our group walked down the quay to the port gates, where our guide (Karim Serry) was waiting for us with a sign. He got us into the nice Toyota van that had extra seats for the 8 of us to spread out and introduced us to our driver (Mohammed). Then our van moved into position for the security convoy to Cairo. Karim said we would be second in line for the first convoy, which would be the independent tour vans; the buses for the ship’s excursions would be in the second convoy. The first convoy was ready to leave at 7:30 a.m. and we were off on our Egyptian adventure!

It takes about 2-1/2 hours to reach Cairo. Factoring in the wait for the convoy to depart, this was too long for some of the group. Fortunately, Karim knew a gas station with relatively clean toilets that was about halfway to Cairo, so we left the convoy and stopped there. After the pit stop, there was no sign of either of the convoys. No problem though, we continued on to Cairo without incident. Along the way, Karim gave us a continuous commentary about Egypt’s history and the sights we would be seeing. He pointed out that Saturday is a holiday, while Sunday would be the first day of the work week; thus, the traffic in downtown Cairo would be somewhat lighter today. Also, we would be entering Cairo from the west side of the Nile, where the downtown attractions are, and the pyramid sites are on the east side (towards Alexandria) and away from downtown. For these reasons, Karim wisely suggested that we see the sites planned for the second day today and save the pyramid sites for tomorrow.

Karim also taught us the two most important words in Egyptian, “Laa, shukran” (No, thanks!), and advised us how to deal with all the vendors we would encounter. He also told us that the toilets at tourist locations were supposed to be free but that the attendants would be more or less aggressive about requesting/demanding “baksheesh” (tips). We found that this behavior ranged from simply jingling coins to remind us that a tip was expected to shoving towels at us with the exclamation “Money!” followed by loud complaints (in Egyptian) when we did not comply. John found the male attendants to be particularly demanding and he felt compelled to part with some small coins (0.10 euro) in order to escape.

Our first stop was at the Mohammed Ali Alabaster Mosque, which is inside the Citadel of Saladin. After the mosque, we drove to the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities. The museum is huge and deserves much more time than the 1-1/2 hours that we had to visit it; in retrospect, we should have asked to spend some of our free time there. Karim rented headsets so that none of us would have any difficulty hearing his explanations of the most significant exhibits. Later Karim suggested that we take a motorboat from the museum to the lunch restaurant instead of sailing on a felluca. The motorboats can travel further on the river because they can go under bridges that are too low for the fellucas; this also allowed us to bypass a lot of traffic.

After lunch we had some free time. The ladies caucused and decided to do some shopping now so that we would be able to devote all of the time tomorrow to seeing the pyramid sites. One couple was interested in buying some cartouche jewelry, so Karim took them to a jewelry store that was next to a papyrus shop (the Merit Center). He helped that couple place their order while the rest of us enjoyed a demonstration of papyrus-making and admired the various papyrus articles for sale. Following the papyrus store, we went to a perfume factory, where we were served hibiscus tea while learning about Egyptian perfumes.

After everyone had their fill of shopping, we set off for our hotel, Le Meridien Pyramids. This hotel was the same one being used by the Princess overnight shore excursions. It is in an excellent location, with fine views of the Giza pyramids. Karim helped us check in and called each couple after we had gone up to the rooms to make sure everything was in order. The room was very clean and had a large bathroom equipped with huge bath towels plus Egyptian cotton robes to use during our stay. The king bed was actually two twins pushed together with no bridge to fill the gap; however, it was comfortable for a one-night stay.

After about an hour to freshen up and relax, Karim collected three couples for the Nile dinner cruise and show aboard the Nile Crystal. The dinner cruise lasts two hours (8:00-10:00 p.m.) and features a buffet with salads, hot dishes, and desserts. The food was quite good, especially the vegetables stuffed with seasoned rice. The buffet line opened just as the boat started sailing and the first hour of entertainment was a duo performing Egyptian and international songs. After we finished eating, we went out on the open deck to enjoy the city lights and the other boats on the river, which were brightly illuminated. The second hour featured a belly dancer, a whirling dervish and some other traditional dances.

Upon our return to the hotel, the lobby was filled with singing and dancing people. This turned out to be a wedding celebration. We were only able to watch the festivities for a short time before exhaustion forced us to retire for the night. Needless to say, we slept very soundly.

The next morning, we were not hungry, so we skipped the included breakfast. Others in the group said the breakfast buffet was good and included the typical egg dishes, bacon/sausage, cereals, fruit and coffee/tea/juice. The plan was to meet in the lobby at 6:45 a.m. so we could be on our way by 7:00 a.m. and arrive at the Dahshur pyramid site by the time it opened at 8:00 a.m. We would then work our way back north to Memphis and Saqqara, have lunch, visit the Giza pyramids and then head to Alexandria for brief tour (photo ops at the new library and waterfront) where we would reboard the Pacific Princess with plenty of time to spare.

Before visiting the Giza Pyramids, Karim gave us very explicit instructions about how to behave during our visit. He emphasized that absolutely NOTHING is free at the site and that we should not touch anything, let anyone touch us, give anyone our camera to take pictures of us or even allow ourselves be drawn into a conversation. Although it is difficult and unpleasant to have to charge ahead, ignoring people and constantly saying, “Laa, shukran!” over and over, this is the only way to survive Giza with your wallet intact. The fact that tourism is down in Egypt made each of us even more of a target.

Thanks to Karim’s excellent guide service and Mohammed’s excellent driving, we had a fantastic two days in Egypt. We highly recommend Ramses Tours for your shore excursions in Egypt.

In Egypt, we arranged a customized overnight tour for 4 couples with Ramses Tours (AKA Ramasside Private Tours). Our tour was a modification of their “Port Said Overnight I” (base price $250 pp). The customization included a visit to an additional pyramid site (Dahshur; $20 pp extra), the Solar Boat Museum at Giza ($10 pp extra), and a felluca ride ($15 pp extra, but complimentary for our group). Some of the group also added a 5-star dinner cruise on the Nile ($55 pp extra) and others took a 15-minute camel ride ($15 pp extra) at Giza. Payment was in cash (USD) at the end of the tour.

 

It was quite easy to make the arrangements by e-mail. Most of my correspondence was with Ahmed El Attar, Senior International Sales Executive. Mr. Ahmed responded promptly to all my questions and sent copious information about the tour. Nevertheless, several points of confusion arose during the tour. For example, our guide had not been informed that the felluca ride was to be complimentary for our group; a quick call to Mr. Ahmed straightened that out. Also, the dinner cruise (with Nile Crystal) was not the one that had been listed (Nile Maxim) in the itinerary, but Mr. Ahmed had good reasons for suggesting the substitution and was ready to change the reservation to the original venue if we wished.

 

None of the tour companies was allowed to pick up passengers inside the gates at Port Said. Our group walked down the quay to the port gates, where our guide (Karim Serry) was waiting for us with a sign. He got us into the nice Toyota van that had extra seats for the 8 of us to spread out and introduced us to our driver (Mohammed). Then our van moved into position for the security convoy to Cairo. Karim said we would be second in line for the first convoy, which would be the independent tour vans; the buses for the ship’s excursions would be in the second convoy. The first convoy was ready to leave at 7:30 a.m. and we were off on our Egyptian adventure!

 

It takes about 2-1/2 hours to reach Cairo. Factoring in the wait for the convoy to depart, this was too long for some of the group. Fortunately, Karim knew a gas station with relatively clean toilets that was about halfway to Cairo, so we left the convoy and stopped there. After the pit stop, there was no sign of either of the convoys. No problem though, we continued on to Cairo without incident. Along the way, Karim gave us a continuous commentary about Egypt’s history and the sights we would be seeing. He pointed out that Saturday is a holiday, while Sunday would be the first day of the work week; thus, the traffic in downtown Cairo would be somewhat lighter today. Also, we would be entering Cairo from the west side of the Nile, where the downtown attractions are, and the pyramid sites are on the east side (towards Alexandria) and away from downtown. For these reasons, Karim wisely suggested that we see the sites planned for the second day today and save the pyramid sites for tomorrow.

 

Karim also taught us the two most important words in Egyptian, “Laa, shukran” (No, thanks!), and advised us how to deal with all the vendors we would encounter. He also told us that the toilets at tourist locations were supposed to be free but that the attendants would be more or less aggressive about requesting/demanding “baksheesh” (tips). We found that this behavior ranged from simply jingling coins to remind us that a tip was expected to shoving towels at us with the exclamation “Money!” followed by loud complaints (in Egyptian) when we did not comply. John found the male attendants to be particularly demanding and he felt compelled to part with some small coins (0.10 euro) in order to escape.

 

Our first stop was at the Mohammed Ali Alabaster Mosque, which is inside the Citadel of Saladin. After the mosque, we drove to the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities. The museum is huge and deserves much more time than the 1-1/2 hours that we had to visit it; in retrospect, we should have asked to spend some of our free time there. Karim rented headsets so that none of us would have any difficulty hearing his explanations of the most significant exhibits. Later Karim suggested that we take a motorboat from the museum to the lunch restaurant instead of sailing on a felluca. The motorboats can travel further on the river because they can go under bridges that are too low for the fellucas; this also allowed us to bypass a lot of traffic.

 

After lunch we had some free time. The ladies caucused and decided to do some shopping now so that we would be able to devote all of the time tomorrow to seeing the pyramid sites. One couple was interested in buying some cartouche jewelry, so Karim took them to a jewelry store that was next to a papyrus shop (the Merit Center). He helped that couple place their order while the rest of us enjoyed a demonstration of papyrus-making and admired the various papyrus articles for sale. Following the papyrus store, we went to a perfume factory, where we were served hibiscus tea while learning about Egyptian perfumes.

 

After everyone had their fill of shopping, we set off for our hotel, Le Meridien Pyramids. This hotel was the same one being used by the Princess overnight shore excursions. It is in an excellent location, with fine views of the Giza pyramids. Karim helped us check in and called each couple after we had gone up to the rooms to make sure everything was in order. The room was very clean and had a large bathroom equipped with huge bath towels plus Egyptian cotton robes to use during our stay. The king bed was actually two twins pushed together with no bridge to fill the gap; however, it was comfortable for a one-night stay.

 

After about an hour to freshen up and relax, Karim collected three couples for the Nile dinner cruise and show aboard the Nile Crystal. The dinner cruise lasts two hours (8:00-10:00 p.m.) and features a buffet with salads, hot dishes, and desserts. The food was quite good, especially the vegetables stuffed with seasoned rice. The buffet line opened just as the boat started sailing and the first hour of entertainment was a duo performing Egyptian and international songs. After we finished eating, we went out on the open deck to enjoy the city lights and the other boats on the river, which were brightly illuminated. The second hour featured a belly dancer, a whirling dervish and some other traditional dances.

 

Upon our return to the hotel, the lobby was filled with singing and dancing people. This turned out to be a wedding celebration. We were only able to watch the festivities for a short time before exhaustion forced us to retire for the night. Needless to say, we slept very soundly.

 

The next morning, we were not hungry, so we skipped the included breakfast. Others in the group said the breakfast buffet was good and included the typical egg dishes, bacon/sausage, cereals, fruit and coffee/tea/juice. The plan was to meet in the lobby at 6:45 a.m. so we could be on our way by 7:00 a.m. and arrive at the Dahshur pyramid site by the time it opened at 8:00 a.m. We would then work our way back north to Memphis and Saqqara, have lunch, visit the Giza pyramids and then head to Alexandria for brief tour (photo ops at the new library and waterfront) where we would reboard the Pacific Princess with plenty of time to spare.

 

Before visiting the Giza Pyramids, Karim gave us very explicit instructions about how to behave during our visit. He emphasized that absolutely NOTHING is free at the site and that we should not touch anything, let anyone touch us, give anyone our camera to take pictures of us or even allow ourselves be drawn into a conversation. Although it is difficult and unpleasant to have to charge ahead, ignoring people and constantly saying, “Laa, shukran!” over and over, this is the only way to survive Giza with your wallet intact. The fact that tourism is down in Egypt made each of us even more of a target.

 

Thanks to Karim’s excellent guide service and Mohammed’s excellent driving, we had a fantastic two days in Egypt. We highly recommend Ramses Tours for your shore excursions in Egypt.

Many thanks for a terrific review Carolyn. We are taking this tour in October and really appreciated you taking the time to write this review.

Is it possible to do both the dinner cruise and the light show?

I doubt you will have time for both although your Ramses guide will do what he or she can to make it happen. (There are several runs of the light show, and there's always another dinner boat waiting at the dock.) The toughest part about it would be Cairo traffic. It took us nearly an hour to get from Mena House to the Sphinx.

I have read a lot of reviews saying that they took Ramses tours, We are going on NCL in October, What were highlights of your trip? We are looking at 1 overnight from Alexandria

You can see mosques, suqs, museums other places. We even saw much of the King Tut exhibit when it toured the USA in the 1970s. When you go to Egypt, you have to see pyramids.

We booked a private tour to Cairo with Ramses, how much time should we allocate to visit the museum? :)

Your Ramses guide probably will tell you to take as long in the museum as you want. Be sure to confer with others in your party to agree on a reasonale amount of time. It is not possible to see everything in the museum in a year of daily eight-hour visits. By the time you get to the museum you probably will be foot-sore and desperate for a soft bed and cool beverage. Two hours will suffice to get a good glance at the huge collection.

I dont think you have time to do sound show and Nile cruise dinner. (There are several runs of the light show, and there's always another dinner boat waiting at the dock.) The toughest part about it would be Cairo traffic. It took us nearly an hour to get from Mena House to the Sphinx.

Is it possible to do both the dinner cruise and the light show?