QE Holy Land Explorer

We are currently sailing on QE Voyage Q217 Holy Land Explorer 1 and I thought I might share some of our experiences.

The QE departed Southampton on 28th August 2012 and we caught up with it in Civitavecchia for a 12-day voyage to Athens. We flew to Rome on a BA Cunard charter from London’s Heathrow. There was a long queue at check-in but it moved fairly quickly. Whilst in the queue I couldn’t help noticing that one or two people had two suitcases and there were quite a lot of heavy-looking cases. All the Cunard paperwork had indicated one suitcase per person to a maximum weight of 23Kg. I had weighed ours using the bathroom scales to ensure we were within this weight limit. I thought this could be interesting! When we got to the check-in desk I noticed a stack of ‘Heavy’ labels. I asked the question about overweight luggage and was told we don’t care on these charters. She told me that if my case had been 28 or 30Kg it would have gone through. I’m not sure I should risk it next time!

The BA flight left a few minutes late but we had a long walk at Rome airport and a 30-minute wait for the luggage. We then boarded the Cunard coaches for the 75-minute drive to Civitavecchia. We arrived at the ship and did the emergency drill. It had seemed a long day and many would have missed 1st sitting Dinner. Some came into Britannia Club.

The next day we were in Naples and went on a trip to Sorrento. It was hot but uneventful. The following day was at sea and the next was to be at Mykonos but a 50 knot wind precluded the launching of the tenders at this anchor port. Ruby Princess could not tender either. We sailed on to arrive that evening (rather than the next morning) in Kusadasi when the other cruise liners had left. This gave us an extended stay in Kusadasi. We had been to Ephesus on a previous occasion so this time we wandered along the sea front and through the shopping streets behind. This port has much improved over the years and we had an enjoyable time. It was very hot.

In Civitavecchia some 1600 disembarked leaving 300 hundred on board. Another 1600 embarked. An Australian couple told us that there had been a marked lowering of standards in the type of people boarding in Civitavecchia compared with those who got off. The new in-take didn’t observe the dress code etc, etc. They put it down to heavy discounting. Later an American couple made the same observation and said there had been huge discounting in the USA which extended to the price of the trips. This is a new one on me. I wasn’t aware of anything like this in the UK.

When booking a cabin I ensure, according to the plan, there are no adjacent cabins with interconnecting doors or cabins with extra beds. It didn’t work. On the first evening a young child next door seemed to be jumping on and off the bed all evening creating much noise which started again at 0630 the next morning. I thought we were going to be in trouble but the noise abated thereon.

In Britannia Club there was a long table for 17 people travelling together. This resulted in us being a bit isolated and on our own. They did not mix. When they were not there the dining room was a bit like a morgue for us and when they were there, in the words (not mine) of a waiter it was like ‘china town’. They were actually Filipinos but as the passenger manifest showed only two on board so I can only assume they are residents of the UK or similar.

The Filipino ladies dressed beautifully in colourful garments but the men didn’t take so much care. Some took no notice of the dress code, one being dressed at semi-formal nights in an anorak and no tie. Heaven forbid! They were not told about it even though there was a large notice at the entrance to Britannia Club describing the dress requirements each evening.

Unfortunately some of the ambience of Britannia Club was lost when you felt you were unwelcome guests at an Asian conference. They also occupied 9 cabins around us. They held noisy meetings in the corridor and on the sea day they had the interconnecting balcony doors between two cabins opened so they could drag all the furniture on to one balcony. The men seemed to be playing some game with much loudness, laughter, shouting, snorting and grunting. A quiet time on our balcony reading in the sun was destroyed. Let’s hope they don’t do it again.

More to come.........

From Kusadasi we went to Haifa for two days. Originally it was to be a day in Ashdod and a day in Haifa. Some weeks ago Ashdod was cancelled. From Haifa it added about an hour each way on to the journey to Jerusalem.

We had not been to Israel before for security reasons and were not sure what to expect. We need not have worried. Apart from Israeli security getting off the ship as well as getting on it we saw very few police or military personnel. The country is well developed having turned desert into farming etc. On the first day we took the 8-hour Leisurely Galilee trip and on the second day we took the 11-hour Glorious Jerusalem trip. The coaches were good and so were the guides. Toilet stops were civilised and I didn’t see a communal hole in the ground any where! The lunch stops were good, one in a kibbutz and the other in the Leonaro Hotel in Jerusalem.

We stopped to see the River Jordan at the south end of the Sea of Galilee. To our amazement it was only about 30 feet wide. Everyone expected it to be at least as wide as the River Thames in London. Jerusalem was not to be missed.

Israel is a small country with a population of about 7.5 m and it is also small geographically. It can fit into Wales, the State of New Jersey, Ontario Lake in Canada and the Kruger National Park. At 18 men are conscripted for 3 years of National Service followed by a month a year in the reserve until about 45. Women do just two years at 18 and that’s all, there is no reserve commitment. The Arabs in Israel don’t join except for some minority Arab parties like the Druze. Orthodox Jews aren’t called up either. It was put to us that they stay at home praying for those who do serve.

All the Israelis we met were very enthusiastic for their country. In fact our first tour guide was born in London. At the age of 22, some eight years ago she left her family and friends, who all thought she was mad, and moved to Haifa and hasn’t regretted a single day.

We had a most enjoyable time in Israel and glad we made the effort to go there. For such a small country it has a lot of negative press and so one is not aware of the positives. One guide told us the three main things Israelis think about are the corruption in high office with a number of high profile politicians now in prison, the on-going problems with Iran, and thirdly, their lousy football (soccer) team which hasn’t qualified for the Fifa World Cup in a generation.

Over the last few years it has been optional whether you want an Israeli stamp in your passport. Anyone wanting one had to positively ask for it and I saw no such request. It is not, for some reason, allowed for the ship to travel directly from Haifa to Egypt so we had to go via an intermediary port, in our case Limassol in Cyprus. It was very hot but it is a pleasant town to spend some time. Just before leaving the Captain said that due to unrest in Egypt the scheduled visit to Alexandria the following day was being cancelled. We would be having a day at sea instead and then visiting Rhodes which was not on the original itinerary.

Queen Elizabeth is a fine ship which we are thoroughly enjoying despite the problems in my first post. Several days have passed since, and apart from the dining room, there are now fewer problems in the cabin area. Perhaps a friend had a quiet word!

More to come.......

From Kusadasi we went to Haifa for two days. Originally it was to be a day in Ashdod and a day in Haifa. Some weeks ago Ashdod was cancelled. From Haifa it added about an hour each way on to the journey to Jerusalem.

We had not been to Israel before for security reasons and were not sure what to expect. We need not have worried. Apart from Israeli security getting off the ship as well as getting on it we saw very few police or military personnel. The country is well developed having turned desert into farming etc. On the first day we took the 8-hour Leisurely Galilee trip and on the second day we took the 11-hour Glorious Jerusalem trip. The coaches were good and so were the guides. Toilet stops were civilised and I didn’t see a communal hole in the ground any where! The lunch stops were good, one in a kibbutz and the other in the Leonaro Hotel in Jerusalem.

We stopped to see the River Jordan at the south end of the Sea of Galilee. To our amazement it was only about 30 feet wide. Everyone expected it to be at least as wide as the River Thames in London. Jerusalem was not to be missed.

Israel is a small country with a population of about 7.5 m and it is also small geographically. It can fit into Wales, the State of New Jersey, Ontario Lake in Canada and the Kruger National Park. At 18 men are conscripted for 3 years of National Service followed by a month a year in the reserve until about 45. Women do just two years at 18 and that’s all, there is no reserve commitment. The Arabs in Israel don’t join except for some minority Arab parties like the Druze. Orthodox Jews aren’t called up either. It was put to us that they stay at home praying for those who do serve.

All the Israelis we met were very enthusiastic for their country. In fact our first tour guide was born in London. At the age of 22, some eight years ago she left her family and friends, who all thought she was mad, and moved to Haifa and hasn’t regretted a single day.

We had a most enjoyable time in Israel and glad we made the effort to go there. For such a small country it has a lot of negative press and so one is not aware of the positives. One guide told us the three main things Israelis think about are the corruption in high office with a number of high profile politicians now in prison, the on-going problems with Iran, and thirdly, their lousy football (soccer) team which hasn’t qualified for the Fifa World Cup in a generation.

Over the last few years it has been optional whether you want an Israeli stamp in your passport. Anyone wanting one had to positively ask for it and I saw no such request. It is not, for some reason, allowed for the ship to travel directly from Haifa to Egypt so we had to go via an intermediary port, in our case Limassol in Cyprus. It was very hot but it is a pleasant town to spend some time. Just before leaving the Captain said that due to unrest in Egypt the scheduled visit to Alexandria the following day was being cancelled. We would be having a day at sea instead and then visiting Rhodes which was not on the original itinerary.

Queen Elizabeth is a fine ship which we are thoroughly enjoying despite the problems in my first post. Several days have passed since, and apart from the dining room, there are now fewer problems in the cabin area. Perhaps a friend had a quiet word!

More to come.......

Nice to hear that you're enjoying the trip. Thanks for the updates.

Thank you for your very interesting story so far............

When you missed Alexandria what happened to the port fees you have paid? Refunded or given OBC instead, or will they be used for Rhodes? What happened at Mykonos, or does that not count as it is a tender port?

This is fascinating to read. Please continue.

Yes, please...we are scheduled on the same itinerary November 17.

Towards the end of my last piece I wrote that we had had a day in Limassol. Just after we berthed we bumped into two Egyptian immigration officers in the lift (elevator) with wheel along luggage and big grins. They were coming onboard to check our passports prior to our arrival in Alexandria the next day. I suspect they were looking forward to 24 hours on QE with much relaxation after a couple of hours work. Just as we were about to leave Limassol the Captain announced that due to unrest in Egypt we were no longer going to Alexandria. I suspect the Egyptian immigration officers made a hurried retreat with their relaxation plans, courtesy of Cunard, in tatters!

We were now going to Rhodes which wasn’t in the original itinerary with a day at sea at a plodding 7.5 knots beforehand. It was a beautiful day and there are not too many occasions on cruises one can sit on the balcony without a howling gale or it being a little chilly.

On the first sea day I went to the Commodore Club at 2.30 pm hoping to meet some CC members but there was nobody there. Perhaps it is a tradition only on the transatlantic run. It’s not quite true to say there was no-one there. In one corner there were about six Russian men playing cards. They peered at me and the word ‘mafia’ crossed my mind without knowing what a mafia person would look like. They certainly didn’t look like CC members, if I only knew what they looked like! The passenger manifest shows 26 Russian passengers.

The Filipinos have been extraordinarily quiet except for the ‘china town’ in the small Britannia Club restaurant. Their best friend, whoever that is, must have tipped them off! I don’t know what 9 cabins of them do. I have never spotted them in the bars, at the shows, at the shops, in the lectures, at the pictures, in the library, in the Casino, or on the decks. It’s a mystery.

The evening shows have been excellent, and some of the individual performers have been outstanding. The daytime lecturers have been a little thin on the ground but that is understandable with only three sea days. We are not on a transatlantic crossing.

The comments from the other passengers has been very positive except from a diehard P&O passenger on her first Cunard voyage remarking, “ I can’t believe on such an upmarket ship like this there is no silver service in the dining room. We have it on P&O!”

Today we have been in Rhodes. It is a lovely place, straight off the ship and into the old town. If you haven’t been here before I suggest you forget an organised trip.

On the topic of trips, I do wonder how many passengers made their own arrangements in both Mykonos and Alexandria on the internet and paid up front. The ship’s trips are expensive but I do wonder whether the savings of doing your own thing outweigh the aggro if anything goes wrong. As the Captain remarked at one of the ports, we only wait for late arriving passengers when they are on organised trips!

Tomorrow we are in Santorini and then the next day, sadly, we fly back to the UK from Athens.

With the cancellation of Mykonos and the change from Alexandria to Rhodes we were not offered any compensation, like additional OBC, but we were not expecting any.

Today we are in Santorini. It is hot and sunny. The island comprises the outer rim of a volcano with the sea filling the crater. As we sailed into the centre of the enormous crater it appeared as if there was snow on the hills of the outer rim. As we got closer it became apparent the ‘snow’ was in fact houses perched on the top of the cliffs. It was like a hilltop fortress. The ship was at anchor and we were taken to the port of the main town by locally provided tenders; the ship’s tenders are not allowed in Santorini. There is nothing in the port. To get to the hilltop town one had to take a cable car (it got very busy late morning with a huge queue) or walk up the long and steep zig-zag road (like that in San Francisco but much worse) or be taken up on a donkey. We were warned not to use them because they were unpredictable and likely to take off, particularly if you were coming down on one! We didn’t fancy a 4 Euro rodeo ride but some people did!

We took Cunard’s tour ‘Volcano Hike’ which was excellent but the one hour walk was steep in places, on lava grit (slippery) and required navigation of lava boulders. The views were good from the top but it was a bit strenuous getting there. The hike was on an isand outcrop of lava formed by a mini volcano within the larger crater.

The rocks of the outer rim cliffs were very colourful in places, with a thick layer of ash white at the top and thick layers of red, brown and black down to the sea. One of the largest private yachts in the world was at anchor – it looked magnificent. It is named ‘Indian Empress’ and is owned by an Indian Business Baron. It was previously owned by the Quatori Royal Family.

We met some more passengers who were regulars on P&O and felt P&O was a better line. They didn’t rate the meals in the Britannia Restaurant and felt that drinks were overpriced. Several have mentioned the portion of vegetables being very small, like one piece of broccoli or cauliflower and one potato. In the Britannia Club restaurant it is the same but there is an additional a la carte section of starters, mains and additional vegetables like wilted spinach, asparagus, French fries and jacket potatoes. Thus we didn’t have the same problem. We also had flambé sweets which they didn’t have in the Britannia restaurant, but which they did on P&O.

The Britannia Club restaurant is a delightful room in three sections. It is quite long and not too wide so there are many window tables. We were in the section furthest from the entrance with the long table of 17 people, as previously-mentioned, and it was therefore not too good. In the other sections it would have been ok. The staff were courteous; the food was good, as was the service. The restaurant is sited where the Chart Room is positioned on Queen Victoria. An engineer officer told me that the introduction of Britannia Club on QV was expected when it next went in for a dry-dock re-fit in 2014.

We had an uneventful flight back to the UK from Athens today in a BA Cunard charter. There were also two Thomson Cunard charters from Athens to Manchester. The Manchester passengers told me they were only allowed one 20kg case each, whereas it was one 23kg case on BA. Furthermore they told me that from Manchester there was an excess baggage charge of £14 per kg. They were certainly charged for excess baggage but I can't believe it was as steep as that! Also, one person told me he was overwight by 1kg on his 5kg maximum for hand luggage. He alleges he wasn't paying that and stormed through. There were no excess weight charges on BA from London. Neither BA nor Thomson passengers were charged for excess baggage from Athens today. Was there some exploitation in Manchester on the way out, one wonders?!

That's finally it from me and I wish you all happy sailing!

We had an uneventful flight back to the UK from Athens today in a BA Cunard charter. There were also two Thomson Cunard charters from Athens to Manchester. The Manchester passengers told me they were only allowed one 20kg case each, whereas it was one 23kg case on BA. Furthermore they told me that from Manchester there was an excess baggage charge of £14 per kg. They were certainly charged for excess baggage but I can't believe it was as steep as that! Also, one person told me he was overwight by 1kg on his 5kg maximum for hand luggage. He alleges he wasn't paying that and stormed through. There were no excess weight charges on BA from London. Neither BA nor Thomson passengers were charged for excess baggage from Athens today. Was there some exploitation in Manchester on the way out, one wonders?!

 

That's finally it from me and I wish you all happy sailing!

Welcome home and thanks for the posts.

I also send my thanks for your posts... We are on same trip with Lakelodge as well in ~60days ... :)

watching the conditions of the mid-east and Egypt.:(

we were on QE 6th sept holy-land explorer too...

Britannia dining balcony cabin...

BA charters from LHR flights very good and no baggage restrictions...would have been nice if luggage from this charter could have gone direct to the ship at Rome as that airport was a slow horrid hot hell hole

over one hour to stand and wait for the bags and the transfers were abit amateurish initially but once on the coaches deep breaths and forget about it lol.

we had an AMAZING time on QE...simply exceeded all dimensions, she is wonderful.

we had superb weather all trip. went to Capri on the ferry on our own and then on calm seas with one exception with a force 10 on our approach to mykonos where we could not stop which for us didn't matter as we have been there many times...

got extra day at sea and a night in kusadasi which was great.

israel was fab...sea of Galilee for lunch then overnight in Jerusalem so up

early next day and did the old city then back to haifa which wasa nice pretty city for dinner.

off to limassol which is not the best port (cunard should ditch it for Rhodes imho) hired car and went to paphos and swam at Aphrodites pool and rocks.

very pretty. (the only pretty bit around there lol)

Alex was cancelled due to the Muslim hoo-hah which was a shame but extra sea day and then Rhodes was lovely, very chilled out day and we took local bus to lindos and went to st pauls bay little beach for lunch and swimming.

Santorini was a gem as usual...took tender ashore then rather than fight our way to the top for Thira we took a boat from the tender drop-off to the lovely port of Oia at then sunset end of the island and wandered the enchanting village there and had lunch overlooking the the island of Thirassia.

took bus back to thira and cable car down to the tenders.

sadly it was all over and flew home the next day...

amazing string quartet on board and the shows were ok and a bit of fun.

we met lovely people and cannot wait to get back on cunard asap !

our waiters in Britannia, the head waiter and jamie the maitre'd were all superb and the food everywhere around the ship MDR Lido the fish and chips in the pub was all excellent.

for what we paid you could not get 2 weeks in Bournemouth for that!!!!

Good to read all your positive comments about the cruise as we are on the next one leaving on the 17th November and a friend of my sister who was on your cruise was a bit negative.We are hoping to do all the trips independently so any more info about what to see and do at the various ports would be much appreciated.Also as we have not travelled on Cunard before how 'dressy' were women on semi formal nights and how much drink did people take on board we would like to take some to have on our balcony.

Thanks in advance

We were on the QE Sept. 6th Holy land trip. We enjoyed our first Cunard voyage. The ship itself is beautiful, the ports interesting, however I don't see myself booking with Cunard again. Just a little too quiet and staid for my liking.

Your questions have been covered many times, however here is how we handled them.

Alcohol

We brought on board 6 bottles of wine that we had picked up in Fumincino.

Wrapped them up in a few articles of clothing in a shopping bag to keep them from clanking, then walked on with them. They were scanned without anyone raising an eyebrow. We replenished as required with wine and beer at a few duty free shops along the way. The warm weather made sipping a drink on our small veranda a favourite pastime.

We (group of 4) booked private tours ahead of time for Jerusalem/ Dead Sea, Egypt, and Ephesus. The other ports we wandered off for some local sightseeing.

We stressed a bit about our prepaid trip to Cairo, however the vendor Memphis Travel gave a full Visa credit. Meander tours in Kusadasi gave an excellent tour of the Ephesus ruins. Guided Tours Israel provided an incredible guide, former prof of Judean studies. The trips were a bit pricey, but so much better than travelling as part of a small herd.

We finished off with an overnight at the Plaka hotel in the tourist area of the same name. It proved to be a great choice with the rooftop deck and bar, featuring an incredible view of the Acropolis. The streets are filled with shops and curbside restaurants. Loved it.

Dress up time for dinner, I'm afraid I can't comment on, I just wear what my wife tells me. Lots of bow ties for men on formal night, but plenty of men in smart dark business suits.

A word to the fashion police. We met a couple on board that were with out their luggage for the entire cruise. They were not alone, Delta Airlines lost a lot of luggage coming across the pond. These folks had packed to attend all the formal gatherings, but missed out, instead making due with a few articles they were able to gather along the way. Hope they were not frowned upon for daring to leave their cabin without the expected finery on formal evenings. I gather they expected that there luggage would at some point catch up with them. Never did, I envision it having its own tour around the Eastern Med. always one day behind the ship.

Thanks Warren for your comprehensive response,glad you enjoyed your trip,we will certainly take at least half a dozen bottles of wine on board,will buy them at Heathrow.

We also plan to book two tours with Guided Tours Israel will contact them today but will not bother with Ephesus as we have already been there.Not sure about Cairo as we had planned a holiday there before all the troubles started so may wait until another time.

Thanks for the info on dress my partner is planning to take his dinner suit blazer and a light jacket so should be fine it's me who is going on a spending spree,typical woman.... Sounds from previous posts that BA are not too strict about over weight luggage at Heathrow which is a bit of a surprise.

Hope to go to Canada again next year have been to the East Coast twice so may go West next time.

i am sure you will have a great time in november.

dont bank on visiting egypt... situation there volatile at this time...

cunard wont put the ship there if it stays the same as it is.

we went to rhodes instead on HL EXPLR 1 and was very nice

we went to lindos by bus.

taking your own drink on board is no problem at all and you do not have to hide it lol

if you are on the BA charter flights the luggage is not a big problem...

those flights are ba 9220/9221

if you are on a ba flight with 3 numbers ie ba537 then you are on a scheduled flight

and the Y bag allowance is one pc at 23 kgs and 1 hand luggage

 

That's finally it from me and I wish you all happy sailing!

Thank you for posting, I enjoyed reading your comments.

Nice to read you experiences with this itinerary... "Lakelodge"...maybe we'll meet

:) Lori and Ron

Pittsburgh PA

Yes, please...we are scheduled on the same itinerary November 17.

We had an uneventful flight back to the UK from Athens today in a BA Cunard charter. There were also two Thomson Cunard charters from Athens to Manchester. The Manchester passengers told me they were only allowed one 20kg case each, whereas it was one 23kg case on BA. Furthermore they told me that from Manchester there was an excess baggage charge of £14 per kg. They were certainly charged for excess baggage but I can't believe it was as steep as that! Also, one person told me he was overwight by 1kg on his 5kg maximum for hand luggage. He alleges he wasn't paying that and stormed through. There were no excess weight charges on BA from London. Neither BA nor Thomson passengers were charged for excess baggage from Athens today. Was there some exploitation in Manchester on the way out, one wonders?!

 

That's finally it from me and I wish you all happy sailing!

Thanks for the interesting posts.

I, too, keep within the luggage allowance limits and sometimes wonder why I bother, especially as my stowed luggage seems to be the same weight as overhead luggage that some people take on board.

I worry about being injured by flying luggage or bottles of alcohol in the overhead, but seems like I am the only one.

i am sure you will have a great time in november.

dont bank on visiting egypt... situation there volatile at this time...

cunard wont put the ship there if it stays the same as it is.

 

we went to rhodes instead on HL EXPLR 1 and was very nice

we went to lindos by bus.

 

taking your own drink on board is no problem at all and you do not have to hide it lol

 

if you are on the BA charter flights the luggage is not a big problem...

those flights are ba 9220/9221

if you are on a ba flight with 3 numbers ie ba537 then you are on a scheduled flight

and the Y bag allowance is one pc at 23 kgs and 1 hand luggage

I was quite perplexed to read on a different thread that people were encouraging a voyager to go ahead without a guide in Alexandria. I did not post to the contrary as at least one poster was there recently and went without a guide. As much as I love the Egypt of old....before the Spring sprung, I would always have advised using a tour guide for convenience, knowledge, and being able to walk without harassment....nothing sinister.....just salespeople doing their thing.

Thanks for all the very helpful posts. We too are on the Novemer 17th Holy Land "adventure", so all noted with interest!

Susan & John

Northumberland, UK

I was quite perplexed to read on a different thread that people were encouraging a voyager to go ahead without a guide in Alexandria. I did not post to the contrary as at least one poster was there recently and went without a guide. As much as I love the Egypt of old....before the Spring sprung, I would always have advised using a tour guide for convenience, knowledge, and being able to walk without harassment....nothing sinister.....just salespeople doing their thing.

well as you know we did not go to Alex in Sept due to the hoo-hah which imho

will mean the Alex stop in Nov is 50-50...

our intentions were a ships tour to el alamaein which i was looking forward to

then an afternoon wandering the corniche and a late lunch at the fish market.

i would not have been too troubled wandering the main drags in Alex on our own.

most guests were booked on trips to Cairo though.

however if the violence and demos flair up again then Alex in November will likely be dropped.

We have been in touch with two local tour company's re a tour of Alex,Ramses Tours Egypt and Egypt Day Tours. Both have good reviews but don't know whether to opt for a full day or half day tour. Any views on this and has anyone booked with either of these two company's?

Lets hope we do stop at this port and not another Greek Island.

We have been in touch with two local tour company's re a tour of Alex,Ramses Tours Egypt and Egypt Day Tours. Both have good reviews but don't know whether to opt for a full day or half day tour. Any views on this and has anyone booked with either of these two company's?

 

Lets hope we do stop at this port and not another Greek Island.

sincerely hope you do get to Alex in Nov.

we were sorely miffed at losing out in Sept but Rhodes plus a sea day was

actually a joy for us after 2 busy wonderful days in Israel.

we had planned in Alex a half day to El Alamaein via the ships tour reasonable at 50 dollars.

but i had approached Alex city travel who were recommended.

they offered nice tours to pyramids, saqharra and the Nile.

down-town Cairo would be best avoided imho.

let us know what happens!