New contact person at Ramses?

[dijid]

It seems that everyone here references dealing with Mr. George at Ramses for their Alexandria/Cairo excursions. When I contacted them, my email was returned by Mohy. A search of this forum didn't get many hits for Mohy and none with any real info. When I did contact Ramses, I asked several questions, and just got a cut & paste from their website in return - no answers my questions. I had to ask a second time before getting an answer.

 

In addition, the 4* hotel options they say are with the tour, are actually in Giza and rated rather poorly on TripAdvisor.

 

I'm starting to doubt whether I am dealing with the same company that everyone speaks highly of. Has there been a change in management? Anything I need to be aware of? Thanks.

[Gordo]

We have had the same experience with our interactions with Ramses Tours and have concerns about whether we should use them during our time in Egypt. Visting Cairo has been something we have wanted to do for so long and don't want to leave this tour to chance.

[mswmurf]

i think you are correct. I used Ramses Tour in Nov 2010. I had planned this vacation with Mr. George for almost a year. He was always prompted with his emails and he promised me a trip of a lifetime. When i arrived in alexandria. i met the contact person who wasnt Mr. George. When i inquired about Mr. George, I got a vague response( i truly cant remember what they said). Their response led me to believe that Mr. George wasnt working with the company any longer. That being said, there were some things in my itinerary which wasnt on the tour conductor's itinerary, such as per my itinerary, we were suppose to pay $45 for the Nile dinner cruise and he mad an announcement on the bus we were paying $55. Once i showed him my itinerary, he went along with my price. Additionally, Mr. George moved my group to the Mena House with no additional charge( fortunately i saved the email) When the tour conductor made an announcement about the full payment, he added thirty more dollars on the price. I showed him my email, he told me he wasnt sure if his company could honor my price. I politely told him that everyone on our bus, i had forty-five people, was prepared to pay the total on my email and no more. He called his company and they honored my email. I would suggest to make sure you bring your email with you and review the email with the tour conductor prior to getting on the bus.

[Zukini]

Hmmmmm. Same here. I made my original booking through Mr. George during the summer, and things went fairly smooth, though there was a lot of back and forth presumably due to translation difficulties.

 

Since our cruise is now approaching, and there had been a few negative reviews of Ramses posted on Cruise Critic, I decided to contact them and clarify a few things. The responses that came back were unsigned, no reference to Mr. George, and had practically no relationship to the questions I had asked. After a bit of back and forth, I researched some other tour companies, and found a different one to my liking and made a fresh booking with them.

 

When I contacted Ramses again to cancel, I started getting responses from "Yousef" the "Quality Control Manager". He's been offering me progressively larger discounts if I retain my booking, but at this point, I'm insistent on a cancellation.

 

It's probably nothing more than the usual language difficulties, but it was just starting to make me feel uneasy that it was becoming hard to get a clear answer from them. For what it's worth, I haven't received anything from "Mohy".

[mswmurf]

Yoseuf was the guy i met in egypt.

 

Prior to my cruise in November, i started reading negative reviews about Ramses as well. I email Ramses Tours and told them i was thinking about canceling as i had a large group and they were reading the boards as well. Some of the complaints were the tour conductor didnt speak English very well and they tour person didnt have a good knowledge about the history of egypt. They told me not to cancel and i would have a trip of a lifetime.

 

My trip went well. Because we had a large group, we were given an armed security guard who kept watch of us. We saw a lot in the short amount of time we were there. Our tour conductor spoke wonderful english and had a great grasp of egyptian history. He truly made the egyptian museum come to life. In fact, when he was giving his summary of certain areas and we did not appear to be interested, you could tell that his feelings were hurt.

 

The pyramids were awesome, however the peddlers got on your NERVES!!! Even if you didnt give them eye contact or yelled no in the egyptian language, they still hounded you. Some were so rude by blocking your view with the their camels. On a positive note, if you are interested in shopping, they did have some great deals. Our guide tried convincing us to not buy from them as all they had was junk. He took us to the government store where the prices were extremely high with no bartering. Please remember the old cliche,"one person's junk is someone else's treasure". If you are looking for trinkets, buy at the stops and not at the govt store. I got papyrus two for a dollar. No they arent the original ones, even though i did purchase some of them as well, they do make nice christmas gifts in a frame. They have a set of glass pyramids for three dollars. Just remember to take plenty of dollar bills and always barter. I did not pay more than three dollars for any items at the stop.

[dijid]

Thanks for the responses. Unfortunately, they're not all that reassuring. It does seem that there have been some changes at Ramses. I had more questions for them and will see if I get more than a cut & paste or 6 word response this time. I do think I'm going to ask about Mr. George and if there has been a change in the company.

 

I've also sent an email to request a quote from a different company and will see if they are more responsive.

[BigGuy25]

Sorry to hear all these concerns about Ramses. We used them back in July out of Port Said (with Hany as our guide) and had a great day. But, companies are only as good as their people, and it looks like losing George was not good for the company!!

[dog]

I just checked all my correspondence with Ramsestours.com and noticed responses from all three: Mohy at the end of June 2010 when I inquired about the tour price without the hotel (as I wanted to arrange my own hotel & dinner).

I also had a response from M.yousef for Mr. George with the cut and paste Option 1 itinerary back in May 2010.

And then I made my revisions for the tour I wanted and M.yousef for Mr. George sent me a reply with the confirmation number.

 

I asked for specific information and got the answers.

 

I do see the concern some are having with a couple of negative reports/communication problems people have posted on cc recently and I think by all means you will be more comfortable with changing your plans.

 

 

 

Hoping we all get that tour of a lifetime with whatever company we choose.:)

[ritraveler]

Hi...I sent an e-mail asking questions to Ramses and my response came from Mohy George....Mohy is apparently Mr. George...I don't think he has left the company and from what I've seen , there haven't really been that many complaints about this company...just several posts from the same few people that have had problems....I will continue to monitor the reviews, but I don't think I'll cancel just yet...still seems like most people have had a great experience with them

[Mexfolkart]

I have been hearing from a man named Yousry at Ramses for all my correspondence. beginning to get worried now..also, am not getting all the answers that I want. I had asked for a guide and he said "we will give you...." but how do I know that!!!

Sherry

[mswmurf]

I dont mean to be the bearer of bad news, however the Mr. George i was dealing with a year ago first name started with an H and not a M. Later on i started getting emails from M.yoseuf for H. George. See below:

 

 

H.George ( i received this in 2009)

Senior International Sales Executive

Ramses Travel Group of Egypt.

Main office : 144 Garden city semoha,

Alexandria,

Egypt.

MSN: info@ramsestours.com

Direct Phone :002/01057-593-64

Cell n :002/01005-386-23

Fax :002034248426

Email:info@ramsestours.com

www.ramsestours.com

 

 

M.yousef for H.George ( i received this in 7/2010)

Senior International Sales Executive

Ramses Travel Group of Egypt.

Main office : 102 Garden city semoha,

Alexandria,

Egypt.

Direct Phone : 002/0105759364

Cell n : 002/0105759364

Office phone :002/ 034255918

Fax :002/ 034255918

 

In my opinion, The H george i was dealing with is not at the company. Nevertheless, i did have a good time despite who was in charge.

[Capricruiser]

I too have received correspondence recently from Mohy who says he represents Mr. George. From my limited experience the past couple years, George and Yousef are the prime movers in Ramses Tours and this Mohy is a new entry. Remember that the guides who actually move the excursions are mostly free-lance and are paid by Ramses (and other local tour operators) to conduct a certain tour.

Ramses Tours is based in Alexandria. The Ramses with the Cairo office is another tour operator.

[Turtles06]

I dont mean to be the bearer of bad news, however the Mr. George i was dealing with a year ago first name started with an H and not a M. Later on i started getting emails from M.yoseuf for H. George.

 

 

Same here. I corresponded with Ramses in late 2009 and early 2010 regarding a tour last winter, and my correspondence was with H. George and Mr. Yousef.

[itil4get09]

 

H.George ( i received this in 2009)

Senior International Sales Executive

Ramses Travel Group of Egypt.

Main office : 144 Garden city semoha,

Alexandria,

Egypt.

MSN: info@ramsestours.com

Direct Phone :002/01057-593-64

Cell n :002/01005-386-23

Fax :002034248426

Email:info@ramsestours.com

www.ramsestours.com

 

 

M.yousef for H.George ( i received this in 7/2010)

Senior International Sales Executive

Ramses Travel Group of Egypt.

Main office : 102 Garden city semoha,

Alexandria,

Egypt.

Direct Phone : 002/0105759364

Cell n : 002/0105759364

Office phone :002/ 034255918

Fax :002/ 034255918

 

quote]

 

I've been contacting Ramses Tour this week and Mohy has been the one replying my emails. I'm rather puzzled to notice that there have been changes (since 7/2010?) to their Alexandria main office address (green text), direct phone (blue text) as well as cell phone (red text) although their email address and website remain same.

 

Mohy H.George

Senior International Sales Executive

Ramses Travel Group of Egypt.

2006 Winner of Egyptian Express Travel Services

Representative Excellence Award

Main office : 120 Taalat Harb,

Alexandria.

Egypt.

Direct Phone : 002/0101189973

Cell n : 002/0102142948

Email:info@ramsestours.com

www.ramsestours.com

[havcamwiltravel]

I too have received correspondence recently from Mohy who says he represents Mr. George. From my limited experience the past couple years, George and Yousef are the prime movers in Ramses Tours and this Mohy is a new entry. Remember that the guides who actually move the excursions are mostly free-lance and are paid by Ramses (and other local tour operators) to conduct a certain tour.

Ramses Tours is based in Alexandria. The Ramses with the Cairo office is another tour operator.

 

Just to add my two cents worth, I have been in communication with Ramses Tours since early October and all communications have been very smooth and Mohy has been my contact. I have asked many questions and have always received a response within 24 hours. The emails have all been signed as follows:

Mohy for H.George

Senior International Sales Executive

Ramses Travel Group of Egypt.

2006 Winner of Egyptian Express Travel Services

Representative Excellence Award

Main office : 120 Taalat Harb,

Alexandria.

Egypt.

Direct Phone : 002/0101189973

Cell n : 002/0102142948

Email:info@ramsestours.com

http://www.ramsestours.com

 

2006 Winner of Egyptian Express Travel Services

Representative Excellence Award

 

Emergency cell number 24 hours day 002-0102142948 Mr. yousef

 

we promise you with the tour of your life time in Egypt

 

So you can see that Mohy is either the person replacing H. George or his agent. What this means, as far as I can see, is that this is the same Ramses Tours that has received mostly positive reviews for many years on CruiseCritic. I have not seen a sudden increase in negative reviews but I can't say I've read every post. So, I see no reason for alarm and I plan on staying with this company until I see something concrete to sway my opinion.

For those wondering about another Ramses tour company, it does exist but its website is at http://www.ramsestours.net. The one I am dealing with, the Ramses Tours that receives so many positive posts is http://www.ramsestours.com/

[dog]

Received this reply this morning from H.George, himself:

 

Greetings from Ramses Travel Company of Egypt

 

- i do reconfirm your tour with ******** **** as your tour guide

- concerning the water, you will have a bottle per day for each one

- as for the felucca ride and the photo with the camel : is

complementary (free)

- I am George

- no there is no change in the company ownership or management

_______________________________________

 

H.George

Senior International Sales Executive

Ramses Travel Group of Egypt.

2006 Winner of Egyptian Express Travel Services

Representative Excellence Award

Main office : 120 Taalat Harb,

Alexandria.

Egypt.

Direct Phone : 002/0101189973

Cell n : 002/0102142948

Email:info@ramsestours.com

http://www.ramsestours.com

 

2006 Winner of Egyptian Express Travel Services

Representative Excellence Award

 

Emergency cell number 24 hours day 002-0102142948 Mr. yousef

 

we promise you with the tour of your life time in Egypt

______________________________________________________________

Hope this current information helps clarify a few things

we've been discussing.

Thanks to all those who have posted re: their experiences with

ramsestours.com:)

[Deckhandoug]

I tried to book with Ramses, my questions also came back unanswered and when they kept asking for my info over and over after I had provided it, I gave up and cancelled, I wasn't going to continue if the booking process was that confusing for them and I sure wasn't feeling good about it.

 

The responses to my questions seemed to be just cut and paste also, I wondered if anyone had actually read and understood them, because they sure didn't answer my questions.

 

I've booked with Egypt private excursions instead, I've had good response from them.

[mswmurf]

Dog,

 

When i did a lot of research on my egypt cruise, i read alot of information on this board about each tour operator. I also remember reading that the tour operators read these boards to see what people are saying about their trip. Clearly ramses tour read what was being said about the change becuase If you look at the emergency cell phone number and H George's cell phone number it is the same number which is yoseuf.

 

That being said it doesnt mean that you wont get a trip of a lifetime. I had a great time and our guide took wonderful care of us. Our only snafu was the price had increased after i booked and once i showed them my price, they honored it.

[dijid]

In the end, you can only do what you are comfortable with. And I have decided I'm not comfortable with Ramses. While the recent reviews have still be positive (it seems one person has posted their negative experience many times), I'm just not willing to take a risk on my once-in-a-lifetime trip. I communicate regularly in a language that I am not entirely fluent in (conversational yes, fluent no) and am very familiar with what are normal language barriers. I got the feeling it was more than that with my emails.

 

Actually, I think I'm glad that this came up, because I wouldn't have searched elsewhere. I got a better price, and a better hotel, from another company. They're not mentioned very frequently here, but have positive reviews when they are, and are well-reviewed on TripAdvisor as well.

 

May we all have the "trip of a lifetime"!

[havcamwiltravel]

In the end, you can only do what you are comfortable with. And I have decided I'm not comfortable with Ramses. While the recent reviews have still be positive (it seems one person has posted their negative experience many times), I'm just not willing to take a risk on my once-in-a-lifetime trip. I communicate regularly in a language that I am not entirely fluent in (conversational yes, fluent no) and am very familiar with what are normal language barriers. I got the feeling it was more than that with my emails.

 

Actually, I think I'm glad that this came up, because I wouldn't have searched elsewhere. I got a better price, and a better hotel, from another company. They're not mentioned very frequently here, but have positive reviews when they are, and are well-reviewed on TripAdvisor as well.

 

May we all have the "trip of a lifetime"!

 

In the end, DIJID, you can only do what we are all doing, and that is: check on the facts, count the number of positive reviews, and go with your own judgment. After that, there is still no one tour company who can really guarantee that you will assuredly "have a trip of a lifetime". With all the facts and opinions that are in, so far, the weight of cruisers' opinions on this site gives Ramses a favorable review.

 

The bulk of recent negative reviews, of late, seem to be coming from one poster in particular. There are some who are questioning insignificant details about Ramses changes in personnel and cellphone numbers but even after the information is verified, it still doesn't seem to allay those people's fear. There are also a couple of people who say they are having trouble communicating with them. The greatest bulk of recent and past reviews are positive and few seem to have ever had trouble communicating with the company.

 

So, as in any election, there are ballots that must get thrown out because they are spoiled and I have never heard of an election yet that didn't have any. The results, for me, are overwhelmingly in favor of Ramses Tours' performance.

 

Before I'm accused of being a huckster, I will say that I did check with several other tour companies and they ALL gave me quick replies and ALL had a level of communication that made it possible for me to communicate my needs. On this site, all of those companies have received very good reviews but none have achieved a level of 100% positive reviews. So after all is said and done, you do your research, and go with the ones with the most experience and the most positive reviews. From what I see, your risk is minimized with a good number of the companies receiving many positive reviews on this site; that list certainly includes Ramses Tours.

[Mexfolkart]

I had expressed concern because our contact person seemed to be different with Ramses..then I realized that we are going FROM Cairo TO Alexandria and back as we are doing this BEFORE our cruise so we are obviously dealing with

a Cairo man. We also have hired them for the Sound and Light show. They have honoured our request for a certain guide and we will stay with them. Glad this has all been brought up and discussed though. We all want a tour to remember!!

Sherry

[lucille&mike]

Unless you have an issue with Ramses as we did, you will not be speaking with Mr. George directly. It will be someone responding on behalf of Mr. George. If there is an issue you will be sent to Mr. George or another owner of the company. Seems like there might be a total of 4 people that we ended up speaking with. Unfortunately for them, it does not seem like one knows what the other is doing. This may also be due to the inevitable language barrier. Any company you choose, have a great trip!

[Jade13]

I had expressed concern because our contact person seemed to be different with Ramses..then I realized that we are going FROM Cairo TO Alexandria and back as we are doing this BEFORE our cruise so we are obviously dealing with

a Cairo man. We also have hired them for the Sound and Light show. They have honoured our request for a certain guide and we will stay with them. Glad this has all been brought up and discussed though. We all want a tour to remember!!

Sherry

 

Which guide are you using who has been recommended? Thanks.

[Mexfolkart]

A mohammed was recommended but we were trying to find out which one!!! S.

[tiyana4]

A mohammed was recommended but we were trying to find out which one!!! S.

 

I was one of the people who recommended Mohammed. I will email Ramses to see which one it was and let you know.