Advice for stops in Alexandria and Port Said

[VirtualRain]

Hi, we are on a NCL cruise that stops in Egypt in October.

I'm wondering what your advice would be on the following questions...

- What of these two ports (Alexandria vs Port Said) is best to just stay local and explore, shop, eat?

- Depending on the answer to the above question, we will likely book an excursion or day tour to the Pyramids and Egyptian Museum at the other port

- I hope the new Grand Egyptian Museum is open by the time we visit - what are the latest rumours?

- Is it best to book an NCL excursion or a 3rd party tour? (The ship tours are fairly expensive at $300pp)

- Any good 3rd party tour operators you would recommend?

 

Thank you kindly in advance for your thoughts!!!

-Chris.

[VirtualRain]

No one has been to Alexandria or Port Said?

 

Anyone?! :D

[Pushka]

On 4/26/2023 at 3:50 AM, VirtualRain said:

No one has been to Alexandria or Port Said?

 

Anyone?! 😄

We will be in Port Said in a month and have booked a private tour to the Pyramids, Felucca on the Nile and a trip to the Bazaar. Port Said is the gateway to Giza and Cairo. We are using Egypt Day Tours. 

Edited April 27, 2023 by Pushka

[VirtualRain]

On 4/27/2023 at 5:38 AM, Pushka said:

We will be in Port Said in a month and have booked a private tour to the Pyramids, Felucca on the Nile and a trip to the Bazaar. Port Said is the gateway to Giza and Cairo. We are using Egypt Day Tours. 

Thanks... I will look into Egypt Day Tours... how did you come across them? Why did you choose them?

[9tee2Sea]

On 4/19/2023 at 1:54 PM, VirtualRain said:

Hi, we are on a NCL cruise that stops in Egypt in October.

I'm wondering what your advice would be on the following questions...

- What of these two ports (Alexandria vs Port Said) is best to just stay local and explore, shop, eat?

- Depending on the answer to the above question, we will likely book an excursion or day tour to the Pyramids and Egyptian Museum at the other port

- I hope the new Grand Egyptian Museum is open by the time we visit - what are the latest rumours?

- Is it best to book an NCL excursion or a 3rd party tour? (The ship tours are fairly expensive at $300pp)

- Any good 3rd party tour operators you would recommend?

 

Thank you kindly in advance for your thoughts!!!

-Chris.

We were on NCL a few months back ( Dubai- Athens) with stops in Egypt.  I would HIGHLY recommend doing the overnight shore excursion tour from NCL in Egypt.  It may be pricey, but so worth it.  The tour left Port Said, drove thru many areas to get to Valley of The Kings ( had about  1 hour there).  Drove back to Luxor to tour the ruins ( about another hour), stayed overnight in a hotel on the Nile River.  Next morning, were were flown to Cairo to get a tour of the Pyramids ( rode a camel)  and the Egyptian Museum.  Flew us back to from Cairo to the the port where we got back on the ship.  One of the best shore excursions ever.  

[cruisemom42]

On 4/29/2023 at 11:48 AM, 9tee2Sea said:

We were on NCL a few months back ( Dubai- Athens) with stops in Egypt.  I would HIGHLY recommend doing the overnight shore excursion tour from NCL in Egypt.  It may be pricey, but so worth it.  The tour left Port Said, drove thru many areas to get to Valley of The Kings ( had about  1 hour there).  Drove back to Luxor to tour the ruins ( about another hour), stayed overnight in a hotel on the Nile River.  Next morning, were were flown to Cairo to get a tour of the Pyramids ( rode a camel)  and the Egyptian Museum.  Flew us back to from Cairo to the the port where we got back on the ship.  One of the best shore excursions ever.  

 

It doesn't sound like VirtualRain is on a ship that will transit the Suez Canal. Port Said and Alexandria are both far from Luxor on the Northern (Mediterranean) side....

 

[cruisemom42]

VR, my post will be a bit dated but as it seems there have been few cruises stopping in Egypt recently, maybe my experiences will be helpful.  I've visited Egypt on four cruises (in different ways and different years) as well as a land tour.

 

With ships that stop in Port Said and Alexandria, you basically have two main choices. Spend one day in Alexandria seeing the sights there and use the Port Said day (hopefully your first day and a long one) to go to Cairo and see a FEW of the sights there.  OR you can choose to do an overnight where you leave the ship in one port, spend the night in a hotel in Cairo, and then return to the ship at the other port. 

 

I've done it both ways and also using ship tours (first time) and private tours.

 

I seem to recall that you are a keen photographer -- if you are into the "iconic" (and very photogenic) Egyptian sites, then I would suggest you try to find a private tour that will help you plan an overnight to Cairo. I would recommend you plan to visit the Great Pyramids and Sphinx (in Giza, just outside Cairo) -- that's a no-brainer. Other sites I've visited that lend themselves to photography are the Khan-el-Khalili bazaar (get past the touristy area), and some of the mosques/madrasas in the old city. One guide took me on a walk along an old street in Cairo with several beautiful mosques, old storefronts, etc. -- if you want more details I can dig out my old notes. Another guide took me to the City of the Dead, but I'm not sure if this is safe any longer -- it's basically an Ottoman cemetery with huge mausoleums built for pashas and the like which have now been co-opted as houses for the living. Kind of a surreal place. The area of Cairo known as the Coptic quarter is also very scenic but given recent troubles (bombing of churches in the area), it may be more difficult to get into them now.

 

Of course you will want to spend some time at the Egyptian Museum as well, hopefully the new GEM (Grand Egyptian Museum) will be open in Giza by the time you go....otherwise the old museum in Cairo on Tahrir Square may well be rather bare.

 

Some things I found disappointing from a photo op point of view were an early morning cruise on the Nile (too hazy for good photos and not scenic when done from Cairo -- you just end up with hazy photos of dated high-rises).  Now if you could get far enough south of Cairo to embark a fellucca, it might be worth it. The other spot I would avoid is the Citadel and Alabaster mosque. Sounds good in theory, but again, the haze of Cairo doesn't allow for great photos.

 

Unfortunately, although I used two different private guides on different visits (one of them so good I used them twice), it has been long enough that I wouldn't feel comfortable recommending them; I'm not even sure they are still in business...

 

As for Alexandria, I like it for its history and it does have some sights worth visiting. There are several sets of catacombs (carved out of the underground rock) that are interesting, as well as the not-huge Greco-Roman museum. Unfortunately the Alexandria Museum did little to inspire me as to its ancient glory.  Visiting the Qait Bey (sp?) tower, which may have been the lighthouse of Alexandria, on the other hand, I enjoyed very much. A lot of the ancient ruins are not as spectacular as Cairo's Egyptian ruins of course, but there is a small Roman odeon with some other nearby sites (including items salvaged from the sea that date to the era of Cleopatra and her predecessors, the Ptolomaic pharaohs).

 

Alexandria also has some beautiful mosques. When I was there in 2010 there was one (Al Mursi, do a search for images) which had just been cleaned and it literally glowed in the late afternoon sun. 

 

If you want more info as you advance your planning, I'm happy to help. I don't visit this board very often but if you quote me or tag me, I'll see it.

[VirtualRain]

On 5/3/2023 at 4:59 AM, cruisemom42 said:

 

 

If you want more info as you advance your planning, I'm happy to help. I don't visit this board very often but if you quote me or tag me, I'll see it.

 

Thank you kindly for the great insights and advice... much appreciated.

 

I think we would like to spend one day in Alexandria exploring that city and do a day tour from Port Said to see the Pyramids, Sphinx, and Museum.  I'll see if we can also fit in the Khan-el-Khalili bazaar.  And I think unless the new museum is open, we will actually skip the museum and ask for a visit to old town instead.

 

ps. it's amazing you remember that I'm into photography. I've not been on these boards for many years... mostly because we didn't cruise at all during Covid and are just now getting back to it.  I remember many of our discussions... probably going back over 10 years now. 🙂

Edited May 4, 2023 by VirtualRain

[scanr]

On 4/19/2023 at 4:54 PM, VirtualRain said:

Hi, we are on a NCL cruise that stops in Egypt in October.

I'm wondering what your advice would be on the following questions...

- What of these two ports (Alexandria vs Port Said) is best to just stay local and explore, shop, eat?

- Depending on the answer to the above question, we will likely book an excursion or day tour to the Pyramids and Egyptian Museum at the other port

- I hope the new Grand Egyptian Museum is open by the time we visit - what are the latest rumours?

- Is it best to book an NCL excursion or a 3rd party tour? (The ship tours are fairly expensive at $300pp)

- Any good 3rd party tour operators you would recommend?

 

Thank you kindly in advance for your thoughts!!!

-Chris.

Did your ship make it to Egypt?  Did you do an overnight tour?