REVIEW - Jade, 12 day Western Med

[CruisinEurope]

Great review and I have forwarded the link to our rollcall Mar 29th sailing.

One question, you said you did Athens on your own. Are the street signs in just the greek letters or are they written in normal ?? letters. I have good walking instructions to the places we want to go but when I download the google map the streets are only in the greek letters...

Thanks for any help you can give

 

Cheryl

 

Honestly, I didn't notice the street signs, but the metro was easy to use. the stops were announced and spelled in both Greek and english.

 

Sorry I can't be of more help.

[CruisinEurope]

Thoroughly enjoyed your review. DD (16) and I are on Jade doing same iten. March 2010. Your review was fantastic & provided so much information for what will be our first venture to Europe and first time on NCL.

 

I've bookmarked your links for tour operators. Have tons of time to research and plan and your review has really been helpful.

 

Thanks so much!

 

You can never start planning early enough. LOL :D

 

If you KNOW you want a specific company, or guide, it's always best to book them as soon as you can.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[ukbecky]

I really hated Egypt (but it was my favorite port on this cruise just because it was so different),

but I never felt unsafe.

Most of the time I felt like an animal at the zoo - in my bus, behind glass, with people openly staring at me wherever I went. Very weird.

 

Great advice about dropping vendors' stuff on the ground - once we started doing that, they stopped following us. I have never been rude to a vendor but found myself shouting at the ones at the pyramids. Trying to get the 'perfect shot' of my kids, only to have some costumed man plop down next to them at the last second or, my favorite, the man who parked his camel's butt in my face as I was trying to take a picture of my children.

 

Major road signs in Athens and Piraeus were translated but signs on the mostly pedestrianized streets themselves were in Greek letters. We spent hours walking around Athens without getting lost or having any problems at all.

[CruisinEurope]

I would have a real hard time with someone putting something on me. That's way to invasive for me.

 

It just seems too dangerous to take a chance on visiting here. If you need an armed guard on the NCL bus, there must be a reason. It's not just for kicks. If you can't trust the police with a camera, can you imagine what would happen if you're stranded on a broken down bus in the middle of nowwhere? Would one armed guard be enough? I would never want to bring my kids into a situation like this. It would be so easy for them to be grabbed. Perhaps I'm overreacting, but this doesn't seem like a great, safe family port of call.

 

OP, I'm truly glad you saw it but I'm just as glad that you're done with it. :)

 

well, REALLY, it's not life threatening - just ANNOYING.

 

The armed guards are so that no one COMES on the bus and takes our stuff that we leave on there while we're out sightseeing or at lunch (thats how it was explained to me anyway).

 

If I had gone w/ my private guide Emad - I would not have had an armed guard, nor would we have needed one since he's a big Egyptian MAN who would have been with us all the time - acting as our "shield" from the vendors/etc.

 

Like I keep trying to stress - we NEVER feared for our SAFETY - - it was really just more an invasion of personal space and extremely annoying "business men" and camels and what not.

 

I think that I'd agree with you that it's certainly not a "family" type port - -but it IS a great one for the history alone. Just go armed with what to expect and prepare accordingly depending on your personal preferences and tolerances.

 

:D

[CruisinEurope]

You have made a HUGE difference in my vacation plans! I live on Salt Spring Island,Canada with my two sons, aged 15 and 11. WE are just setting out for the airport where we will be travelling to London for a few days before our cruise on the Norwegian Jade on Feb 15. I lived in London for three years, so understand your comments abour living in Europe. Your very thorough review of the ship will be most helpful, I plan to print it and read it in detail on the plane. Not having cruised before (nor having used cruise critic before), I'm very foolishly quite late in booking my excursions. I've booked Athens taxi on the recommendation of another NCL patron, but am primarily concerned with the Alexandria part now. My two sons will definitely want a camel ride, but probably don't need to stay two days in Cairo. I hate to take advantage of the wonderful research you did without reaping the benefit of it, but perhaps you could feel like you struggle was not all in vain if others could learn from it. How may I contact the fellow you think you should have travelled with?

 

Thanks again.

 

 

Hi there! You CAN get a camel ride - just negotiate and be FIRM about the price BEFORE hand.

 

NCL also offers a really neat looking camel / jeep safari excursion too. Maybe check that out. Not sure if there were age restrictions or not, but I bet your kids are old enough.

 

If you email me, I can hook you up with Emad.

 

My email is FreedomWithCandles @ gmail.com

 

Enjoy your trip!!!

[CruisinEurope]

I really hated Egypt (but it was my favorite port on this cruise just because it was so different),

but I never felt unsafe.

Most of the time I felt like an animal at the zoo - in my bus, behind glass, with people openly staring at me wherever I went. Very weird.

 

Great advice about dropping vendors' stuff on the ground - once we started doing that, they stopped following us. I have never been rude to a vendor but found myself shouting at the ones at the pyramids. Trying to get the 'perfect shot' of my kids, only to have some costumed man plop down next to them at the last second or, my favorite, the man who parked his camel's butt in my face as I was trying to take a picture of my children.

 

Major road signs in Athens and Piraeus were translated but signs on the mostly pedestrianized streets themselves were in Greek letters. We spent hours walking around Athens without getting lost or having any problems at all.

 

 

Great post!

 

That was probably the worst thing for me too - - trying to get my DH and kids in a great shot and then having some guy try to get in the picture TOO so that he could demand payment. ICK!

 

I also love the way you captured EXACTLY what it feels like - an animal behind glass being stared at the entire time. I kind of wished that the bus's windows were not "see in" - that would have helped a LOT.

 

LOL!

 

LOVED Ephesus and enjoyed Athens too! I agree - walking or taking the metro is SO easy in Athens - a ships tour would be a waste of $$ (IMHO).

 

 

Ok - so now I'm ready to go back on the cruise! Who has room in their luggage for me???

[insidecabin]

I would have a real hard time with someone putting something on me. That's way to invasive for me.

 

It just seems too dangerous to take a chance on visiting here. If you need an armed guard on the NCL bus, there must be a reason. It's not just for kicks. If you can't trust the police with a camera, can you imagine what would happen if you're stranded on a broken down bus in the middle of nowwhere? Would one armed guard be enough? I would never want to bring my kids into a situation like this. It would be so easy for them to be grabbed. Perhaps I'm overreacting, but this doesn't seem like a great, safe family port of call.

 

OP, I'm truly glad you saw it but I'm just as glad that you're done with it. :)

 

It is actualy very safe and they take the tourist industry very seriously that's one reason there are toursit police everywhere you go and they are on the lookout for real trouble,

 

https://www.osac.gov/Reports/report.cfm?contentID=80036

 

"The risk of being involved in a car accident was the greatest threat to Western travelers to Egypt"

 

If you google nearly all the westener deaths over the last year have been road accidents, and a WW2 bomb.

 

Poor pay, so give them your camera to take a picture and they want a donation thats the way it is including the tourist police, easier just to keep it to yourself and get one of the other passengers to take your picture.

 

The Bus security(plane clothed tourist police) is to keep the bus and your belongings safe, so you can get on and off as you like at each stop.

 

Vendors know that a lot of westeners get intimidated by the close contact and that is why it works, a lot will just buy something to get them to stop and go away when all you have to do is throw their stuff away.

 

Places like Barcelona,Rome,Lisbon I think are much more dangerous because there they will rob(pick pockets) you and try to sell you drugs.

 

The place is not idilic and you do get hastled a lot at some of the sites, these are amazing it's a must do before you die kind of place.

 

Cairo is however the biggest discusting place I have ever been, plenty of smaller places are as bad, and some big places have small pockets, but the scale of the rubbish and polution is something to be seen in Cairo.

 

Reports from other parts of Egypt give a picture of a much better country to visit.

We have done both Tunisia and Morocco so have some other North African counties to compare against.

 

Would we go again yes, we still would like to do the museum and a Nile cruise will bring in some of the other wonders that egypt has to offer.

 

 

Certainly hear about more deaths and maniac school shootings in the US than we ever do about tourist deaths in Egypt and many other places put together.

[Educators2]

Hi,

I forgot to ask about the ship's movement. Did anyone get seasick? On sea days, could you walk outside or was it too windy? I know every cruise is different but some locations are more prone to bad weather (e.g., Bermuda triange). We're on the March 8th trip. Thanks for your help.

Susan

[CruisinEurope]

Hi,

I forgot to ask about the ship's movement. Did anyone get seasick? On sea days, could you walk outside or was it too windy? I know every cruise is different but some locations are more prone to bad weather (e.g., Bermuda triange). We're on the March 8th trip. Thanks for your help.

Susan

 

I'm not prone to seasickness, but DID feel the movement of the ship more than I thought I would. Sometimes though, we had heavy duty seas and HIGH winds...

 

Hubby is in the Navy, and loved telling me "sea stories" about sliding around in his office ... LOL

 

Our weather was nice overall. Barcelona was a NIGHTMARE for weather. landing the plane was really really scary. Then the wind was unbearable to walk in - so our first night we stayed in the hotel room :(

 

Our first sea day was also very windy.

 

Rome was next and we had cold, wet weather - but fortunately not windy!

 

After that - it was blue skies! Some days we had some wind, but really not that bad. I think that after Rome we were in the pool every day (getting IN was fine - it was getting OUT that was the problem:rolleyes:)

 

In March, I would still prepare to bring rain jacket/wind breaker and an umbrella. Hopefully you won't need them, but you'll wish you had them if you don't pack 'em. The prices in the ships store for these things was not cheap. :rolleyes:

[QueScaisJe]

Thanks for the great review and info! We wanted to book an Eastern Med cruise this year, but the timing just didn't work out.

 

Regarding Egypt, we were on a land-based GAP tour through Egypt and Jordan last year, and our family (including university age "kids") spent 4 nights in Cairo by ourselves beforehand. We loved loved loved the experience despite the in-your-face poverty in Cairo. All through Egypt/Jordan we felt very safe. We feel more wary in the major cities of Europe (pickpockets) and in the USA (muggings) than we did anywhere in the Middle East.

 

Vendors are persistent, but you can be firm without being rude. Say "la shukran" (no thanks) and learn some other Egyptian phrases before you go. The Arabic script isn't that difficult either, and handy to know if you out independently. I learned enough to get by, studying on-and-off for a few months on my daily train commute.

 

Coincidentally we used Emad Abuhadeda for a tour of Dahshur and Saqqara while in Cairo. Very knowledgeable, and easy to work with (no problem when we declined the visit to the rug factory, for instance). We found him on TripAdvisor's Cairo forum and can recommend him and his associates.

[hightownCO]

Vendors are persistent, but you can be firm without being rude. Say "la shukran" (no thanks) and learn some other Egyptian phrases before you go. The Arabic script isn't that difficult either, and handy to know if you out independently. I learned enough to get by, studying on-and-off for a few months on my daily train commute.

 

Can you recommend whatever book or program you used? I'd like to work on some phrases/words.

 

Thanks

[QueScaisJe]

Can you recommend whatever book or program you used? I'd like to work on some phrases/words.

 

Thanks

 

I used "Arabic at a Glance" by Barrons. The package included a phrase book/dictionary, a mini-phrase book, a cheat-card, plus an audio cassette. Note that the pronunciations and audio were for Egyptian Arabic, which seems to be the standard version due to the pre-eminence of Egyptian movies and broadcasting in the Arabic world.

 

I found that learning Arabic numbers, both written and spoken, and greetings to be the most helpful. Even though the first words out of my mouth were generally "bititkallim inglileezee" (do you speak English?!), we were able to make do. As with most everywhere in the world, respecting the local culture and language goes a long ways.

[HAPILIN]

DH and I are also on the 3/8/09 Jade cruise. Very interesting info and informative reviews. We have also booked tour thru NCL for all day tour to Cairo. Guess you just have to be extra careful and alert.

[bluesea777]

My two sons will definitely want a camel ride, but probably don't need to stay two days in Cairo.

 

We went on 2 day NCL tour. On coach before we got to Giza our guide Iman asked if anyone wanted a ride on a camel. Several people signed up and paid $10 apiece.

 

At the pyramids she was able to get hold of a few camel handlers that she knew and we got a 10 min camel ride each down the dune and back up. It was fun and the 10 mins was enough. Good experience though as it wasn't easy riding a camel!

[hightownCO]

QueScaisJe, thanks so much. I agree it's good to show respect for the culture and people to try to learn some of the language. I picked up a lot of words in college through friends but believe the pronounciation very, very different. Friends were from Israel (Palestinian). I'll look up that program!

[cromwell43]

In your review, you stated that you did Athens on your own. Could you expand a bit.

1. You say you used the metro from port to Acropolis. Did you have to change trains and was that difficult.

2. Did you use a map and are the street signs in only Greek letters or are they readable for us.

3. Did you walk from the Acropolis to Plaka and was it easy to maneuver.

Any other hints you can provide would be very helpful

Thank you again for your wonderful review

[CruisinEurope]

In your review, you stated that you did Athens on your own. Could you expand a bit.

1. You say you used the metro from port to Acropolis. Did you have to change trains and was that difficult.

 

Yes, you did have to change trains, twice. But it was NOT hard. If you're at ALL used to any subway in the USA, it was a breeze to figure out. There is even the little picture of the Pantheon where you need to get off - VERY easy!

 

2. Did you use a map and are the street signs in only Greek letters or are they readable for us.

 

We didn't use a map (only because we didn't bring one/get one). I honestly didn't notice the street signs since we weren't trying to read a map.

 

3. Did you walk from the Acropolis to Plaka and was it easy to maneuver.

 

Since we had two little ones with us, we just took the train back down (super easy) - though it was not hard to walk either. It's all downhill from the Acropolis - so an easy walk.

 

The Platka was easy to maneuver - yes.

 

Any other hints you can provide would be very helpful

Thank you again for your wonderful review

 

 

As I mentioned, we ONLY did the Acropolis and then shopping/lunch at the Platka, so if you want to see more, I can't really help.

 

One tip is that the train station where you get your tix is about a good 15 min walk FROM the pier. Get out of the pier, go left. Keep going straight until you need to cross the street (it will become apparent when you need to do this, because if you keep going straight, you'll wind up IN the pier's other end...). (trust me, it's easy when you get there - there are signs OR just follow the flow of people).

 

 

Enjoy!

[insidecabin]

You do not need to change trains for the acropolis

 

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=37.973999,23.724257&spn=0.006631,0.009613&t=h&z=17

 

If you look at the map there are two metro stations at the top both are on the direct line from the port.

 

Between them is another site that is included in your Acropolic ticket and you can walk up from there if you take the train round to the acroposis station you can always walk back that way(down hill) to get the train back without needing to change.

[CruisinEurope]

You do not need to change trains for the acropolis

 

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=37.973999,23.724257&spn=0.006631,0.009613&t=h&z=17

 

If you look at the map there are two metro stations at the top both are on the direct line from the port.

 

Between them is another site that is included in your Acropolic ticket and you can walk up from there if you take the train round to the acroposis station you can always walk back that way(down hill) to get the train back without needing to change.

 

 

The train that WE were on - DOES require you to change trains. Not sure if there are several systems or not (didn't think so?) but we DID have to change trains (twice) to get from the station directly to the stop "Acropolis". We could have gotten off further down the "hill" and then walked, but again, with the two tired little ones, chose to get as close as we could before walking uphill.

[cruise4usnow]

Noticed that some felt discomfort in Cairo and Alexandria. We had a great tour with Nile Blue (Guide-Sammey and BodyGuard-Hazem, driver?) for two days with 4 couples in a very comfortable van. We could have down the overnight but chose one long day in Cairo (pyramids, rode camels -body guard rode with us, solar boat, valley temple, museum, Khan and could have gone to the light show but stayed longer in the musem and saw the Khan at night, road back to the ship arriving about 11 pm) next am did Alexandria. The cost was great for two days of traveling and very "safe" we were never hasseled by vendors as Hazem would allow them to "ask" and when we said "no" he encouraged them to leave, easily done with only eight people for him to watch. We would do it again in a heart beat.

(Jade Apr 11, 08)

[CruisinEurope]

Noticed that some felt discomfort in Cairo and Alexandria. We had a great tour with Nile Blue (Guide-Sammey and BodyGuard-Hazem, driver?) for two days with 4 couples in a very comfortable van. We could have down the overnight but chose one long day in Cairo (pyramids, rode camels -body guard rode with us, solar boat, valley temple, museum, Khan and could have gone to the light show but stayed longer in the musem and saw the Khan at night, road back to the ship arriving about 11 pm) next am did Alexandria. The cost was great for two days of traveling and very "safe" we were never hasseled by vendors as Hazem would allow them to "ask" and when we said "no" he encouraged them to leave, easily done with only eight people for him to watch. We would do it again in a heart beat.

(Jade Apr 11, 08)

 

 

Absolutely what I would do if I had a "do over".

 

small group (maybe just my family)

private guide & guard (shield)

we dictate where we want to go & for how long

 

GLAD you had such a great time!!!

[theduffys]

Great review!! Could you tell me the name of the tour you booked in Ephisus? I went to the web site (Meander) and saw many options. What you did sounds exactly like what we are looking for in May.

[CruisinEurope]

Great review!! Could you tell me the name of the tour you booked in Ephisus? I went to the web site (Meander) and saw many options. What you did sounds exactly like what we are looking for in May.

 

I contacted them and TOLD them what I wanted to do. They were able to customize the trip for us.

 

:D

 

LOVED them and LOVED Hazan as our guide! HIGHLY recommend them/him!

[CruisinEurope]

WOW!

 

I had started a review and for some reason (wine) did not get too far. We were on this same cruise and just now recovering after some time in Barcelona after the cruise.

 

I think I would pretty much agree with everything said. We were two "mature" adults and did not have kids, so we did a bit more casino and bar time. We were able to score a great suite and I need to write a review about that experience as well.

 

Your comments about the buffet were honest and on the money. We too skipped the overnight in Cairo and glad we went back to the ship. We used Decastro tours via a group on our roll call.

 

 

hey - sorry! Just saw this post!

 

One thing that I wish our roll call organized was a "cabin crawl" - THAT would have been great

 

(i'd never heard of one until i was reading CC after we got back, or else I would have suggested one)

 

It would have been VERY cool to get a glimpse of the suites and the GV that some of our RC was staying in.

 

Owell - next time!

 

Glad you guys enjoyed the cruise too! EVen with your last minute booking

 

:D

[kleinaar]

Thanks!

 

I don't think you can leave kids that young on the ship for that long ... do check (and double check, and check again) prior to leaving so that you don't have any nasty surprises on the ship.

 

I honestly think that if you go with a private guide/guard you will be OK - even with the small kids. I would NOT recommend a ship tour where you are left to fend for yourself at the pyramids/etc.

 

SO - to this end, be SURE that you have a male guide (or, at the least, a male guard if you have a female guide) with you at all times. Again, not for protection in the bodily harm sense, just to act as a shild between your family and the "businessmen".

 

Bring wet wipes (lots of em!) and be sure to tell your guide/guard that you will need to find potty stops that are up to US standards. They may have to use resort-type hotels or the bigger "ship sponsored" papyrus "museum"/store things. If you have a good guide, they will know where to take you.

 

I honestly even went so far as to pack travel urinals (JUST IN CASE!) - but we didn't need them. The kids were able to use the bathroom on the bus ... so that worked OK for us.

 

Do your research on hotels if you choose to spend the night. Choose ones that have glowing reviews ONLY. Also - with a family of 4 - you will need 2 rooms in MOST Pyramid area hotels. The ONLY one we found that would let us put 4 ppl into a room was the Cairo Marriott (not near the pyramids - but in downtown Cairo). (which didn't work for us, as we needed to be near the pyramids for our schedule to work out).

 

THAT was a huge factor in us deciding NOT to stay overnight. We just couldn't bring ourselves to pay for 2 rooms in questionable hotels, not knowing if our rooms would be close or in totally separate buildings.

 

 

Now - even as I'm writing this I'm realizing that it's coming across horribly.... that you'll be visiting some horrible death trap or something. It's really not like that at all.... you just have to be prepared.

 

AND

 

some people LOVE Egypt, go there all the time without guards or guides, etc. and have no problem.

 

So, as with EVERYTHING in life - it just depends on WHO you are and what your likes/dislikes are.

 

I just think that it all comes down to taking a close stock of your family - what you can handle, and then making informed choices and decisions.

 

Regardless of what you choose - ENJOY your trip!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We paid for both of our moms to go with us on our cruise and in exchange they are willing to help with the kids (and even stay with them if we need to leave them). Egypt is the only place I might consider this though, but we will probably end up bringing them anyway. We are not staying the night, I don't see the point when we have a floating hotel we already paid for. We DO have a private guide for all of our excursions so we can go at our own pace with the kids. We've been living in Italy for 3 years so I think we are used to our space invaded as Italians have no concept of space bubbles that Americans have around them. We love them and love it here so I'm sure we can deal with Egypt. My hubby has been stationed in Iraq and in Africa & has seen some VERY dirty, poor, areas so I know he will be fine. In general I always go into things expecting the worse, then I get pleasantly surprised if it's better. :-) We homeschool and my daughter wants to see the places that we learn about in biblical history. I think it will be good for her to see poor areas of the world, so she doesn't think everyone has a huge two story house, a nice car, and all there basic needs met.

 

About the kids club, did it only cost money at night, or during certain hours? What days could you do laundry, because I think you said it was only two certain days? Did you have to pay for the pools? Was room service free? I've never done this cruise thing before and I like to have all details panned out ahead of time as much as possible. Especially this trip because it's our most expensive one and I really want it to go well.

 

Thank you for all the good advice!