Who's been to Egypt? - Cruise Line Fans: Cruise Forum, Reviews and Chat From Real Cruisers

Texashorselady · 01-30-2006, 11:19 AM

Who's been to Egypt?

I'd love to talk to someone who has been there and can give advice. All the websites and books in the world don't compare to hearing from somebody who's actually been there!

We are thinking about Egypt for 07, and this is just the very beginning of the research phase. Any general or specific advice would be appreciated!

middy · 01-31-2006, 08:09 AM

Me.

Only on an extended tour from a cruise. Did get to have a night in one of the Hilton Hotels in Cairo.
Visited Saqqara, great pyramids, Egyptian Museum, also had evening meal on hired boat sailing up the Nile complete with local entertainment.
Best excursion I have ever done.
The whole trip was escorted by tourist police, one policeman on each coach also vehicles accompanying whilst travelling on road.
Middy

PagodaSwan · 01-31-2006, 08:14 AM

I went to Sharm el Sheikh on the Red Sea Riviera a few years ago, before it got quite so well known. Beautiful place, friendly people and if you're into scuba diving, the best place in the world in alot of people's opinions. There is also alot of history there and its within easy reach of the amazing Suez Canal too, along with all the other well known areas of Egypt. Its perfectly safe, despite what happened there in recent years. Sharm is a playground for the rich and famous...and the occasional political figure too. I would certainly recommend going there.

Rex · 01-31-2006, 09:46 AM

Wow I would love to go to Egypt. Such a magical and historical place.

Lee · 01-31-2006, 10:00 AM

Yes, I agree it would be a neat place to travel. Much history and intrigue.

Texashorselady · 01-31-2006, 10:21 AM

I know! Doesn't Egypt sound fascinating?

I have always wanted to see the pyramids, but now that we just got back from the Mediterranean I have an even deeper interest in Egypt.

When we were in Rome we kept hearing how the Romans looked to the Greeks for inspiration in art, history, government, architecture....etc. And when we were in Greece they said that they considered the Egyptians to be the "old civilization" where a lot of their ideas came from. I've always been interested in ancient civilizations and timelines in history...so Egypt seems like the obvious place to go next!

I want to do a Nile cruise for part of our visit, but I understand you really need to have a little bit of a land vacation as well in order to really see the sights and not be too rushed. But where are those places you need to have the land vacation...and what sights are near them? I plan to ask my TA to look into options for me...but I am not sure even what I want yet...

I need to learn what the major 'must see' places are...does anybody know what they are? The major pyramids and Valley of the Kings come to mind, of course, but what else would you not want to miss if you went there? I also want to find out what are some unusual and out of the ordinary things you could do in that region....maybe interact with the locals a little like we did in Turkey...maybe ride a camel in the desert...maybe see Petra in Jordan if time allowed.

I think this one's going to be fun to plan!

Texashorselady · 01-31-2006, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PagodaSwan

I went to Sharm el Sheikh on the Red Sea Riviera a few years ago, before it got quite so well known. Beautiful place, friendly people and if you're into scuba diving, the best place in the world in alot of people's opinions. There is also alot of history there and its within easy reach of the amazing Suez Canal too, along with all the other well known areas of Egypt. Its perfectly safe, despite what happened there in recent years. Sharm is a playground for the rich and famous...and the occasional political figure too. I would certainly recommend going there.

Wow, I never even considered a beach in Egypt! Let me ask you a question: I have been to lots of nice beaches, all over the world. Can you tell me what is special about this beach that would be enough to drag me away from the antiquities, pyramids, camels, museums, etc to go see it? What I am getting at is this - if you had limited time (like ten days) and had to pick and choose what you wanted to see very carefully...would you still go to Sharm el Sheikh if it meant giving up something else in Egypt?

PagodaSwan · 01-31-2006, 10:52 AM

Well there is too much to descibe, THL, so here are the websites to take a look at....

http://www.sharmguide.com/

http://www.sharm-el-sheikh.com/

http://www.sinaidivers.com/english.htm

There are some superb beaches, dive spots/safaris and its all within a reasonable distance of Suez and the rest of Egypt too

Texashorselady · 01-31-2006, 11:04 AM

Since I primarily want to see antiquities and as much of 'ancient Egypt' as I can in a short time, scuba diving is not something I'll be doing in Egypt. But the area does look nice. Are the main sights I would want to see in Egypt (the old stuff) nearby enough to consider this a central location? If we wanted to do day trips and see the 'must see' sights, would this be a good place to stay and branch out from there...or is it more remote?

Now, one more question. Why would you recommend the Suez Canal? Can you tell me what it's like to visit it?

PagodaSwan · 01-31-2006, 11:09 AM

The Suez is an experience in itself, some very interesting history there and sadly not all of it pleasant, but an amazing place to be on a liner sailing through....from a distance it looks like the ships are sailing on sand, fascinating to see and to watch.

For the older sections you need to be around Cairo, which being the capital has everything within reasonable reach. There are international airports at both Sharm and Cairo, so you could go see the places at Sharm for a couple of days as part of a larger tour of Egypt. Travel is very easy all over Egypt, the country has so much to offer that alot of people to see and do that one holiday is rarely enough.