An absolutely marvelous trip. Egyptians are some of the friendliest people I've encountered anywhere in the world. I always felt welcome.
We had a private tour arranged by Ahmed Hamed Yousif (ahmedhayo@yahoo.com). Ahmed made all the arrangements and accompanied us on the entire trip. We found his rates reasonable and his service exceptional. He arranged for us to have palace rooms on our first stay at the Mena House in Giza, for a suite on our Nile cruise, and a garden room overlooking the pool, the pyramids and the palace on our return to the Mena House.
I'm not a fan of tours and usually make my own arrangements. But if you've never done a private tour you owe it to yourself to try it. The cost was competitive with group tours. But the trip was nothing like a group tour. We had as much (or as little) time as we wanted at any of the sites we visited. Ahmed is a knowledgeable guide and fluent in English. He would tell us as much as we wanted to know about everything we saw then allow us to wander around the site as long as we liked.
If I can answer any questions about my experience - opinions on particular sites, the food, the wine, the cruise ship we were on - please ask. Egypt is one of the most exciting places in the world and this trip is one of my favorites.
Just returned from two weeks in Egypt
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Please tell us which ship you were on. We are going in Feb. on the Royal Lotus and I have not found any reviews.
We were on the Royal Ruby. It was ostensibly only six months old. But looked a bit worn for that age. It's considered a five star ship, but I'm not sure how that rating system works. The construction quality is mediocre - very different from our Danube river boat last spring. As I said, we were upgraded to the suite so our accommodation was very nice - four floor to ceiling windows to view the passing countryside is a very nice touch.
The food was all buffet style and not exceptional. I wouldn't say it was bad, but I would call it boring. We missed opportunities to eat ashore that I wouldn't pass up again.
You won't believe the number of cruise ships on the Nile. As we cruised they were literally bow to stern. When they tie up in port they are usually five abreast. So we had the opportunity to walk through several ships during our cruise. I would consider ours no better and no worse than the average - I suspect they are all quite similar.
One question I came home with is wondering which is greater - the number of cruise ships on the Nile or the number of carriages in Edfu.