Kiran

Has anybody heard of travcotels tour operators. I found them online at travcotels.com. Their cruise packages look very reasonable. Anybody has any experience with this tour operator?

jan willem

Hi Kiran,<BR><BR>I have been to Egypt twice. Once I visited Hurghada for one week and made an organised trip with Travco. Our hostess in Hurghada told me that Travco is one of the best touroperators for eg. trips. I do not know if Travco is the same organisation as Travcotels.<BR>I also have made a Nile Cruise with Blue Sky travel and I liked the crew (incl our tourguide)

jan willem

Hi Kiran,<BR><BR>I have been to Egypt twice. Once I visited Hurghada for one week and made an organised trip to Cairo with Travco. It was well organised. Our hostess in Hurghada told me that Travco is one of the best touroperators for eg. trips. You can also tell by the buses they use; very new and modern. I do not know if Travco is the same organisation as Travcotels.<BR>Last year I have made a Nile Cruise, but with Blue Sky travel in Cairo and I liked the crew (incl our tourguide!), the excursions, the food, the rooms and the prices.<BR><BR>Greetings Jan Willem from Assen in The Netherlands

David

Hello Kiran: We booked our Nile cruise from Luxor to Aswan in early-July 2002 (4 nights aboard the M.S. Royale), and an excursion by air from Aswan to Abu Simbel and back to Aswan, over the internet with Travcotels at the website you mentioned. All arrangements were made with a Travco representative in Cairo via emails. Once we decided what we wanted to do and see, where we wanted to go and the dates we wanted, they quoted a price and I faxed my credit card details to them for payment of our fares. When we arrived in Cairo, I called their Cairo office and they delivered all tickets and vouchers to us at our Cairo hotel. We travelled to Luxor on our own and stayed two nights before the cruise. The morning the cruise began, the Travcotels representative met us at our Luxor hotel in a nearly new minivan and transferred us and our bags to the ship. The ship was very nice. Cabins were more spacious and much more deluxe than we imagined, food was plentiful and excellent, staff was efficient, friendly and helpful and the tours were outstanding. We were the only Americans on the ship (there were about 40 British tourists, 30 or so Germans, 4 Belgians, 4 Italians and us). If we had it to do over again, I would have made all my Egypt travel arrangements through Travcotels as they would have met us at each airport, provided transfers, sightseeing, etc. As it was, we were only with them from Luxor to Aswan, Aswan to Abu Simbel, and from Abu Simbel back to Aswan where we were again on our own. I would recommend Travcotels to everyone planning a visit to Egypt. Have a great trip. We sure did!

Patrice

I'm taking a 'round the world' tour in Sept. and Oct. Will Go from Athens to Cairo. Any suggestions on what I should do there? Any 1-day Nile tours or pyrmaids to see nearby? I can stay from 3-5 days. Which would be better? I understand women travelling alone in Egypt will be subject to verbal abuse among other things.<BR><BR>Patrice

Miha

Patrice,<BR>We spent 10 days in Egypt recently. If you have only 3 days, I suggest you concentrate in Cairo - you will have time to see the Pyramids, Cairo museum, Khan-el-Khalili, tours of Cairo. You can take a dinner cruise on the Nile, and a felucca (sailboat) ride. <BR><BR>If you have 5 days, there are 3-day cruises from Aswan to Luxor (or vice-versa), so you could do both Cairo and the cruise.<BR><BR>Egypt is such a magical country, I hope you can spend as much time as possible. You won't regret it!<BR><BR>As far as travelling alone. You absolutely won't be hassled on the Nile cruises. They take all shore excursions as a group. If you hook up with a tour group in Cairo, I doubt that you will be hassled there either. I am a blonde Western woman, and I took several taxi rides alone in Cairo, and I was never bothered - stared at - but no one was ever rude to me. Just use your common sense.

Mel

Hi<BR><BR>I've taken heed of the above postings advice and the company Travco do seem to be organised and offer a good deal/package. <BR><BR>However, I'm not keen on taking an internal flight with Egypt - can anyone offer guidance on this?<BR><BR>Also, what is the standard of cabin and food like onboard - does it really fulfill it's 5* image?<BR><BR>Thank You.

gail

We took several internal flights around Egypt on EgyptAir. (Spring 2001). Planes were new, service efficient - seemed just like any large airline in any other country. (Flew Cairo - Aswan - Abu Simbel - Aswan, then Luxor - Cairo). Planes were chilly inside, service ultra-efficient, flight attendants spoke English. Airports were a little tired, but fine.

Mel

Thank you to those who have responded to my enquiries.<BR><BR>For those who have travelled with Travco, can you enlighten me more with your experiences?<BR><BR>Do they really live up to their 5* standard?<BR><BR>Thank You.

David

In response to Mel's posting, the Travcotel ship we were on was rated as 5 star (deluxe) by the company. In our opinion, such a rating in Egypt appears to be akin to the level of quality, service and food you would expect to receive at a Hilton or Sheraton in the United States. It certainly was not up to the standard you would expect to find at a Ritz Carlton or Four Seasons(or higher) but was great nonetheless. Everything was excellent, clean, well arranged, properly organized and more than adequate (especially considering the price we paid through the Travco website).<BR><BR>As for Egyptair, you haven't any choice if you intend to fly internally in Egypt. Planes were clean and fine (and nearly always full) and they got us and our suitcases where we were going and on time. We thought the landings were consistently a little rough but, again, they got us to our destination and did so safely. The flights are very short and they hand out boxes of juice (we especially liked the guava and papaya). I did find the need to tip nearly everyone at the airports (the guy who puts your bag on the x-ray machine, the guy who takes your bag off the x-ray machine, the guy who carries your bag from the x-ray machine to the counter, the guy who puts the destination tag on your bag, etc.) somewhat annoying, but the tips only amounted to a few cents each and seemed to be greatly appreciated. Actually, as the trip progressed, this fact of life in Egypt became somewhat less annoying, probably because I was becoming more accustomed to the practice.<BR><BR>Anyway, I think you'll have a great time in Egypt and wouldn't hestitate advising that you book through Travco and their website. The sites are simply awesome and we found the people to be very welcoming. We'll never forget our experiences there. Bon voyage!

Patricia

Regarding Egypt Air--we flew out of New York to Cairo on Egypt Air. Found the planes and the service equal to anything I have flown. On time, room for your feet, everything was perfectly fine. Change the attendants nationality and I wouldn't have known I wasn't on an airline out of the U.S.<BR>Would fly them anytime.