achay

My husband and I want to go to Egypt for a 12 day trip to include 3 nights in Cairo, 3/4 night Nile river cruise, 2 nights in Luxor, 3 nights in Hurghada, 1 night Cairo. We are in our 70's, experienced travelers. We like comfort when we travel. We are getting quotes from high end companies of approximately $1K / day, around $12K for a 12 day trip with emphasis on the "personalized" aspect of having a driver.

The thing is, as I do more research it's becoming clear that the itineraries for Egypt are pretty similar for all tour companies. There are pretty standard activities in Cairo, most cruises are the same except for the standard of the boat, etc. As far as we can tell having a "personalized" experience with a driver makes up less than half the trip. I can make my own hotel reservations and my own cruise reservations; we would need guides for a portion of the trip but certainly not every day, i.e. not while we are on the cruise or while we are vegging out in Hurghada snorkeling.

Is there a middle ground here? I can make many of the arrangements myself but would like to have knowledgeable personal guides for part of the trip. This part of the world is new to us. I don't know what I don't know. Normally I make all our travel arrangements but feel intimidated by the language barrier and customs.

If anyone has any thoughts about this, or has taken this trip under similar circumstance I would appreciate feedback. Thanks in advance.

michele_d

I have to disagree with not needing a guide while on the cruise. There are several stops along the Nile that will be much more easily accessible with a guide: Edfu temple, Aswan High Dam, Philae Temple, Temple of Sobek. I would rethink this.

We very much enjoyed our recent visit to Egypt. We used Memphis Tours for our 10 day trip. They handled every aspect of the trip expertly. It was so easy...they picked us up daily at our hotel, dealt with the ins and outs of the tourist areas: security checkpoints etc. I would recommend you visit their website and look under the 'Luxury' tours. Everything is customizable...you can add on on days at the beginning or the end. There is surely something that will fit your budget.

achay

Thanks michele d for your reply. We are looking into Memphis Tours. So far they are at the top of the list at least price wise. Glad to hear that you give them a positive recommendation. If you took a Nile cruise would you share which boat you were on?

Cyansiam

We used Memphis for August last year, 3 nights Cairo, 2 nights Luxor, 4 night cruise, 3 nights Aswan, 2 nights Cairo. FS in Cairo, Sofitel hotels elsewhere and Oberoi Philae boat, cost around $8K including internal flights. Obviously August is low season and I did price it myself but easier to have the agent coordinate everything and sort out room types. The guide for the boat was excellent and needed, the others provided by Memphis were okay and in general happy with their service. Very useful to have their agent at the airports.

michele_d

I'm sorry, I do not remember the name of our boat for the Nile cruise.

I will say that we ran into some other tourists in Luxor and started chatting with them. They told us they were on a Nile Cruise also but their boat was absolutely horrible: standing water in their bathrooms, horrible smells etc. They were getting no satisfaction with their request to be moved on to another boat so they decided to end their cruise and continue on land by themselves. We felt so bad for them.

The boat that Memphis booked for us was great...very clean common areas, perfect suites, very nice staff. Food was great etc. I think the other group we met must have had a below par tour company who was obviously trying to save money by booking a less expensive cruise boat. The hotel Memphis uses in Cairo was also fantastic.

achay

That is my worst nightmare re. the boat. We are just getting ready to pull the trigger with Memphis - they have been very good about communicating. 2 nights Cairo, 4 night cruise, 2 nights Luxor and 3 nights Hurghada in November. Their price was by far the best of the 3 quotes we got.

michele_d

I would not hesitate in the least to book with Memphis again. In fact I personally would never book with anyone else since we had such a great experience with them.