carolsong

Hi Perry,
Our trip to Alexandria was through our
tour Co. We had a complete pkg with Grand Circle. The trip to Alexandria was
a side trip for $80 each. The tour co Grand Circle picked us up at the Marriott in Cairo and then we went to the train station and then the ride to Alexandria was about 3 hrs. We got there around 11. We also toured the huge
new library there. Also a museum. We ate in a nice Hotel on the waterfront.
Then the bus picked us up from Grand Circle and we drove back to Cairo. We got back around 10 PM. Made for a great day. Are you going on a tour. The Grand Circle including air, hotel, & 7 day cruise only cost $1795 each. That is a good buy. They met us in NYC and got us
on Egypt Air and then followed us through out the trip. There were 34 in our group. Grand Circle doesn't do any trips to Egypt in June, July or Aug. They start up again in Sept. Most of our meals were included too. When are you planning on going?

carolsong

Sorry I called you Perry. It is Percy.

Percy

Hicarolsong

Thank you for the quick reply.

Yes I am planning to go on a tour, it is 13 days with a 7 Night Nile Cruise.

I would fly from Cairo to Luxor and then board the cruise boat and then cruise to Aswan and then back again to Luxor.

I have a day before the tour starts in Cairo and a day after the tour ends in Cairo just because of the Air Egyptian flight schedule.

I could go to Cairo via London or Frankfurt Germany or Amsterdam..but I feel that via New York is best.

Gee you got a good deal for your 15 day tour to Egypt.

All our tours are included as I am sure yours were also, and all our meals are included except for three lunches.

But I guess prices are relative from where you are coming from.

But you did get a great price.

I am not planning to go until October as it is too hot there...108F today in Luxor...whew!!!

Thank you very much carolsong.

Oh yes, how much time did you spend at the Cairo Museum when you visited the Cairo Museum??

Thanks again

Percy

carolsong

Hi Percy,
We spent around 3 hrs at the Egyptian Museum. Our tour guide took us around and then we then had more time to see it
on our own. It was a very interesting
museum.

Percy

Thanks carolsong

It is that Ihave heard some tours only spent an hour at the Museum , which to me would be rather a short time.

Thank you again

Percy

suzanne97

Percy - We went to Alexandria on our own. We took a taxi to the train station from the Marriott hotel (paid 20LE each way) Train tickets are the same price for buying 2 separate tickets or a round trip ticket (2nd class is 25LE each way, 1st class is 35LE; we rode 2nd class) so I suggest you buy the tickets at the station so you can leave when you want as the trains run at least every hour.

We had a guide in Alex named Mona. She is a sweet girl and is knowlegable. However, her tour was more like being with a friend than a professional guide. She hired a taxi for the day for us which she had pre-negotiated for 150LE (the driver wanted 200LE but she had already quoted us the price). I think if you have a driver for the day you could do it on your own.

We spent 3 1/2 hours at the egyptian museum on our own and then an hour with a guide the next day on our tour. When we went on our own we paid 10LE each way for the taxi. The museum was fairly empty when we were there so if you are going during the busy season you may want to allocate more time.

suzanne97

Oh, i forgot to mention the breakfast buffet at the Marriott which was included. It is fabulous!! It caters to every type of tourist...omlettes and pancakes for Americans; miso soup and other Japanese specialities; breads, meats and cheeses for the Europeans; smoked salmon and other fish for the Nordic region; and Egyptian specialities which are great to try. I loved having baklava for breakfast every morning we were at the hotel.

Percy

Thank You suzanne97

What kind of money did you use.

Did you use a lot of credit cards or did you convert to Egyptian currency ?

Yes I would like to go to Alexandria for a vist.
So you just take a taxi to the airport and buy a second class ticket..then what happens at the other end...can you get a tour guide for several hours..or a taxi.?

Thank you
Percy

MariaL

Percy, you could also do what we did, which was to have Debbie Senters of Casual Cairo Detours(http://casualcairodetours.pyramids.net/faq.html)take us to Alexandria for the day. We went on the train and spent a lovely day in Alexandria with Debbie.

Percy

Thank You MariaL.

I will take down this information and contact her .

Percy

Percy

carolsong

You stated that you flew Egyptian Air from New York.

What was the plane like?

Was it a nice large 4 engine plane ?

Was there ample seating room etc.

Thank you very much

Percy

kp

We flew EgyptAir from JFK to Cairo about a month ago. Same flight back as carolsong--but we did the OAT tour.
I believe the plane was a 757--3 seats on each window side and 5 across the middle. Flights there and back were about 100% full. Lots of families with children. We couldn't make a seat request until arrival at the airport. During the flight to Cairo it appeared that women who had aisle seats were asked if they'd please change seats with men who had been assigned middle seats. The leg room is typical of most flights--very tight.
There were movies shown--English with Egyptian subtitles. And an Egyptian movie with English subtitles. No individual screens.
There was meal and beverage service. I usually don't eat "airline" food so I can't comment on the quality. But somehow EgyptAir manages to have beverage service on flights of less than an hour!
You'll go through more airport security screens (x-rays) at the airports in Egypt. And we had our carry-on's hand checked while at the gate at JFK. The JFK staff didn't explain what they were doing-just "all right everybody line up here. NOW!" After they had checked our carry-ons we were directed to sit, if you could find a seat, on the other side of the gate. At this point, which was still 30 min. before boarding, you needed permission to leave the gate area.

Percy

Thanks kp, sounds like a typical long long flight ,with crowded and tight seat...great !!

I think our plane is a 777, it might just be smaller !

I think on our flight back from Cairo to JFK , we have about two hours to change planes to get to Minneaplois and then from there to home.

Thank you for all your helpful information.

Percy

carolsong

Hi Percy,
You asked about our flight from NYC
to Cairo. It was a 777 Boeing. It had
3 seats on the one side and 2 on the
other side and 4 or 5 in the middle.
We sat on the side with 2 seats. The
plane wasn't full but had a lot of
passengers. The food was great. There
was 2 meals going to Cairo and 2 coming
back. The security is tight but that
is okay. The 777 has a lower area where
the flight attendants and pilots rest.
One the way to Cairo I thought it was
another restroom but I saw when the door
was open that there was a stairway. On
the way home to NYC a man had a heart
attack and then found a doctor aboard and treated him. When we landed the
had medical personal come on board before we were allowed to get off. I met
a man on board that was with his family
from Kenya. He was going to Harvard to
see his son graduate. I got his email
address and I plan to email him. He was
such an interesing man. With a 12 hr.
flight is is nice to get to know someone.
Will you have your wife or family going
with you. My two sisters were with us with their husbands. My one sister lives
in Florida and the other in CA so it was
fun to be together with our husband. It
was a trip of a lifetime. I have shown my pictures to our friends. Hope you have a great trip.

Percy

carolsong

Percy

carolsong

Thank You for putting my mind at rest about the 777 plane.

I plan to go with my wife and this other couple.
If the other couple does not go, then my wife and I are still going.

We plan to go the first week of October .

Thank you for all your help.

If I can think of anything else I will write again.

Thank you

Percy

kp

carolsong--
Were you on the June 4th flight (10AM) from Cairo to JFK?
Our guide had us up at 4:30 AM so we'd get to the airport before the GCT group.
We were seated near the rear of the plane in a row of 3. If you were on the same flight I had no idea there was so much excitement.

carolsong

Hi, We were on the same flight on June 4. We were seated at the middle right
near the restrooms. Our seat was backed by the restrooms. My sister was in the back area. I am surprised you didn't know about the man having a heart attack. He was in the 2 row is the back area. Don't you remember being held on plane for a while while we landed. Were
you on Grand Circle tour?

kp

carolsong--
I must have been really out of it! We were only about 6 rows in front of the back restrooms so the wait to get off didn't seem much worse than usual. Of course give me a good book and my CD player and I'm oblivious to the rest of the world.
We were part of the OAT group (GCT is the parent company). We started our trip in Jordan then 2 weeks in Egypt.
This was my 3rd OAT trip--haven't taken a GCT but they sound good.

Percy

suzanne97

Hello Again.

After you took the taxi to the Train Station and bought the tickets to Alexandria ..how did you get a hold of this guide, Mona ,in Alexandria!!??

Do you have an e-mail for her or a website.?

How did you spend money there?

Visa and Mastercard
or
US$ and then converted to Egyptian Pounds..or what ?

I will let you all know when my trip is all booked which should be very soon!

Thank You

Percy