I'm in the beginning stages of planning a trip with my father to Egypt. He's getting older (63) and I think this may be my last chance to do a "father-son" kind of trip. This is one that he's always wanted to do, but has never appealed to my mother.
I'm 33 and travel domestically and internationally reaguarly and enjoy the idea of going some where new.

Both my father and I have a ton of airline/hotel points (AA and DL/ Hilton, SPG, Marriott) and would like to maximize these points for upgrades and free nights, but we also like the idea of being with a tour in Egypt which typically doesn't allow for combining points with the paid tour.

I'd like to break the trip into two parts:

1. A stay in Cairo
2. A cruise down the Nile

My length of trip is anywhere from 9 to 14 days. We're willing to pay higher dollar (not that it's worth much anymore) for better quality.

Does anyone have any recommendations in terms of cruises, or tours that may allow us to book our own flight and hotel accomadations in Cairo?

Bart

Hi Bart - my husband and I were in Egypt in January - he'll be 63 in June - I don't think I'll show him your posting

You might not really need a traditional tour group - once you're on the Nile Cruise you're effectively on a "tour" in that the cruises have guides and transportation to the various temples/sights/etc.

So for the Cairo portion you could hire an independent guide who can also arrange pickup and dropoff at the airports - plus you won't have to be dragged around in a group (I don't like groups!)

We used a Cairo based travel planner/guide - like you we flew on points to Cairo - Ahmed arranged all our hotels, cruise, transportation and internal Egypt air. He guided us in Cairo and arranged guides elsewhere (we also went to Jordan - do you have time to do that?)
Obviously he wouldn't arrange the accommodation that you can do on points.

Have a look at our blog -

http://lizandrichardsa.typepad.com/l...iro/index.html

Ahmed's contact information is

Ahmed Hamed Yousif
[email protected]

Happy to answer any questions you may have.

Your dad is older than you, but he isn't "old" by any means. Most people traveling these days are those who can and these happen to be "mature adults." It's great that the two of your can do this trip together.

There is no need to travel with a group, i.e.,OAT. You can certainly find a ground operator to handle your Cairo activities (hotels, transfers, sightseeing, arrange internal flights, Nile Cruise) and then book your own international flights; maybe even use points for Hilton or Marriott hotels.

On the cruise, they provide guides (various languages) who take groups of same speakers on the land tours when docked to temples. Groups can be as small as 5 or large as 15-20, depending on size of boats and occupancy.

You have one reference above. A few posters lately have mentioned a company called Lady Egypt. There's also Egypt Highlights. And, another who many who post here, which much success, is Debbie Senters, an American living in Cairo many years. Debbie can be reached at Casual Cairo Detours thru [email protected]

You've got 4/options from where to start. Good luck.

Thanks Sandi. We've been in contact.

to bartorlando

I'm 69 and just started traveling the world 7 1/2 years ago. Three trips to Africa (including Egypt). Will take trip 4 in May (Great Britain) and I'll be spending several days on my own before flying home. Don't sell the "old fella" short. He has lots of traveling years left, if his health is good. He's a kid in my book!

For the record, I used Grand Circle for my trip to Egypt. Cairo and the Nile cruise.

Thank you to everyone. I've got a better idea of what I'm looking at now. I've started an email dialogue with Debbie.

I apologize for referring to my father as 'older', he is older to me.

My father was actually the person that taught me the value of exploring the world. I'm 33 years old, and watched him explore the world as a child following his passion of scuba diving different corners of the world.

I'm a Wall St professional and have a very few chances to take my father on such a trip.

I'll post again with follow up questions, actually a few that I have now:

1. What are the best parts of the typical 3-4 night cruise down the nile?
2. Has anyone ever hired a driver from Cairo to Luxor, and toured different sights along the way?
3. Is going to Petra a good replacement for cruising the Nile?

Thanks, I'm sure I'll have more.

Bart

Much of the cruise involved touring the temples along the way. We did get a chance to take a felucca ride, which was fun. Spent time in the sukh (street bazaar) in Aswan (I think that's where it was), took a carriage ride through the streets of the town--saw some interesting back alley sights that way. Saw the Aswan Dam. And just cruising along the river listening to the call to prayer that, in one instance, just went on and on from mosque to mosque. Enchanting! Egyptian dancing one night onboard. Went through the locks on the river, which was interesting. However, there are a LOT of temples. Also, Luxor is where the Valley of the Kings and Queens are. Wouldn't miss that.

We took the cruise both ways because we wanted to be off work longer and that gave us about 3 extra days in Egypt. We saw some of the temples on the way up the Nile and the rest on the way back down to Cairo (it is considered "up" the Nile when you're traveling south). I'm sure most wouldn't want to do more than one direction on the cruise but the place where we worked was kind of falling apart and we relished as much time away as we could get.

Bartorlando -

If you are looking for inspiration, be sure to read the 13 Perfect Days in Egypt (Iconic Itineraries) article from CN Traveler magazine:

http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/...rticleId=10765

I believe that I'm going to book this trip with A&K for the 11 day "Highlights of Egypt" tour (http://www.abercrombiekent.com/index...avid=3.16.1.36). It makes my father comfortable going with an established tour and I am fine with that.

I personally perfer a more a 'solo' iteneary, but in the end I want to make sure he's o.k. with everything.

Has anybody ever been on one of the Egypt Ambercrombe & Kent tours (I'm sure there's a ton of post, I haven't looked yet).

IMO, Abercrombie & Kent is good but extremely overpriced.

We just returned from a similar 10-day-trip with Travcotel's MS Crown Empress (5 stars) and paid about 20% of that what A&K charges.

tina.......this is the Africa/Middle East forum!!!!!

But thanks for the advertisement!

Has anyone traveled on EgyptAir and/or with Collette Vacations Splendor of the Nile? How are they?

Bart, we are leaving next week for Egypt and are traveling with Collette, going to Cairo, Luxor, Aswan and Nile Cruise. I'll let you know how it is.