Sue878

We are just beginning to search out Egypt tour companies. What is major difference between OATS, Grand Circle Travel, and Gate1 Travel as far as taking a 10-15 day trip to Egypt and The Nile River cruise? We have never been there so I'm reading as many posts as I can but sometimes I get overwhelmed when just start researching. We would like higher end hotels and rooms on this trip then we would normally have. Also, thinking of taking my 2 Adult children (who are both 30) we are in our 50's so is there a mix of ages of these tours? Any help so far would be appreicated.
Thanks

sandi

Suggest you simply arrange a private tour for yourselves and the adult children.

OAT (age 55-up), Grand Circle (usually still older, higher # of participants) and Gate 1 (ages vary) do "group" tours (though Gate 1 can arrange private).

Arranging your own trip you can select your hotels, Nile cruise boat, # of days where, sightseeing, etc. Often the prices doing it alone can be as competitive as if with a group. However, OAT or Grand Circle do get special prices on flights, but you can do well on your own with careful research.

Read thru the Egypt threads and you'll find names of tour operators (in-country) as Lady Egypt or Egypt Highlights as well as Debbie Senters in Cairo at Casual Cairo Detours dds71@aol, who received great raves for her services (and she seems to know everyone!)

Come up with a sample itinerary and send to two or three outfitters and see what they can offer... then "tweak" till you have the itinerary you want.

Sue878

Sandi: thanks for the feedback, will check further. They would probably not like being on the tour unless some younger people were there.

jackandann

We took the Grand Circle Egypt trip in 2002 and were so pleased that we have now taken 7 Grand Circle trips and 1 with there sister company Overseas Adventure Travel, OAT. We have another OAT trip scheduled for September. On most of the trips, there have been multi-generational families. On the Egypt trip, there was a 13 year old girl, with her mother, grandmother and great aunt. There was also a 30 something woman traveling with her parents and a friend about her age. When we started traveling with Grand Circle, we were 56, and on only 2 occasions were we the youngest. The hotel that Grand Circle used at the time was the Ramses Hilton, which was an excellent Hotel, but in an extremely congested part of the city, which was not very good for walking around. They now use a Marriott on an island in the Nile that used to be a palace with extensive grounds. Grand Circle/OAT puts a great emphasis on the local culture and people, including home hosted meals and school visits. Their trips are not "all" inclusive, as their are some separately priced optional tours, but sometimes you need downtime and don't want to have paid for activities that you are not using. Their program directors/trip leader are usually the highlight of the trip. We chose Grand Circle for this trip after doing apples to apples comparisons with other companies and finding that they were the best value. The cabins on the River Anuket were the best of any river cruise that we have taken. Most of the people on the trips are repeat customers. We believe that on our last trip to Israel and Jordan with OAT that they were all repeat customers, with 1 on his 18th trip with them. The major differences between OAT and Grand Circle are group size and activity level with OAT having smaller groups more activity and slightly higher prices.

We would be glad to answer any questions either on this forum or by Email.

Jack and Ann Donoghue

Louise

Also, check out Maupintour. They have a short trip and a longer trip. It was fantastic and only 7 on our longer tour.

Sue878

Jack: Thanks for all the info, VERY HELPFUL. We would rather go with one the tour companies like you did, such as OATS, or Grand Circle where they plan the trip for us, I don't want to plan everything separate. I will ask for more info as time goes on. After thinking about it, my son & daughter will be happy to go on this trip no matter the age group. They just want to see Egypt. Thanks again.

Louise: I will look into Maupintor also.