Jewels of Egypt

Re: Jewels of Egypt

Hello KHawthorne,

I have enjoyed a "Jewels of Egypt" tour in the past. This was when "Amy" was the cruise boat. Cruising onboard Amy was a delight, so can only feel that Melodi will be wonderful. The crew were always helpful.....I have toured twice on Amy. You are in for a truly lovely holiday!!

If I can help in any other way, please drop me a line.

Kind regards.......Debbie.

Re: Jewels of Egypt

Thanks, Debbie for your response. Did you find your tour group happy enough to share the whole experience? I know my tour is almost full and am really looking forward to it. I am not paying the single supplement and will share. I have done this twice before and have been happy with my allocated room mate. As far as clothing etc to take, do you have any advice? I backbacked through Morocco with my son in September, 2003 so probably assume would not be a lot different to Egypt as far as clothing goes. Also, I thought I would take a small suitcase with wheels instead of a backpack. What do you think? On the whole, any bits of information you think I need to know would be much appreciated. How long ago did you do the tour? Thanks again for your response.

Re: Jewels of Egypt

Hi - Just came back a single traveller on Jewels of Egypt Tour and it was an exciting & fantastic experience!

The Melody (Cruise Boat) is of a good 4 star standard with lots of hot water, nice beds and far too much food (You will put weight on!)

Cant see any problems taking a small suitcase with wheels, but there are occassions where you will have to take it up & down stairs. But you can always pay someone to do this for a few egyptian pounds.

Clothes - Casual, not showing thighs or tops of arms - Don't forget to take some nice things as there are quite a few evenings out. Laundry service on the boat was brilliant.

Lastly - my tour group ranged in ages from 18 to 74, but we all got on brilliantly & have made friends for life.

Have a great time - wish I could go again now!

Re: Jewels of Egypt

Hi KHawthorne,

As Shelley said, there is no problem taking a small suitcase with wheels. The only time I had to carry mine was up and down a few stairs at train stations, and putting it up in luggage racks on the trains.

Also, as Shelley said, travelling as a single person makes no difference. I did the River and Reef tour, travelling on my own and the group we had was great.

I would recommend taking a few packs of Dettol hand-wipes or baby wipes to carry round during the day (the money is pretty dirty and also the wipes help cool you down).

I put up some tips after I came back: [url=http://www.melissalawrence.com/tips.htm]http://www.melissalawrence.com/tips.htm[/url]

Have a great trip!

Re: Jewels of Egypt

Thanks, Melissa for your travel tips. I have printed them off and will follow them all. This forum is a fabulous way to obtain ideas from other travellers. I used it a lot on my other travels.

thanks also, Shelley for your response. Your experience with Jewels of Egypt sounded very positive and I am now more keen than ever for 19 March to come around. Imagine actually putting on weight in Egypt - I thought I would lose weight when I trekked through Nepal but actually put weight on there. Have to pay my money today so will do so with great excitement. Hopefully I might receive a response from a fellow traveller. Would be great to be able to get to know someone before the tour.
Once again, thanks for your responses.

Re: Jewels of Egypt

Hiya

we've just got back from nile valley red sea and it was fantastic. I took a rucksack however against my advice my parents took cases. they managed but I wouldn't say it was easy especially as work is being done at luxor station at the mo and it is like an assault course. I would advise taking a bag that you can easily carry whether it is a shoulder bag or rucksack...

Re: Jewels of Egypt

Hello Khawthorne,

Please excuse the delay in my response. My pc died & I have been unable to get back to you until now.

I think you will find that the majority of your group will blend well. You will have some that won't want to do what ever extra, whilst others will jump at it. Then you will have other group members who will go the whole hog & won't want to miss a second of the experience!

A suitcase with wheels will be fine. A soft sided one would be better than a solid one, as they are easy to stack. You will have to carry/drag your own suitcase at times, I am so glad I have taken a wheeled bag on both my tours in Egypt. I also suggest taking a small day pack to carry water (a must), camera, films, etc. Also pack tissues, for toilet visits & wet wipes for hand wash after handling money.....it stinks! Buy bottled water from street vendors (cheaper than the Hotel's), just check the seals are intact.

Any elbow length top is ok, but no plunging necklines, no bare shoulders, no bare knees.....this goes for the men as well! You may need a jacket as the breeze can be cool in March.

Hope you have a wonderful holiday, as always I wish I were going too! ......Debbie.

Re: Jewels of Egypt

Hi,
We just returned from this tour and it was amazing. We both had backpacks, which I find easier to travel with, but others on the tour had cases.
The people on our tour were great, and on the boat the ages went from 17 to one lady in her 70s.
One thing not included in the tour that I think was worthwhile is going out to Saqqara and Memphis. You can do this in a morning or afternoon, we did it the day before the tour started.
I didn't want the tour to end and am already looking at where we should go next year!
Have a grouse time.
D.

Re: Jewels of Egypt

Don't forget dashur as well, where you can go to the Bent pyramid and the Red pyramid. We actually went into the Red pyramid for 20 egyptian pounds, and it was the best pyramids to go into (i think we went into 4 all up).