We have just returned from a tour of a lifetime that we had booked with Ramses Tours, in Egypt overnight in Cairo. We had a group of 54 people which filled 5 seperate mini-buses. I worked with George from Ramses for almost a year with the booking process and questions that would arise from our group. He never tired of the questions and always responded so quick, you would have thought he was only down the street from us. He accomodated our large group into 5 small groups so we could maintain only 10 ? 12 people verses 54 at once. It worked out perfect. We were able to go at our own speed per bus and taylor the tour to what everyone wanted to do, such as lunches. For example, some groups chose to skip lunch and eat a snack so they could see more while others were looking forward to a traditional Egyptian lunch to experience the tastes of the land. Our bus stopped at a buffet lunch by the pyramids. It was delicious. To begin, our guides were waiting for us as we exited the terminal buiding and we did have to walk a little way to the back end of the terminal parking as priority at the port parking is given to the large buses that are booked with the ships tours, so if you are booking with any private tours, they do make them park outside of the terminal parking area. Once we reached our buses, we were off to Cairo. The trip is about 3 hours, but we stopped at a very nice rest stop for a bathroom break. There was a girl waiting inside, distributing sheets of toilet paper and you would pay her for this if you needed any.
It was no shock for our group as anyone that has done their homework and read alot, everyone has mentioned this issue and we were all prepared for this. We even were given good advice from both boards to purchase and carry Charmin to Go that is sold for $1.00 in many stores, not only for Egypt but while visiting all European countries.. So we had no problems as the bathroom was very clean and moved quickly to get in and out of. We were back on the bus in no time and again on our way. Our driver, Mr. Hassan, should come to America and be a race car driver, he would have no probelm getting a sponsor as good as he is. The first and most important tour factor in Egypt is the traffic. We had read many posts with people telling us how much traffic was there, but it still did not prepare us for what we experienced. If it was not for the precision and experience of Mr. Hassan?s driving, we would never have been able to see all that we saw in the limited time that we had.I would like to say at this point that I would not reccomend doing a one day tour in Cairo. It is a three hour drive to Cairo on a good day, but there could be, and usually is, heavy traffic that could delay you further and Ramses has no control over this issue. Then you see the sights and have to drive another 3 or so hours back to the ship. The overnight that we did was the best way to see it all. Our tour guide, Karim, was the best. He was very informative and answered all our questions. He was accomodating to all our needs and kept a schedule that allowed us to get it all in. We found in the beginning of the tour that the pace was a fast set and that took us by surprise as we knew we had two days to see it all, so why go so fast. We didnt appreciate the fast pace until the very end of the tour as we then realized that if he would not have pushed us and kept us moving, we would never have seen all the beautfiul sights that we did. We had no idea as to how far apart the sites were from one another and how much traffic delays eat up your time. Karim is one of the top 10 guides in Egypt and we all can understand why. He was great. He not only kept us informed but he was in constant contact with our next stop by cell phone to ensure everything was set up and waiting for us for easy entries so it would not hold us up. Our stay overnight was at the Oberoi Mena House which was so beautfiul.
We payed a little extra for the Oberoi Mena House and the pyramid view room, but when I entered the room, it was so beautfiul with the balcony facing the pyramids, that I cried at the beautfiul view. Our guide, Karim, called everyone after being in their rooms for 5 minutes to ensure that all was 100 percent satisfactory. The hotel was 5 star as they said and lived up to everything it advertised on the Oberoi Mena website. It was fabulous. All of us wished we did not have to leave the next morning. We were treated to breakfast before setting off for another day of wonderful sights and great fun as Karim had a great sense of humor. Egypt is a hard tour for the guides as you have people on the tour all doing different things, such as some do the mummy rooms, some choose to do the camel rides, some go into the solar boat museum, some do the entry to the pyramid, some choose to do the Nile dinner cruise and some choose to do the light and sound show. Karim was so organized, that when others were doing their choice the remaining people were shown something else. We did the Nile Dinner Cruise, it was great. It was on the Nile Crystal and the entertainment was excellent, the singers were great, the belly dancer was beautiful and the food was delicious and plentyful. We had two days of Egyptian style food and none of us became ill. Ramses uses the same places over and over again to ensure that past customers tell them that they did not become ill, so they do know and can feel very confident taking them there.
We loved the food and the Egyptian atmosphere. It was the best and gave us the true experience of Egypt. At the Museum we were shown the masterpieces of the collections as you can not see all of them in the time that you have alloted. My husband and I never expected to see the magniturde of people visiting the museum. There had to be thousands there that day, but our guide still managed to get us through in a timely fashion that we were able to see the most important pieces and the mummy rooms. I could go on forever about Ramses as they never strayed from what they promised, a tour of a lifetime. In todays world, you will not find many companies that deliver 100 percent anymore, but Ramses did. My best advice to everyone visiting Egypt is that you must be flexible and be prepared to move along. If you are want to do shopping, then sign up for a shoping tour, as there is little time to shop if you want to see all the sights. Traffic will have alot to do with what you see and how much and if you dont see it, it will not be because of Ramses as they really do everything in their power to get it all in. I recommend Ramses with all my heart as our memories of Egypt are perfect ones thanks to them.