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angela_stone

do you know of any cheap flights to venice?

ash28

munsterforever wrote: »

ive never been on a cruise before and i would like to take my 5 year old to egypt as shes mad on pyramids, temples en all!... Am i best to fly in to luxor seperately and search the web for a cruise that departs from there or does anybody know of a cruise/fly/transfers package that I can book here?
I can go anytime in july or august or from october 26 as long as im back by november 6th + or - a few days.

Ive read the thread and prehaps somebody could give me a heads up on how the cruise ships try to squeeze money out of you? I read the tips automatically going into an your account with horror! I will tip personally if someone deserves it!...if there are any other tips anybody can give me please let me know! as im also planning an MSC opera trip in June

Nile cruises aren't like conventional cruises - there is virtually nothing to do on the boat for a start.

The boats don't try to squeeze money out of you nor do the crew by the way, you are full board usually and you have to pay for your drinks - not cheap on board but you can buy stuff off the boat - all you will normally have is a drinks bill.

The MS Emely doesn't take children under 6 - actually that's quite young, a lot of the boats won't take children under 12.

The excursions usually start quite early - up around 5 or 6 in the morning - so the excursions aren't done in the worst of the heat - some of them involve quite long walks over rough ground.

The boats are quite small - the cabins are quite small - there is usually one dining room where the food is served buffet style most nights. There is usually a bar and a dancefloor.

Some of the boats have a very small swimming pool on deck - on the one's I've been on there haven't been any children - infact there weren't any facilities for them. Most people spend their time between stops relaxing on the deck watching the world go by - there isn't really anything else. The deck can also get very hot to walk on.

On the tipping side - it's normal to tip at the end of the cruise - there are usually 2 tips (put in envelopes and handed in to reception) one for the crew and one for Egyptologist. The tip for the crew gets shared out amongst them - which to me is fair enough - there are a lot of people you don't see making sure your holiday is enjoyable - often there are 50 to 70 people working on the boat - you'll only ever see a few of them. I've never heard anyone complain or moan about the tipping onboard. You'll probably be advised on how much is acceptable or normal - but at the end of the day the amount is up to you

You definitely wouldn't want to be in Egypt during July or August the temperature will be in the 40s even in October the temperature will be in the mid to high 30s. The best months are probably November/February and March. The temperatures are the reason a lot of the excursions start at the crack of dawn - if your idea of a holiday is having a lie in then this wouldn't be for you.

You can book short cruises when you're in Luxor - I've done it - cost about £60 each for a 3 night cruise. The problem I found was what the locals called a 5 star boat wouldn't even have been used as a 3 star boat by operators here.

Karnak Travel and Jolleys are near the Old Winter Palace - we've used them for cruises (3 night cruise to Aswan and then train back to Luxor with a driver waiting to take us back to the hotel) and excursions to the Valley of the Kings (private car and driver) and just used a local taxi for trips we wanted to do in Luxor - Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple - they just waited for us.

I've also done Cairo as a side trip from Luxor - went to Pyramids, Spinx and Egyptian Museum.

BTW I wouldn't take a 5 year old on a Nile Cruise but there are other options - not enough for them to do and the tours will be pretty much over their heads and to be honest unless you have a keen interest one temple looks pretty much like another - by the end of the week I'm usually "templed out".

loobs40

20th July- Three nighter on P&O Ventura from Southampton to Zebrugge and Gurnsey currently at £219 per person guarantee inside cabin. Taster cruise for those who are not sure cruising is for them.

P&O website shows much higher price, butif you ask for £210 it shall be given !

getmore4less

angela_stone wrote: »

do you know of any cheap flights to venice?

Nearly always an issue with late deals,

I use skyscanner but there are probably other options.

I think groupon had a Venice offer with 2 nights accomodation, might be able to se if that can be combined with a cheap cruise.

So far all the NCL Weds have been Europe so do a bit of advanced flight planning for next Wed,

loobs40

Looking at the prices for the Jade cruises from Venice, NCL seem to be struggling to fill them. Surprising becasue it looks a good route. We were on the Jade in March and had a great time, so there is nothing wrong with the ship, service and staff

munsterforever

ash28
thats a brilliant response, thanks for the time and effort you put in to that post, its much appreciated.

getmore4less

Princess 12n round britain ex Southampton

£499 14th 26th May

Spotted on iglu should be avaialble elsewhere.
http://www.iglucruise.com/caribbean-princess/26th-may-2012_c55000

getmore4less

RCI adventure of the sea 20th May Valencia 7n

£185pp or £175pp from cruise 1st

Very limited availability(no cabins an hour ago but available now)

Not available as a solo rate

angela_stone

can you tell me where these were on the website seem to only find with flights.

getmore4less

angela_stone wrote: »

can you tell me where these were on the website seem to only find with flights.

I found using the search (20may, adventure of hte seas to narow down the list).
it is in the list more than once, one is flight(smart deal) the other one is cruiseonly(now £353)

Very limited, not available when I checked on RCI at 7:30am.

http://bookings.royalcaribbean.co.uk/findacruise/search/vacationSearchResult/show.do?cruiseType=CO&pageType=AS&includeAdjascentPorts=Y&ship=AD&date=201204&port=&actionType=&portOfCall=&exp=true&price=&location=&promoType=&eventSource=ship&duration=&dest=