A & K to Egypt

[Momof3greatkids]

For any of you interested in Egypt, I got an email from Ambercrombie and Kent with upto 50% cuts in their rates. Trips as low as $1700 and $2300 pp. Not sure all it includes, but if you are looking to do Egypt, you might want to check it out, especially since ABD is around the $5000 - $6000 range.

 

[Bobo912]

I got that email too. Interesting, since A&K is usually much higher than ABD.

 

[Pakey]

One thing to consider is that A&K's prices do not include the internal flights that this tour has. It will still be less expensive under their current promo but not as inexpensive as it first seems.

 

[abdmom]

Thanks for posting this. I called them up earlier today and put a hold on one of their Egypt tours.

 

[Bobo912]

I was checking out the A&K website and their family Egypt trip for 2012 has a 50% price reduction. Original prices were $4670 - $6070 plus internal air. Now they are $2335 - $3035. When I was a kid I always wanted to go to Egypt. I think I would be uncomfortable taking my kid at this point, but I signed up for their webinar to see what they have to say.

abdmom, are you planning to book the family trip or the new "Moment in History" trip that is longer and the price is less? Internal airfare is less on the new trip too. They don't do the scavenger hunt, crafts, etc. that they have on the family trip, but they do have the costume party on the ship.

 

[abdmom]

I've got the March "Egypt Unveiled" trip on hold. This trip is also 50% off. It's a couple of days longer than the family trip. Even though it's not a family trip, they accept children 10 y.o. and up. I'm planning on taking my 13 yo and 16 yo. The only reason I chose this particular trip was because it was the only one that worked with my March break (I'm a teacher). If I wanted to take my younger child, the only option would be mid-July. I don't think I could stand the heat.

There are several Egypt trips that are discounted. I noticed that several of their trips to Africa and the Middle East have been discounted. As well, the prices for quite a few trips are $1000 less than last year, which puts them LESS expensive than ABD.

 

[Bobo912]

Thanks, abdmom. How long will A&K hold the spot for you? I had the same thought about the temps, as well. Too hot in June and July, but there is a Moment in History trip that almost coincides with our Spring break. DS would have to miss 2 days of school before break starts, which I'm not a fan of, but in this case I think it's worth considering. I think I would rather take your trip, which normally would be during our spring break too, but for some reason this year our's is later than it has ever been before. Next year we are going on a new school calendar and we have 2 weeks of spring break. That would be a better time for us, but there's little chance we'll ever see these prices again.

 

[abdmom]

They said that they would hold it a week or two. Since we would be a party of 3, they have to price it out as a triple. I should find out Monday how much it would be. I suspect the total cost of a triple will be almost the same as 2 doubles. Maybe if there's another family of 3 with a teenage boy, they could share.

I have a 2 week spring break, so it works for me. My kids only have one week, so they would have to miss a week. I'm of the same mind, I wouldn't be able to afford to take them without the special deal.

 

[Bobo912]

abdmom, I was looking for some A&K reviews and founding this blog which I found to be an entertaining read. Thought you might be interested:

http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog/premiertravel/4/tpod.html

 

[tufbuf]

This is such a great deal!! If we hadn't made plans for next year, this would have been a great trip to consider!

 

[abdmom]

abdmom, I was looking for some A&K reviews and founding this blog which I found to be an entertaining read. Thought you might be interested:

http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog/premiertravel/4/tpod.html

Thanks so much Bobo912. I've been scouring the internet all weekend. The reviews are few and far between.

 

[Bobo912]

abdmom, did you watch the webinar today? A&K's ships are beautifutl! My biggest concern is that there is a lot of looking and not so much doing, which will probably become boring quickly to DS. I'm not sure he's old enough for this trip yet. The family trip would probably be better for him, but we would have to go in the summer and I'm definitely not doing that. They mentioned that they have child coordinators (I think that is what they called them) to assist family groups since they have a lot of young children on the trips, so I may call or email and find out exactly what a child coordinator does.

 

[abdmom]

I did watch the webinar. It was interesting to see the interiors of the ships. I think the child coordinators are the activity coordinators on the family trips - in charge of arts and crafts, and scavenger hunts etc.

 

[Bobo912]

Darn, that won't help with keeping DS entertained then. The March family trip won't work with our spring break and June and July are just too hot.

 

[abdmom]

I finally got my triple pricing today from A&K. They took $100 off the cost of a double for the first 2 travellers. The third person will have to be a single for 4 nights (out of 10), so the single supplement was added for those 4 nights. The third person is about $500 more than the first 2. This is not a family trip, so no child pricing.

I also noticed on their website today that they have some last minute specials to other destinations - up to 50% off on places like Ireland, Italy, India, Peru, Morocco, Tanzania and others.

 

[Bobo912]

I got an email from A&K about that. I saw Ireland and Peru and was on it immediately, but unfortunately they conflicted with the school schedule. On some of the Egypt trips they had dropped the single supplement. Too bad your's was't one of those. Still it's a good deal. Besides ABD, I've checked Tauck and Thomson and they haven't lowered their prices at all.

 

[abdmom]

I really can't complain about the single supplement. I'm putting 3 in a Presidential suite cabin for the price of 1 1/3.

Now I just have to convince dsis to look after the youngest for 2 weeks.