Driving through Cairo (Egypt) in the early morning hours?

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

My sister-in-law and her husband got back a few weeks ago from their honeymoon from Qatar and Dubai (they also went to Thailand). I was already concerned about them going to that region.

Egypt though from a good amount of people are either not wanting to go or will never go back not because of political reasons but because of the treatment they receive or see (towards animals) while there. I would love to go to Egypt especially after they just opened the new museum by the pyramids amongst other places but it is not a destination that I am willing to go right now between hassling from people, concerns over personal safety and poor treatment of the animals while there. Even a river cruise on the Nile wouldn't absolve that. It's a bucket list trip though.

 

[easyas123]

We were actually in Egypt last November for only 72 hours to see the new Grand Egyptian Museum.

Oh I'd love to visit that museum - how wonderful was it?

 

[Minnie1222]

Oh I'd love to visit that museum - how wonderful was it?

It was jaw-dropping magnificent! I think you need 3 days to see all the objects. We had 5-6 hours and it felt very rushed. I already booked another guided tour for our next visit. Hopefully we can make it there.

 

[AlohaNow]

My son’s program includes a visit to the new museum and he is psyched out of his mind for that part! It also includes a cruise from Luxor to Aswan. His itinerary is really amazing and includes local guides who have been running this student program for over 20 years. He was in touch with them yesterday, given the current situation, and their response was that it’s business as usual in Cairo right now!

 

[Minnie1222]

My son’s program includes a visit to the new museum and he is psyched out of his mind for that part! It also includes a cruise from Luxor to Aswan. His itinerary is really amazing and includes local guides who have been running this student program for over 20 years. He was in touch with them yesterday, given the current situation, and their response was that it’s business as usual in Cairo right now!

I think he will love the museum, especially with it being next door to the Giza Necropolis. No one is ever prepared for the magnitude of the pyramids. Just for fun I looked up the height of Magic Kingdom's Castle vs the Great Pyramid. The castle is 189 ft tall, while the Great Pyramid is 455 ft (was 481 ft). You have to stack another castle and a half on top of the current one to be roughly the same height as the Great pyramid.

 

[kyton]

it’s business as usual in Cairo right now!

Egypt is already a very safety conscious country. There are armed guards everywhere.

The airports have you go through scanners even before you get inside to check in. Then there are more scanners once you are going to your gate. To get into our hotel’s driveway, all vehicles were stopped roadside with a sniffer dog plus armed soldier inspecting the vehicle underneath. Then to walk into the building all suitcases and bags (including handbags) were run through a conveyor belt X-ray machine then the humans walked through a scanner.

Every museum and shopping centre was the same. The smaller shops, churches, boats all had you walk through a scanner.

 

[easyas123]

It was jaw-dropping magnificent! I think you need 3 days to see all the objects. We had 5-6 hours and it felt very rushed. I already booked another guided tour for our next visit. Hopefully we can make it there.

Thank you so much! I look forward to getting to see it… we are tentatively planning a 55th bday/ 35th wedding anniversary trip there and I’ve been thinking this museum need more than a few hours. I hope we get to take our trip!

 

[DCLMP]

Cruise lines love to NOT go to Turkey for reasons that I can't figure out. Some cruise lines including Disney pulled out of Turkey last year and I'm not really sure why because nothing was going on. I was on a cruise in 2016 that cancelled the Turkey port at the last minute. I get this is just totally a cruise issue and not related to a land trip.

My cruise embarks from Istanbul. If NCL has to change the embarkation port that would be a lot bigger inconvenience then just cancelling a port. I can already see the outrage all over reddit.

I bought good insurance. I'll just wait and see what happens. I plan on going even if they change the embarkation port. If this happens a little compensation would be nice even if it's not NCL's fault.

 

[DCLMP]

It's unbelievable how quickly things have changed. Only a few days ago, my main concern was driving through a city at night, now it's like "do I dare going near that continent?".

Things could be better or worse in 6 months. No one knows. Anyone saying otherwise is just blowing smoke up your behind. I would continue to plan, but also come up with a contingency vacation. Don't book anything non-refundable.

 

[AlohaNow]

We are booking my son's summer trip to Egypt this week. Anyone else moving forward with Egyptian summer plans? Or still on hold right now?

 

[Minnie1222]

We are booking my son's summer trip to Egypt this week. Anyone else moving forward with Egyptian summer plans? Or still on hold right now?

We still have the hotel and tour reservations. No flights yet. It's 50/50 for us right now.