Blogs from Port Said, Mediterranean, Egypt, Africa
May 20th 2012
I've had a fascination with the history of the Pharoahs for a very long time, so I was very excited that we would have a chance to see the Pyramids on this cruise. We knew the trip from Port Said to Cairo and Giza was a long one (3 hours each way) but we felt it was worth it. Why come this far and wimp out because of too much bus time!! It ended up being an eye-opening day in ways we had not anticipated. Just as background, Egypt is currently at a major crossroads. Ever since the revolt against Mubarak, which began on January 28, 2011, this country has been trying to pull itself up by the bootstraps. Their economy is in terrible shape: 50% of the country are considered poor; another 20% barely above ... read more
April 11th 2011
Our Blog No.17 After we left Dubai Nicky met up with Alan and Marjorie who attend the same cardiac group on a Tuesday as Barry does and where Nicky is the Health Professional. A lovely surprise - they had already booked last year and never said a word to us that they were travelling from Dubai back to Southampton with us. They celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary on Sunday 10th April. Before we arrived in Safaga on Friday 8th April we had four days at sea where stringent precautions were taken to ensure we were not invaded by pirates. It was taken very seriously by the Commodore. Fortunately there were no incidents as far as we are aware! Safaga was not a very attractive area and we had already made the decision that we didn’t want ... read more
Alexandria and Cairo, to Suez Canal
Published: October 20th 2009Africa » Egypt » Mediterranean » Port Said
October 20th 2009
On the morning of the 19th we were effectively becalmed and mired in thick smog/fog/mist. We could see dozens of ships at anchor on the outskirts of Alexandra harbour: the crew dropped the sails and started winding the way through to the unseen harbour. On this ship you often don't know what to do first even though it is small. In this case participate in Tai Chi, enjoy another huge breakfast, listen to the historical commentary about the famous library or lighthouse of Alexandria, or watch the crew deal with the pilot and ubiquitous tugs - Greg took the tugs, Catherine took the Tai Chi. Finally into the harbour which was pretty decrepit. There were actually half-submerged hulks to one side and we wondered what mooring fees must be :). There was no mistaking our arrival ... read more
April 6th 2009
Today we are going through the Suez Canal which connects the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Google it and see what it looks like from the air. It is 101 miles long and at its narrowest, less than 400 yards wide. Traffic is one way and in convoys. Each day, early in the morning, two convoys depart north to south and one departs south to north (Us today). Unlike the Panama Canal, there are no locks needed to raise and lower ships as the sea level at both ends of the Suez Canal is nearly equal. There is a lake in the middle and we pass the south bound convoys in the lake and at one other passing place. We go about 10 miles per hour and it takes about 11 hours to complete the ... read more
Day 8 A day in Cairo and a late Arrival at the ship
Published: November 10th 2008Africa » Egypt » Mediterranean » Port Said
November 10th 2008
The entire group, with one exception, joined in a tour of Cairo and the Pyramids at Giza along with the Sphinx. The day dawned warm and partly cloudy and everyone was excited to see one of the great wonders of the World. Unfortunately, our 10:00 AM arrival ended up being 10:45 as Princess decided to bring boxes, freight and several local folks onboard before clearing the vessel for passenger disembarkation. Little did we realize this delay would have major consequence as our tour ended. Our guide was named Waleed and he was a nice young Egyptian man who spoke excellent English. Our tour director was Joe Michel, a Catholic resident, originally from Belgium and handles local tours for American Express. We arranged this as a private tour through a company named shoretrips.com. We have four other ... read more
