Category: 2019 – Jaz Royale, Cairo to Luxor, 4 – 15 Apr

Our alarm woke us up at 6:00 this morning and once we had finished our morning ablutions we had a wander around the ship for the first time.
The breakfast buffet didn’t open until 7:00 so we were able to get a good feel for our home for the next few days.
By 8:10 we were on our way to Giza for our first stop of the day. There are 11 of us in the group and we are accompanied by a driver, Egyptologist and an armed security guard.
It has been emphasized more than once that our safety is the most important thing. Having said that, there is absolutely no evidence of there being anything that would give rise to bringing any harm to anyone.

The pyramids were every bit as magical as the first time I visited in 1991. We had 30 minutes at the base of Cheops which is the largest of the 3 pyramids and 15 minutes for a photo stop at the viewing plateau. All the sites were very busy and I was very surprised to see the amount of people. Back in the bus and then on to see the Sphinx at close quarters.

Part of today’s tour involved a visit to an essence and perfume establishment where we were given a demonstration of glass essence bottle making which was followed by a sales pitch to tempt you to buy. Nicole succumbed to some Frankincense and Sandalwood essences.
A 40 minute drive then took us to Saqqara and lmhoteb Museum. There is a lot of renovation going on with the pyramid and one side was covered with the rickety timber scaffolding I have ever seen; rather them than me!

One final stop before we headed back to the boat was to see one of the tombs at the Saqqara complex. Our guide was keen to show us one in particular that has only been open to the public for 2 months. I forget the name.
Finally we made our way back to the boat for some down time before our evening meal.
Another early start tomorrow so we won’t be too late to bed.

We left home at just after 8:30 this morning in the pouring rain and it proceeded to precipitate for most of the journey to Heathrow’s terminal 2.
Our transit through the airport was fairly swift which gave us ample time to get some lunch and have a wander.
Unfortunately our carrier today, EgyptAir have a no alcohol policy so there wasn’t the option to do a spot of imbibing during the flight, at least it was only around 5 hours and not a true long haul. I was very impressed with the in flight meal, one of the best I’ve had and Nicole’s vegan meal was also well received.
The only negative about the flight was an unhappy toddler 2 rows forward who having missed his afternoon nap proceeded to cry for what seemed like an eternity at the time. When he eventually settled you could hear the cabin breathe a huge sigh of relief.
By the time we reached Cairo it was gone 8:45 PM and the sun had set and we landed in darkness. After what has to be the longest taxi to the terminal in the world we joined the masses in the immigration hall. Not before picking up our visa from the bank kiosk enroute. Quite a strange system as we were met by the Discover Egypt rep before both. Still he was very helpful and guided us to where we needed to be and pointed me in the direction of Etisalat kiosk while Nicole waited at the luggage carousel.
It was over an hour’s drive to then get to the boat. By the time all the formalities were done and we had unpacked it was 10 minutes short of midnight.Breakfast is served at 7:00 with a rendezvous time of 8:00 for our first tour. We have not had time to explore the boat yet and will be out all day tomorrow.
Time for some shut eye!!

An unfortunate and untimely medical crisis just prior to final balance payment meant we had to cancel our 28 night cruise on MSC Splendida and as a result we were left with a completely blank year as far as cruises go. Once a recovery timetable had been established we set about trying to book something new to fill the gap, thinking that somewhere warm would be appropriate for the recuperation process, we searched itineraries in the Caribbean and Middle East in the hope we could find a bargain. Nothing leapt out at us and we had almost resigned ourselves to a Med cruise later in the year when suddenly I spotted a Nile cruise which ticked a lot of the boxes. After much research we ended up booking a 12 night trip (11 onboard + 1 in a hotel) with an independent cruise consultant called Ian Warren who trades under the GoCruise franchise. I have to say I was very impressed with his professional approach along with his knowledge of the product and the whole process was completed within a couple of days with flights, transfers etc all confirmed as well.
The trip itself is a package from a company called Discover Egypt who pride themselves as being one of the UK’s leading specialist operators to Egypt and there are lots of positive comments about them on Tripadviser which I always deem as a good sign. More digging on the internet has revealed the boat itself which was built in 1992 is owned and operated by the Travco Group and being as their website leaves much to be desired with information on the boat then we will just have to trust the tour operators and cruise consultant on this occasion.
So, our first venture into river cruising will be on Jaz Royale and with 10 inclusive tours included, to say we are very excited is an understatement. We are really looking forward to the whole experience as it will completely different to anything we have done before. We have often wondered about a river cruise but never been brave enough to take the plunge, could this be opening up a new world for us?

Below is a breakdown of our itinerary, its more detailed in the respect it covers all the tours but less detailed in that there are no times indicated other than morning, afternoon and evening.

Itinerary

• Day 1 Cairo: Fly to Cairo and transfer to the Jaz Royale. Overnight on board in Cairo.
• Day 2 Pyramids and Sphinx: Visit the great Pyramids of Giza & Sphinx and the step Pyramid of King Zoser at Sakkara. Dinner and overnight on board in Cairo.
• Day 3 Egyptian Museum & Citadel: Visit the Egyptian Museum and Citadel. Afternoon at leisure or optional tour (approx. £43) of Old Cairo, known as Christian Coptic Cairo, also visit the Church of Abu-Sergah and St. Barbara, the hanging church, and the old Jewish Ben Ezra Synagogue. Dinner and overnight on board in Cairo.
• Day 4 Beni Suef : All day sailing to Beni Suef. Dinner and overnight on board in Ben Suef.
• Day 5 Minya: Enjoy the day sailing to Minya. Dinner and overnight on board in Minya.
• Day 6 Beni Hassan Tombs: Visit Tuna El Gebel. Visit Ashmunein. After lunch on board visit the Beni Hassan Tombs including the Tomb of Baqet III (BH15) Tomb of Khety (BH17), Tomb of Amenemhet (BH2), Tomb of Khnumhotep II (BH3) Dinner and overnight on board in Minya.
• Day 7 Tel El Amarna: Early morning sailing to Tel El Amarna. Visit he northern tombs including Tomb of Ahmose (EA3), Tomb of Meryre (EA4), Tomb of Pentu (EA5), Tomb of Panehesy (EA6), Royal Tomb of Akhenaten (EA26). The Great Palace of King Akhenaten, The Small and great temples of Aten. Afterwards, sail to Assiut. Dinner and overnight on board on Assiut.
• Day 8 Sohag: All day sailing to Sohag Dinner and overnight on board in Sohag.
• Day 9 Abydos & Denderah: Visit Abydos Temple and afterwards the Temple of Hathor at Denderah, which houses the chapel of the Goddess Nut. Return to the boat and sail to Naga Hamadi. Dinner and overnight on board in Naga Hamadi.
• Day 10 Luxor: All day sailing to Luxor. Dinner and overnight on board in Luxor.
• Day 11 West Bank: Visit the West Bank of the Nile including the two Colossi of Memnon, the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir El-Bahari and the Valley of the Kings. Afternoon at leisure in Luxor. Dinner and overnight on board in Luxor.
• Day 12 Karnak and Luxor: Morning visit to the Temple of Karnak and Temple of Luxor. In the afternoon, disembark and transfer to Luxor airport for flight to Cairo for overnight stay at an airport hotel.
• Day 13 Return to UK:

The Jaz Royale has been out of action for a while and there have been no reviews since 2012, however if the details I have managed to find on the internet are correct then it has been fully refurbished, therefore we can only go forth with optimism and whatever the outcome we intend to make the best of it.

On this cruise the cabins are not going to be allocated until we get onboard but being as there are only 48 in total, on this occasion I don’t think its going to make much of a difference which one we end up in. Below are plans of all the decks.

One thing I do have concerns about is being able to send posts on a daily basis and so I have weighing up the various options. After e-mailing Discover Egypt to enquire about the Wi-Fi onboard, I was advised it is not a good signal in most places and not to be relied on. So I have treated myself to a Huawei E5577c 4G Mobile WiFi Router which works using a mobile phone sim card. The plan being to purchase a data SIM card either at the airport or sometime before we set off from Cairo. Of the 3 main networks in Egypt, Etisalat seems to provide the best coverage along the river so they will be my first choice. Time permitting I hope to make the purchase in the arrivals hall at Cairo airport. This little gadget will allow up to 10 devices so should easily work for our two phones and my tablet.

I feel that I am now as well prepared as I can be so fingers crossed it all works out.