Okay - here is where we are now.

I made some changes after studying the itinerary in more detail. Price will go up $150 to $7832 per person but I think it will be much better.

Itinerary and Flights
If we fly from Cairo to Abu Simbel we need to catch a flight that leaves so early that we will have about a 3.30 am or 4.00 am wake up call.

NOT GOOD.

So we have switched things around.

We will now get up at a reasonable hour,have a nice Four Seasons breakfast and take an 11.55 am flight from Cairo to Aswan arriving at 1.17 pm. Then we can do tours that afternoon.

Then we will go to Abu Simbel the next morning.

This does mean an extra flight, extra transfer of course and this is where the extra cost will come but I think this is a much better way to go. It is a short flight and the normal routine for Abu Simbel. You must fly in and fly out.

Basma Island – tit bit of information.
Basma island where we are going for dinner, is owned by the executive that came to visit me in Dallas. I thought he was an Oberoi executive but in fact he is the owner of the tour operation that is putting this all together in Egypt for us that K&D has been working with for years.. It is supposed to be beautiful island and it is his private island and only invited guests (like us) go there. Between visiting his house and his private island I think my evening with him was very well spent.

Price, Deposit and Cancellation.
Price is set in US $ no matter if the price of the euro goes up or down K&D is responsible for that. Only variance in costs will be the air flights which have been estimated and could well go up by 2010. So be prepared for that. As with any airline ticket until you BUY the price is not confirmed.

I was able to negotiate my favorite cancel terms. The deposit will be 20% of the fare $1566 per person and it will be refundable if when you cancel another Brown and Keene client takes your place. Otherwise it is non refundable.

We gripe about cruise lines cancel terms but land programs are in a whole different league. We hit this on POLAR BEARS too they are just not as flexible.

Do not have final payment dates, single supplement rates yet. David is waiting to confirm all this with Egypt. The terms are the Egyptian operators terms not K&D.

Cabin Selection
There are queen and twin bedded cabins. I have requests for these already. I am going to be fair here also. First deposited get preference.

Date selection.
Problem is the date. Having emails with preferences one date over the other. I am going to post a poll. Only fair way to go.

So I am going to do a poll for the date, remember this is the CRUISE embarkation date so we start in Cairo 5 nights earlier, leaving the USA a day earlier than that for the flight.

(a) 2/25 embarkation
(b) 3/25 embarkation
(c) Either is fine

Only vote if you are serious about coming. You know the price now and the basic itinerary. If it is not really important to you then please pick option C. Some truly cannot come on one date or the other so I want to really let those people use the poll as it is critical to them on the date. I want to be fair to everyone. Weather wise it will not be that big a difference.

Additions to the tour.
Anyone who wants extra nights in Cairo or any special arrangements will contact K&D directly and Kim Cooper will handle those additional aspects of the tour. They will work on these issues on deposited bookings only. Understandable as you can spend hours with “what ifs” and if someone is not booked and not serious about going then this is a lot of time wasted. Kim is going to Egypt in two weeks again so will be seeing many new things and will be "up to speed" on Egypt with everything fresh in her mind.

I will post the poll now.

CANT POST A POLL IT SAYS POLLING IS DISABLED IN THIS FORUM --- KAREN???

I WILL GO OVER TO THE MAIN THREAD I WANT TO BE SURE ALL THOSE INTERESTED SEE THIS ANYWAY.

Checking it out now :)

Hi Ngaire.

any info on single supplement? I am interested.

Marcia

I should have all the details early next week. Waiting for some final figures.

Ngaire - sounds terrific! I'm glad the final itinerary includes the Triton. She's a wonderful ship. Here's hoping we can come and see Mr. Fawzy, Moones and all the other wonderful sights and staff traveling along the Nile.

Oh .. and NO ONE will miss that 3:30 am wake-up call to get to Abu Simbel. If things work the way they did in 2007, here's the drill (and it worked extremely well, BTW):

Egypt Air flies you down there, where you board their buses for the short ride with your guide. Once you arrive, the guide will explain the site to you. Thanks to the building of the High Dam, the site had to be excavated and moved to higher ground, brick by brick. The rebuilding is the work of masters. The guide then sends you into the temples to take your time to see them. Guides are not allowed to go into the temples with you. I assumed it's because everyone on the flight arrives together, so having guides stopping to lecture and blocking traffic is not a good thing. You continue up to a coffee/shop/rest area once you've seen the temples. From there, everyone catches the buses back to the airport where the plane is waiting to take you back to Aswan. Flight from Aswan to Abu Simbel is short - maybe 40 minutes - and when we went was on either a 737 or A320.

Cheers, Anne