BEEN there, done that is a double- edged sword for tour operators and travel agents. On the one hand it means fewer repeat customers, on the other it means a fresh group of tourists trying something new.
In Cyprus, for years, tourists, foreign residents and Cypriots alike have enjoyed the two-day and three-day Louis cruises to the Holy Land and Egypt, and some who took the ‘been there, done that’ view were looking for something else.
Now they’ve got it. This year Louis Cruises are introducing Cairo Plus, combining a cruise to Egypt, overnight stay at a five-star hotel backed by the Pyramids and dinner aboard a cruising restaurant on the Nile, as well as excursions that give you more time to wonder at the treasures of Tutankhamen and the Pyramids.
The new three-day cruise programme runs from Friday to Monday morning, so it need not mean taking holiday days – you arrive back in Limassol at 10.30am, which is not too much of a problem for working dads and mums.
And the Louis three-day programme features two options, one based on Alexandria, a city with a strong Greek influence, and the other including the overnight stay at Le Meridien Pyramids and that Nile cruise.
Every Friday, the Louis cruise departs from Limassol for Alexandria. Option A features the classical Cairo tour, said George Michaelides, Senior General Manager Marketing, Louis Cruise Lines. “We have been running this for many years now,” he said, “and it is still extremely popular. We started it in 1987 when we launched our mini-cruises with the Princesa Marissa.”
The programme includes a visit to the National Archaeological Museum in Cairo, housing the magnificent finds from the tomb of Tutankhamen, an excursion to the Sphinx and the Pyramids and a visit to a papyrus workshop.
Then it’s back to the ship in Alexandria for dinner and entertainment on board. At midnight a chocaholic buffet guarantees to put on a few pounds – but it’s all-inclusive and won’t cost extra pounds.
Next morning, Sunday, there’s an optional half-day tour of Alexandria, including the Royal Jewellery Museum, ex-King Farouk’s summer residence and the site where the famous Pharos of Alexandria, one of the seven Wonders of the ancient world, once stood. Also on the itinerary is the new Bibliotecha Alexandrina, an impressive building on the site of the original library established by Ptolemy in 288 BC. Then it’s back to the ship for lunch and return to Limassol.
Option B – which costs £50 more – is Cairo Plus. The city tour offers visitors more than two hours in the museum – the traditional tour is, for many, too much of a dash round. For an extra $9 you also have time to take a look at the mummies.
Then off to Le Meridien. Freshen up, enjoy a swim in the pool, with a spectacular backdrop of the Pyramids. In the evening, drive downtown to the Nile for dinner on board a cruising restaurant and entertainment, including belly dancing.
The overnight stay at Le Meridien is followed by a visit to the Pyramids – again there’s more time available – and the papyrus workshop. Back to the hotel for a buffet lunch before departure for Alexandria and Cyprus.
George Michaelides has been busy promoting Cairo plus to travel agents and tour operators across the island and he’s very happy with the initial response. The cruise-tour options can also be adjusted, with advance notice, to cater for special interest groups.
A group of Cypriots, for example, could arrange to swap the Cairo museum excursion – been there, done that – with a visit to the Greek Orthodox St George’s Church in old Cairo, followed by a shopping trip to the bazaar. Other passengers, perhaps British or German, can pre-book a trip from Alexandria to the World War Two cemetery at El Alamein, scene of the tank battle between forces led by Montgomery and Rommel that was a milestone in the war. Any special excursion must, of course, be booked in advance and for a group of, say, 30 or 40 people.
The two-day cruises to Port Said and Cairo have just restarted, departing on Mondays and Wednesdays – the Holy Land programme has been suspended because of the political situation in Israel. Two-day cruise prices start from £91, the three-day Cairo Plus programme with all the extras is £173.
And summer season cruising is just round the corner. Michaelides said the programme would be announced in April. “It will include weekend cruises to Beirut and Rhodes, plus more than 25 different options for five-day and seven-day cruises to the Greek islands.”
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
