Carol and I are booked on the 3-20-2010 NILE Egypt tour. Is this the place we could start a roll call for others who are booked. Carol and I are very excited about this trip. Something Carol has talked about wanting to do for years.

ROLL CALL LISTING-
Ralph and Carol Webster, includes Petra
Ray and Pat, includes Petra
Doug and Andi, includes Petra
Mark and Pam, includes Petra
Jim and Pam,
Ken and Ngaire, includes Petra
Susan
Susan and Russell
Mark and Cheron
Dave and Mary Elaine , includes Petra
Andrea and Jerel
Jim and Mary Ellen
Carla and Frank

Ralph, this sure is the place! Would you like to be in charge of adding the names as you get them to your original post?

Doug and I are booked, including Petra

Pat and Ray hopefully by weeks end ,including Petra and going in early.

add Pam and Jim Not sure about Petra. have done it before

We are booked, going in a day early and including Petra.

Carol and I are pleased to be traveling with you again. I added you to the roll call.

This may be the new ROAR!

Don & I are booked - also going in a day early. Did Petra on CAMEL. You all will love it. Yeah, O, this sure does look ROAR-like.

Ken and I are booked. Won't be doing Petra though, did that on CAMEL. So looking forward to going back to Egypt again. Not sure about when we'll be arriving, it will all depend on flight schedules from Australia.

Do not forget Ken and Ngaire - with Petra

I wish there was a way to only do Petra! Don't freak Ngaire - just day dreaming. :)

I have added Ken and Ngaire. Did not want to add unless it was posted. I am a newbe at this.

Ralph: A "newbie" we all love - :hug: :hug:

Susan and Russell Hall are in.

Michele, should we have an repeat performance of the synchronized swimmers?

We are arriving a day early also

Susan

Synchronized swimmers? Oh yes! You even have a choice of an indoor or an outdoor pool. One for practicing, one for the complete performance.

Sounds like a winner!

Cheers, Anne

Are you in Anne, if so we will have to bring Pam on board?

For the everyone else this was an ICE "olympic moment".

Susan

Sychronized swim team event on de Nile! Good one, Susan! Anne & Pam, you gotta sign up - think "team" RE PEAT.

OK Ralph...

Ralph,
You can add Mark and my name to the roster. Today we officially signed up for the Nile trip and have booked our airline reservations to arrive a day early. We will, however, not be doing the Petra extension. This is our first group trip and we are excited to be joining LCT. We are looking forward to getting to know everyone a bit before March.

Welcome Mark and Cheron! :hello1:

Pleased to have you join us. I have added you to the roll call.

Welcome Mark and Cheron looking forward to meeting you in Cairo ....it will be a wonderful time.

We are all looking forward to meeting you and having a great trip. "You have choosen wisely"

Pam and Jim

Realized that Dave and Mary Elaine were not on the list so added them. They arrive with Carol and I on3/18/10 late in evening.

Andrea and Jerel are with us for the Egypt portion, too. Andrea posted in the "air" thread but not this one.

Thank you for the warm welcome. I'm sure it will be a wonderful time.

Thanks for looking out for us Pam!

Jim and I are on this too. We'll also be going on to Petra.

Mary Ellen

We are close to filling up the boat. This is going to be such an incredible trip!

I'll drink to that Pam....It's 7 months away but still getting anxious to go.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING NILE

Triton had a fire onboard
I got some news this morning on the NILE trip. The Triton, the ship we had scheduled to sail on NILE had a major fire onboard during a dry dock. The Triton will not be available for us to use on Nile. At first I was very upset at this development but after really looking at our options this may actually be a good thing.

Our replacement ship, the Salacia
The company has a sister ship, the Salacia that we will be using and below I have itemized the key differences for you. I sailed on the Salacia before her refurbishment in 2006. At that time she held 106 passengers and we did enjoy the ship but preferred the Triton at that time as the Triton only held 42 guests. However, since the refurbishment the Salacia now only holds 59 passengers. Ker & Downey tried to get me to use the Salacia as they said the ship is wonderful now but I still liked 42 passengers better than 59 passengers. However, looking at the statistics and what the Salacia offers now it may actually be a better situation.

Cabins on the Salacia
We will all be assigned to the Royal Suites which are larger than the Triton cabins. There are 18 Royal Suites on board and we will all be accommodated in these suites. There are only 6 with double beds and those first booked will get the choice of the double bedded cabins. I do not have the details yet of which cabins have double or twin beds. I have never understood why these companies make so many twins! These suites have two small bathrooms, each with a shower, toilet and basin, but no bathtub and they are smaller bathrooms than the one bathroom per suite in the Triton. At least you have a bathroom each.

Itinerary
The Salacia right now goes from Luxor to Aswan. The Triton went from Aswan to Luxor. However it is not clear yet how this will all work. It is possible the Salacia may take over the same itinerary as the Triton is doing now and we will still sail from Aswan to Luxor. This is all too recent for them to have all those details sorted out yet. The main issue was getting a ship opened up enough for us all to be together and then we work around the other details.

Of course the INTERNATIONAL arrival and departure dates WILL NOT CHANGE so no need to worry about your FF miles or Airline tickets you have purchased all will be well there.

I am leaving tomorrow morning for the Navigator and I will not have all the information necessary to assign cabins before I leave and no more news on the itinerary until later either. As the information comes in I will contact you by email with details and assign the cabins in the order of booking and give you choices of accommodation. There is a web site where you can go to see both ships and it is as follows:

http://transegypttravel.com/

Details

Cabin Size
Triton: All cabins 270 sq.ft
Salacia: Royal Suites 300 sq.ft

Bathroom
Triton: One bath with tub/shower
Salacia: Two smaller baths with shower only no tub

Number of guests
Triton: 42 guests
Salacia: 59 guests

Inclusive of local wines & spirits
Triton: YES
Salacia: YES FOR OUR GROUP

Same quality of food
YES

Ship size sister ships
SAME SIZE

Token refund for change
$60 per person

Refurbished Salacia in 2006
Salacia used to hold 104 guests - now only 59 guests

Since the refurbishment there are amenities on the Salacia that are not on the Triton
3 lounges instead of 2 lounges
Extra dining option in the on deck Sahara Cafi Beauty Salon
Internet corner
In suite LCD TV with in-house movies
Private DVD player
Mini Bar
Individual Safes

I would hate to be Ngaire. You think you have something nailed down and something happens! There's that book..."WHo moved my cheese." Ngaire is the hero of that book and knows how to make fondue whenever that happens!!!!

Perfectly said Andi

Just got word that the Salacia WILL SAIL FROM ASWAN exactly as was originally planned with the Triton, so nothing changed at all on the land portion the only change is the ship that we use for the Nile cruise.

So that is very good news. About 1.30 am in the morning but so happy with this news decided to post and will send follow up emails tomorrow to everyone.

Jim & I sailed from Luxor to Aswan on the Salacia in 2/07. We were one of two couples on board with the most wonderful egpytologist, Momed?

The suites look like 2 single cabins combined. One room is the living area & the other room, seperated by a half wall, is the bedroom. Each room has a bathroom. The Nubian staff is very friendly & we had a special night dancing & singing with them in their native dances.

Thanks and go to bed Ngaire!!!

Ngaire
Thanks so much for keeping our best interests in mind. We are very much looking forward to this trip.

Just booked flights, please add Carla and Frank to the roll call..

Thanks
FV

I am posting to bring this to a more current status so others can find with out difficulty. I know we do not do this but seems like the right thing to do in this case.

If there are others that are going and wish to be on the roll call please post and I will add.