About the host tour operator in Egypt Joyce tours.
In Egypt have been many times, but since this year for the first time. And so from the very beginning in order. We bought a tour on the advice of many friends from our small town at the Lucky Tour travel agency in Kharkov, the girl Natasha listened very carefully to our story about the hotels in which we usually rested in Egypt, and many thanks to her picked us a good hotel at a great price. Natasha warned us that we should try to book a tour exactly on October 26-27, i. These days, many hotels had a decent discount, and with its help we did it. We chose a good hotel Monte Carlo (formerly Rich Carlton) in a good location in Sharm with a UAL food system + additional services "wedding anniversary" i. e. + a compliment from the hotel, usually in the form of a cake or a fruit basket. I want to immediately warn all tourists at the very beginning of my story, if upon arrival on vacation something starts to go wrong as planned, the first thing to do is call your travel agent, be sure!! ! Your call can cancel all deviations from the holiday plan, now I regret a little that I did not do this. Upon arrival at Sharm El Sheikh airport, at the counter where they issue migration cards, we were met by the guide Ali (Joyce tours) who asked who was at the Monte Carlo hotel, only we (my husband and I) were in this hotel, he took us migration cards and took us to away from everyone else and began to fill them himself. My husband and I thought that now he would ask for $ 10 for this, but he did not ask, then we thought that this was probably some kind of additional service, or maybe because we were alone in this hotel. Ali stood us very patiently waiting for us to get our luggage, and when we got it, he led us to the bus. And here the most interesting thing is that we are not on the lists of any bus, and it turns out that our hotel was closed, but our travel agent did not have time to inform about it, this is from the words of Ali and some other guide, agree somehow strange. I will quote them below. You do not have to worry, we will not leave you on the street, due to the inconvenience caused, we will put you in an even better hotel, the UAL food system will be preserved, you will be given a better room, you will not experience any difference, etc. etc. etc. and a bunch of other good reasons that everything will be even better. I immediately wanted to call Natasha, my husband pulled back, don’t rush, let’s go and see if a really good hotel can, but if it’s bad, then we’ll call. I asked the guides where this hotel is located, they answered 10 km. from the airport, I asked in the direction of Naama Bay or in the opposite direction (suspecting that it was somewhere in Nabq, a windy area in Sharm El Sheikh), they answered that in the direction of Naama Bay and, as it turned out, they lied the next morning. Arriving at the beach, I saw Tiran Island not at all from Naam or Sharks, waves on the sea and a red flag on the pier, you can’t see corals. Kisni in the lagoon cleared of corals (because in the morning the tide and water are knee-deep) or in the pool, since it is with excellent heating and right above the beach. They brought us to the Nubian village hotel, when it was already dark and it was difficult to understand in which direction they were taking us from the airport. We went on a tour for a week, flew out of Kharkov at 12.20 days + 4 hours flight + 30-60 min. procedures at the airport + 30 min. the transfer ended up at the hotel at 18.30, i. e. the day was gone. How is it better for me to fly from Kyiv there are all flights to Sharm from 2.00 am to 8.00 am, almost the same in Dnepropetrovsk, but my husband does not like it, you still have to get there. Well, the day of arrival was stolen, but leaving the hotel at 4.15 am after a week of measured life kills me in general, you arrive rested, and at the same time tired. By the way, such a departure and arrival is only from Kharkiv and Zaporozhye, look at the airport schedules. The Nubian village hotel (as I understand it, it used to be two hotels near Nubian island 5 * and Nubian village 4 *, and now it is one hotel with a huge territory) turned out to be really wonderful (read my review about the hotel), as my husband is in the hotel I liked everything, well, he’s not a fan of the sea, and I didn’t want to waste another day moving to a hotel with a calmer sea, we came to the conclusion not to call the travel agent. But when I got home in the evening, I went on the Internet and decided to look at the reviews about Nubian and out of curiosity about Monte Carlo (because when I chose it I read good reviews about it, there were tourists literally at the end of October) and to my surprise there are fresh reviews for that period of time in which we rested in Nubian. That is, the hotel is not closed and how it works. Late of course, but I called Natasha and told our story, she was surprised and upset why we didn’t call. But she also asked if we had a UAL and a compliment, thank God we had that in Nubian too. Why did Joyce tours do this to us, so far we have not received an answer. By the way, after the traditional meeting with the guide at the hotel (guide Ali Maher, the same one who met us at the airport), he asked us to sign a statement that we voluntarily changed the Monte Carlo hotel to Nubian, although in fact "voluntarily-compulsorily", the husband agreed . because he came "to rest and not to find out something. " Ali held the meeting quickly, told everything clearly, they didn’t want to go to the meeting, but I had to because we were going to another hotel. I didn’t bother much with excursions (as others write), I just handed out price lists for excursions. And he offered everyone a free introductory tour of Sharm from 9.00 am to 13.00 pm, we decided to go for a change, because it's only half a day. We didn’t regret the excursion, we were in this city many times, but we learned so much about it for the first time. The guide Katya, Russian, led the tour in a very interesting way, answered all the questions of interest, about the city and life in the country, about customs and traditions (she herself is married to an Egyptian and has been living in Sharm for 5 years, she dresses in European style). We visited a Christian church, very beautiful. We went near the mosque, no inside, they are not allowed. Well, how about without visiting shops with souvenirs and oils. We visited the shop of the Nifertiti factory, as for me, a usual divorce, everything is just very official. A small lecture (conducted by our compatriots) in a small audience with air conditioning, product tasting, and then to the trading floor with a bunch of consultants (also ours), the prices are very high but they give a "certificate" and the more you buy, the more "discount", as we found out later in ordinary stores everything is the same, in the same packaging but without a "certificate" and much cheaper and you can still bargain. For the sake of interest, we bought tea with lemongrass for $ 3, flew home, printed it out, inside bundles of some kind of straw, really some kind of straw not crushed, I don’t dare to brew a pleasant smell. I'll probably throw it away. Even during the holidays, my husband and I went to Sharm to eat (as usual) seafood in Fares near Mercato, there this restaurant is on the second floor and you can sit on the open terrace overlooking the city and the mosque, very beautiful. Why is it better to eat seafood in this restaurant and not in a local cafe, because there they are really fresh (the restaurant is visited by locals), there is a menu with fixed prices in Egyptian pounds and even in Russian. Do not forget that they will bring you a 1.5 liter bottle of water for two and a plate with sliced lime - all this will be read in the check + percentage for service (I remember like 10 percent). There is no alcohol on the menu, but you can ask the waiter (we decide the issue), but the price will not please you. We decided not to take it, because we have UAL in the hotel. Some of the waiters speak excellent Russian. Be sure to try the Fares soup (very tasty, you won’t regret it), if you eat seafood for the first time, order the Fares platter (I think $ 13), the portions are very large, better come hungry. The concept of hygiene among the Arabs is a little different from ours, when they sat down at a table in a restaurant, it turned out that it was not very clean, but we asked the waiter and he quickly eliminated this problem. And yes, the atmosphere in the restaurant is not as luxurious as in our restaurants of this level, there are no tablecloths and woven napkins on the terrace on the tables, but just a marble tabletop and you will be put a large paper "type" napkin under the plate on it, but believe me, this is not a reason not try delicious seafood. By the way, we got to the restaurant from the hotel and back by minibus (such small blue buses, on the advice of Katya the guide) 8-9 pounds per person, regardless of the distance, don’t give more even if they demand it, they have such an official fare, and let them be indignant as much as he wants, from the point of view of the law, you are right, period. And you know, we went normally (they used to take a taxi for $ 5 one way), they don’t have stops, where mahuls or where you have to get up, they stop there without problems. But remember that it is better for tourists to pay the fare at the exit, and not at the entrance. . When the bus stops near you, you tell the driver where you need to go, if he goes there, he nods that yes, get in but don’t give money, then he will stop you at the right place and say that you need to get off (on the trip back, just say the name of the hotel or show the bracelet they will stop right at the entrance to the hotel) You go out and pay the fare, no more than 8-9 pounds per person, if you want to get change, say "Fakka" and wait. When traveling to the city, it is better to purchase local currency. because when calculating in $, they will try to give change in pounds at a low rate. Dinner at Fares soup and a lot of large shrimp cooked in different ways (about 1 kg) cost us 548 Egyptian pounds (rate 1 $ = 15 pounds), we ate too much. If you are relaxing in November, be sure to buy a mango ($ 1 per 1 kg, if you bargain), you will not regret it, such houses are not sold. I hope my story will be useful to someone someday, I have never written before, but now I decided to write, because when traveling somewhere I always look for and read the same ones. Such stories help novice tourists become more experienced and not let themselves be deceived . Have a nice holiday everyone!