Looking for a Liveaboard, Hurghada October 2017, recommendations sought please

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Using a nearby airport is certainly a possibility. I had looked at New York airports and Chicago airports, but hadn’t looked at Toronto airports. That does make a difference. I can find a round-trip flight for $900 and with only one stop each way. The only bad thing is I will have to spend a 12 hour overnight layover in Zürich. Sleeping in an airport is not my idea of a good time, but it certainly makes the entire trip much more doable.

Thank you very much for the suggestion!

I’m also trying to see if I can get some prices for low-cost European airlines after flying directly to capital cities in Europe. In the end, baggage fees seem to eat up any savings I can find by doing that. But I’m still learning the best ways of doing this.
 
Using a nearby airport is certainly a possibility. I had looked at New York airports and Chicago airports, but hadn’t looked at Toronto airports. That does make a difference. I can find a round-trip flight for $900 and with only one stop each way. The only bad thing is I will have to spend a 12 hour overnight layover in Zürich. Sleeping in an airport is not my idea of a good time, but it certainly makes the entire trip much more doable.

Thank you very much for the suggestion!

I’m also trying to see if I can get some prices for low-cost European airlines after flying directly to capital cities in Europe. In the end, baggage fees seem to eat up any savings I can find by doing that. But I’m still learning the best ways of doing this.

Ask the booking agents for the LOB for advice, they have a lot of experience in this area.
 
I just put together a single-airline flight from Toronto (YYZ) to Hurghada (HRG) that takes less than 20 hours *both* *ways*, no overnights in an airport, and gives me *two* 23kg (50lb) bags for $900. With nearly perfect arrive and depart times in HRG. I may have found my white whale!

But back to the original topic: does anyone have any recent reviews of the Emperor Superior, especially if you've taken a recent trip like @JimJensen mentioned? I'd love to hear your thoughts! Thank you!
 
Note that you have 2 companies flying from Munich to Hurghada (direct)

Condor Book & Plan

TUI fly

In fact, from nearl any european main airport, you have direct flights to Hurghada and Sharm el Cheik

At the time of booking, it was slightly cheaper to fly all the way to Cairo and purchase a domestic flight that way instead of flying to Munich or similar and buying another ticket to Hurghada. Also, I wanted to fly into Cairo on one ticket on an online connection to minimize issues. I was okay with an offline connection once within Egypt since I would likely have more flight options when doing domestic if any issues came up. Lastly, I have status with an alliance and wanted to continue mileage earning along with the use of a lounge so that also made the online connection make more sense for me.

I ended up booking with award miles and it was cheaper mileage wise to do it that way as well. Plus, I received a free leg between Cairo and Amman (Jordan). It costs the same mileage wise with and without the itinerary I needed which was a big bonus. That ticket is about low $200’s one way alone.

I don't understand? How is flying to Egypt from San Francisco easier than from Chicago? San Fran is a half a continent further away! The OP is traveling from Detroit so he will have fewer international flights but it should still be possible to go directly from Detroit to a European capital and then on to Cairo.

Sorry, I should have been more specific. I was referring to the comment of pricing/costs. It’s a very large hub airport with a lot of supply on routes so it keeps prices relatively low compared to the poster in WI. In addition, we also have 2 other international airports within striking distance (less than 1 hour by car) east and south of here (Oakland and San Jose, respectively). So those 2 options along with San Francisco keeps prices quite low which makes it easier in that sense.
 
I am going on the Emperor Superior in June and will give a report when I return

from Chicago we are flying to Frankfurt then Cairo On Lufthansa for about $1000 Cairo to Hurghada is about $100 each way on Egypt air.
 
Quick question to KathyV. I plan on heading to Egypt this Nov. Did you have any concerns traveling to the Nile? I don't want to sound like the average paranoid tourist, but....
 
Quick question to KathyV. I plan on heading to Egypt this Nov. Did you have any concerns traveling to the Nile? I don't want to sound like the average paranoid tourist, but....

We were there a number of years ago. It was after the 911 attack but before ISIS started making the news. People said that we were crazy for going to the Middle East, and we got all kinds of unsolicited advice about ways to stay safe, including pretending that we are Canadians and not Americans.

But at that time, the US State Department did not have any travel advisories about travel to Egypt, there was no indication that Egyptians had any involvement in the 911 attack (there still isn't) and no special travel precautions were recommended - so we decided to go and not pretend that we were anything but Americans.

We found the people to be nice and friendly. They were just ordinary people trying to make a living. I was also struck about the strong family feeling and affection displayed among Egyptians that was so evident everywhere we went. Egypt is a modern country and we met a lot of nice people.

There are now some State Department Travel Warnings for Egypt but it is still only rated as Level 2, see the link below. Many countries we have visited in the Caribbean are Level 2, take a look at the Turks and Caicos and Belize, so that wouldn't stop me from visiting. Honduras is rated Level 3, but that seems to mostly refer to the mainland and not the Bay Island. The State Dept. does give specific advice not to travel to certain areas in Eqypt, but you are unlikely to visit those spots as a dive tourist.

Do I regret going? Not at all, it was a wonderful trip and the diving was great and the history was astonishing. Would I go back? I'm not sure - it was an expensive trip to make and a long distance to travel from Chicago - and the current political situation is concerning. If I had never been there then I might go there now, but I probably won't go back for a second trip. But you need to hear from someone that has traveled to Egypt more recently to get their take on the situation.

Egypt
 
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Thanks Kathy. I have wanted to go back to Egypt for a long time. I am just not going to worry about, I am going to do it. I contacted one of the ops mentioned in this thread and plan to do two LOB cruises back to back.
 
Thanks Kathy. I have wanted to go back to Egypt for a long time. I am just not going to worry about, I am going to do it. I contacted one of the ops mentioned in this thread and plan to do two LOB cruises back to back.

That's great! Please post a trip report when you return!
 

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