Monday, January 14, 2019: Additional Guest

The original plan for this trip was that it would include Stephen and Sarah AND Gavin. I had not actually booked Gavin yet, wanting him to make a final decision after getting back from our European train trip. Apparently he is still enthusiastic about the Nile trip and so today, I asked Maxine to add him to the guest list. I asked her to add him to just the Viking river cruise and the post cruise excursion to Jordan/Petra. The pre-cruise excursion to Israel starts before his school will likely be dismissed for the holidays. If Laura can get the school to accept Gavin's absence, we can add him to the pre-cruise excursion later. Maxine put down a $500 deposit to secure a spot for Gavin on the cruise.

Monday, November 5, 2018: Plans

I made this booking in mid-March 2018. At the time of this post, the booking is for myself in one cabin and Stephen/Sarah in another. We have an "understanding" that Gavin will join me in my cabin, but I have not yet officially added him to the guest list. I think I will wait until after our train excursion this December and ensure he still wants to entertain the idea of traveling again with Grandfather.

The tour is with Viking. The tour package begins on December 20, 2020 and ends on January 1, 2021. As for the cruise portion, we embark in Luxor on December 24, 2020 and disembarks in Luxor on December 31.

We have added a pre-tour excursion in Jerusalem and a post-tour excursion to Petra/Dead Sea. Therefore, our inclusive dates are December 17, 2020 to January 5, 2021.

Itinerary:

Day 1: Thu December 17, 2020; Jerusalem, Israel
Day 2: Fri December 18, 2020; Jerusalem, Israel
Day 3: Sat December 19, 2020; Jerusalem, Israel
Day 4: Sun December 20, 2020; Jerusalem, Israel
Day 5: Mon December 21, 2020; Cairo, Egypt
Day 6: Tue December 22, 2020; Cairo, Egypt
Day 7: Wed December 23, 2020; Cairo, Egypt
Day 8: Thu December 24, 2020; Luxor (Safaga), Egypt
Day 9: Fri December 25, 2020; Luxor (Safaga), Egypt
Day 10: Sat December 26, 2020; Qena, Egypt
Day 11: Sun December 27, 2020; Esna, Egypt
Day 12: Mon December 28, 2020; Aswan, Egypt
Day 13: Tue December 29, 2020; Aswan, Egypt
Day 14: Wed December 30, 2020; Edfu, Egypt
Day 15: Thu December 31, 2020; Luxor (Safaga), Egypt
Day 16: Fri January 1, 2021; Cairo, Egypt
Day 17: Sat January 2, 2021; Petra, Jordan
Day 18: Sun January 3, 2021; Petra, Jordan
Day 19: Mon January 4, 2021; Dead Sea
Day 20: Tue January 5, 2021; Amman, Jordan

During the cruise portion of the trip, we will be on the Viking Ra. We have cabins 302 and 303, across from each other so we will have opportunity to view sights of interest on either side of the ship.

The Viking Ra is a new ship, built in 2018. It has a capacity of 52 guests in 26 cabins. The cabins are all 291 sq ft. The only differences in the cabins are location and whether you have a sliding French balcony or just a window to look out.