March 2009 Holiday - Egypt ( Sharm El Sheik and Cairo ) @ The Royal Albatros Moderna
Posted on May 15, 2009 in the Honeymoon/Holidays category
I thought I’d start writing about our holiday to Egypt which we had in March 2009. We originally wanted to go in April for our 1st wedding anniversary but we checked the holiday prices and it was much cheaper to go in March. We only booked our holiday 5 days prior to leaving as we saw a huge saving on a deal and we just went for it. We used Teletext Holidays to book our holiday with and we paid £400 each for a week’s holiday to Sharm el sheik on a all inclusive basis. If we went in April it would have cost us around £530 each so we saved £260 on the holiday.
We chose to stay at the Royal Albatros Moderna as it was rated an egyptian 5* which really meant a UK 2-3 star plus it was cheap too. The reviews on trip advisor said it was ok but obviously you do get what you pay for so you can’t really complain.
Royal Albatros Moderna swimming pool
royal albatros moderna kids swimming pool
Now thats what a holiday is about, relaxing by the pool
royal albatros moderna beach
Dave at the second pool. They also had a 3rd pool which was heated but we never went to that one.
Playing giant chess
Cairo - The River Nile
We paid roughly £200 each for a day trip to Cairo which included transport, flights, tour to the pyramids, the sphinx and entry into the egyptian museum plus lunch. Although £200 is quite expensive, we thought that we might aswell see the pyramids since we’re already in Cairo plus it would be safer to go on a guided tour rather than go on our own.
Driving up to the Pyramids - A tip if you ever go to visit the pyramids - if you end up going to the toilet outside the entrance to the pyramids, always bring a pack of tissues with you cos the old lady in the toilet will charge you for using the toilet paper. Lesson learnt - Always keep a packet of tissues on you wherever you go.
Becareful of the beggars around the pyramids. They will come up to you and put their scarves around you and tell you to take a picture of yourself then charge you for using their scarves.
We didn’t have to pay to take this picture as the scarf is on him and not my husband
Charlie Brown - The camel. Surprisingly all the camels were called charlie brown
After the scary camel ride from the pyramids to the sphinx
The Sphinx and The Great Pyramid behind it. The day trip was very long but it was worth it. Seeing the pyramids was the highlight of the trip and a must see if you’re ever in Egypt. The low point of the day trip was getting back to the hotel at 9.30pm and finding out that the hotel had finished serving dinner. We ended up having to make do with some pancakes and purchasing some crips from the hotel shop.
The swimming pool - It was absolutely freezing and this is how far I ended up in the pool. I could not put the rest of my body in because it was so cold.
A great thing about staying an the Royal Albatros is you are on an all inclusive package which means drinks and food are unlimited. I didn’t abuse the package but this pina colada I had was very strong indeed. The bar man just pours away like theres no tomorrow.
fake marlboros
Beware when buying sticks of cigarettes in the hotel shop - they are FAKE! We bought a stick because it was really cheap about 12 euros a stick but we were abit suspicious as a few days ago we walked down to the shops outside the hotel and chatted to one of the shop workers and he warned us to be careful when buying cigarettes that are so cheap as they could be fakes from China. So we thought we would buy 1 single carton and see if they were ok. Dave smoked than and he said they were the genuine thing so we went back to buy a carton. We opened up the carton and straight away we knew it was a fake because the smell gave it away and because we had a genuine packet we could definitely smell the difference. We went back to the shop and demanded a refund. They seemed to know we sussed them out and gave us our money back without saying anything in their defence. I think they rely on the fact that most tourists will buy sticks of cigarettes to take home with them and so they won’t find out they are fake until they get back home. So beware when buying cheap cigarettes in Egypt.
Naama Bay
Night out at Naama Bay - You have book book your place at the hotel for a spot in the coach which takes you to Naama bay. It costs 5 euros each for a return trip and they set off from the hotel at 7pm and pick you up again at 11pm
Hard Rock Cafe
We decided to eat at Hard Rock Cafe which turned out to be a huge mistake. The chicken wings were cold, the onion rings were stale and the beef brisket was too tough. I do not recommend anyone to go there for dinner. Over priced and atrocious thats all I can say
At one of the many outdoor shisha bars in Naama Bay
In the Sea at the back of Royal Albatros Moderna
The end of the hotel jetty - We didn’t get a chance to do any snorkeling, well Dave really wanted to try it out as Sharm el sheik is meant to be great for snorkeling but I can’t swim so we didn’t end up going.
I have way too many pictures to put them all up here but I would have to say Egypt is a great place to go if you want a cheap beach holiday. The Royal Albatros Moderna is a ok hotel, not the best but in terms of what you pay, it is a good deal. The room we stayed in was quite dated, the bathroom however was made in the 80’s. A total refurb is what they need to do. We even found a nail sticking out of the headboard which is totally dangerous if you’re with the kids. The food is edible, theres always a great choice everyday as they change the menus in all the restaurants. If you stay in the resort for the whole duration of your trip then I book a room at the Royal Albatros but if you want to venture out, the hotel is the last one on the stretch of road in Nabq. So its the furthest away from Naama Bay and the airport. I don’t regret booking our holiday at the royal albatros moderna but I can definitely say I won’t be back there again.
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