Day one heads inland to Cairo, about 2.5 hours from the port. You stand beneath the Great Pyramid of Khufu, 2.3 million stone blocks and 4,500 years old, meet the Great Sphinx, and visit the Egyptian Museum with its halls of pharaonic treasure. As evening comes you check into your Cairo hotel rather than driving back, so the day never feels rushed. Optional: enter the Great Pyramid ($11 USD per person), camel ride along the ridge (about $15 USD).

Day two explores Alexandria on the route back to your ship. You descend into the Catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa, a three-level Roman tomb carved into bedrock, stand on the harbor at Qaitbay Citadel where the ancient Lighthouse of Pharos once rose, and pause beneath Pompey's Pillar at the old temple of Serapis. Your guide times the day so you reboard comfortably. It is the Mediterranean, Greco-Roman counterpoint to the pharaonic day before.