For our first visit to an Egyptian city, we found it both disgusting and fascinating. The palace of King Farouk was fascinating to see, as was the Citadel. The city itself was dirty with garbage littering the streets. Pollution hung over the city like a blanket. The traffic was chaotic and you took your life into your hands when trying to cross a street.
A clean, neatly laid out city compared to Alexandria. Traffic was not that bad and the houses were clean and tidy. As we drove through the city on our way to the Dead Sea we marvelled at the difference of Alexandra and Aqaba. My wife and I both had the feeling that we would probably enjoy an extended stay in this city.
We have no experience to share regarding this port as all we did was get off the ship and onto a bus for the tour to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings.
A fascinating, modern city. The architecture was spectacular. There seemed to be order and organization to the layout of the city and the roads and traffic. We found the souks delightful and enjoyed bargaining with the merchants and making a number of purchases. We stayed at a 4-star hotel, close to the souks and across from the Creek, that was comparable in cleanliness, food and service to the best that North America has to offer. Unfortunately, because our stay was not long enough we could not visit the world's tallest building because the tours were full for 3 days in advance. We definitely will revisit Dubai some time in the future to enjoy the modernism of the city and the many points of interest we still want to visit.