MS Magic Hotel Review

Overall Rating

Value for money and very different

not too many

We decided to take this holiday just a few weeks beforehand and made an on-line booking, thereby saving what amounted to the travel agents commission. Never having travelled to Egypt before I invested in a couple of Nile Cruise books through Amazon and was glad I did.

Overall the package offered by Monarch / Cosmos represented good value for money and the experience was truly amazing. Just to stand where some of the greatest names in history once stood would have been enough but in addition we were treated to a variety of destinations, good levels of service and exposed to a very different culture all in a relatively short space of time.

The Boat

MS Magic 1 is one of a group of ships operated by the same company. The Captain has some twenty-two years experience of sailing the Nile and it showed. On the positive side, the vessel is maintained to a high order, spotlessly clean and the crew extremely friendly and helpful.

The all-inclusive arrangement worked fine with more than ample to eat and drink. The selection available at meal times should satisfy most pallets and provided for a good and varied cuisine. Our waiter soon learnt to have our wine ready on the table and provided additional first class services without request.

Our cabin had no faults (other than its location), it provided a comfortable and good size bed and a large washroom. The cabin boys cleaned it twice a day and provided some creative artwork with the use of towels.

On board entertainment was, shall we say, 'interesting ' .

The less positive aspects.

The boat is shared with another operator who caters for the Italian market. While they are a wonderfully lively and excitable people they appear to have little or no concept of the British culture of queuing. This could get a little irritating at meal times when they were prone to just barge in.

As previously stated we made our booking on-line, the downside being we forwent any travel agents advice which may have saved us from ending up on the first level deck at water level. This was towards the bow of the boat, behind the water filtration plant which runs with a hum and a whine continuously. However, given that we were exhausted most night by 10pm this didn't really cause us a major problem but it did for others.

While certainly serviceable and adequate, the furnishings and decor on board are bordering on looking a little 'tired ' .

Cosmos Representation

Our Cosmos rep was a pleasant enough chap who proved to be perfectly adequate and capable of the job. In my view this is probably one of the more difficult 'representing 'roles to perform as there is nowhere to go and hide if things go wrong. You are available six days a week, twenty-four hours a day. In addition, some of the Egyptian crew members appeared to provide him with little support and on one or two occasions even seemed to undermine his efforts.

Our Egyptologist was certainly knowledgeable, informative and helpful, and although he must get asked the same questions time and time again, still delivered his scripts and responses with an 'Egyptian smile 'on his face.

Monarch Airlines

What is there to add to other reviews about this airline? Our personal experience was one of punctuality and friendly cabin crew service. The fact is the tour operators generally demand three more rows of seating than the aircraft would normally have, this means that as an above average size person, you have to sit bolt upright with your dinner tray at a 20 degree angle and leave the aircraft with indentations in your knees. I would like to propose to the senior executives of Cosmos that they spend a week going 'Back to the Floor ' , three days as a travelling passenger and a few more days as a member of the cabin crew. I believe the seating arrangements would soon change. Obviously, the simple answer is not to travel Monarch Airlines again!

Excursions

Simply stated, these are a must do! They offer the chance to see a little more of the real Egypt, be prepared to add another £270.00 or so per-person but they are worth it. You should also be prepared for some very early starts. For example the trip to Abu Simble starts about 03.00am and the Hot Air Balloons at 04.45, hence the early nights!

General

If you haven ' t travelled to Egypt before be prepared for some culture shocks. It may be stating the obvious but the way of life is very different. The first thing you notice is the police and military presence. Much of this is to do with the safety and security of the tourist which the economy relies very heavily upon. How attentive they are is another matter? An example of this would be the number of times the electronic alarms went off at the airport on departure but nobody was stopped or searched.

Pestering, bartering and tipping we're told, 'Is our way of life 'but it can prove overwhelming if you're of a nervous disposition. It's a shame that you feel you have to be on guard all the time to avoid being ripped off and even when you are it still happens! Cosmos have tried to overcome some of this by having three collections on board. One is for the coach drivers, one for the Egyptologist and one for the boat crew. This is an additional £ 40.00 per person (minimum).

There are 360 cruise ships plying their trade in the Nile with half of them operative at any one time. The environmental damage and pollution they are causing has to be seen to be believed. On one occasion at least a ton of rubbish thrown overboard from other vessels was trapped between our boat and the one we were moored up against. This included skip sized plastic waste bags and various other plastic materials. The authorities really do need to get to grips with this. Similarly imagine the fumes created by thirty ships moored four of five abreast with all their engines running continuously because that's the reality.

The crunch question has to be would we do it again? The answer is yes we would but with some provisos. (a) Not straight away but there is so much more to see.
(b) Not with Monarch Airlines.
Only with a relaxing week to follow, in a Red Sea resort.
(d) Perhaps a little more research on the vessels and what they have to offer. Plus a guaranteed higher level, central cabin.

Members' Comments onGoldcap's Review

• merlin192 on 4th Sep 2009

  I found this review very helpful because it is well written by an articulate person and sounds like an honest opinion. My husband and I are booked to cruise on the ms magic this october and only hope we are allocated a middle deck room, we also now have a good idea how much to budget for trips.