written by LauraWollongong on 07/01/2013
Initially we were going to book another cruise boat but the MS Royal Viking was recommended by our tour company as being a better option. The boat is beautiful and cabins are excellent BUT with the current situation in Egypt there is a huge shortage of travellers, I think 31 passengers on our cruise. This caused our boat to sit at a dock way out of Luxor for most of our cruise, waiting for more passengers to join the cruise. We boarded the boat Monday morning and it didn't leave Luxor until Wednesday night, dreadful, thankfully our wonderful Memphis Tours guide suggested some extra tours for us at a good price or it would have been a lot worse. I understand the economics of this but I believe passengers should be notified beforehand and given the choice of making other arrangements but we were just told it was a "change of itinerary". Once our day tours were done we were left sitting around the boat waiting for it to cruise, also nothing was open, such as the pool bar, we were told it only opens once the boat sails. On day 3 we were told we could have asked reception and they would get anything we needed, perhaps being told that on day one may have been helpful. I did try to complain to the person in charge who just dismissed my complaint, again saying "change of itinerary". We were looking forward to seeing things like cruising through Esna lock, that was done overnight while we were sleeping. We had already stayed 2 nights in a Luxor hotel and if we had wanted to stay another 3 days we would have chosen one of the lovely hotels in the middle of town, with full service, not sitting on this boat. There was four in our group in two cabins which cost over $2,000, we don't think this was money well spent and unless the situation changes would not recommend this cruise to anyone.
written by on 08/07/2009
We have just returned from a week's cruise on the Royal Viking. The ship is 5 star rated and very comfortable. There is a large bar/lounge, restaurant, sundeck and plunge pool. All were scrupulously clean and tidy apart from the plunge pool which suiffered from guests' sun oil and other preparations. There is a shower available to wash that all off before one gets into the pool but when we were there, few people used it. The staff and crew are all charming and helpful and the tour guide (Aladdin) was exceptional. We found the meals perfectly acceptable - there is a good choice of hot dishes - fish, chicken, beef - even duck. The salads were delicious too.
The boat is liberally equipped with antiseptic dispensers to rub your hands before you enter the lounge or dining room and in fact the staff would not permit entry into the restaurant without you having used the dispenser.
There were a few cases of upset stomachs which some guests blamed on the food - in reality it is much more likely to have been heatstroke - it was 45 deg C during our holiday!
The tours arranged were the usual but were very well thought out and enjoyed by all. Because of the heat, many of them commenced at 6 or 7 am - with an alarm call an hour or so earlier.
Prices for drinks on this vessel are equivalent to UK prices - ie bottle of local wine LE 150; bottle of beer LE 27; gin & tonic LE 35; coffee (Nescafe instant) 10; water 10.
written by suebry on 30/06/2009
Our trip was from 8 June 2009 on Royal Viking. A lovely ship and helpful staff! We took the upgrade cabin (worth it) and it was very clean and smart. There were only 50 guests on board, instead of 150 which we were pleased about because otherwise it would have been too crowded and I doubt the dining facilities could have coped with more.
Trip certainly worth doing but have couple of days rest before traveling; you'll be getting up very early!!
Take loads of money c £200 each and Egyptian pounds: about £100 worth too. The trips will chomp into your wallet and the cash points are rarely working... MasterCard fine to pay your bar tab at end of trip: drinks including beer VERY EXPENSIVE!!
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