Discover Egypt, MS Beau Soleil

We had a wonderful couple of days on the cheerful Beau Soleil, the staff were friendly, kind, helpful and efficient. Also the food was good and we got excellent value for money!

Beau Soleil is by no stretch of imagination the claimed 5 star. The supposed 5 star room that I was given was much smaller than the other boats that I visited. It was small and unclean. The carpeting had dirt blotches. The bathroom was so gross that I had to have it disinfected before use and I took pictures of the mold and mildew that blackened all the grout. There were dirt streaks on the shower tiles. Grouting in the bathroom was filthy. When a complaint was made to the receptionist he said that it was clean. The towels were badly frayed.

When the boat was under sail it vibrated and was loud enough that we did not get much sleep.

The food quantity was good but quality was maybe 3 star. Liquor choice was very limited. I am surprised that it is touted as 5 star. If I am very very generous I might give it 2 starts.

The travel agent was informed and their representative saw the condition. He was very apologetic and offered us a free tour and trip to Abu Simbal as compensation.

going to egypt was a holiday of a lifetime and the beau soleil was wonderful. every thing aboat it love to go again.the river nile was surprisingley so big and fertile banks of crops and the presence of egrets and other birds the only thing i worried about was to say to traders in the streets and places visited was difficult to say la shuckrun.To be able to look in your own time and to be able to walk away at will. it did not spoil my holiday i just put it down to experience

The boat is classy, both seen from outside and also from inside. The cabins have openable windows (they call it balcony), which is not common in many boats. Though the bathrooms were little cramped, the rooms were quite spacious with possibilty of accomodating an extra bed for additional family members. There were a handful of local and European satellite channels on the TV, the best part was that we could watch the programs even when the boat was sailing. The boat staff (particularly the floor attendants) offered courteous service throughout the cruise. The rooms and bathrooms were maintained clean, with two cleanings everyday. The cleaning timing was coordinated in such a way that it happened when you were out of the boat for some sight seeing and hence it was completely unobtrusive. When they replaced the towels, they made funny figures everytime out of the new towels, which were a great attraction for the kids. The restaurant offered a wide variety of food and the chef was kind enough to prepare special Indian dishes for our group of 10 Indians. The boat had a souvenir and book shop, with a nice collection of books, jewellery and other egyptian souvenirs. The sundeck had a small pool and the furniture were clean. The boat could do better regarding the announcements in the notice board for the daily onboard entertainment programs.

We were very pleasantly surprised this is a lovely boat the MS Beau Soleil and well run. The service was great, food very good lots of variety to suit all. The guys in the shops offer a good choice of local goods at fair prices. We would gladly go back again.

The warmth in the welcome onboard, continues throughout the week, nothing is too much trouble, from the towel sculptures in your cabin, to the celebration cakes, even one saying "Bye Bye" on our last night, lovely touch.

This is one of the most amazing holidays I have ever been on the boat is beautiful and very luxurious the cabins are quite large bigger than we expected and the food was just the best.

Almost half of the 2 top desks are small (50% smaller) cabins with Loud Noise (on top of engine). This was no way 5star more like 2 star. Friendly staff (majority). They put you in small cabins (which are allocated for tour guides). The bathrooms are horrible, noise, vibrating and very dated dark interior.

The guests were a nice mix of Nationalities, though predominantly British and all were catered for with the variety of entertainment in the evenings. We met some really nice people, some of whom we have kept in touch with. The atmosphere was really good and I didn't hear anybody complaining about anything! A really good holiday, good value for money. I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone.