MS Grand Preziosa

The boat probably needs updating in some areas, and the pool is a bit on the small side. These are really minor points but I would say that more could be done on the entertainment as it was presented for 2 out of 7 evenings, but you are not going to get any British comedians touring the Nile!

The staff are friendly but as another reviewer said they are too friendly and my girlfriend felt slightly uncomfortable with the attention she received from a few of the waiters.

The only major thing that most of our group were fed up with was the constant hassle from Street Hawkers.Beware of these guys when you exit any temple they will literally jump in front of you, block your path, and basically harass you all the way to the steps of your coach.You need agood strategy to evade these vultures, it felt like one of those competitions in the It's a Knock-out show.

Now the good points, our guide Fawzy, this young man could have been the best guide in the whole of Egypt and he really did make the magic of Egypt come alive with his fascinating commentary, Fawzy gave us insight in to Modern and Ancient Egypt, and by the end of the Holiday our group - Nemos had developed a fantastic rapore with him.Well done Fawzy!

Food is another plus- very tasty mix of Egyptian / International dishes, but for those who like British bland food then you would not rate it so highly, but we likedthe food, and the variety.

Plenty of Action was to be found with optional Ballooning & camel rides so overall I would rate this as a good value for Money holiday, and it was a very friendly atmosphere.

We had seven nights on the nile cruise (Grand Preziosa). Our guide was called Shiema and she was very good at her job.. We saw many interesting places. The staff on the boat were very friendly, but some were too friendly. The food was very good. There was a lack of entertainment in the evenings! What made our holiday memorable were the people we met on board. The air conditioning was poor to say the least,and when the bar supplies run out the manager was reluctant to perchase more.But overall the trip was unforgetable. P.s.this boat could do with up dating sooner rather than later.

We were very excited when we booked this holiday with you as Jayne has studied Egyptology and to visit Egypt itself was her dream holiday, she had been longing for, for years. This was to be short lived:

During the week we became very annoyed by the disturbance of the cabin cleaners. It seemed as though they were constantly hovering outside our cabin door waiting for any opportunity to make conversation with us and to gain entrance into our room. I appreciate that the Egyptians are very friendly, but the persistent knocked on our door to bring us unnecessary items of which we have not requested, became far to much, as at one point we had four boxes of tissues in our room! Not only that but items from our cabin were also being taken out and not returned, this happened far to often to be an overlook, but rather yet another excuse to make conversation i.e. taking out the towels without being replaced, and one morning before breakfast we noticed we had 3 spare toilet rolls in our bathroom, only to find out that after breakfast they had disappeared leaving us with none. Again, another excuse to engage in conversation with these members of staff? I appreciate the touch that these cabin cleaner bring, using towels to decorate the bed each morning, but sometimes to have bed changing and decorating 2 or 3 times a day and using personal items that had been taken out of our drawers was rather embarrassing and frustrating.

On Friday afternoon we decided to take up the opportunity of a back and shoulder massage with the boat's massage therapist. At 6.30pm we attended our appointment and asked if we could both sit-in on each other's treatment, Kristy explained that Jayne is deaf and therefore would be interpreting for her. This was agreed and Jayne began her massage. After the 30 min session Jayne felt quite disappointed with her massage as the movements were extremely light and quite honestly tickled her! We then changed places and the therapist began to massage Kristy. Kristy was very interested to see how an Egyptian massage would differ from those in England, as she is a therapist herself. It was instantly obvious to Kristy that this guy was neither trained or qualified as his massage was extremely light using only his fingertips to draw circles across my back run up and down my sides, I felt very uncomfortable and worried he may touch the sides of my breasts. He then invited Jayne to join in the massage with him. At first Jayne thought that he was trying to teach her how to massage but then she became suspicious of his intentions and sat back down. It was then that he invited her to massage my back using her tongue, she refused at this point Jayne said that he leaned over my back and Jayne thought he was going to touch me with his tongue. Jayne felt angry but mainly shocked at what she had just been asked. I was unaware of what he had just asked her as I was lying face down. The therapist then tapped me and said,

" I have just asked your friend if she would like to massage you using her tongue and she said no, would you like me to show you, have you ever tried this before"? I was absolutely mortified, I felt sickened and disgusted but most of all shocked. I dressed, paid the therapist and left. As Jayne and I communicate by British Sign Language we were unable to communicate through the treatment and as soon as we got outside of the treatment room and away from the therapist, I asked Jayne to explain to me exactly what had just happened and what I had missed. We reported this to "Magic" the rep; he informed us that in fact, the therapist is not qualified and that the previous week there had also been incidents 1 regarding a lady complaining about him. She had come running out the treatment room crying and running to her cabin, and her husband emerged extremely angry had to held back from the therapist by reception staff! Therefore my questions are,

If previous clients had complained about sexual harassment on the cruise by this member of staff only 1 week before, why is he still allowed to carry on working?

Why was someone unqualified posing as a trained therapist working on a ship claiming to use aromatherapy oils, which used wrongly could have severe health dangers and reflexology treatments, which is extremely dangerous if carried out incorrectly?

Thankfully, we had gone into the room together but I hate to think if Jayne, vulnerable with her limited communication had gone in on her own, or perhaps a young girl. We both feel that the massage was simply a seduction technique, we were both left feeling sexually harassed, dirty and used for his own satisfaction.

We received a full refund. I do not know of any following action that was taken against him. The rep advised us to stay with friends for the evening and not be left on our own. We then went back to our room to calm down. Approximately 1 hour later, after returning from our room we meet the rep on the stairs and were asked if we had seen the massage therapist as apparently he had gone looking for us on the ship. Other guests have since told us that both reps at that time were running around the ship like crazy looking for both Jayne and myself to see if we were ok. Needless to say we both felt very nervous and anxious for the rest of that evening knowing that the massage guy was trying to find us with both reps trying to find him. That evening we both had nightmares and quite frightened as the booking sheet for the massage included our cabin number.

The night before we left the cruise, Jayne collected a ring from which she had ordered with the jeweller onboard the ship. Everyday that we had been to collected it; it had been delayed until the next day. (We feel now that this was done deliberately so that we could not discover the mistake until it was too late to rectify it). When ordering it, I enquired as to whether the ring was of real silver, of which we were told, "Yes definitely". Jayne collected her ring on the Sunday evening and by Monday morning, an hour before we left for the airport; we discovered the area where she had been wearing the ring had turned green. Again I reported this to the rep "Mohammed" and after about 1 hour of his telephone conversations back and forth with the jeweller by telephone, (as apparently he was unable to meet us at the shop to discuss in person) reluctantly we were given a full refund. Both the jeweller by phone and Mohammed were trying to convince us that the ring was made of silver and that the green would wear off after a short while. However talking to Tanya - another lady on the ship who also had a ring made, she had not experienced any green around her finger and her ring was also stamped and guaranteed, which ours was not.

The 3DVD's that we have purchased on the ship, do not work on our return home. £20 waste of money.

The attention we received from some reception and bar staff were unwanted and a nuisance. I.e. asking for photographs to be taken with us, and trying to buy us drinks was increasingly disturbing as you simply cannot escape staff that are making you feel uncomfortable onboard a ship.

Although we both enjoyed the trips and sights of Egypt we both feel utterly disappointed and irrate.

A holiday that should and could have been the dream holiday, has left us feeling relieved to be returning home, upset, angry, stressed out from constantly watching our backs and feeling sexually harassed =(

My family and i enjoyed most of our time aboard the Grand Preziosa. It wasn't full so we got to know most of the people on board,we had fab couples at our table Peter and Anastasia and Ashley and Charis, whose company made the trip more enjoyable. We also had Majic as our tourguide and he was superb,as an egyptologist we got a wealth of knowledge and enthuisiasm from him.My kids made some good friends and had the run of the pool room.My main complaint would be the overfriendliness of a few of the staff,they always seemed to be in the cabin or knocking on the door.Two lovely young girls on their own had constant problems with staff in their room and a nasty experience with the masseuse, who it turned out was not qualified or experienced. This annoyed most of us on board, as they were quite scared and we felt the tour company should be responsible for whom they hire. They seemed to target the younger females, coming into cabins for silly excuses and removing items like toilet rolls and towels so they could come back to replace them. Magic was fantastic and made sure they were ok, but it did slightly spoil the trip at the end for a large group of us. Oh and the towel sculptures were quite funny and a bit freaky.

Nile Cruise on Grand Preziosa

We went on this cruise 5/7/2010.It was very good all round. The (standard) room we got was very large with massive panoramic slide opening style windows...lovely views. Bathroom was quite large too with shower enclosure.

The first meal onboard we were slightly put off as the main course food temperature was only just warm and our table cloth hadn't been changed from previous holidaymakers but after that everything was fine and it improved dramatically. The meals were very varied and something for everyone and of a good quality in the end...(not quite med cruise quality or presentation but still quite good) There was always plenty to eat..soup, salad bar, main course selection (fish, meats, pasta etc) and a chef doing a fresh pasta dish or a meat carvery. The sweets were varied (mostly small pastries ,cakes, mousses and fresh fruit also .

The breakfasts were ok too with 2 cereals, eggs, grilled tomatoes and other things also a pastries/jam selection and numerous breads to choose from. There was also a chef on hand to do omelettes etc . All meals were very filling.

The included trips were wonderful, if a little tiring, as you had to get up very early..(breakfast was at 6.30 am one day, to be out before the sun got too hot). Our guide the whole week was called Magic..and he was just that...Magic !

His knowledge was exceptional about the places we visited and he was a delight to listen to and not once were we bored..(as we had been on a previous Nile cruise many years before). He had the ability to transport you to the ancient Eyptian times with his renditions of what happened centuries ago. He was the BEST guide we have ever had on any tours (and we have travelled alot)!

The tipping system onboard is abit strict, with £20 PER PERSON to pay to be shared out with the ships staff..and we also tipped our guide seperately, so we spent £55 on tips for one week which seems abit steep.

The entertainment is abit minimal with one night a belly dancer for about 30 - 50 mins and a male dancer with a large skirt thing which he twirls round. Another night it was an African dance troupe..but we liked the Egyptian dress up night best..we bought our outfits quite cheap elsewhere as the clothes shop onboard was more expensive and the salesman was miffed if you tried to barter with him and he sulked. There was another small jewellery/ornaments selection shop which had the ships DVDs of your weeks cruise you could buy...they film all week.

Most nights we sat outside on the bar terrace, having fun with our fellow passengers. It was a bonus being All Inclusive..no money was needed at the bar !

We were also lucky on our dining table as we had a good crowd..it seated 8 and we met 2 other couples who we spent alot of time with and had alot of laughs..Great fun..( Thanks ..Sue and Alan from London and Geraldine and Barry from Hartlepool)!

On the whole this was an excellent Nile cruise and although there are more ornate nile cruise ships..(The Grand Rose was very stylish), it was well worth the money and we had a brillaint time.

I can recommend it if you are thinking of going on this cruise.

MS Grand Preziosa was an excellent last minute bargain holiday through Red Sea Holidays that really delivered. Red Sea Holiday staff were smoothly efficient at all times, and the staff on board from room cleaners through to waiters were friendly, helpful and often entertaining. Our guide - the now internet famous Sameh (Yalla Yalla Sim Sim) was quite outstanding and his delivery of comprehensive knowledge was always interesting, adding to knowledge we had gleaned from previous visits rather then repeating the basics. The company around our table made the holiday too, so thanks go to Ronnie and Linda, Dave and Sue, and Joe and Jan for 100% pure fun. The down side? Well, not a lot really - the ship was excellent overall, though the decor was a bit dull and dated in public areas, but very hard indeed to find fault.

my husband and i have just had a wonderfull nile cruise on the ms grand preziosa which we booked through redsea holidays.the food was good,the staff were more than helpfull and our guide nabel(mohammed)was excellant.the trips were fantastic, and taking you out early before the sun got to hot was a very good idea,leaving time to laze by the pool allday,which again was very nice.the only thing to fault on this holiday was no ice for drinks,and if thats all we could find wrong then it was a great holiday.hi to anyone we met on this holiday.debbie and danny.

A totally relaxing, pleasant holiday; the first time we did not want to return home from. Relaxing, because we chose not to take all the excursions, of which there were many (10 inclusive & several others). The food, service, care and courtesy were beyond expectation and the crew's command of English was more than adequate. Our guide (Sameh - Yalla-yalla!) was a patient, caring Egyptian graduate of Glasgow Uni' whose knowledge was unquestionable and his passionate detailing of Egypt's attractions was never boring, condescending or supercilious; what a good fellow.

What fun, pleasure, joy and of course good food and service. Pay for it, enjoy the food, wonder at the sights, relax when you want.

If you're a miserable soul, stay at home - don't spoil the pleasure for others who enjoy life.

Maurice & Liz

What a trip! We were made very welcome by all of the team involved with our holiday,from the airport transfer right up to the final goodbye.

The food is excellent and very varied, the excursions were well organised and all good value for money except for the city tour which was the weakest offer of the list.

If you are lucky enough to be in the group led by the guide Sameh ( Sim Sim)you are in for a real treat, he is brilliant and incredibly knowledgeable and also very patient when you lag behind taking pictures. My wife and I felt that he made the holiday for us with his local knowledge and passion for his subject.

The onboard shop is a really good resource for souvenirs and costumes for the Egyptian night and is a pleasure to buy from as the prices are set and the guys are good value for money and there is NO HASSLE! unlike the local shops and markets where the sales people are so intent on getting you to buy something that they actually put you off buying with their aggression.

Temperatures in early May when we sailed can be as high as 52 degrees, hot even for the locals, so make sure that you pack plenty of sun screen and always carry bottled water.

If you can afford it you must do the balloon flight, it is incredible and when we flew the visibility was great and the breeze was gentle allowing us to travel for 45 minutes at a max of 1,800 feet over the valley of the Queens and the desert.

The trip to Abu Simbel was tiring on the bus with the 3 am call to get us up. but it was so worth it as the site is breath taking and awe inspiring, if you can afford it you might consider flying as the flight takes around 30 mins in the air compared to three and a half hours in the coach.

All in all a brilliant Nile cruise on a great boat with a great crew, I highly reccomend it and we will go again.

Just returned from 7 nights all inclusive with ten trips ashore to places of interest.The complete package was fantastic, all the staff on board were

brilliant, no hassle everything was done to the customers satisfaction.

Our table of 8 was looked after by Ty who was very courteous and obliging.

The cabins were well cleaned and tidied daily with the towels made into decorative items on the bed each day.All our baggage was collected and carried to the cabin and on departure bags were taken to our coach.

Our tour guide was named Magic, his knowledge of all the Temples and Valley of Kings was first class, we could not have had a better or more qualified guide than Magic.

The Sound and Light show at Karnak was some what disappointing but the rest of the cruise certainly made up for this. I would recommend this cruise to anyone wishing to visit the Nile Region.

A W Briggs