MS Magic Hotel

Overall we would certainly say this was an excellent trip and represented good value for money. We certainly would recommend it to friends and family. Hopefully the following points will help you; I've certainly included things we wish we had known before we went.

While Luxor airport on arrival is chaotic a rep will quickly make themselves obvious. Once they do, get to them and they will sort your entry visa which you pay for only when on the transfer coach, £12 in sterling or $15US.

Tipping is a pain but the rep method of paying 3x£10 (rep organises it) is very good so at least you do not need to worry on the boat or when on 'escorted' trips. On one of your first trips you are taken to a bank where you can get money and the exchange rate is very good (close to 9 EGP to 1 GBP as opposed to 8 in the UK). Best to hand over GBP cash. You can also get small denomination EGP; hang on to any small notes for tips like going to the loo! It is a good idea to bring cheap pens and sweets for giving to the few children who deserve it. A few 50p or £1 coins are also helpful for any early tips before you get small denomination EGP.

We found sleeping on the boat fine but it is noisier towards the back and on deck 1 compared to 3 or 4. Not something to really worry about though.

Most tables in the dining room are for 6 so we ended up as one of three couples. You then dine with them for the whole trip. The couples we were with were excellent fun and the whole group seemed pretty good but this could be a problem if you are not so lucky! Might be worth chatting to as many others as you can before your first meal, getting your group together and going in on time. A bell is rung to indicate the dining room is open. However, it is part of the fun to see who you end up with!

The boat has 70 cabins so 140 max people. We were mainly 40+ age group but a few younger couples and plenty retirees! Very few children, just two families with young teens. It certainly is not a trip for children and most teens would likely find the trips 'boring'!

The cabins are a good size and there is plenty of hot water in the shower. There is a free digital safe and plenty of storage space. The TV only works in port although there is a channel connected to a camera on the front of the boat so you can see forwards even when in bed!

Be aware that the extra optional trips are quoted in GBP but this is then turned into EGP by the rep at a rate of 9 to 1 and if you pay with a credit card there is then 2% added and your credit card company will turn the EGP back to GBP at a lower rate! Ours, Abbey Zero, gave a very good rate of 8.96 and does not make any other charges either, even for cash withdrawals!

Of the extra trips the Karnak sound & light was poor plus the cost of £22pp for a £11 ticket and coach ride of 5 minutes was a rip-off! We really did enjoy the quad bikes, camel ride and hot air balloon. The Aswan city trip had mixed reviews and certainly meant being exposed to the constant and at times, intimidating, 'hagglers'!

Abu Simbel is awesome and probably worth £130 to fly, (£70 coach, 3 hours each way!) although the 'cost price' will be way below this! It does mean a 2.30am wake up but it is quite something to be back on the boat eating breakfast at 9.30am after having done it!

The trips that are part of the package are very good and the Egyptologists mainly excellent (1 of the 3 on our boat was not) and it is certainly worth getting up early for the trips to have a cooler time outside and be back with plenty of the day left. The Luxor area trips include fantastic temples/tombs. Many trips do finish with a visit to a 'shop' to try to get you to part with your money! Alabaster, gold/jewellery, perfume etc. Some are interesting but be prepared to say a firm 'no thank you'!

The Egyptian Dress evening was fun and the galabeyas on sale on the boat are as good and cheap as anywhere else. £5/£10 gets you all you need, including a hat! If you want haggle free shopping for souvenirs try Gaddis next to the Winter Palace Hotel in Luxor.

On your final day the hot air balloon was early, 5.00am, so you are back for breakfast. I wouldn't do the optional trip to the Valley of the Queens as I was 'templed out' and it gave time for packing, enjoying a final sunbathe etc. You get lunch and the all-inclusive is very fairly kept running until about half an hour before your coach takes you to the airport.

The all-inclusive is pretty good value and they certainly make sure there are loads of bottles of cold water. The glasses are small and you do have to return to the bar often but there is a good range of drinks, albeit local with the exception of Coke and they did have the diet variety too. Watch the measures - a G&T is mainly G, I actually poured my own! There is a very odd thing of often being asked to sign for food and drink even though you are all-inclusive. We often signed but equally often did not; crucially there was no bill to pay at the end. All inclusive ends at 11.45pm each night but most people are in bed getting sleep for the next early start by then!

Towels are provided, including for the swimming pool, so don't take any like we did! We were told that they are pretty hot on the 20kg luggage although we were just over 21kg on the way home and nothing was said.

The food was excellent and loads of it. There was little 'Nile tummy' that we heard of and the very few who did suffer will have got it from off the boat. There is a tour of the boat that includes the kitchens which were spotless! The dirty banknotes are likely 'carriers' so a bottle of 'hand wash' is probably sensible.

There are loads of sunbeds and they really do not allow 'bagging' them. The sun deck really is very nice with lots of space, tables etc and a decent bar. There is no smoking on the boat except on the sun deck. The small swimming pool is good and certainly helps you to cool off. It was high 30s while we there in mid-October.

Luxor airport is modern and not too badly priced. The duty free alcohol did not seem cheap (got a much better deal on Bombay Sapphire in Tesco!) but cigarettes were very cheap indeed.

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.