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ChatterBank1 min ago
Nile Cruise
Would like to do a week's Nile cruise in Jan for my husband's birthday. Can anyone recommend a good company? Have checked net and found some good offers but some so reasonable I am worried that they won't be any good!!
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We went with exploreworldwide, it was brilliant, included donkey treks etc, but they don't go for luxury, they use local hotels rather than chains to help the local economy, and a small but friendly cruise boat. If thats not what you fancy, try Jules Verne Voyages, they look very good and reasonable, but I haven't used them.
Like any holiday you are best to use a well respected name to book with just to know that if anything goes wrong they are likely to sort things out. I would suggest people like Thomson or Kuoni if you can afford it. Both do offers as well and there are usually spaces very late in the day.
When it comes to the boat just make sure you get a good standard. I would advise a 4 or 5* boat. There are a few poor boats you really don't want to be on! All the tours are generally the same, on board egyptologist, tour guide and daily trips. So it really is the boat and the food the makes the difference to the holiday.
Voyages Jules Verne are owned by Kuoni and for this holiday are unlikely to be worth the premium you might pay. over Kuoni. Try and get a suite on the boat if you can, often not much extra but you'll be glad of the extra space!
The optional trip to Abu Simbel is expensive but well worth seeing.
When it comes to the boat just make sure you get a good standard. I would advise a 4 or 5* boat. There are a few poor boats you really don't want to be on! All the tours are generally the same, on board egyptologist, tour guide and daily trips. So it really is the boat and the food the makes the difference to the holiday.
Voyages Jules Verne are owned by Kuoni and for this holiday are unlikely to be worth the premium you might pay. over Kuoni. Try and get a suite on the boat if you can, often not much extra but you'll be glad of the extra space!
The optional trip to Abu Simbel is expensive but well worth seeing.
We used Voyage Jules Verne on our Egypt trip - albeit about 5 years ago now - and although we did have a great time I have to say we were less than impressed by the srvice they gave. The local tour guides were fantastic but the company changed out hotel booking in Cairo (we did Cairo and a cruise) at the last minute and also changed the boat we were due to be on.
When we got to the boat they hadn't booked a number of people into superier cabins despite a premium being paid (we did get a refund for this) and though the staff etc.. were great the boat was I felt a little below the standard I would have liked - and we had been led to expect. The cabins were small and the food not brilliant. After one night at least half the tour party - myself included - came down with a stomach bug and had to miss a day of touring
As I said all the people we dealt with were brilliant but the standard of the hotel, the boat and that aspect of the service weren't - I got the feeling that last minute changes happened regularly. We did pay less than a lot of other tours but I would pay more and get a better standard. Particulary for such a wonderful holiday.
When we got to the boat they hadn't booked a number of people into superier cabins despite a premium being paid (we did get a refund for this) and though the staff etc.. were great the boat was I felt a little below the standard I would have liked - and we had been led to expect. The cabins were small and the food not brilliant. After one night at least half the tour party - myself included - came down with a stomach bug and had to miss a day of touring
As I said all the people we dealt with were brilliant but the standard of the hotel, the boat and that aspect of the service weren't - I got the feeling that last minute changes happened regularly. We did pay less than a lot of other tours but I would pay more and get a better standard. Particulary for such a wonderful holiday.
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