We booked a cruise with a 3 hour program on the river as an experience that we could not miss while visiting Egypt.
We paid $55 per person for one of the few cruises that depart in daylight at 5pm. The agent was contacted by us to confirm what time the driver would pick us up. And then the "surprises" began. The answer we got was "19:30" ????. But if the ship leaves at 5pm, isn't that a bit late? To this question the agent replied to us, "We cooperate with different ships". This is OK, but we were not interested in that information as we chose the one that suited our plans. Only after this explanation, they did a favor and confirmed a 5.15pm pick-up (still not entirely clear...). But we decided to trust the "professionals".
However the real surprise awaited us on arrival at the pier. The driver gave us 500 Egyptian pound ($16) and pointed the way to the boat from the car. We entered the boat, which looked like a canteen, but the worst part was that our reservations were missing. We were asked for the agent's number to contact him. Certainly, we refused to stay in this boat and demanded to find another option or a refund. We were taken to the next boat, which was very similar to the first option and in need of some repairs, it was old and smelled musty inside. This time the driver came with us to arrange to be accepted. We were met by the Manager and kindly informed that the boat was leaving at 8pm, but that we would have the “privilege” of watching two shows, as by the time we were brought there - there was already a show "on the dock". What we saw - we were certainly not pleased.
We, of course, wanted to leave right away, but it was too late to find another company, it was 18:30 by then, and we wanted to cruise the Nile. So, being stuck, we had no option to stay (it was our last day in Cairo).
And yes, we ended up cruising down the river at 8:30pm instead of the 5:00pm tour we had booked.
Obviously, the unpleasantness didn't end there.
When the show started, a Russian family was seated at a nearby table who were having difficulties dealing with the organizers because of the language barrier. I offered to help with the translation. And I made things worse for myself because when the Russian gentleman was asked for money for the cruise - I was left in genuine shock, he was asked $16 per person. We paid $55 beverage not included and one local beer cost was $6 (We stayed 8 nights in Egypt in 5*L hotels and we paid it less). The FOUR SEASONS DINNER CRUISE (no buffet) costs &65 (!), which we couldn't choose because we needed the earliest option. And we suggest to book instead of this nightmer.
Overall, the buffet the quality of the food was definitely unacceptable and there were even cooks who controlled the quantity of pieces of meat people took.........; the show program was ok but absolutely not special.
And at the end the driver took us back to the wrong hotel (there are two Kempinski in Cairo), although we gave him the full hotel name twice when we departed and when we told him it was the wrong one - he was clearly annoyed by this and gave us his phone to talk to the agent. And we still gave him tip as it is common in Egypt.
Not an experience but a overpriced nightmare.
The only reason it got 1 star is because you can't leave it empty.
I strongly advice to don't book this service with them!
Awesome dinner cruise. Food was delicious, entertainment was awesome, transport was great. Plus, the cruise as alcohol, for those who are interested. :-)