Nijlcruise met Abu Simbel-tempels en rondleidingen van Aswan naar Luxor 4-daagse

Non disclosed mandatory tipping. Beverages are not included in cost. No time management, poor scheduling. No wifi on board. Had to wait 3 hrs for a room.

Tevreden met het weer en wat Egypte van ons te bieden heeft aan cultuur en geschiedenis. We hebben al ervaring met reizen naar Noord Afrikaanse landen en kennen hun cultuur en de verschillen met onze westerse denken en handelen. Armoede troef. Het land verkennen langs de Nijl brengt je terug naar de essentie van het leven rond de Nijl door de eeuwen heen en de rijkdom van zijn cultuur. Abou Simbel moet je zeker doen, ook al vraagt het een extra moeite met lange busreis. Waar wij de Blauwe Vogel als referentie voor een "begeleide" reis, hoog gequoteerd zagen, is dit een serieuze teleurstelling geworden. Geen begeleiding dus. Maar zoals de CEO ons als reply gaf, dit is een budgetreis. Egypte, je gaat terug in de tijd. Ook de cruiseschepen die heel vervuilend waren, rook en lawaaihinder. Buitenkajuiten hebben geen meerwaarde als je met vele schepen naast mekaar aangelegd ligt, overdag en op het terras in de geur zit van rook van oude dieselmotoren. Als je op dit alles voorbereid bent, kun je toch genieten van wat een land als Egypte ons met een glimlach aanbiedt.

The schedule is OK, and we visited most sites listed in the description. The cruise is good. The cabin room is quite big and the experience there is very nice. Food on the cruise is also quite good (not as good as cruises in America but quite good using the standard there). However, communication is very poor. We did not fill in the pickup location when we booked as we did not know how to get to Aswan when we booked. They did send a message through Tripadvisor to ask us where to be picked up. We replied and sent a few follow-up messages and never got a response. We were worried when the time got closer. I tried to call the agent using the local number listed. But every time I called it, it just got to voicemail immediately. I even let another Egyptian use his phone to call, and he also got the same voicemail. Eventually, I had to call Tripadvisor's support number in the US, and they managed to connect to the agent. Then on day 3, the cruise arrived in Luxor at around 5pm. That is a normal time to visit Luxor Temple. But another family who traveled with us (also booked through the same company with a different package but toured together almost all the time) received a message that it was too late, and the trip to Luxor was postponed to the last day. I never received any message regarding the change to the schedule. I called them, and they let me send a message to them so they could send the new itinerary to me. I did, but I never received their message. In addition to poor communication, most of their guides are subpar. They did not explain well, did not arrange time well, or did not communicate with tourists well. One of them pushed us to leave positive feedback for her. Two guides wasted our time bringing us to their partner stores to sell us perfume and stonewares. Because of this, we do not even get time to visit Luxor Temple on the last day. To be fair, she did ask us if we wanted to go. But it was 5 pm when we finished Karnak Temple. If she did not bring us to a stoneware store, we would have had one more hour. Most people choose not to go. So we gave up. But I must point out that the guide in Kom Ombo Temple is excellent. He is knowledgeable and explains everything exceptionally clearly. Overall, the experience is good. But they need to improve their tour guides and communication.