25 May 2022
I have rated this "very good" but with some provisos.
This train is neither The Orient Express nor The Blue Train but then, it does not pretend to be. It will get you to your destination in moderate comfort and close to scheduled time.
I boarded in Luxor at the end of a 44C day. The cabin remained at around that temperature for a few hours before the air con could make some headway.
The cabin I had was not exactly capacious but as I travelled solo, it did not need to be. The cabin was as clean as the staff could make it and the bed linen was clean. The water supply to the hand basin was a trickle in the evening and nil in the morning. However, to shave on either a train or plane is sheer madness, so a supply of hot water is not absolutely necessary. A better, or even a cold supply, would have been nice.
The evening meal was exactly the same as I had on the Cairo-Aswan leg and as I had on similar trips in 2018 and 2019.- chicken, rice etc. Not bad and well above the standard of Qantas economy class food. Chicken was surprisingly tender and tasty and the rice, perfectly cooked.
Breakfast was not to my taste but I appreciate the difficulty of trying to cater to a diverse customer base. Coffee? Give it a miss.
Adherence to schedule - well.... I can say, that on no occasion, in all my trips, was it early.
I slept well and for the most part enjoyed the experience.
One thing that would improve the experience, would be clean windows. But, the Saharan dust will always win.
Just don't expect a lot and you won't be disappointed.