Just completed Nile River w/Uniworld on MS Giselle(very long)

[pjtraveler]

We returned Saturday, November 17 from Uniworld's "Splendors of Egypt" 13 day itinerary, including 7 days cruising along the Nile in Egypt Hotel's MS Giselle. We had a wonderful trip and wanted to share a few things with our fellow travelers here at Cruise Critic.

 

The ship: The Giselle is not owned by Uniworld, but by Egypt Hotels, so do not expect quite the same experience as you might have in Europe. There was no captain aboard; all the navigating of the Nile was handled by an experienced Nile riverboat pilot (I think that's the term) who knows every nook and cranny and differences in eddies along the river. This position is handed down from father to son and is a highly coveted position. Not all the crew is fluent in English, but the tour director will be able to help with any difficulties. The cabins were a little roomier than our experience along the Rhine and had windows that opened to let in fresh air if you wish it. There was ample closet space and an in-room safe and refrigerator. The beds were quite firm, but that was no problem for us.

 

Food: All meals (with the exception of the Galabeya candelight dinner) are served buffet style. At breakfast there was a variety of cereals, yogurt, fruit, and other cold items, and hot items such as eggs cooked to order, sausages, crepes, breads, etc. Many items had a decided Egyptian twist or flavor. Lunch and dinner always had marvelous salads, delicious breads, interesting soups, and a variety of main dishes and desserts. Although there were some American style dishes, there were always some authentic Egyptian items on the menu. With every meal, you are served bottled water, and you can take the remainders to your cabin for teeth brushing.

 

Tour Director: The key to our absolute satisfaction with this cruise was our tour director, Yasser Farouk. He did all our tours in Cairo at the beginning and end of our trip, and accompanied us and was our guide for all the stops along the Nile. He is an independent contractor and works for Uniworld, GTC, and Travalgar (I believe) and this will be his last season. He is an Egyptoligist and will complete work on his master's this summer and hopes to join the faculty at Cairo University and pursue his PHD. Yasser's expertise made our trip a fascinating one, and his charistmatic personality endeared him to our group of 33 people. There were two other Insight groups sharing the Giselle with us, but each one had its own tour director and itinerary for each day. I wished I had taken a mini tape recorder to record all of Yasser's commentary and have now included that on my list for our next trip.

 

Itinerary: You can see our itinerary on Uniworld's website, but I will be happy to answer any questions about any of our stops in Cairo, Luxor, Edfu, Kom-Ombo, and Aswan. We chose the "Splendors of Egypt" trip rather than the "Jewels of the Nile, Lake Nasser, and Abu Simbel" because of the full 7 days on the Nile.

There are 2 optional excursions listed in the brochure. By all means, pay the extra money to visit Abu Simbel by air; it is an unbelievable experience and simply not to be missed. We had purchased the optional dinner cruise in Cairo, and did do that. However, we were disappointed in the dinner and the belly dancer. The food on the Giselle was much superior to the Cairo experience, and the belly dancer was medicore at best. Because of our evaluation with Yasser, I think Uniworld is not going to schedule the cruise dinner with that particular ship again.

I must say, we were spoiled for all the Egyptian belly dancers, because we had Hoda, a native Egyptian, as part of our tour group. She was a great belly dancer, and even did a class for us on board. There was a belly dancer and whirling dervish on board the Giselle one night for entertainment, but we missed it due to fatigue.

 

Travel within Egypt: All dometic flights (to and from Luxor and to and from Abu Simbel) are with Egypt air and are not more than an hour long. You will not receive tickets in advance, and seat assignments are done by the tour director in the airport. Because of this, your boarding pass may not match your name, but will be one of the people assigned to that particular flight. All domestic flights are early in the morning in Cairo to allow for later international traffic, so be prepared for some early rising times--contact me personally if you want to know how early. We found Egypt Air to be very efficient, and they had time to serve water even on the 30-minute flights.

 

WATER: I recall purchasing water only a couple of times and that was from our bus drivers in Cairo. The bottled water at the hotel is very expensive! Otherwise, it is provided on the table for all meals, and the tour director will have water on the bus as you head out to the various stops. It is very important to stay hydrated because the relative humidity is so low in Egypt.

 

Dress: There is no captain's dinner on the Giselle, only the Galabeya candelight dinner, and you will want to get in the spirit and purchase appropriate dress. You can purchase from Sam in his onboard shop, or you will find a variety of items from the vendors at each stop. If you prefer non-hassle at a reasonable price, stick with Sam. If you like the adventure of haggling and possibly getting a bargain, try your hand with the vendors.

My DH took one nice pair of pants, a shirt, and tie, but only used it for the dinner cruise in Cairo. Otherwise, he wore a casual collared shirt and khakis at dinner or if we were late, just what he had worn during the day. I took some dressy tees and a nice pair of black pants that I wore on some evenings.

During the day, most women wore capris and tees and men wore long pants or shorts and casual shirts. It was still quite warm in early November during the day from Luxor to Aswan. I wore a lightweight cotton shirt over my tee in the morning that I could later tie around my waist when it got too warm.

By all means, wear comfortable shoes as you will have a lot of walking to do, often over uneven stones and steps.

 

Sickness: I would say about half of our 33 people were slightly sick at one time or the other, although it didn't slow us down much. None of drank the water, but 3 people became ill at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo on the afternoon of our first day, probably the result of something at breakfast at the Marriott. My DH was one of those, and although we had taken diarrhea medicine along, at about midnight, he broke out in hives. Since we were to leave the hotel at 3 a.m. to make our flight to Luxor, I was very concerned. I went to see the concierge and talked with the bell captain, who called a pharacist. With the bell captain interpreting, I explained Bob's symptoms, and within 20 minutes the pharmacist had delivered 3 prescriptions to the hotel--one of which was a steroid shot to be given under the skin. I think the total for all three medicines was about $22 USD. I waited until we were out the bus to check out the steroid with a neurosurgeon who was part of the group. I gave Bob the shot, and although I wheeled him around the airport in a wheelchair, after the hour's flight to Luxor, he was well enough (though a bit weak) to enjoy the visit to the Temple of Karnak.

Colds were common, and with an open buffet, it's hard to guard against those germs. So be prepared with anti-diarrhea, cold medicines, and antihistames such as Benadryl. There are no hand sanitizing machines, so be sure to use your own sanitizers.

 

Money: In most of Egypt, you can use both USD and Egyptian pounds (LE). You will want Egyptian pounds to do the best haggling with the vendors. In the CAiro Marriott, there are two banks open 24 hrs a day, and a couple of ATM machines. There was an internet cafe just up the street from our dock in Luxor, 30 minutes for 10LE (about $2 USD).

 

Shopping: In addition to the vendors, we had several special discovery/shopping experiences where a Visa card could be used: a perfumery, an alabaster shop, a papyrus institute, and a carpet school.

 

I know this has been long, but if you have further questions please don't hesitate to ask as I'm sure I've forgotten many important things that you need to know. The most important thing, however is this: Enjoy your trip along the Nile--it will be an unforgettable experience of a lifetime!!

[Bustaty]

PJTraveler, thank you so much for taking time to write this review.

 

We are thinking about spending a couple of extra days in Cairo. Is the hotel well situated to go out on our own? Is there things of interest close by? I would imagine that if we want to do something a bit afield, we will hire a driver for a tour.

 

The hotel, Mariott, looks quite nice and maybe a day or so around the pool, might be nice after that long flight.

 

Where were your rooms located i.e. what view. Just trying to get a handle on where we might be located and if a small upgrade might be nice.

 

Re sickness, I guess that is to be expected. I have read some people eat yogurt before the trip to help with gastro problems. Did you eat salads and fruit at the hotel? I was hoping that, we might be ok there, but who knows. Plan on lots of sanitizer for hands as well.

 

Again, thank you for your report.

[pjtraveler]

The Marriott is across the river from the Egyptian museum, and the concierge could arrange a taxi. Also, some others in our group arranged a taxi to tour the Coptic area of Cairo, particularly to visit the hanging church. Secuirty concerns are such that much walking around on your own is discouraged by the tour operators. Depends on how adventuresome you are, I suppose!

 

Our flight over originated in Atlanta with a 2-hour layover in Frankfurt before another 4 hours to Cairo. Needless to say, we were pretty wiped out on arrival, and an extra couple of days in Cairo would have been nice. There are two towers and a garden area at the Mariott. On our first two nights we were in the back tower and the last two nights in the front tower, where we could see a little of the Nile and an exclusive sports complex.

[pacmom]

pjtraveler,

 

Thanks for helping me revisit our wonderful trip with Uniworld in Feb. We didn't have the same guide, but they all seem to be so well educated. It was really nice to have the same guide for the whole trip.. We thought the Marriott to be a veritable oasis in the city. We also wished we had a few extra days on either end to see more of Cairo. People have asked about the best river. It has to be the Nile. Anyone going should read the River God by W. Smith. When you sit on the balcony at the Cataract Hotel and look over at the Island, you can just vividly imagine the ancient Egyptians being there. Pat

[pjtraveler]

And thanks to you, PacMom, for providing so many hints to us before we traveled. Have you read the other two books in the Egyptian series? I finished Seventh Scroll (set in modern times but based on the Tatia legend) while in Egypt and will begin Warlock, the last in the series, soon.

[pacmom]

Haven't read them--will put them on my Christmas wish list. Thanks for your kind words. Pat

[cruisemom42]

Thanks for posting the review. I'm planning a land/cruise trip to Egypt in February.

 

You've got me curious -- just how early ARE those early morning calls (such as the morning trip to Abu Simbel)?

[sailors2]

Hi Cynthia,

So, you are going back to Egypt. We are landbound until we move into the new house in May or June.

Which land/cruise are you taking? I'll be anxious to hear all about it. Who's the lucky one going with you?

I'll keep watching for your information.

Judy

[pjtraveler]

We left the hotel in Cairo to fly to Luxor at 4 a.m. (Or it may have been 3:30). We left the ship at about 4:30 or 5:00 am to go to the Aswan airport for a 6:15 am flight to Abu Simbel.

 

Our return flight from Luxor to Cairo was not quite so early; I believe we left the ship about 6:30 or 7:00 a.m. For our flight home from Cairo to Frankfurt we were scheduled to leave the hotel at 2:15 a.m. because there were 16 from our group on the 5:15 a.m. flight.

 

On most mornings we left for our tours by 7:00 or 7:30 so we could beat the heat and the crowds! And it worked quite well!

[cruisemom42]

We left the hotel in Cairo to fly to Luxor at 4 a.m. (Or it may have been 3:30). We left the ship at about 4:30 or 5:00 am to go to the Aswan airport for a 6:15 am flight to Abu Simbel.

 

Our return flight from Luxor to Cairo was not quite so early; I believe we left the ship about 6:30 or 7:00 a.m. For our flight home from Cairo to Frankfurt we were scheduled to leave the hotel at 2:15 a.m. because there were 16 from our group on the 5:15 a.m. flight.

 

On most mornings we left for our tours by 7:00 or 7:30 so we could beat the heat and the crowds! And it worked quite well!

 

Wow, those are some early mornings -- and I'm not a morning person. :eek:

 

I'm hoping that since I'll be jet-lagged anyway, I can just pretend that it's later than it really is.

 

(No wonder I've read that everyone tends to make an early night of it on the Nile cruises!)

[cruisemom42]

Hi Cynthia,

So, you are going back to Egypt. We are landbound until we move into the new house in May or June.

Which land/cruise are you taking? I'll be anxious to hear all about it. Who's the lucky one going with you?

I'll keep watching for your information.

Judy

 

Hi Judy!

 

I'm going on the small-group tour (TraveLearn) through my alma mater. This trip I'm doing on my own, since DS won't be able to miss that much school and I think it would be too strenuous for my mom. I'll be sure to post the details.

 

Congrats on the new house!

 

I see you're also following Casshew's thread on the Egypt/Aegean cruise we took last year. Made me want to look at all my photos again...... Such a great trip.

[pacmom]

pjtraveler,

 

Just devoured The Seventh Scroll, returned it to the library and checked out Warlock. Guess those Christmas cards will wait a few more days.

Pat

[pjtraveler]

And I predict you'll love Warlock! It will put you back in Egypt again!