Has anyone been on the MS Neptune on the Nile?

[shadowdiver]

I'll be on the MS Neptune on a river cruise on the Nile and was wandering has anyone been on the river boat ? I would like to know how the ships over all condition is and how the food was? Thanks for any info

[julieringkeller]

hi--how was the Neptune?

[a5storyguy]

I'll be on the MS Neptune on a river cruise on the Nile and was wandering has anyone been on the river boat ? I would like to know how the ships over all condition is and how the food was? Thanks for any info

 

I will also be on the MS Neptune in February 2010 after Gate1Travel switched us to this ship. Has anyone been on this ship who can report?

[DEL67]

We were switched by Gate 1 too. I will be on it in late Dec and will report back, but hopefully someone else will do so before then.

 

The pictures look nice, but you can never count on that!

[DEL67]

After quite a bit of searching, I did find the following statistics about the Neptune, but no reviews. Note: It does say that it is 5 star which I believe is a higher rating than the boat we were supposed to go on.

 

Technical Specifications

- Length 72 m, Width 11 m, Draft 1.50 m.

- Built according to the safety laws of Greek bureau.

- Sound proof on all decks.

- Ultra violet water treatment.

- Electric current 220 volts 50 cycles.

- Fire extinguishers and fire sprinklers all public areas in all cabins.

 

Description

 

- Inaugurated in 1983 and completely renovated in summer 2008.

 

- 42 cabins including 7 suites distributed on the lower, main & upper decks.

 

- Cabin size about 23.00 sqm, suites are from 26.00 to 28.00 sqm..

 

- Hair dryer, LCD screen color TV, telephone, closed video circuit with movies & news and

music channels, as well as channels showing the cruising Panorama, music system, fire

alarm and smoke detector in each cabin.

 

- Marine satellite allowing the receipt of foreign news and entertainment channels all the

time and during sailing.

 

- Sun deck with swimming pool & bar.

 

- Reception area on the main deck.

 

- Large Lounge bar on the upper deck and a Panorama bar with large TV Plasma screen

located on the middle deck.

 

- Restaurant located on the middle deck.

 

- Boutique & Gift shop located at the reception area.

 

- Laundry & dry cleaning facilities.

[DEL67]

It looks as if we will not be on hte MS Neptune after all so I will not be able to help.

 

The small print on the Gate1 website now says that the 12/24 tour will be on the MS Nile Symphony.

 

A5storyguy - you may not be on the Neptune either. The same small print specifies that the Neptune is being used on the Jan 2010 cruises and the website shows that the Feb 2010 cruises are on the MS Queen of Hansa.

[NMTLady]

Hi! My husband and I will be on the Neptune but it sounds as if nobody else on this thread will :-( We leave with Gate 1 on 1/21/2010. The reviews on these tours are very mixed. What did your research turn up?

Thanks!

[carob]

Del, How was the Gate 1 Egypt tour and MS Neptune cruise? I leave on January 18 and interested in your experience. Thanks.

[carob]

Hi! My husband and I will be on the Neptune but it sounds as if nobody else on this thread will :-( We leave with Gate 1 on 1/21/2010. The reviews on these tours are very mixed. What did your research turn up?

Thanks!

I am also going to be on the MS Neptune next week. My tour begins on January 19 in Cairo, but we get on the ship on the 22nd, not the 21st. I am assuming we are on the same tour. My name is Carolyn and I am travelling alone. Perhaps we will meet there!

[daryleann]

NMT lady has not been checking her posts,but we are on the Gate1 trip that leaves NYC the 21st. Our cruise doesn't start until 25th, so probably will not cross paths. Be sure to leave the ship in tip top shape for us!

Post when you get back - we can compare notes!

[NMTLady]

So I guess Carob is in Cairo now! Sorry for not checking back since mid-December! The holidays happened and then we got sick :-( Daryleann, we are on the same trip which is great! Looking forward to meeting you in NYC on Thursday!

[HighPriest]

I'll be on the MS Neptune on a river cruise on the Nile and was wandering has anyone been on the river boat ? I would like to know how the ships over all condition is and how the food was? Thanks for any info

 

I see lots of people asking about the MS Neptune.

 

Has anyone actually done a trip and have some comments?

[FeeFeeCat]

Can anyone who has sailed on her recently post a review or a review of their Gate 1 Travel Egypt trip? I'm considering reserving one for late 2010 or early 2011.

 

Thanks so much.

[spacetraveller]

High Priest,

Did you learn anything about the MS Neptune? I'm interested in a Nile cruise as well and would be interested in what you've learned about Gate 1 and the MS Neptune. BTW, I'm also in San Jose!

[texancruzer]

Can anyone who has sailed on her recently post a review or a review of their Gate 1 Travel Egypt trip? I'm considering reserving one for late 2010 or early 2011.

 

Thanks so much.

 

High Priest,

Did you learn anything about the MS Neptune? I'm interested in a Nile cruise as well and would be interested in what you've learned about Gate 1 and the MS Neptune. BTW, I'm also in San Jose!

 

There are some good threads about experiences with Gate 1 floating around here......

 

Check the port of call section for "Africa & Middle East" There is a thread with a wonderful (and long) review (altho from 2008)

 

Then there is another one here on this forum by a poster who recently went and he posted they were on the Neptune.

 

Do a search for Gate 1 and see what pops up !

 

I just spoke with Travel Agent this morning.....we are booking the 15 day tour with Gate 1 for the October 28, 2010 date. She advised me that she would travel with Gate 1 in a heartbeat and since she is a friend..... that's good enough for me. I can't wait......now all the research, plannig, booking etc.........1/2 the fun ! :D

[buie]

Texan cruser,

 

We are on the October 28 one too! We booked last week and are so excited.

 

Stephanie

[texancruzer]

Texan cruser,

 

We are on the October 28 one too! We booked last week and are so excited.

 

Stephanie

 

Stephanie, still waiting to hear from my TA (a good friend) about booking.

 

"We" are dh (50) and me (54) from Corpus Christi, TX. This will be our 30th anniversary trip and a lifelong desire for dh. We are pretty active and enjoy scuba diving so plan to do a dive while at the Red Sea resort. Hopefully our booking is going ok..... this is pretty much the only date that would work for us so hopefully ship not sold out and we can get a suite or large cabin...... fingers crossed.

 

Where are you from ? Traveling solo or ??? We will have almost 4 months to "chat" and always good to have someone you already "know" on same trip. We are going to see if our best friends want to do this one with us too......

 

In the meantime, I am reading everything I can for info on well, everything !

[buie]

Stephanie, still waiting to hear from my TA (a good friend) about booking.

 

"We" are dh (50) and me (54) from Corpus Christi, TX. This will be our 30th anniversary trip and a lifelong desire for dh. We are pretty active and enjoy scuba diving so plan to do a dive while at the Red Sea resort. Hopefully our booking is going ok..... this is pretty much the only date that would work for us so hopefully ship not sold out and we can get a suite or large cabin...... fingers crossed.

 

Where are you from ? Traveling solo or ??? We will have almost 4 months to "chat" and always good to have someone you already "know" on same trip. We are going to see if our best friends want to do this one with us too......

 

In the meantime, I am reading everything I can for info on well, everything !

 

 

Hi,

 

My husband (Randy) and I are from Kentucky. I doubt the ship is sold out. We just booked last Thursday. I'm 40 and Randy's 53. We're reading everything too. That review by Seafun is amazing. We're trying to figure out which excursions to book.

 

Stephanie

[slimsloany]

HI,

Suzie here.

My 4 friends (so far) and I are booked on the Feb 17, 2011 Gate 1 trip, the 15 day one. We are supposed to sail on the MS Neptune, we'll see if that works out. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, there is another thread and dawcruiser and his wife just did this tour and sailed on the Neptune. Their advice has been priceless!

I have been on many, many ocean cruises, but never a river cruise and I am hoping this opens up a whole new addiction.

Anyone else on this trip? We are from Columbus, Ohio.

Blessings!

Suz

[texancruzer]

Stephanie: did talk with TA on Friday afternoon. She had just spoken with Gate 1 and there are plenty of cabins in all categories left so no worries. We are going to book first of next week as we had some other details to figure out......airfare, excursions etc. I like to book it all at once. We found out we could add-on air from Houston to New York for less than I can get it for, so will do that. Trip insurance is a must too.....and have details on that now also. We are booking the following excursions based on reviews, TA advice and even the advice of the Gate 1 agent she spoke with. She actually said 1 or 2 werent much and wouldnt spend the $$ on them :eek: Imagine that - !

 

We are booking the $ 169.00 River Shore Excursion package as she advised the Nile cruise is pretty much just that - a cruise up and back without that...... then we are doing 2 in Cairo: The $45. Museum tour and the $49. 1/2 day to Memphis. Our TA is throwing in one of these for free :D Probably the cheaper one ! Then we are also doing the $269. Abu Simbel trip (not to be missed by some reviews) and dh insists on this one. Not doing the light show or the jeep tour. Once we get to Hurghada we are hoping to do a scuba dive in the Red Sea. Will pretty much have to do it the first afternoon. Since we fly to Cairo we can't dive within 24 hours of flying. If it doesnt work out we will be doing ALOT of snorkeling !

 

So as you can see.... we like to go go go while on vacation. Especially in a place like Eygpt.

 

Some other fun details I saw while reading brochure from Gate 1 (I printed the whole thing) ONLY 1 SUITCASE AND 1 CARRY ON PER PERSON. Yikes. I guess I am going to budget some $$ to use the onboard laundry while on the cruise part. Was reading the airline part.....about missing the NY to Cairo leg because of a delayed flight to NY...... seems you get left on your own....... so thinking about maybe flying to NY the day before and spending the night. Check in is 3 hours before flight (which is at 6:30 pm) and our flight from Houston wouldnt get in until 1:04 which is 5.5 hrs UNLESS there is a delay. Seems we ALWAYS have problems flying lately and we do ALOT of it......

 

OK.... this is too long :o More later TEX (Cheryl)

[buie]

Stephanie: did talk with TA on Friday afternoon. She had just spoken with Gate 1 and there are plenty of cabins in all categories left so no worries. We are going to book first of next week as we had some other details to figure out......airfare, excursions etc. I like to book it all at once. We found out we could add-on air from Houston to New York for less than I can get it for, so will do that. Trip insurance is a must too.....and have details on that now also. We are booking the following excursions based on reviews, TA advice and even the advice of the Gate 1 agent she spoke with. She actually said 1 or 2 werent much and wouldnt spend the $$ on them :eek: Imagine that - !

 

We are booking the $ 169.00 River Shore Excursion package as she advised the Nile cruise is pretty much just that - a cruise up and back without that...... then we are doing 2 in Cairo: The $45. Museum tour and the $49. 1/2 day to Memphis. Our TA is throwing in one of these for free :D Probably the cheaper one ! Then we are also doing the $269. Abu Simbel trip (not to be missed by some reviews) and dh insists on this one. Not doing the light show or the jeep tour. Once we get to Hurghada we are hoping to do a scuba dive in the Red Sea. Will pretty much have to do it the first afternoon. Since we fly to Cairo we can't dive within 24 hours of flying. If it doesnt work out we will be doing ALOT of snorkeling !

 

So as you can see.... we like to go go go while on vacation. Especially in a place like Eygpt.

 

Some other fun details I saw while reading brochure from Gate 1 (I printed the whole thing) ONLY 1 SUITCASE AND 1 CARRY ON PER PERSON. Yikes. I guess I am going to budget some $$ to use the onboard laundry while on the cruise part. Was reading the airline part.....about missing the NY to Cairo leg because of a delayed flight to NY...... seems you get left on your own....... so thinking about maybe flying to NY the day before and spending the night. Check in is 3 hours before flight (which is at 6:30 pm) and our flight from Houston wouldnt get in until 1:04 which is 5.5 hrs UNLESS there is a delay. Seems we ALWAYS have problems flying lately and we do ALOT of it......

 

OK.... this is too long :o More later TEX (Cheryl)

 

 

Cheryl,

 

I think we are planning on doing the same stuff you are. We're going to fly in a day early as well. If you ask Gate 1, they will send you their whole brochure as well. We haven't booked our excursions yet, but will do it in the next couple weeks. I hear that Abu Simbel is a must as well.

 

Have a great 4th.

 

Steph

[texancruzer]

Cheryl,

 

I think we are planning on doing the same stuff you are. We're going to fly in a day early as well. If you ask Gate 1, they will send you their whole brochure as well. We haven't booked our excursions yet, but will do it in the next couple weeks. I hear that Abu Simbel is a must as well.

 

Have a great 4th.

 

Steph

 

Steph: Not sure about flying into NY the day before yet or not. Trying to figure it all out with add-on air thru Gate 1. Are you getting to NY on your own or adding on with Gate 1 ? I didnt even think about it until my TA mentioned it and they quoted her a price that is cheaper than I can get it for...... just trying to figure out the logistics tho. UGH I like when all the details are figured out and done ! Then I can just research stuff like shopping in Cairo and other fun stuff. Hope you had a happy 4th. TEX

[buie]

Steph: Not sure about flying into NY the day before yet or not. Trying to figure it all out with add-on air thru Gate 1. Are you getting to NY on your own or adding on with Gate 1 ? I didnt even think about it until my TA mentioned it and they quoted her a price that is cheaper than I can get it for...... just trying to figure out the logistics tho. UGH I like when all the details are figured out and done ! Then I can just research stuff like shopping in Cairo and other fun stuff. Hope you had a happy 4th. TEX

 

 

I think we're booking the air ourselves. It looks like we can get it a little cheaper doing it ourselves. I agree with you that I'm always happier when the logistics are all figured out.

[slimsloany]

Hi,

Just reading the threads here and noted that there is discussion about flying in the night before and looking at booking air yourself.

#1 We are booked for February, I live in Ohio, New York can be in the middle of a giant snowstorm, leaving caution to the wind and booking a flight out the day before and staying at the airport. Essentially, it is all a crap shoot!

#2 Gate 1 air inclusive is a very good deal! It not only handles the air to and from Egypt, but also the transfers to and from the airports and all intra-Egypt air. Golly that's a good deal.

Keep on researchin'.

I found some really good info on Tripadvisor too. You might want to hit Egypt Gate 1 on the search and it was >60 pages! So many good ideas and helpful info, just like this website.

Blessings!

Suzie

[texancruzer]

Hi,

Just reading the threads here and noted that there is discussion about flying in the night before and looking at booking air yourself.

#1 We are booked for February, I live in Ohio, New York can be in the middle of a giant snowstorm, leaving caution to the wind and booking a flight out the day before and staying at the airport. Essentially, it is all a crap shoot!

#2 Gate 1 air inclusive is a very good deal! It not only handles the air to and from Egypt, but also the transfers to and from the airports and all intra-Egypt air. Golly that's a good deal.

Keep on researchin'.

I found some really good info on Tripadvisor too. You might want to hit Egypt Gate 1 on the search and it was >60 pages! So many good ideas and helpful info, just like this website.

Blessings!

Suzie

 

Suzie, we are definately using Gate 1 air from NY to Cairo (it is included in the package price). But Steph and I were discussing using Gate 1 ADD-ON air - which, for me, would be from Houston to NY. They gave me a quote that was less than I can get us from Houston to NY for the flight to Cairo. Sorry - think you misread.

 

and two reasons to fly from Texas to NY the day before is 1) not only due to weather (won't be that much of a concern end of October) but also plane delays etc.... seems like every flight we have taken in the last 10 years (and that is ALOT of flights!) we have had big time problems making connnections. And 2) is we also have to get from Corpus Christi to Houston. Which we will do either by driving up or using some free tickets we have with Southwest. Like I said.....details details details..... :eek: