SMNYCruise

It’s been a tough few weeks in Cairo with protests and lockdowns. I hope things settle down soon. We decided to cancel our river cruise there and switch to Europe. Just not willing to take the risk that the trip will be suddenly cancelled or that the itinerary will be effected (as well as the flights). We were hoping for continued peace in the region but it’s not looking good.

Yesterday Lufthansa and British Airways abruptly suspended flights to Cairo. While the suspension is only for a week, it does concern me about the safety of travel to Egypt. Viking and Uniworld have almost sold out their 2020 river cruises to the region. If this suspension continues, it would be devastating to Egypt's tourism industry.

Personally, I would not pay for a visa or for a tour in Maputo. Fellow passengers, even those on organized ship tours, did not feel safe there. The shore excursion guide told me he had to intervene several times to assist passengers in getting away from aggressive vendors.

Very sad to hear about the latest incident. There was a similar incident in December. Tourism is so important to Egypt’s economy. This might hurt the recent uptick in tourism there.

In Cape Town, we took a private full day tour to Cape Peninsula with Rob from Cape Convoy. Happy to beat the tour busses and crowds with an early start. Rob knows all the less touristy spots including an empty beach with penguins. He was happy to cater the tour to our needs (seeing as much wildlife as possible) and after a full day, he dropped us off at the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens where we had a late lunch. Just a word about Table Mountain Cable Car...it shuts down due to weather frequently so if possible leave an alternative day to do this. The cable car was close

Not sure about the Insignia, but we were on the Nautica in January and I was very happy with the internet. Called home from South Africa using WhatsApp and it was very clear.

The first thing you do when you board is to walk to the tables set up in the lounge and leave credit card info and get your key cards. After that, you will make your specialty restaurant dinner reservations, sign up for the spa and/or beverage plans, check out the excursion desk, and then head to lunch. I love how easy Windstar makes embarkation!

Thanks for all your responses. I have returned from Africa with 1000 wonderful photos thanks to the Panasonic FZ1000. It has a steeper learning curve than expected, but I was happy with the videos and photos.

I was surprised when comparing the Viking to the Uniworld 12 Day Egypt and Nile trip. I always thought Viking was the "cheaper" alternative. Turns out that Uniworld was $1,300 per person cheaper (we got a pay in full promotion), and includes transfers, even if you don't book their air. Trips are very similar. Uniworld uses the Four Seasons Cairo at Nile and has a brand new ship., S.S. Sphinx.