Nile Crising - sorry not a real cruise thread

In 2017 it will be, God willing, both our 30th Wedding Anniversary and Ians 70th Birthday.

We have both been fascinated by Egyptian history for a lifetime and are considering a Nile Cruise for these special occasions.

Has anyone done the Nile Legacy cruise with Thomson or would we be better booking with a different company - as we will have to fly to the UK pre-cruise (no flights to Egypt from here) that is not an issue.

Would really appreciate any input. Thanks.

We did a Nile cruise with Discover Egypt ten years ago and at that time, from what we could see and hear, most of the companies were very similar.

There were approximately 70 passengers on our boat, divided into two groups who all stayed together for the week for the trips, and dining. Each group had their own guide who also stayed with the group for all trips, and stayed on board with us. It was all very well organised and we loved it.

My brother has been within the past couple of years and it seemed the same routine that we had.

I would think Thomson, with their excellent organisational skills would be a good choice :)

We did a Nile cruise with Discover Egypt ten years ago and at that time, from what we could see and hear, most of the companies were very similar.

There were approximately 70 passengers on our boat, divided into two groups who all stayed together for the week for the trips, and dining. Each group had their own guide who also stayed with the group for all trips, and stayed on board with us. It was all very well organised and we loved it.

My brother has been within the past couple of years and it seemed the same routine that we had.

I would think Thomson, with their excellent organisational skills would be a good choice :)

Thanks very much Jenny - that sounds very encouraging.

In 2017 it will be, God willing, both our 30th Wedding Anniversary and Ians 70th Birthday.

 

We have both been fascinated by Egyptian history for a lifetime and are considering a Nile Cruise for these special occasions.

 

Has anyone done the Nile Legacy cruise with Thomson or would we be better booking with a different company - as we will have to fly to the UK pre-cruise (no flights to Egypt from here) that is not an issue.

 

Would really appreciate any input. Thanks.

Brenda

Robert Tatton has been on the Legacy; he couldn't fault it but I believe that Thomson cancelled most of the Legacy cruises this year & did mess quite a lit of customers around. He did create a FB Group which has quite a few members & may give you a more up to date idea of the situation.

Brenda

 

Robert Tatton has been on the Legacy; he couldn't fault it but I believe that Thomson cancelled most of the Legacy cruises this year & did mess quite a lit of customers around. He did create a FB Group which has quite a few members & may give you a more up to date idea of the situation.

Thanks Jules - the link is extremely helpful. We would love to do the Nile cruise as long as we can get insurance for Ian outside Europe.

We did a Nile cruise with Thomsons albeit quite a few years ago. It was excellent. The set up was very much as Jenny describes above. As the same guide stays with you things aren't repeated and you gain a lot of knowledge by the end of the trip. Also a great comaraderie is built up on board. We stayed a week in Luxor after the cruise and met up with several other passengers on the evenings.

One more thing the hotel in Luxor was the best I've ever stayed in.

Don't want to appear negative - but security issues in that part of the world must be considered.

Sadly.

Thanks Jules - the link is extremely helpful. We would love to do the Nile cruise as long as we can get insurance for Ian outside Europe.

Regarding travel insurance...some companies treat 'all countries with a Mediterranean coastline' as Europe! or did do a few years ago (2012 I think) when we wanted cover for Israel and Egypt! You could try Thomsons own insurance?

Thomson won't go if the Foreign Office advice is not to go so I wouldn't worry on that score. :)

We were calling at Tangier this year and our insurance covered Morocco as Europe but not all do.

Thomson won't go if the Foreign Office advice is not to go so I wouldn't worry on that score.

Unfortunately it's not quite as straightforward as that.

Somebody can correct me if I'm wrong - but I don't think there was any specific FO advice against travelling to/from Sharm el Sheik prior to the tragic events of 31st Oct.

Then Thomsons (and others) were obliged to repeat the Tunisian mass evacuation operation, which wasn't on the FO "no travel" advice list either I believe.

We did a Nile cruise a few years ago, a couple of months after the first troubles in Egypt, You start in Luxor and believe me its another world, they just carried on life as though nothing had happened - ok not a lot of tourists but that's was the best part. We travelled with Thomas Cook on the Terramar a lovely ship with beautiful cabins and great staff. Have a look at reviews of this ship and you will see what I mean, This holiday was one of the best we had ever done and the memories still linger. You will not be disappointed.

Unfortunately it's not quite as straightforward as that.

 

Somebody can correct me if I'm wrong - but I don't think there was any specific FO advice against travelling to/from Sharm el Sheik prior to the tragic events of 31st Oct.

 

Then Thomsons (and others) were obliged to repeat the Tunisian mass evacuation operation, which wasn't on the FO "no travel" advice list either I believe.

absolutely spot on wcm

thomsons (and other tour operators) will go on the foreign office advice

imho our foreign office doesn't seem to do too much research on the actual security situation(s) (until its too late)

they wont send asylum seekers back to 'certain' countries (because it is deemed too dangerous) but will happily advise tour operators that its safe to send thousands of holiday makers to those same countries?? :confused:

absolutely spot on wcm

 

thomsons (and other tour operators) will go on the foreign office advice

 

imho our foreign office doesn't seem to do too much research on the actual security situation(s) (until its too late)

 

they wont send asylum seekers back to 'certain' countries (because it is deemed too dangerous) but will happily advise tour operators that its safe to send thousands of holiday makers to those same countries?? :confused:

Hi Geo - the asylum seeker aspect hadn't crossed my mind, well recognised.

There is also the issue of travel insurance validity where acts of terrorism occur.

Some (most perhaps ?) policies exclude such cover.

This is worth reading IMO

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/columnists/nicktrend/7865476/15-reasons-why-your-travel-insurance-may-not-cover-you.html

sometimes.... it can be quite enlightening to look at other countries travel advice for their citizens

for instance, the germans have not been flying into luxor (egypt) for some time

the americans have not been flying anywhere in egypt (including sharm) for some considerable time

yet thomsons/easy jet/thomas cook etc (up until recently) have been/still do:confused:

EasyJet to stop Sharm flights until early next year I heard.

In 2017

 

Has anyone done the Nile Legacy cruise with Thomson or would we be better booking with a different company - as we will have to fly to the UK pre-cruise (no flights to Egypt from here) that is not an issue.

 

tbh (i looked into a nile cruise myself about autumn 2014) other than thomsons and egyptair I dont think any other airline fly into luxor

thomsons only fly out once a week summer from gatwick winter from manchester

there are only a couple of nile cruisers opperating out of luxor and none out of cairo

one is german one is the thomsons nile legacy, the germans have to make the journey to luxor to pick up their cruiser overland from hurgardha (they must fly into hurgardha by egyptair???)

last year thomsons nile cruises were selling v cheaply near to sailing time (which leads me to believe they were not selling very well?)

... things may have changed a bit since then? (probably even less flights/nile cruises?)

luxor is basically deserted and has been since the revolution

We went on a Nile cruise a couple of years ago when there was trouble in Eygpt. We had a few days at a hotel in Hurgada then a weeks cruise and back to Hurgada for a couple more days. We didn't have or see any trouble at all other than the usual heckling from sales people at all the sights.

I can honestly say that this was our BEST HOLIDAY EVER !!! without a doubt.

We went with a company called Red Sea Holidays and our boat was the Grand Rose. Everything on the boat was sorted for you and the guides were very observant about their charges safety and well being. I couldn't recommend anybody any higher !!!