Review of our 15 days tour in Egypt with GCT

My husband and I just got back from the Ancient Egypt and NileRiver cruise with GCT. Our purpose is NOT to discourage folks who have already booked this tour or are thinking of booking a trip to Egypt. Our intent is to impart information to help you avoid some pitfalls that can occur regardless of what tour company you choose. This was the trip of a life time for us; we had the time, the money, but of MOST of all we both were physically in shape to experience this trip. Just staying healthy was a major chore for us!

My husband and I booked the Ancient Egypt and the Nile Cruise with “Grand Circle Travel” back in January 2008. We chose GCT because of their advertised accommodations and itinerary, their price, and a 15 day trip vs. the 10 days that other tour companies were offering. A major deciding factor was on October 14th 2008, GCT advertised we would stay at the Cairo Marriot and sail on the Ms Stephanie, (one of the newer Nile river boats). 10 months went by and not a word from GCT until two weeks before our tour was scheduled to leave. Then GCT informed us instead of the Cairo Marriott that was mentioned in the brochure, we were now staying at the Le Meridian Pyramids in Giza. I thought no problem, the hotel is only ½ mile from the Giza Pyramids. But, unfortunately there are 20 million people that live in Cairo and even though it was only a mere 13 miles to Cairo, it took a minimum of 45 min. up to 1 hour driving time by taxis to get there. The next blow was when I received a call 3 days later GCT informing us that the Ms. Stephanie would be in dry dock and our ship would be the Ms. Liberty. The Ms Liberty is 16 year older than the Ms. Stephanie! Although concerned and displeased, we decided to remain objective and wait before we formed our opinions.

Days 1 & 2- The flight from JFK to Cairo was uneventfully (this is a good thing)! We arrived in Cairo after a 12 hour flight from JFK around 11:30 am. GCT was there to greet all 115 of us. We then split up into 3 groups; our group was the red group. As I said before, we were now staying at Le Meridian in Giza, so the bus ride was a little over an hour. When we arrived at the hotel and were handed our keys, much to our dismay our room was right next to a round about on the main street in Giza! All you could hear and see was the constant honking of HORNS and the debris along the road. Okay, another minor set back?! We immediately went down to the reception desk and asked for another room. They gave us another room and this time it was directly across the hall from our first room with the same issue, the noise from the turn around! Again we went down and asked politely if they could PLEASE move us to a room AWAY from the traffic! After 4 room changes and a $40.00 a night increase to our bill we got the perfect room; our room now overlooked the swimming pool and the pyramids of Giza! Woo-Hooo!! Maybe our luck was changing??! Authors note: Room 454 for the perfect view!

Day 3- On our first discovery, other than our hotel, we traveled back to Cairo to the Cairo Museum! It has an amazing collection of Egyptian antiquities! With 107 halls you can literately spend days there and still not see it all! Of course I couldn’t wait until we finally got to the mother of all treasures, King Tutankhamen’s room! We were in awe over his royal thrown, his chariots, his jewelry, and of course the famous gold mask! Beautiful!!! This was a pinch me moment!!!

That evening was another discovery, GCT set up dinner with a (real) Egyptian family. Can’t remember what we ate; I think I was too concerned about getting the dreaded “Mummy Tummy”! Our hostess was very gracious and had a great sense of humor!

Day 4- Was the Pyramids and the Sphinx of Giza, the most famous ancient monuments in the world! This was another pinch me to see if I’m really here moment!! The Great Pyramid stands 480 feet tall and contained nearly 6.8 million tons of limestone. Some of the group elected to pay extra to go into the pyramid and found it to be hot with very tight quarters, so if you have a tendency to be claustrophobic this is NOT for you! On the other hand, the “Solar Boat” was very interesting and yes it was an extra cost, but it was well worth it!

Our program director took us to an area where you had the option to have a short camel ride from the MANY vendors just waiting to take your money. I can’t remember what the cost was, but I LOVED IT and it was worth every penny! This would have been a great Master Card commercial, a ride on a camel by the Egyptian pyramids, PRICELESS!!

The Sphinx was AMAZING! The Sphinx symbolizes strength and wisdom and it was carved from the bedrock of the Giza plateau by the 4th Dynasty King Khafre. The entire length of the Sphinx is 150 feet long with the paws of the Sphinx being 50 feet long!

Our next discovery was an optional tour to Sakkara, the famous Step Pyramid and the oldest known of 97 pyramids in Egypt. It was built for King Djoser, the second king of the 3rd Dynasty. It was nice, but the views of the Sahara Desert were even more spectacular. The cost of this optional tour was $80.00 per person.

We then went to a carpet shop that employed mostly children. There are more than 200 carpet schools in Egypt and they claim carpet weaving is a dieing art. The children are keeping it alive by learning this trade while receiving an education. The children have the option to go to school in the morning and work at the carpet store after their homework is done in the afternoon. A couple of the people in our group felt it was sweat shop for child labor! However, they seemed to enjoy what they were doing. I think it gave them an opportunity to escape the extreme poverty we saw everywhere. The carpets were beautiful, especially the silk ones, but in my opinion they were very expensive!

Day 5- On your own or pay for an optional tour at $130.00 per person to Alexandria. We opted to go to the oldest Bazaar in Egypt, not sure why, because it sure wasn’t worth the 1 hour drive to and from the bazaar and being hassled by the local vendors.

Day 6- On your own or pay for an optional tour to the Citadel, Mohamed Ali’s Mosque, and El Khalili Bazaar at $65.00 per person. We had a small emergency that we needed to take care of a.s.a.p.! Our batteries to our NEW camera had died! After numerous phone calls we were able to locate the batteries we needed at a local Radio Shack in Giza. Woo Hoo!

Day 7- We flew to Aswan! We were in the second group to leave; our wake call was for 2:15 am and our flight from Cairo Airport was at 6:15 am. We arrived in Aswan at 8:40 am with a brief stop over in Luxor to drop off and pick up more passengers. We collected our luggage and then went to the high dam in Aswan by bus (very uneventful)! Our next stop was our river boat, the Ms. Liberty, which would be our home for the next 5 days! Okay, another attitude adjustment was in order. The Ms Liberty definitely was not the prettiest boat on the Nile; she was very DATED and the diesel smell in the dining room was overwhelming!!!!! This was a major setback in our opinion! We had constant headaches while eating our meals, so when we could, we took our meals up to the sun deck just to get some relief! That afternoon we where treated to a felucca sail around the islands, it was perfect! We had a warm gentle breeze with a beautiful sunset for a back drop. What a great way to end the day!

Day 8- Another early wake-up call for the flight from Aswan to Abu Simbel! If you have done your homework, you know they are the best preserved temples in Egypt! Abu Simbel was built by Ramses II, the most prolific pharaoh in terms of building temples in Egypt. There are two temples, both originally built into the rock face of a mountain. The GreatTemple is dedicated to Ra, the sun god, and is over 100 feet high. But in reality, it was really built for Ramses’ ego. The second temple to the right of his temple was dedicated to his favorite wife, Nefertari. (Nefertari means the beautiful one coming). In 1960 the Egyptian government decided to build the High Dam of Aswan, so UNESCO stepped in and saved these magnificent temples from the rising waters of Lake Nasser. In 1968 the colossal statues were dismantled and relocated into their new location in a manmade cliff, 200 feet above and 600 feet west from their original location.

Day 9- This morning we visited the Philae Temple and then had another discovery at Papyrus Institute. I must admit, it was very interesting seeing the process of making papyrus. Of course we had to buy one! Authors note: Buy a large Papyrus painting and you will get a second one (smaller) free. We also received an additional 15% off their asking price!

After two nights in Aswan, we finally set sail for Kom Ombo at 1:00 pm. and arrived there around 4:00 pm. I still hadn’t purchased my costume for the Galabeya party scheduled for that night, so this was the last chance I had to find one. As luck would have it, the first shop we came to had beautiful kaftan dresses. They were cheaper and had a much better selection than the shop on our boat where 95% of our fellow passengers had already purchased theirs! For those who are not familiar what a Galabeya Party is, this is where you get to dress up as an Egyptian and eat Egyptian food. This was a hoot!!!!!! We played a couple of games; one was to wrap your significant other in toilet paper like a mummy.

Day 10- Folks, this is where we get VERY serious! If I had to guess how many passengers came down with the “Mummy Tummy, I would have to say more than half of the group was sick with it! My husband and I read about the intestinal bacteria called “Mummy Tummy” or the “Pharaoh’s Revenge” on Cruise Critics before we left for our tour, so we knew what to do! Antinal is an antibiotic specifically for the bacteria in Egypt that is commonly ingested by tourists in either the food or water. Joe and I blame GCT for dropping the ball here!!! They never once mentioned in their hand outs, nor did our Program Director tell us about Antinal which you can buy at any pharmacy in Egypt! Also, they failed to mention that the front desk in the lobby of the ship was giving Antinal to sick passengers for free. Unfortunately, you can not buy Antinal in the U.S., or we would have bought it before we left. In addition, I recommend you purchase “Advanced Imodium”. I know this is a very controversial subject and a lot of people believe in an antibiotic for “Travelers Diarrhea” called Cipro. Unfortunately, Cipro is not specific for this kind of intestinal bacteria. So PLEASE do not eat any uncooked vegetables, fresh fruits that aren’t peeled, dairy products, and last but not least, do not drink the water or have ice in a drink!!! This includes brushing your teeth and washing your contacts in their water.

In the AM, we set sail for Edfu to visit the Temple of Horus, which is considered by most to be the best preserved cult temple in Egypt! According to the Egyptian myths it was the place where the falcon-headed god Horus avenged his father Osiris by killing Seth. Seth was the god of storms and violence. Seth came in many different animal forms which include the pig, *****, and hippopotamus (but mostly the hippopotamus)! After visiting the Edfu Temple, we returned to the ship and set sail for Esna to cross the lock and sail on to Luxor.

Day 11- Luxor, this was another highlight for us today! This was the day we be visited the “Valley of the Kings and Queens! My husband and I had done our research before we left for Egypt. Again, thanks to Cruise Critics and the reviews we read about a website on the Valley of the Kings. This website gives you a short overview along with a short movie clip on each tomb. So we were able narrow our list down to the best tombs! The address to the Valley of the Kings website is: www.thebanmappingproject.com . This is very helpful because your ticket only gives access to 3 tombs, unless of course you want to purchase 2 tickets for 6 tombs viewings, if time allows. We visited Ramses IV, Ramses VI and Menttherkhopshef.

Day 12- After spending the night in Luxor, we set sail for the small town of Dendera. Many passengers were still very sick with the Mummy Tummy, especially a 78 year old man named John (not his real name), who also was a doctor. John was taken off the ship that morning and had already slipped into a coma! After our tour to the Dendera Temple and a girl’s school, we got the tragic news that John had DIED from low blood pressure caused by dehydration! This was very shocking and sad. John became ill from the intestinal bacteria several days prior, but unfortunately he waited to late to seek medical attention! We feel this could have been prevented by our Program Director making an announcement when we initially embarked on the Ms Liberty that they had Antinal at the front desk for anyone who needed it! And by the way, it was FREE!!! One last thing you need to be aware of before we move on, when visiting a foreign country ALWAYS HAVE TRAVEL INSURANCE!!! Unfortunately, John and Jane did not have travel insurance.

Day 13- Back in Luxor after leaving Dendera behind, some our tour got up extra early to enjoy an optional hot air balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings. Joe and I were planning on doing this but thought the price was too high at $165.00 per person and decided it would be nice to sleep in for a change. In retrospect, I wish we would have gone for it, because everybody that did go said it was worth every penny!!!! The hot air balloon group got back just in time to leave for the Karnak Temple. This was another highlight on our tour. We were glad to see that John’s wife, Jane had decided to join us instead of staying in her cabin. I know that this may sound strange to some of you, but we admired her courage!

The temple of Karnak was known as the “Most Select of Places” and was dedicated to the triad of Amen, Mut and Khonsu. It is actually a complex of 3 main temples. This vast complex was built and enlarged over a thirteen hundred year period. Karnak is the biggest temple complex in the world covering an area of 100 hectares or 10,000 acres! The great temple at the heart of Karnak is so big, St Peter's, Milan and Notre Dame Cathedrals could be lost with it's walls. But, the most amazing feature about this temple is it has 134 gigantic columns that have beautiful hieroglyphics and cartouches carved into each one. The temple lay buried under sand for more than 1,000 years before excavation began in the mid-19th century, so it is well preserved! This was another awe-inspiring temple and one our favorites!

Day 14- From Luxor, we flew back to Cairo and stayed overnight at the Le Passage hotel. After the trials and tribulations we had with our first hotel and then with the river boat, we weren’t expecting much from GCT for our accommodations back in Cairo! But, Le Passage was very NICE and only 5 minutes to the Cairo Airport! Le Passage grounds where well kept, especially around the tropical pool area and the prices for food and drinks were reasonable. They had several different restaurants to choose from, Italian, Chinese, and Continental. We had pizza with a bottle of wine at the Italian restaurant, which is next to the pool, and enjoyed a perfect sunset for a backdrop!

Day 15- Another early wake-up call to take the bus to the Cairo Airport and begin the long flight back to New York. We were very tired and extremely thankful to come back to the USA. Everyone on our plane applauded when we landed at JFK. Our trip to Egypt was amazing and we saw unforgettable sights, but we were very happy to check off the trip to Egypt, our trip of a life time, from our list and come home safely.

Now its time for one of my favorite quotes:

Love deeply, kiss slowly, and NEVER regret anything that made you smile or laugh!;)

Thanks for posting your review. I was shocked to read about the death of one of your traveling group. That is just a shame. It was definitely a strenuous trip and you are always on the go (early morning to late night). I'm so glad we had a very small group of people on our trip in February, and a guide who was very concerned about our welfare.

For others reading this, it is relatively easy to arrange your own balloon ride in Luxor for about half the price of what GCT apparently charges. It really is a wonderful excursion. I'm not big on heights but I am soooo glad I did it. (We were able to arrange it for about $80 per person.)

Thank you for taking the time to post your informative review for others to read. I had always heard good things about GCT (but nothing about their Egypt trips).

I am sorry about the hardships you endured, but it was easy to tell you had much that you enjoyed in your trip.

What a tragedy to have someone on your trip die!! His poor wife -- I hope that getting the remains back to the U.S. wasn't more of a nightmare than she already went through.

As we all post these reviews, we all seem to have the common thread ("the boat was underwhelming..."). But most of us have felt that the trip and the many splendors we saw far outweighed the inconveniences.

Thanks again for sharing your experiences! Happy travels.

As a side note -- after my trip to Egypt, which I loved, I decided my next trip would be an "easier" one. So I leave on Election Day for a lovely, easy, :) 10 day Caribbean cruise! Lots of sand on this vacation too, but this time surrounded by beautiful beaches and the many hues of blue water. :D

I am sorry about the hardships you endured, but it was easy to tell you had much that you enjoyed in your trip.

What a tragedy to have someone on your trip die!! His poor wife -- I hope that getting the remains back to the U.S. wasn't more of a nightmare than she already went through.

As we all post these reviews, we all seem to have the common thread ("the boat was underwhelming..."). But most of us have felt that the trip and the many splendors we saw far outweighed the inconveniences.

Hi there Seafun!

Jane, (not her real name) definitely had more than a few issues to deal with getting her husband body back home. In fact, she had to leave him behind! As I mentioned before, they didn't have trip insurance! Especially at their age, I can't even imagine why they didn't?! Jane told us later that cost to send his body back to the states was $2,000, and the Egyptain Goverment wanted to be paid up-front in cash! The second issue was between the Egyptain Govenment & U.S. Embassy over paper work (not sure what all the details were)! We also was told that if an American dies in a foreign country the coffin before it can be flown back to the U.S. MUST be sealed and cannot be reopened once back in the states! I guess this policy is to protect and to prevent any outbreak of an airbourn disease.

Again folks, our intent when we were writing this review was NOT to prevent people from going to Egypt, but to be a well informed traveler! Maybe we should of said, loosing a fellow passenger is a very rare occurrence! But unfortunately, it happened to our tour! And yes, it did put a damper on some of our memories of Egypt, but NOT all of them! We took over 1,900 pictures which I planned on sharing with you!

I do want to say thank you to Seafun,Cruisemom42 & a few other folks that share their experiences of Egypt before we left for our trip! Because knowledge is POWER, and that is why Cruise Critics is such a valuable resource!!!!:cool:

P.S. Seafun, can we join you on cruise to the Caribbean, I think we need another vacation!;)

All the best,

Thanks for your review. I learn something new from all reviews and comments. I definitely have my plan to take appropriate precautions with all food and beverages as well as to take a supply of Immodium, Gravol, Cipro, Azythromycin and to buy Antinal (?spelling) from a drugstore in Cairo upon arrival. So sad to hear about your fellow passenger.

Thanks for the reference to the Theban Mapping project website; I hadn't previously realized they had the on line video clips available so looked with more detail thanks to your comment. When buying the ticket for 3 tombs, are you able to select the 3 of choice or are specific tombs packaged together in the ticket?

Thanks for the reference to the Theban Mapping project website; I hadn't previously realized they had the on line video clips available so looked with more detail thanks to your comment. When buying the ticket for 3 tombs, are you able to select the 3 of choice or are specific tombs packaged together in the ticket?

Yes, you can pick any 3 tombs you want as long as they are open to the public. I must admit, the tomb I mentioned in my review, Menttherkhopshef was a waste! I would definitely would find another one to visit!

Best regards,

Trish

Trish

That's great news about having the choice of tombs. From what I have read, I think I have narrowed it down to Ramses 4, Ramses 6 and Seti 1 or Amenhetep 2. Thanks again for your help!

WE were on the same trip you took on 1/26/08. Over half our boat also got sick with Mummy's tummy. I was so sick that in Luxor they called a Dr. on board. The Dr. gave me a intervenous shop to stop the throwing up, then gave me Cipro and also told me to take the imodium I brought from home. He said it was better than anything he could give me. Within 30 minutes I stopped the vomiting and within a few more hours no more diarhea. It took about a another day or so before I could really eat much. I was very disappointed in GCT as we never saw anyone wiping the ship down or sanitizing anything. I know if it is the food that this wouldn't help, but we weren't sure it was the food. One person in our group got sick within 6 hours of getting off the plane and it just spread from there. The good thing was we did have the travel insurance, but never had to use it. My own health insurance reimbursed me for the expense which was only $80 USD for the house call and the meds. The sad part was quite a few of us missed the valley of the kings including me as that was the day I was so sick. Another person in our party missed the pyramids.

WE were on the MS Anuket and it was also very dated and I thought very dirty inside.

We stayed at the Marriott and loved the hotel. It was in a great location and had some great restaurants in it.

Trish

That's great news about having the choice of tombs. From what I have read, I think I have narrowed it down to Ramses 4, Ramses 6 and Seti 1 or Amenhetep 2. Thanks again for your help!

Not all of the tombs are open on any given day, so it's best to have a list of ALL the best tombs rather than just a few choices.

The tomb of Seti I has been closed for years and no schedule for when it will reopen to the public (if ever).

Yesterday I received an email from a couple who was on the same tour with us and GCT. The also had read our 15 day review with GCT and wanted me to add this IMPORTANT foot note in. So here it is:

"Hi Trish

After reading your review I ready to return to and do it over. I think you missed your calling, you do a super job of writing reviews. I have one more jab for GCT. Last Friday we got our credit card statement, on it was the bill from "Osiris Papyrus Store". They had doubled bill for the same item! I remember what our Program Director said that it was SAFE to use our credit cards at that business and that GCT would guarantee it! We called GCT to informed them what happen and GCT had a different story, they said they do not guarantee any overseas business and it's issue between me and my credit card company! I did call my credit card company and they did take the second transaction off. Funny, no one I talked with from GCT asked if we had a good time"!

Folks, after reading this email, my husband and decided to check our credit card company invoice, and guess what, they doubled billed us also!!!!! A mistake? I think NOT!!!!:mad: Fortunately, our credit card company said they will also take the second transaction off, along with canceling our card to make sure they, (Osiris Papyrus Store) do not try to charge us again!!!!!

Another couple of hints, take lots of $1.00 bills with you. We took 50 singles and use them all in a couple of days. NEVER use your credit card in a Bazaar, only in reputable stores and hotels! Make sure when buying bottle water that it has a seal on it!!! I hope this was helpful!

Trish

Thanks for your review. I don't think anyone has a totally stress free trip to Egypt. that's what makes for great stories.

Thanks for a great review!

We loved our time in Egypt but like you we went prepared. :)

I was going through our books and handouts on Egypt and found that we had saved all of our temple excursions tickets. So here are the cost for each excursion base the exchange rate of 5.5% USD to 1 Egyptain pound in October 2008.

The Egyptian Museum cost per person is 50 L.E. or $9.10 USD.

The Giza Pyramids cost per person is 50 L.E. or $9.10 USD.

The Solar Boat/Cheops Museum at the Giza Pyramids per person is 40 L.E. or $7.27 USD.

Sakkara Pyramids (Step Pyramids) per person is 50 L.E. per person or $9.10 USD.

The Edfu Temple (Temple of Horus) per person is 20 L.E. or $3.63 USD

The Philae Temple (Temple of Isis) per person is 40L.E. or $7.63 USD.

The Abu Simbel- 2 Temples (Ramses II and Nefertari) per person is 70 L.E. or $12.72 USD.

The Valley of the Kings per person is 70 L.E. or $12.72 USD. (3 tombs per ticket).

Valley of the Queens per person is 25L.E. or $4.54 USD

Temple of Dendara per person is 25 L.E. or $4.54 USD.

Temple of Karnak per person is 50 L.E. or $9.10 USD.

I hope this is helpful especially to the adventurer travelers who are on their own!:cool:

All the best,

I was going through our books and handouts on Egypt and found that we had saved all of our temple excursions tickets. So here are the cost for each excursion base the exchange rate of 5.5% USD to 1 Egyptain pound in October 2008.

 

Oops! I meant 1 Egyptian pound:o

I was going through our books and handouts on Egypt and found that we had saved all of our temple excursions tickets.

 

The tickets themselves are so pretty that they make great souvenirs, don't you think? I saved all of mine too.

The tickets themselves are so pretty that they make great souvenirs, don't you think? I saved all of mine too.

Yes, They do make GREAT souvenirs and memories on ANY trip! My husband started to collect them when we were cruising the Greek Isles.

Note to self: Remember to put down the USD exchange rates vs their money when visiting a new country! Great to remember what you paid for a tour ticket (excursion) years from now!;)

Trish

I was going through our books and handouts on Egypt and found that we had saved all of our temple excursions tickets. So here are the cost for each excursion base the exchange rate of 5.5% USD to 1 Egyptain pound in October 2008.

 

The Egyptian Museum cost per person is 50 L.E. or $9.10 USD.

The Giza Pyramids cost per person is 50 L.E. or $9.10 USD.

The Solar Boat/Cheops Museum at the Giza Pyramids per person is 40 L.E. or $7.27 USD.

Sakkara Pyramids (Step Pyramids) per person is 50 L.E. per person or $9.10 USD.

The Edfu Temple (Temple of Horus) per person is 20 L.E. or $3.63 USD

The Philae Temple (Temple of Isis) per person is 40L.E. or $7.63 USD.

The Abu Simbel- 2 Temples (Ramses II and Nefertari) per person is 70 L.E. or $12.72 USD.

The Valley of the Kings per person is 70 L.E. or $12.72 USD. (3 tombs per ticket).

Valley of the Queens per person is 25L.E. or $4.54 USD

Temple of Dendara per person is 25 L.E. or $4.54 USD.

Temple of Karnak per person is 50 L.E. or $9.10 USD.

 

I hope this is helpful especially to the adventurer travelers who are on their own!:cool: All the best,

Did you have to pay extra each time? With Nile Blue all the tickets were included.

Did you have to pay extra each time? With Nile Blue all the tickets were included.

Hi there,

No, the tickets that I mentioned above were included in our tour price with GCT. The only 2 exceptions were the Solar Boat Museum and Sakkara (Step Pyramids), which was an extra cost to us. Our Program Director gave us our tickets each time before we enter the temples. As cruisemom42 said, "The tickets themselves are so pretty that they make great souvenirs, don't you think? I saved all of mine too".....Joe and I also save them!!!!!

Trish

I believe my husband and I were on the MS Liberty cruise the week before you were. We were quite shocked to hear someone actually passed away on that trip.

Like you we were informed that the Stephanie was in dry dock. When we arrived at the dock in Luxor we saw the Stephanie in port, actually boarding passengers. We took a brief tour of the ship, and it was lovely. Especially when you compared it to the Liberty.

Our 1st room on the Liberty was awful. We got our switched. The 2nd room was at least tolerable. The fumes at times made us sick.

At least half of our group also developed the Pharoah's Revenge during our 7 day tour. We never knew about any medicine for this condition. We all missed some tours because of this problem.

We also took the Pre-trip Extension to Israel. There were problems there also with accommodations. GCT switched the hotel from the Olive Tree to The Ritz. The Ritz is a much lower class hotel. It seems that GCT practices "bait and switch" tactics with our accommodations, and therefore makes it hard to rely on their itinerary information and the value of the product their supplying.

We notified GCT on our return, of the problems we encountered. We are still waiting for a response.

Animated-One,

I am sorry to hear that your trip had so much difficulty and tragedy. There are a lot of sub par boats on the Nile, but it is most unfortunate that you had chosen a new one and got an old one. You were lucky with Le Passage. The AC barely worked for most of our group. Since we were there in September that was a big deal. They also regularly have big parties going on that disturb the guests, so you were most fortunate there. Hopefully the wonders of Egypt more than offset your difficulties.

I believe my husband and I were on the MS Liberty cruise the week before you were. We were quite shocked to hear someone actually passed away on that trip.

 

Like you we were informed that the Stephanie was in dry dock. When we arrived at the dock in Luxor we saw the Stephanie in port, actually boarding passengers. We took a brief tour of the ship, and it was lovely. Especially when you compared it to the Liberty.

 

Our 1st room on the Liberty was awful. We got our switched. The 2nd room was at least tolerable. The fumes at times made us sick.

 

At least half of our group also developed the Pharoah's Revenge during our 7 day tour. We never knew about any medicine for this condition. We all missed some tours because of this problem.

 

We also took the Pre-trip Extension to Israel. There were problems there also with accommodations. GCT switched the hotel from the Olive Tree to The Ritz. The Ritz is a much lower class hotel. It seems that GCT practices "bait and switch" tactics with our accommodations, and therefore makes it hard to rely on their itinerary information and the value of the product their supplying.

 

We notified GCT on our return, of the problems we encountered. We are still waiting for a response.

Lots of luck on getting any useful or positive response from GCT. I have taken 2 trips on OAT (which is part of GCT). One was good; one I would not recommend to my worse enemy. Check out my review of our Greece trip on the Greece board.

The only positive thing that I can say about GCT / OAT is that their business is way down, they are being forced to reorganize, and they are doing so badly that they are sending sales teams around the country to try to drum up business.

On the basis of my OAT experience, I would never do business with that company again.

DON

Hi Don,

I'm sorry it took me soooo long to get back to you, I got caught up with Thanksgiving and the company that comes with it!

When we were writing our review about the tour with GCT, we were trying to be objective! We do think GCT is in BIG finance troubles, or they wouldn't be pulling the bait and switches on the hotels and the river boat (Ms Liberty)!!!!:mad:

Point and case,the Renaissance cruise line! Four couples who are also our friends had booked a 14 day Mediterranean cruise about 6 months before we decided to joined them. We got the same cruise and a balcony room for half the cost! We were elated to say the least!!!! I will say the food and the service was not up to par, especially for the Renaissance Cruise Line! About 4 months later and AFTER OUR CRUISE, the Renaissance went belly up!

This was our first tour with GCT and it will be our LAST!!! No matter what GREAT DEALS they KEEP coming up with!!!

For those of you that had a awesome tour with GCT, THANK YOUR LUCKY STARS!!!!;)

When we were writing our review about the tour with GCT, we were trying to be objective! We do think GCT is in BIG finance troubles, or they wouldn't be pulling the bait and switches on the hotels and the river boat (Ms Liberty)!!!!:mad:

Ossp!, I meant BIG financial troubles!:o

Well, fooey. :( We are beginning the planning/researching for 2010 for an Egyptian land/Nile cruise trip, and this thread has pretty much trashed one of the contending agencies on my list -- I'd read a lot of good about GCT. So (to comply with CC rules) I'm explicitly asking for recommendations -- what DO people recommend as the best provider of Egyptian/Nile cruise and land vacations?

Nile Blue Tours.

We used them twice - once ,100 of us ccer's on an overnight off the Star Princess. Second time, a 14 day land/Nile trip. Both times, just fabulous.

info@nilebluetours.com.