Uniworld's River Tosca?

[waldgreen]

I posted this elsewhere, but this seems like a more active thread! For those of you who did the Splendors of the Nile Tosca trip- did you have any time to spend at the Marriott? Also, I have an extra day before and 2 extra days after and am thinking of getting a tour guide for at least one of those days to see things not included in the Uniworld tour. Can you tell me if the places you went to were only the ones listed: Citadel, Muhammad Ali Mosque, Egyptian Museum (did you have enough time there?), Sphinx, Giza day and Sound and Light show? I don't want to duplicate anything. THANKS!

[JEBurton]

We're considering the Uniworld "Jewels of Egypt, the Nile and Lake Nasser" cruise/tour and would like some info about the smoking situation you folks encountered. We are non-smokers and try to avoid second-hand smoke as much as possible. I've read that smoking is widespread in Egypt. Are there non-smoking areas on the river ships and the hotels in Cairo? Did you find the smoking bothersome or were there ways to avoid it?

 

thanks to all who care to reply.

[Mzhelen]

Waldgren, we have an extra day in Cairo also. We planned on hiring a tour guide from the recommendations on TripAdvisor, and structuring a tour to see places not listed on the Uniworld itinerary.

[waldgreen]

I have 3 available days, one before and 2 after the Uniworld Splendors Tosca tour, but I think I am going to use the first and last to just RELAX! I gave the tour guide 3 dates and he sent me the following suggestions;

 

Islamic Cairo : Ibn Tulun Mosque & Gayer Anderson Museum & Coptic Cairo, featuring Hanging Church.

plus Memphis, the Ancient capital of Egypt & Saqqara, the main cemetary of Egypt having the step Pyramid, the very first one built around 2700 B.C..

 

I think he misunderstood me to mean 3 days of tours. I really want to see Coptic Cairo and I am not sure we will see a lot of Islamic Cairo with Uniworld. (The Citadel and Muhammad Ali Mosque, and Egyptian Museum are what is listed.) I think I might enjoy Cairo more than desert attractions. The Saqqara and Memphis might be overkill in the desert.

 

We are going in August- we must be CRAZY! lol So I needed to get back to him once I have a better idea of what is included in the Uniworld tour and what else shouldn't be missed in Cairo.

[prisg17]

We are booked on the December 3rd Splendors of the Nile. Are any of you joining us?

 

Pris & Richie, Dallas, TX

[boards]

We are considering a cruise to that area in Oct. 2011. I read one of you going in August and another in December. Can you help us as to which time would be better?

[sands28]

We have booked the above cruise early to get the $400 pp discount for prepaying at the time of reservation and to get the cabin we wanted. We choose the date because it was a shoulder between the hotter late fall and cooler November. The prices go up the next week!!

 

We have been following this board and copying posting that will help us preplan what we need and what we will be doing on the cruise. There is a great deal in information, much of it extremely valuable on this board. Our only concern is the posibility of flying on Air Memphis on the optional trip to Abu Simbel.

[Mzhelen]

Our Uniworld tour actually starts on Sunday, with Giza, the Pyramids, the Sphinx, and then back to the Marriott, leaving Monday morning to Luxor. My question: what time do you get back to the Marriott Sunday? We're trying to figure out if we'll be able to have dinner at Abu-el-Sid Sunday night as we read many positive reviews.

 

We're flying in a day early so we can do Coptic Cairo, more time at the Museum, and the Bazaar. We figured we'd have either lunch or dinner in the bazaar.

 

2 1/2 weeks till departure - I can't wait!

[Tinkindling]

Two questions in previous threads:

 

Smoking: We did not find smoke a problem on the River Tosca or the Prince Abbas. Smoking only on top outside decks, and few smokers in any case.

 

Abu El Sid: I'd strongly recommend reservations for this restaurant. It is very popular, and most fun in a group of 4 or 6. I have a hunch Sid is spelled Seid, but not sure. It is a very short, and in my opinion, safe walk from the Marriott. Get the hotel staff to call and make your reservations. Well worth it.

 

It is basically right around the corner from the Marriott, in the neighbourhood called Zamalek, on the island.

[Mzhelen]

My significant other wears mostly long shorts - would that be an issue? I'm debating taking him shopping next weekend before we leave on the 10th to get a pair or 2 of very lightweight cotton pants.

 

As for me, are capris acceptable, or do I need long pants?

[Mzhelen]

Just got home late last night from the Tosca cruise. We were quite pleased - everything was well done, well organized, we hit all the top sites. The size of the room has definitely spoiled us for ocean cruises!

 

The gym is tiny: 1 regular exercise bike, 1 recumbenent bike, 1 treadmill, and 2 of those odd things that "shake" you (apparently they've come back into vogue). I didn't see anyone use those, so the Tosca would be better served by replacing one with either a small elliptical or a set of assorted weights.

 

A couple of notes:

 

- The shower has 2 options: a portable "wand" and a from-the-ceiling rain shower. The temperature is the middle knob, and you have to turn it counterclockwise (to about 7 pm) to get the temperature correct.

 

- The wooden stairs are slippery so be careful going down in flip flops.

 

- You are given 1 bottle of water each for each excursion, and 1 in your room. Since we used the room supply for brushing our teeth and rinsing our toothbrushes we needed more water. So we kept empty bottles and refilled them from the "coffee bar" located behind the reception desk (where they provided water, ice, coffee 24/7).

 

Our guide, Hazem, was absolutely spectacular! Knowledgable, personable, just terrific. There were 2 other guides on our trip, and while they were very knowledgable as well, Hazem was in the opinion of our group (and several folks in other groups) the most engaged and engaging. He brought a sense of humor and personality to everything.

 

Uniworld truly made everything easy, from meeting us at the airport to checking in at the hotel to getting us everywhere to transportation back to the airport home. We could not have been happier with them.

[Mzhelen]

Not sure I'm using the photo posting correctly, but I've uploaded some pictures of the Tosca:

 

http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/showgallery.php?cat=509&ppuser=0

 

 

Select "view 20" and you'll see the 18 I uploaded, including the deck, the lounge, our room, etc.

 

My only complaint: I thought the brochure said we had a balcony. There are floor to ceiling sliding doors, but the "balcony" is actually a balcony railing with 1 inch from the door, definitely not something you could go out on. Nice for a view (and to hang bathing suits/hand laundry to dry in the hot sun), but not an actual balcony.

[sands28]

...are referred to as a "French Balcony" since you can sit in your room and look out but there is no room to stand. All river cruise boats have only "French Balconies"!!!

[sands28]

If you did, did you us Uniworld. Which airline, AirMemphis or EgyptAir?? How was the flight?? Was it worth the extra cost??? I open this question to anyone who has taken this extra excusion.

[Mzhelen]

We did the Abu Simbel trip, and I definitely thought it was worth it! The temples are amazing, and the thought that they were carved in one piece out of the mountainside is just awe inspiring. I guess it depends on your level of interest. Because of the flight schedules we only had less than 2 hours there, but for us it was worth doing. If you do it, make sure you sit on the left hand side of the plane - coming into Abu Simbel airport you can see the temples off to your left. They're pretty small from that distance; it took me a minute to realize I was seeing them, and then it was almost too late. But still pretty cool nonetheless.

 

We ended up on the 45 minute Memphis Air flight. The AC wasn't very good, and the flight back to Aswan very bumpy (due to the heat affecting the air currents and the height we had to fly based on how far we were flying - a guy in our group who is a pilot explained it wasn't the airline's fault). It was an older Fokker plane, but seemed fine.

 

Several people on our boat who were on a different tour ended up on a larger Egypt Air flight a few hours later, which meant they got to Abu Simbel later when it was even hotter!

 

We were very pleased with the entire Uniworld experience. From being met at the airport, transported to the Cairo Marriott, the Marriott itself, the guides, all the places they took us to (entry fees included), the quality of the boat & crew, etc.

 

As for the balcony, We did see other boats on the river that had real balconies off of the cabins, including some of the boats we were tied up next to in Luxor.

[doktor]

Just got home late last night from the Tosca cruise. We were quite pleased - everything was well done, well organized, we hit all the top sites. The size of the room has definitely spoiled us for ocean cruises!

 

The gym is tiny: 1 regular exercise bike, 1 recumbenent bike, 1 treadmill, and 2 of those odd things that "shake" you (apparently they've come back into vogue). I didn't see anyone use those, so the Tosca would be better served by replacing one with either a small elliptical or a set of assorted weights.

 

A couple of notes:

 

- The shower has 2 options: a portable "wand" and a from-the-ceiling rain shower. The temperature is the middle knob, and you have to turn it counterclockwise (to about 7 pm) to get the temperature correct.

 

- The wooden stairs are slippery so be careful going down in flip flops.

 

- You are given 1 bottle of water each for each excursion, and 1 in your room. Since we used the room supply for brushing our teeth and rinsing our toothbrushes we needed more water. So we kept empty bottles and refilled them from the "coffee bar" located behind the reception desk (where they provided water, ice, coffee 24/7).

 

Our guide, Hazem, was absolutely spectacular! Knowledgable, personable, just terrific. There were 2 other guides on our trip, and while they were very knowledgable as well, Hazem was in the opinion of our group (and several folks in other groups) the most engaged and engaging. He brought a sense of humor and personality to everything.

 

Uniworld truly made everything easy, from meeting us at the airport to checking in at the hotel to getting us everywhere to transportation back to the airport home. We could not have been happier with them.

Hi:

Just starting this research. Not looking to go until 2010. How far out did you book? What Category Suite did you have? Is there a lot of difference in the suites(exculding the Presidential Suite)? What was the dress code onboard? Do you know if the aft cabins have any view out the back?

 

Thanks!

Sandy

[sands28]

We recently booked our River Tosca Cruise for Oct. 2011 for two reasons: First to get $400pp discount if paid in full by Sept. 30, 2010 and 2) to assure that we got the cabin we wanted. There is no way that the money sitting in any account can earn $800!!!

 

We also got a 10% additional discount by using an online travel agency. We have dealt with them exensively. I can not tell you their name, but if you provide your email address I will give you the agencies name and the name of our agent!!!

 

We generally book air-travel on our own, inorder, to have better control of times and prices. We save additional money by purchasing our own travel insurance from, yet another, online, travel insurance store. They are extremely helpful and give great advice on how and what to buy for travel insurance and are readily availably for information and purchases on the phone.

 

I hope you and others find this information helpful.

[doktor]

We recently booked our River Tosca Cruise for Oct. 2011 for two reasons: First to get $400pp discount if paid in full by Sept. 30, 2010 and 2) to assure that we got the cabin we wanted. There is no way that the money sitting in any account can earn $800!!!

 

We also got a 10% additional discount by using an online travel agency. We have dealt with them exensively. I can not tell you their name, but if you provide your email address I will give you the agencies name and the name of our agent!!!

 

We generally book air-travel on our own, inorder, to have better control of times and prices. We save additional money by purchasing our own travel insurance from, yet another, online, travel insurance store. They are extremely helpful and give great advice on how and what to buy for travel insurance and are readily availably for information and purchases on the phone.

 

I hope you and others find this information helpful.

You can email other information at jim816@aol.com.

 

Sandy

[Mzhelen]

Hi:

Just starting this research. Not looking to go until 2010. How far out did you book? What Category Suite did you have? Is there a lot of difference in the suites(exculding the Presidential Suite)? What was the dress code onboard? Do you know if the aft cabins have any view out the back?

 

Thanks!

Sandy

 

We booked about 3 months in advance. Took advantage of a AAA discount (they are a "preferred" Uniworld travel agent). Plus the week we went was a special offer: if we upgraded our cabin category for me to Category 1 for an extra $400, we got Dave's trip for a lot less than the "regular" price.

 

The only difference I could tell is that the lower deck cabins are a tiny bit smaller, and closer to the water. Not that big a deal in my mind. And I dont think the aft cabins have a view, but not sure.

 

Dress code was casual. Breakfast & lunch very casual, dinner the only rule was no shorts. No one got really dressed up (unlike ocean cruisers).

[Paul Christensen]

Hello all,

 

We are on one of the first trips on Oct 9. We shall arrive from Athens after a cruise from Istanbul, with time in both departure and arrival cities. I guess we shall be your test case.

 

I was able to book frequent flier on American business class one way from Cairo to San Francisco for 55K miles without problem two months ago.

 

I also would like to know whether they have refrigerators in the rooms.

 

Pinch me! Turkey, Greece and Egypt! Wow! I am thrilled.

 

Pat

[Mzhelen]

Yes, there was a small mini-bar type fridge in our room. There were only a few items in it, so we had plenty of room to put in a couple of bottles of water we bought on shore, and a large bottle of Coke Light (aka Diet Coke).

[JEBurton]

To: Mzhelen (and anyone else who has current knowledge)

 

Any recommendations/info about restaurants in the vicinity of the Cairo Marriott or in the Marriott itself?

 

To: Sands28 --- please send info regarding discount online TA and Trip Ins. to johnburtonwhs61 at hotmail dot com

 

thanks to all.

[sands28]

...please email me at sands28@comcast.net

 

I have tried to email you but Outlook rejects your email address.

[Pamgoes]

To: Mzhelen (and anyone else who has current knowledge)

 

Any recommendations/info about restaurants in the vicinity of the Cairo Marriott or in the Marriott itself?

 

To: Sands28 --- please send info regarding discount online TA and Trip Ins. to johnburtonwhs61 at hotmail dot com

 

thanks to all.

JEBurton,

National Geographic Traveller recommends Abu Al-Sid as 'something special' and I have read elsewhere here that it is recommended by CCers. "One of Cairo's most sumptuous restaurants...Food is traditional Egyptian...exceptional...reservations necessary. It is at 57 26th of July St.

Let me know if you go! We travel in December!

Pam

[pacmom]

Even if you never leave the Marriott for dinners, you will have about 8 restaurants to decide where to have dinner. We enjoyed all our meals there. Didn't venture outside the complex for any meals. This is a magical trip, so much ancient history. If you do any reading before trips, try the River God series by Wilbur Smith. Pat