We were referred by a friend who raved about this trip. The positives: excellent attentive staff and superb taste and variety of food. The tour guides provided by Uniworld are excellent and the choice of the Four Seasons for the first 2 and last 2 nights is great. When we did “cruise,”: going down the Nile is delightful. Some of the not so positives: this is not really a cruise. We used the ship as a hotel much of the time. A few days in Luxor and a few days in Aswan. There was a lot of getting up early for tours of the temples and sites, 4 internal flights and several bus rides. It was a rare day that we just walked off the ship and started our tour by walking. Be aware that there will be an undercover armed guard on the bus and even on a small boat you take for bird watching. To get to and from the hotel, there are dogs who sniff the cars for explosives. Technically, the ship’s manager followed Covid protocols, but when a couple got Covid, the news was quietly circulating among the passengers and within a few days that couple disappeared. There was no pubic announcement even though many of us were exposed. The last day back in Cairo we were on a bus stopping at four separate sites/shopping venues in a short period of time. In general, the tours were somewhat overwhelming and just too busy. Again, not the idyllic “cruise”on the Nile I would have wished for. Having said that, one must be part of a tour group to see the sites,and if you are willing to get up early and take bus and plane rides, this is probably as good a tour as others. We will not be taking another cruise, as we prefer more autonomy. Better to find private drivers and tour guides. Hope this is helpful.