River Tosca Review
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Ancient Egypt is a fascinating period of history and the itinerary for this trip took us to the Egyptian Museum, the Temple of Karnak, Dendera Temple (my personal favorite), Hatshepsut's Temple, the Valley of the Kings, Abu Simbel, the Pyramids of Giza and the Great Sphinx. A generous amount of time was given at each site to explore after the guided tour. At the Valley of the Kings we were able to walk into four pyramids, including King Tut's where he lies in state. We had a knowledgeable Egyptologist for our tour guide.
This cruise was booked through Uniworld, but Spring Tours assumed responsibility for this tour once we landed. We were picked up from the airport by Spring Tours staff, and this company provided the tour guides and busses from this point. Their personnel provided an excellent experience.
We had originally booked our trip on the SS Sphinx, Uniworld's new ship. Damage to the ship from a fire at the shipyard made it unavailable in time for our embarkation date. We were transferred to the River Tosca. We liked its elegance with all the marble and polished wood.
Cabin Review
The River Tosca is a diesel engine driven boat. The diesel odor and vibration is not pleasant. We were assigned cabin 219 which was close to the aft and the engines. We were able to change to cabin 210 to get away from the noxious odors. I would recommend cabins lower than 216 on the Pharoah deck to be far enough away from the diesel odor. Both cabins were spacious, storage was adequate, and the bathroom had both a shower and tub. The shower was extremely tight but the tub has a wand style shower head which offered an option.