The places visited were spectacular and the sites and scenes along the Nile were almost magical, however the itinerary of getting to and from these places was somewhat cumbersome. There were a total of 6 plane rides including the Abu Simbel option. I believe this is just the nature of the beast one has to go through in order to see these sites. The only negative I would place on the itinerary is that some days there was way too many sites stuffed into one day. For instance, in Aswan, the high dam could be removed because it just wasn’t that spectacular or interesting making for an easier 3 stops that day, rather than 4 rushed ones. Also, too much time was spent at many of the local merchant shops, ie The Papyrus Museum (expensive lithographed wall hangings), The Cotton Shop (ridiculously priced bedding) as well as some others carpet shop.

Meals were delicious with a wide variety of options, however several people onboard contracted a fairly food poisoning, knocking them out of the site seeing for a day or two. Others got a milder version. The Uniworld manager (Sam) and one of the guides (Walid) tried to say it was probably caused by something in the air. A Doctor passenger, who was also inflicted, said it was definitely food poisoning.

Noxious diesel smells were detected in several cabins. One passenger became quite ill as a result. Read more