Viking Ra Review
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My sister and I really wanted to see the wonders of Egypt first hand. By choosing a Viking cruise, we knew that we didn't have to worry about not being able to read or speak the language. A Viking representative collected us at the airport and walked us through getting the Egyptian visa. (Hint - don't even bother with trying to use the Egyptian electronic visa website. It took minutes to get it at the airport versus 30-45 minutes of hassle with the web site, plus you end up with a cool visa in your passport. Also - just pay the visa guys in US dollars cash. Someone tried to use their credit card and it never did go through.) We stayed at the Sheraton Cairo on the way into the country. A good hotel and the food was both tasty and interesting at the restaurants. The breakfast dining area had an orange juice squeezer which was the best OJ we had during the trip. They served a large selection of cultural food so you could eat Egyptian, European or American. On the Ra, the service was awesome and very friendly. The food was excellent and there was the opportunity to try local dishes every day or retreat to classic American dishes for a break.
All of the trips to the different pyramids included an trained Egyptologist as a guide. Viking also gave us access to walking down into a tomb at Saqqara as well as an included camel ride at Giza. The weather was good in Luxor so we had the opportunity to do the hot air balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings. This may have been the highlight of the trip! The access to multiple tombs in the Valley of the Kings, including King Tut's and Neferteri's tombs, was amazing. Some of these tombs were still brilliantly colored. Truly fabulous and awe-inspiring.
Thankfully as we sailed down the Nile, there were options other than just tombs and temples. We stopped in several different markets on different days. At some of these, the vendors were very persistent. The tour guide, the security personnel as well as other members of the tour group chased off vendors who were annoying individuals. The markets down in the Aswan area that we went to were much more relaxed than in Cairo. There were also opportunities to shop (without being hassled) at a carpet school and a papyrus shop which had demonstrations of the techniques used.
Cabin Review
Suite
The cabin was very much in the Viking Cruise line's Scandinavian theme. Clean and uncluttered design which was very relaxing. The AC cabin had both the walk-out veranda off the sitting area, with plenty of room for the 2 chairs and the table, as well as the French Balcony door we could open in the bedroom area. There were fresh flower arrangements in both sections of the suite which was a nice touch. My only complaint was there should be a little more storage. Putting up shelves on either side of the bathroom sink to put every day items would be helpful. Putting a couple of hooks on the wall in the bathroom for the bathrobes would have freed up closet space in the bedroom.