(Meravigliosa crociera di 3 notti e mongolfiera da Assuan)

Where to begin! We booked this Nile cruise despite it nit having. Any trip advisor reviews. 1) the itinerary was a HOT mess. I had to edit it to ensure that all our entrance tickets were included per the itinerary online, be sure to check with your advisor. 2) the boat needs renovations, somehow the rug in our room was soaked, so gross, and the AC was lacking but we only slept in the room 3) request the hot air balloon ride to be for sunrise. I suppose we were on the second wave, which was still nice but I’m sure watching the sunrise would have been more special. Time for the good. The sun deck is lovely! We tried to maximize our time up there. Sure the pool is small but it’s perfect to cool down from that hot sun! Food was tasty & delicious & most of the staff was sweet & friendly. Although there was a huge language barrier. From my discussion with the staff, they are very under staffed due to Covid & the A-team has not returned. If you have dietary restrictions, this is probably not the cruise for you. The meats had sauces im sure we’re thickened with flour, dairy coats a lot of the salads & veggies. We did have an issue when ordering wine. They upgraded without our permission & made a huge ordeal when we pushed back that that’s was not the bottle we ordered. There isn’t entertainment on the boat, but the days start so early I was ready for bed early the nights were cruising. The guides. They were all sweet, but I suppose we got lucky that we got a new one in each port. Our first guide seemed to have have memorized a script, anything outside of that script we could not discuss. Very unfortunate for our start in Luxor & Valley of the Kings. Do yourself a favor and upgrade to visit Rameses the 6th tomb. AMAZING! Our guide day 3 was lovely, his English was much better & we leaned more from him in 10 minutes than we did in 2 days with our previous guide. In Aswan we got a new guide, Michael & his English was AMAZING! We had so much fun & learned a ton more from him. We even accommodated our extra stop at the third largest church in the Middle East. Do yourself a favor, start your tour in Aswan & ask for Michael to be with you the entire route. Beware in Luxor, men will approach you saying they are the chef from your boat & try to convince you to go to market with them. Ignore them. They used that same line at least twice with us. 🙄 Also don’t pay more than 5EGP for large waters. Better yet ask your guide & driver to pick them up for you. There were be guys on the boat promoting the spa. It is NOT a spa. It’s 2 message tables in a room right above the engine. It was loud & shaky. I didn’t mind bc they worked super hard on my shoulders & knots, but others may be disappointed. I brought my headphones & music with me. In summary, had I known day 1 the boat was staying docked in Luxor, I may have spent the evening in a hotel & conducted my own tour the first 2 days. Try to get to Luxor temple as early as you can to beat the crowds. You only need to cruise 2.5 days.