River Tosca Review
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Additional details
General Background:
Uniworld’s Nile River cruise in early February 2017 was a wonderful 12 day experience. This trip included 4 nights in Cairo at the luxurious Four Seasons Hotel and 7 nights on Uniworld’s MS Tosca Nile River boat. The boat sailed from Luxor to Aswan so we had to fly round trip from Cairo to Luxor and back again. There were some optional tours offered – Alexandria for early arrivals, Abu Simbel for $300 US, Karnak Sound and Light show for $38US, and a Cairo Nile River dinner cruise for $73 US.
Now is an excellent time to do a Nile River cruise as Egypt has recently devalued its pound resulting in a favorable exchange rate for tourists; a trip in the early months of the year takes advantage of cooler temperatures (20-24 degrees C daytime with cooler early morning and evening temperatures); Egypt is safe for travelling in organized groups – even so tourist police accompany travelers; Uniworld offers an excellent busy itinerary using good English speaking Egyptologists; and MS Tosca, Uniworld’s river boat used exclusively by Uniworld, has excellent accommodation and food. No one got digestive problems on our trip. Additionally, if you like small group travel, now is the time to go as we only had 23 North Americans on our trip. The boat has accommodations for many more. There were several travellers in our group who had their tour dates changed in order to make a viable tour group for this departure date in February.
Cabin Review
Cabin Review:
There were two floors for staterooms. One passenger who had a room on the third floor confided in me that she could hear footsteps when people walked on the sundeck above her room and sundeck furniture being pulled across the floor as well. I would not recommend the end rooms on the second floor close to the back of the ship where the noisy motor is.
Our room was in the middle of the second deck – 214. It was a perfect retreat after a busy day. The staterooms seem to be the same size and the ones I saw indicated similar furnishings and layouts were used. The staterooms were spacious, clean, bright, with comfy beds using thick mattresses and crisp white linen sheets and duvet with lots of pillows. The bathroom was spa like with a separate tiled narrow shower stall with a rain shower head and a tub with a hand held shower. Toiletries included shampoo, hand lotion, bars of soap. Towels were white and fluffy. Terry cloth gowns and slippers were nice to slip into after a shower. There was plenty of storage for clothes – drawers and a roomy closet – so the suitcase was stored under the bed the whole trip. In the closet area, a good sized safe was located as well as a small fridge. Bottle water was complimentary and was generously supplied. The outlets allowed American chargers and curling irons to be used without adapters. Tea and coffee were available 24 hours in the Reception area. Our room was very comfortable with no issues at all. There was a flat screen wall TV, but I didn't use it to see what programming was available. The daily program for the next day was printed out and placed on our bed during turn down service so we always knew the breakfast times, departure times, and the sights to be visited for the following day. Wake up calls could be arranged with the Reception desk.