We were met by a Viking representative as soon as we entered the arrivals hall at Cairo airport. But for his help, we might still be mixed up in the chaos there. We got to the Cairo Ritz Carlton about 2 hours after landing and found one of our tour directors waiting for us. He gave us a briefing for the morning before we were taken to our spacious room with a river view. (All the passengers were equally well treated and situated.) We spent two days touring Cairo and Giza. Both tour guides had doctorates and were excellent.

On the third morning we took an early flight to Luxor. After a long wait for luggage, characteristic of every Egyptian airport, we were taken on a great tour of the Temple of Karnack, followed by a film at a library (yes, I fell asleep during part of it) and then to the Viking Ra.

The cabins are constrained by the size of the locks, something all river boats have to deal with, but were well designed and immaculately kept. There were ample tour activities throughout the time on the ship. In fact, there were so many that one morning we gave in to exhaustion and just slept in. While the lectures in the afternoons and evenings were very good, local entertainment left something to be desired. The food was ample and service was very good. However, the offerings were not up to Viking's European or Asian standards, perhaps constrained by the local supplies. Read more