TravelDep MS Stephanie - 5 Star Nile Cruise Ship

A weeks cruise on the Nile is a great way to visit the Temples and get a flavour of Egypt. You have to be fit as the tours start early and go on to mid to late afternoon. Most of the ships on the Nile are of similar standard, however the crew on the Ms Stephanie are very good. The waiters are very friendly, and our guide Big Daddy was excellent. The guests on our holiday were mostly middle aged and everyone was friendly and got on with each other. We were like one big happy family.

The boat itself is a good standard, the dining area reception and lounge were in great order. Our cabin on three deck aft was in good order except the bathroom needed a bit of an upgrade. The food and drink were a reasonable standard for an all inclusive. I would recommend a cruise to anyone who is fit and able. A few of the older guests really struggled getting around and even though our guide tried his best to help, nothing he did satisfied their needs. I think they needed to be on a P&O ship and then may be not! Go to Abu Simbel from Aswan and have a few days chilling out in Hurghardah to complete a memorable holiday.

After reading the reviews on all the sites I nearly cancelled my cruise, what was these idiots staying on? It could not have been the Ms Stephanie.

The boat was spotless

The staff could not do enough to please all the guests

The food was great

The waiters was great

The guide Waleed was amazing,

The idiots who moan about how long the boat cruises must be simple or thick, there is excursions to fit in, we had 12 in 7 days plus extras the boat has to be docked to do these, if you wanted to cruise more you should have gone on a ocean liner and even they cruise at night when your asleep.

I am very hard to please but any 5star hotel you can pick fault with, But this boat is worth every penny and is home from home,

I would recommend to any body thinking of a Nile cruise, don't listen to the idiots they should have stayed at home.

My partner and i have just returned from a wonderful holiday on the nile onborad MS Stephanie and we want to let everyone know how superb the whole experience was.

The whole trip ran smoothly from start to finish from being met at Luxor Airport,being met by a representative with visas for our passports until our return to the airport for our flight home. The staff of the MS Stephanie were friendly and attentive and all went out of their way to make us feel welcome. The cabin was clean and comfortable and what a delight the towel sculptures were in our cabin on our return after dinner in the evening! The standard of hygiene on the boat was very high,with plenty of good food enchanced by enjoyable company throughout the cruise.

A special mention of our guide who's knowledge,professionalism and enthusiasm surpassed our expectations.To be able to bring a site to life is an exceptional quality and this young man managed to transport us back to ancient Egypt-marvellous.

The entertainment on borad was enjoyable,with the Nubian night highly entertaining.

We had a superd holiday and made lots of new friends,English and Egyptian which together made our trip,a holiday of a lifetime.

My husband and I have just returned from a Nile cruise on board Ms Stephanie and it was fantastic. We were originally booked on the Ms Monica but was changed to Ms Stephanie. We were a bit unsettled by the reviews that had been written but when we arrived we were very happy, the boat is very very similar to the Ms Monica.

Our cabin was very clean and our housekeeping boys were so kind making us figures with the towels in the evening and everything we asked for it was of no trouble to them

The food was good and their was always something different on the menu with a good choice.

We could not fault all the arrangements that were made and as for the guide we had he was absolutely fantastic.

This holiday we could not fault I would highly recommend it.

When we arrived on the boat we were disappointed with the state of it. It appeared as if we had arrived a week early after the advertised "maintenance".The workmanship was shoddy, paint was splashed and smudged everywhere and even the varnish used for the wardrobe had been slapped all up the wallpaper.Our bath wasn't too bad but our friends was in a bad state of repair. They obviously hadn't cleaned too well for the guests arriving. There was even brass polish on the handrails of the staircase which no-one had bothered to polish off. There was a really awful stench of paint and varnish for a few days which a lot of people found sickening.The crew did however work hard all week getting the work done. If we had been arriving the following week it would have been a lot different. There was a water leak at the entrance to our corridor which worked it's way down the corridor and we had to squelch through the sodden carpet for the whole time.Also we had no basket of toiletries as shown on the website. We had a bar of soap, so make sure you bring shower gel / shampoo etc with you. There were 2 reps on board.They were knowledgeable but neither of them were overly friendly compared to the other two times we have done the trip ( with other companies ) George especially was exceptionally rude.I had read an article on the web warning travelers to buy their visas at the airport as reps were overcharging clients. When we arrived at the airport an Orbital rep told us to go on ahead to the bus. I said we had to buy our visas and he again told us to get on the bus. I checked the price with him and 3 times he told us they were $13 which I didn't understand as this was $2 less than the official airport kiosks.Other customers were also told the same. When we went to pay George for the Visas and the gratutities he said the visas were $39 for 2. Now they are officially $15 each so who is getting the extra $4 per visas X by approx 150 passengers per week at full capacity ???. When we all said in our group that the visas should be only $30 he started getting quite abusive which really heightened when I went to pay him the suggested gratuities in Egyptian pounds and he said it wasn't enough !!! He was basing the exchange rate on 10 egyptian to 1 Sterling and as I said he got very nasty over it. I got just over 8 at the bank.We also saw him yelling at one of the chefs in the restaurant on the 1st night , so not as angelic as he looks. He had some customers in our group who obviously thought he was wonderful but he certainly didn't endear himself to our group or a lot of other people we got to know on the cruise. At the end of the cruise he worked right past my friends on the deck and deliberately snubbed them,went to his little group of fans and then did it again on the way back. I wasn't there at the time. The last day he again came on deck , went to the " chosen few " to say goodbye to them and again completely ignored us all sitting at the next table. He even slipped down a back staircase to avoid us. Bad manners is unacceptable in the hospitality trade and George would need an extensive course in how to behave with clients .Now the good points. The bar staff were absolutely lovely and made us lovely coffees. The food was good in the restaurant and there was always something you could eat.As previously stated , if we had arrived a week later we would have had a different first impression of the boat an hopefully it has continued to improve. Unfortunately the exceptionally rude George will probably still be there....

The MS Stephanie was very clean and the food was well prepared and served hot. The thing that made this holiday for me was our tour guide 'George'. He was not only incredibly knowledgeable about everything we were able to see but he also went the extra mile to ensure everyone was having a good time. I would whole heartedly recommend this trip to anyone. I booked through classicholidays4u and everything was handled by Orbital travel once in Egypt. Everything went very smoothly indeed. We followed ou3 cruise with a 3 night stay in Le Meridien Pyramids in Cairo/Giza. This is a beautiful hotel very close to the pyramids. The only negative was the guide we had for the extra excursions in Cairo. He asked to be called 'Mohammed the first' but I unfortunately do not have his surname. He was pretty disinterested in our group and often sped off ahead leaving us a bit bewildered as to where we were going. He offered to arrange a camel ride for three out the tour group and asked us for 150LE each. We thought £15 was reasonable for a half an hour camel ride around the pyramids but on asking others who have done the same they had only paid between 25LE and 40LE direct to the camel owner. Whether he just got a really poor deal or skimmed some off for himself I could not say. The egyptian people were wonderfully friendly and the recent troubles there should not put you off. We were thanked often for visiting their country and although very persistent, their selling style remained friendly at all times and no offence is taken when you turn down a sale. Cairo is not for the faint of heart as it is a crazy but enthralling city. Luxor and Aswan were much more laid back in comparison. I woud very much recommend this trip and the classicholidays4u/orbital brands.

The MS Stephanie is a really comfortable ship and the Tour Guides from Orbital Travel were superb. Nothing was too much trouble, and both crew and guides went the extra mile to make sure you enjoyed the holiday. There was amusing entertainment each evening, and some wonderful animals made out of the towels each night.

We recommend that you go all-inclusive, and make sure you stock up with water every night. Some of the tours have very early starts to avoid the heat - so you need the water. Take extra t-shirts (or soap) as the heat means that you will be changing clothes a lot more than you expected. The sights of Egypt and the Nile are amazing, and seeing them for yourself is much better than viewing on the TV.

Haggling and hassle from the street sellers is all part of the experience. Don't let it upset you - treat it as a game.

THIS WAS OUR 3RD NILE CRUISE,SO WE DO HAVE SOMETHING TO COMPARE WITH AND WE WOULD LIKE TO START WITH A VERY POSITIVE NOTE AND SAY THAT CARLO THE GUIDE WAS EXCELLENT AND NEVER STOPPED TALKING ABOUT EGYPT AT ALL DAY AND NIGHT!!WELL DONE CARLO.XXX ALSO THE STAFF ON BOARD WERE FANTASTIC, ALL OF THEM,EXCEPT ONE WHO IS MENTIONED LATER.SADLY WE WERE VERY DISSAPOINTED WITH THE BOAT AND THE DOCKING ARRANGEMENTS.PREVIOUSLY ON THE OTHER 2 CRUISE BOATS(WHICH BY THE WAY WERE ALMOST NEW AND EXCELLENT)WE WERE DOCKED RIGHT IN THE CENTRE OF LUXOR WHICH MADE IT WONDERFULLY POSSIBLE TO JUST WALK OFF THE BOAT AND VISIT THE MARKETS,SHOPS AND THE TEMPLE ETC.THIS TIME ON THE MS STEPHANIE WE WERE BERTHED 5 KILOMETRES FROM LUXOR SO COULDNT EVEN SET FOOT OFF THE BOAT.EVEN WORSE, FOR THREE NIGHTS AND 3 DAYS WE WERE BERTHED BEHIND 2 BOATS THAT WERE BEING REVAMPED,STRIPPED OUT COMPLETELY,SO WHEN WE WENT ON AN EXCURSION WE HAD TO WALK THROUGH WHAT LOOKED LIKE THE TITANIC AND HER SISTER SHIP JUST AFTER THEY WERE DREDGED UP!THESE BOATS ARE THE SAME SIZE AS THE ONE WE WERE ON,SO OUR CABIN WAS IN COMPLETE DARKNESS FOR 3 DAYS AND NIGHTS,VERY DEPRESSING.THE ONLY WAY TO SEE DAYLIGHT WAS TO GO UP ON THE TOP DECK.NOT VERY COMFORTABLE AS THE TEMPERATURE WAS 49DEG.!!!!!!!!!THE FOOD WAS VERY DISSAPOINTING.TINY CHICKEN WINGS,BEEF SLICES OR FISH,EVERY LUNCHTIME AND DINNER.NOTHING ELSE IN THE MEAT LINE.SALADS OKAY.DESSERTS NEARLY SAME EVERY DAY.EXCURSIONS WERE GOOD BUT WERE QUITE ANNOYINGLY CHANGED AROUND TO FIT IN WITH OTHER TOURISTS WHO WERE ONLY ON 3 OR 4 DAY CRUISE,IN FACT ALL OF US WHO WERE BRITISH FELT PUSHED ASIDE WITHOUT DOUBT.ONE DEFINATE PIECE OF ADVISE TO THE OWNER OF THE BOAT IS...FOR GODS SAKE SACK YOUR MANAGER...HE IS THE NASTIEST MAN I HAVE EVER MET.HE IS RUDE AND SHOUTS AT THE STAFF AND IS A PREDATOR OF ANY YOUNG GIRLS WHO COME ON THE BOAT.HE PERSUADED 2 VERY YOUNG ITALIAN STUDENTS TO TAKE A FREE HOLIDAY WITH HIM NEXT YEAR AND STALKED THEM AND OTHERS ALL WEEK.WE WATCHED HIM FROM ONLY A FEW YARDS AWAY,STROKING A GIRLS THIGH AND MORE!! ON THE 2ND DAY OF THE CRUISE.PLEASE GET RID OF THIS OLD PERVERT, YOU KNOW WHO HE IS,I HAVE HIS NAME.ALSO,PLEASE TIDY UP THE CABINS, THEY ARE VERY TATTY.THIS REVIEW WILL BE CONFIRMED BY OTHER PASSENGERS ON THE SAME TRIP AND IS THE TRUTH WORD FOR WORD.

We booked through classicholidays4u.co.uk but the holiday was handled in Eqypt by Orbital Travel.

From landing to departure Orbital were exteremely slick and professional. The Tour Manager always attentive and not letting anything slip; this is key when the Eqyptions would let anything dro given half a chance.

The boat is clean, tidy and, although 'tired' in places, it is far better than most of those we walked through when docked - some of which looked like the floating equivalent of a Premier Inn! Although the Stephanie has an Eqyptian 5* grading and this probably doesn't compare to what you expect as 5* in the UK - BUT it was absolutely fine.

The food however was dissappointing. I suspect as it was targetted at the more cosmopolitan and british pallete and was therefore 'dumbed down' - as seems to be the case for most chinese and indian food in th UK. Further, european food cooked by Eqyptians is always going to be different. Perhaps understandably given the time available for meals and the numbers involved, it was all buffet self-service. Although that is not a sin per se - it did make the experience more 'school dinner' than restuarant. However, the dinfing room was clean and well apointed and the waiters (for drinks and clearing) attentive.

In all, we thorughly enjoyd the trip and the experince of Orbital Travel.

We have just returned from the MS Stephanie cruising from 5-12 April. This is our second Nile Cruise and whilst we had a lovely time there are definitely some pluses and minuses with this boat. Our Guide Ayman was fantastic, extremely kind, helpful and knowledgeable. The sun deck and pool are quite pleasant however please note that though the pool isn't a plunge pool as on some of the boats, it is not huge. There were loungers but there was the usual rush for who got them first (particulary the ones in the shade). Towels are provided. Staff are in the main very helpful but sometimes made the young girls/ladies feel a bit uncomfortable with lingering looks etc. The boat is kept very clean in the main areas. The food is pretty good and the chef did his best to add as much variety as possible. There were a LOT of tummy bugs and people getting ill on this boat including me. I was very ill for 3 days and needed tablets from the pharmacy despite being very careful with hand washing and using anti bacterial hand wash etc. I have no idea what the cause was but it is a DEFINITE hazard. The organised trips are very good and they do try and make sure that you visit the sites in the early morning to avoid the heat of the day - a tip is to make sure you take some loo roll in your rucksack for the excursions as it is non existent or very limited in most of the egyptian loos. Also carry hand gel. The cabins are fairly spacious but the bathrooms could definitely do with an update. They were fairly grubby and mouldy in places. Towels are also a bit grey but they are changed twice a day and the cabin cleaners do a fantastic job making shapes etc out of towels to surprise you at the end of the day! They even wait around to listen to your reaction which was very sweet. The local beer and the local wine is pretty good and is certainly drinkable. They also do diet pepsi but that seemed to be the only diet drinks available. The cocktails were a bit hit and miss but definitely alcoholic!! When the boats moor, because there are so many of them they have to moor side by side which means that most of the time when you are moored you have no view out of your window as you are alongside another boat. This makes cabins dark and means that you have to draw your curtains to get privacy. There is nothing they can do about this it would seem as it's down to sheer volume of boats.