African Safari Club, Royal Star

I CANNOT SAY, HOW MUCH I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED THIS CRUISE.OK I WAS SEA SICK A FEW TIMES, BUT MORENO THE DECK STEWARD, JUST KNEW TO LEAVE ON THE SUN LOUNGERS EVEN IF RAINING.FOOD WAS EXCEPTIONAL...THE MAITRE D,S WERE WONDERFUL. WE WENT OFF SHIP WITH A LOT OOF THE CREW. AND HAD A FAB TIMEIT WAS LIKE ONE TO ONE ON BOARD.THE PEOPLE WE SAT WITH AT A TABLE OF EIGHT WERE AMAZING,RANGING FROM DENTISTS TO COMPUTER EXPERTS,BUT THEY WELCOMED US ALL OF THEM. I PERSONNALLY HAVE NLY EVER BEEN ON THIS CRUISE, BUT COULD NEVER GO ON ONE OF THE LARGER ONES, BECAUSE I THINK WE WERE SPOILED, PLUS I DONT LIKE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE IN ONE PLACE..IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.WE DID NOT DO ALL THE ITINERIES WITH THE SHIP.. WE DID OUR OWN,HIRED A CAR FOR 2 DAYS IN MAHE,GOT BUS IN MAURITUIS AND HIRED A BOAT AND DRIVER WENT SNORKELLING,IN REUNION GOT A HOTEL POOL ALL TO OURSELVES.MADAGASCAR WE GOT A TAXI WITH OTHER COUPLE OFF BOARD, HAD WONDERFUL DAY ON BEACH.WELL I COULD GO ON AND ON.. YES BUT THE HOTEL IN WATAMU WAS VERY BASIC, BECAUSE THEY HAD OVER BOOKED IN FLAMINGO. I WAS GONG TO COMPLAIN,BUT HEY EVERYTHINGS DIFFERENT STORY WHEN YOU COME HOME. AND MY FOURTH TIME TO KENYA I LOVE IT..SOMETHING FOR EVERYBODY.ALSO WOULD JUST LIKE TO ADD,WE WERE UNDER THE GANG PLANK, A BIT NOISY,ASKED FOR A MOVE.SHOWN THE ROOM.WE AGREED TO MOVE WHEN WE RETURNED FROM EXCURSION..OUR CABIN BOY HAD MOVED EVERYTHING FOR US.. AND IN SAME ARRANGEMENT.FANTASTIC HAT IS ALL MYSELF AND MY HUSBAND CAN SAY.

Both me and my girlfriend found the Nile cruise both enchanting and beautiful.

The only problems encountered are down, in my opinion, to nothing more than such vast differences in culture and location, and if you can look past this you really can enjoy the trip.

For one, its going to be hot, its in the desert and you're on a boat. But the cabin is as cool as you want it to be, and there's plenty of shelter on the sun terreace.

The food isn't to the same quality as you would find in a 5 star restuarant, but neither is the price of the trip. This said there was always enough and if you didn't like something there was always an alternative, including vegaterian.

The trips where brilliant, the temples sensational. Our guide, Usef, was full of stories and facts and was always willing to share knowledge. I would particularly reccomend the trip to Abu Simbal and the camel ride.

To sum up the trip was brilliantly organised, the staff extremely helpful and friendly and the country was beautiful, a particulary beautiful time is in the evening with the sun settign while you cruise to your next destination.

I would recommend this trip to anyone (apart from the distinctly upper class).

P.s, our boat was the Da Vinci, would recommend middle floor or above, apparently engines can be noisy. Also bring a antibacterial hand gel and if you really are well prepared take probiotics for two weeks leading upto the trip.

I had very bad experiences with African Safari Club. Customer service before holidays is bad. They do not answer for emails and you can ' t get to many informations before departing. I bought bed and breakfast hotel (Palm Beach Hotel) and on their website, it was continental breakfast. However, I had to pay for the breakfast partly in the hotel. We had coffee or tea, some fruit and bread. We had to pay for an omelette, fried eggs or any kind of eggs. They did not put any information about it on their website. Many times during a lunch or dinner, food was cold and added too much salt! When we complaint waiters gave us a new one portion but food was cold still. Salty water in bathroom and in swimming pools! I think they take water from ocean. No air-conditioning in rooms and fan is very noise. Palm Beach Hotel is dirty and old.Second thing is entertainment in Palm Beach hotel. I have to say that an entertainment in this hotel does not exist! We had evening bus from the hotel, which takes us to another one for an entertainment bus he always was late around 50 minutes! We complaint many times to a receptionist and main manager but they did not do too much with this case. Third thing is misbehaviour of some personnel. Some of waiters were rude and they did not have an idea of customer service. The worst was main manager of the hotel. He promised me to resolve a problem but nothing better happened. He showed his bad side in the last day when our flight was delaying. We had to wait 6 hours for the African Safari Club resident. I tried to ask main manager what is happened with our flight, what can we do now and about any water or something to drink because all of us spent all money but he was rude and with one's back turned with back to me. It was unacceptable! How he could do it? Later he told us that we have to pay for everything but it was not our fault that our flight was delayed. After 6 hours, an African Safari Club resident came and then he explained everything. He offered a three soft drinks per person but we had to ask him for meals. Otherwise, we will not get anything more because he did not say about and we had to mention about it. Why we had to wait so many hours for the ASC resident? It was unprofessional!Next bad thing was happening in the evening when were waiting for a bus which should take us to the airport. The bus should be at 7pm. We were before this time but the bus came after 8pm! We were asking a receptionist where is the bus but he was saying that is on the way. We founded out from a tourist from different hotel that the bus is on the way to the airport. We heard a conversation between receptionist and an employee that the bus did not come for us because the driver did not know he needs to come to our hotel and they need to arrange another one, which will be in an one hour. They forgot about us! We were waiting all time for the bus and nobody from hotel staff said something. When I asked receptionist that I would like to speak with main manager he tried to ignore me and had to repeat a few times my request. Finally, he went somewhere to find main manager but he did not come back!The last thing is delayed return flight. The flight was late nearly 14 hours.I am very disappointed from their holidays. I travel each year from different travel ' s agents and for the first time I encountered such problems. By these bad experiences, I will never purchase any holidays from African Safari Club. I have sent a complaint to ASC and they answered but they wrote to me that it ' s not their fault! Can you imagine?

The wonderful crew-- they really tried to please.

The food was good & very nicely presented. The drinks were not overpriced nor were the excursions compared to P&O & others

The deck steward did not allow saving of sunbeds

The Entertainments Officer was excellent -- his talks were a high light. The Dance troupe gave 101%. One of the guest artists a singer was very goodOverall we had 9 happy nights. The boat was old & shabby. The cabins were small. The Captain just ignored the passengers. The conjurer was pathetic. If only we could have come home at the end of the cruise instead of having to spend 4 miserable nights in one of ASC's hotel

Sure it was cute boat, but that doesnt make up for comfort and the cooling thing, oh yes air conditioning!

It has been an eye opener to travel with a company with such little regard for their clients, I think they are forgetting who are paying the wages. The whole experience was a joke.

As a party of five ranging from 20 to 56 all members had a very enjoyable holiday. Our cruise was the Spice Island tour with a weeks stay in the Shanzu Paradise Beach hotel over Christmas and the New Year.

Previously, we have travelled with Fred Olsen and NCL cruise Lines and found the Royal Star evening meals excellent in comparison. The staff are first class.

The ship is small - as expected- but makes the holiday much more sociable than found on the larger liners.

The second week at the Shanzu Hotel was very good also. We booked the gourmet pass, which we would recommend, not due to buffet quality but the high standard of both food and sevice in the six a la carte restaurants avaliable.

The hotel rooms are basic but you are in AFRICA!! Remember it is a developing country that does not have all the luxuries or aminities you would find in Europe. If you must have these then holiday there.

What the rooms lack in decor they make up for in the view and location.

We would reccommend ASC to anyone.

Quick note: we decided to safari with North Coast Hunters (you will find them on the beach) covering Tsavo East and West. the company were superb, we were lucky to see all of the 'big five' and more.

A lot of time was spent choosing our cruise, it's a shame that African Safari Club do not consider thier clients in the same way,

obviously we humble clients really are a means to an end-namely a good healthy profit.

loved the holiday and enjoyed the stay in Kenya after. We stayed at the Flamingo and the rooms were basic but the pool was wonderful. Food was good, especially the seafood restaurant. Did a 7 day safari which was a little too long. Zebra lodge was best accom. And Mara Buffalo camp was the worst. Overall a holiday to remember and would recommend to others.

People cruise for many reasons - to celebrate a lifetime, or the end of a life in some cases. And cruises aren't cheap either. Save your money and put it towards a cruise from another company that can actually fulfill your dreams. This cruise was a waste of time, money and most importantly, our effort.

my advice is don't do it, unless you are used to sub-standard quality and then you will be pleased.

I am however used to quality and value for money this was not offered by the cruise line.

the ship is far to old and is due to be scrapped in 2 years [2010] so there will undoubtedly be no improvements.

I do not expect to be told upon boarding the ship "she is old, but we try to colour her grey to make her look young" this didn't work for me, sure the ship has wonderful charm but needs a complete refit, will this happen? I don't think so.