Customer Reviews

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  Javier

  · January 19th, 2024
  Headline to this cruise: lies, fraud, scam, theft and substandard service rendered. I will regret to have made this cruise with Booking-tours for life. They have ruined our family holidays, this one has been the worse trip in our lives 1. When I booked the cruise from Aswan to Luxor they informed that our boat was Coral 2, receiving pics of it, So I agreed to book it. Surprisingly, just few days before shipping, they told us that the vessel was changed to M/s Prince Omar without sending pics or basic information 2. Someone was supposed to meet us in Cairo Airport to help with our trip arrangements but nobody showed up 3. Landing in Aswan, nobody was at the terminal to receive us as expected. Only after leaving the terminal, a guy approached us saying that he will be our guide but no credentials as Egyptologist and no relationship with Booking Tours 4. We told this guy that we want to go to the vessel for lunch and view but he told us that he was in a hurry because he had to assist other group, so he rushed us to the Aswan Damm and to Philae temple. Everything on the run, no meal, no time for anythingt, just running from place to place in empty stomachs. 5. Finally he joined us with his group proposing us to sail together in the falucas and continue to Nubios village. We accepted, but our surprise came when we had to pay him USD 75 for the excursion. Unbelievable 6. When we were dropped at the M/s Prince Omar we only wanted to cry. That boat is old, bad maintained, smelly, dirty and thousands of bad things more. I told the guide (Mohamed) that we couldn’t accept to stay in that boat since didn’t meet the requirements what we booked for. I requested him to call Booking Tours to change us to other boat but he did nothing, so I started communicating with Booking Tours but the response was nule. 7. I complained to the boat manager about the quality of the accommodation and he allocated us in a room with double-bed, but without space for our kids. I told him that we needed at least one more bed for our 15 years old kid and the solution given was to bring a chase-long from the swimming pool to accommodate him. We could't sleep The cabin was dirty, dirty linen and towels, leaks in the bathroom, small black worms in the floor, TV set not working. The smell and dust of the cabin was so terrible that my daughter got sick. With regards to the food there is only one adjective for it, inedible!!!! To sum up, we’d never have booked that boat and we’d have cancelled our cruise if we had known the look of M/s Prince Omar. Furthermore, the tour guide told us that the Tour Operator had change the vessel from Coral 2 to Prince Omar because Coral 2 was in Luxor. Another lie upon lie, since the Coral 2 was tied up in our same dock just three tiers ahead and we met it again before going through the canal. 8. 30th December, we only arrived to Kom Ombo with night light. Again, everything on the rush. That is supposed to have a function in the boat during the night, but we didn't. 9. 31st December. Early morning we visited Edfu, again running like headless chickens, to get back to the boat and sail to Luxor what we only reached by 10:30 pm. Night entertainment to celebrate the new year was scheduled, but never happened and that is not acceptable. No satisfactory response was given to my complaints. 11. On the 1st January, a different guide fetched us to show us Valley of the Kings, East Bank and Karnak. Everything in only 4 hours. Unbelievable. Finally, we requested her to accompany us to the airport terminal but she refused arguing that she was not allowed to go in. We feel completely cheated, paying for something with no value for the money paid. They decided unilaterally to change the boat without giving us a similar vessel in terms of quality or even a better one. They altered the schedule without any reason neither explanation. And they promised experiences that they didn't fulfil. This trip was insane and the worse experience in our lives.
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  Trip date: December 2023
• JK

  Johann

  · July 10th, 2023
  The cruise was very nice and the staff friendly. Facilities were good. However, for tourists coming from countries with weak currencies it was a very expensive trip. We knew that in advance, but still decided to go on the trip. Our discomfort was with the tips that were expected by every-one. The guides, the bus drivers, the driver of horse carriage, the staff on the boat all expected tips and they were adamant to get it. They were dissatisfied if you give less than what they wanted. These extra money that has to be paid made the trip even more expensive.
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  Trip date: June 2023
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  Andrew

  · April 30th, 2023
  It was a busy tour: lots packed in to the short schedule. The boat was solid, the food and accomodation satisfactory, with plenty of choice, to suit all tastes. The guide was very good, flexible and accommodating, as were the booking team - we had to make a flight change to connect with our departure flight and this was all dealt with for us. Overall a very positive experience - but a busy schedule!
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  Trip date: April 2023
• JK

  Johannes-Bernhard

  · March 27th, 2023
  - Nile boat was pretty old and five stars only in Egypt. - Avoidable delays led to squeezed schedules, forcing passengers to start their days as early as 04:30. This is no relaxing vacation.
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  Trip date: March 2023
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  Shatha

  · December 20th, 2022
  The overall trip is 3 stars rated. The cruise is renovated but they need to work on getting new sheets and blankets. No drinking water on the rooms, last day check out 8:00am!!! overall is 3 stars experience
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  Trip date: December 2022
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  Ileana

  · November 27th, 2022
  The experience in the ship M/S Hapi 5 was good, but I will rate it a 4 and not a Luxury 5 because the ship is old and some flaws exist with improvement made (e.g., unstable flooring in dinning room area, not well attached curtains in room, etc). However, this could be overlooked by the very courteous staff, size of our room and bath, and the good food, and entertainment. On the other hand TourRadar subcontracted Booking Tours as operator, who subcontracted with Maxim Tours and Travel in Egypt, which was was awful. 1. All we received in advanced from Bookings was the flights from Cairo to Aswan and Luxor to Cairo, with a very small logo from Maxim Tours and Travel in a corner with no telephone number or contact info. 2. Maxim Tours and Travel booked us on return flights to Cairo at end of cruise way past the advertised time in the Tourradar brochure (i.e., departing at 20:35 hrs. vs. advisory to us not to book connecting flights before 18:00 hrs). Thus, we were at risk of not been able to connect to our 11:45 flight to the USA. 3. We were not received at the airport by a certified tour guide by Maxim company on day 1; our guide could not go inside the terminal, and it took us two walks outside of terminal (including inquiring and obtaining special security escort for re-enter to terminal to get our lugaggel) and finally connect with tour guide (about 1.5 hours after arrival). If it would have not been by tour guide from another company that as a courtesy helped us, we would have lost our cruise (we did not even have been provided name of ship). 4. We never received from Maxim Tours and Travel an itinerary in advance with information about name of the ship, nor the modified itineary and tour guides that would help us in different destinations. Paul, one of three tour guides that Maxim Tours utilized had decent command of English language and we did not felt rushed tthrough explanations or time to see different things; the other two guides appeared to be more interested in taking us to specific locations to buy stuff or to sell us additional tours and the last one did not make effort at restaurant we were taken for lunch to ensure that we were receiving good service. 5. On the good note, the Maxim Tours and Travel representative, Jimmy), that escorted us inside the Luxor airport on our last day, introduced us to an Egypt Air representative that was informed of our stringent schedule and need to make arrangements for our lugagge to be transferred directly in Cairo for our connecting flight to USA. 6. Egypt Air personnel in Luxor spent half an hour trying to figure out how to connect our tickets from Luxor to the one in USA, not because it was not feasible, but because Maxim Tours and Travel misppelled my name on the Luxor ticket, thus not matching my name in the flight to USA. Thanks goodness that the Egypt Air personnel were patient, courteous and tried everything possible to correct the flaw. 7. I will not recommend this tour.
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  Trip date: November 2022
• AB

  Alice Elizabeth

  · November 19th, 2022
  Please update your tour itinerary to better reflect the actual tour! We would have enjoyed the trip more and been better prepared if we had access to the actual schedule. Our itinerary for day one stated: "Take a flight from Cairo to Aswan, you will be met at the Aswan airport, and taken to the ship. Check in and eat breakfast, You will meet your licensed Egyptologist guide, he will take you on a city tour of Aswan." This didn't happen. We were informed that morning that the ship didn't allow check in until after 11am. We were taken from the airport directly to Aswan Dam and Philae Island. So instead of breakfast on the ship, we had breakfast..... nowhere. With a 2:15 am pickup and lunch on the ship not until 1pm, we were traveling nearly 11 hours without food. In addition, without being able to check in on the ship before the tour, we were still wearing our travel clothes from the flight, and many items we needed (hats, sunscreen, walking shoes) were packed in our checked bags. "After this continue for a trip Felucca around the Islands." This also didn't happen. We thought maybe this was for later on the tour? But it was never mentioned and didn't occur. "Day 2: After breakfast the ship will sail to Kom Ombo. Once arriving there tour the Sobek and Harores temple." Nope. Didn't arrive at Kom Ombu until well after dark that night. "Day 3: After breakfast, we tour Thebes Necropolis, which is the Valley of the Kings, and this includes entry to 3 royal tombs." No again. The ship was traveling the whole day. We didn't reach port, once again, until well after dark. No chance for a tour of anything. Instead, the tours of the Valley of the Kings, Karnak, and Luxor temples were all squeezed into our last day, after we left the ship. If this is the tour schedule you are offering, please make it clear going forward for other travelers. We would have packed and planned differently, or maybe booked a different tour, if we'd had an accurate itinerary.
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  Trip date: November 2022
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  FredGrifin

  · January 20th, 2020
  I am not a fan of excursions on vacation. As a rule, they bore me, although I am very interested in the stories and architecture of different countries. But on the advice of the head waiter, he nevertheless set off. And you know, maybe everything depends on the guide and his ability to present information. Time flew by not noticeably. So fascinating was the narration of the guide with a lot of interesting and exciting details about past centuries.
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  Booking Tours commented on this review

  Hello Fred Thank you for your amazing review we always try to find the best guides for our tours and improve our services we are pleased to hear you had an amazing guide and that made the experience wonderful Hope to see you again. Booking-tours team.
  Trip date: January 2020
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  MaryJohnson

  · January 17th, 2020
  We have just returned from the 5 days Israel, Jordan & Egypt Tour and had a fantastic experience. Gershon our guide in Israel was excellent and very knowledgeable on both the historic and religious aspects of the places we visited and created a friendly environment for the group to jell together. Benny our driver was great and made the traveling enjoyable, safe and relaxing. The hotels were of a good standard and the food which was buffet style was excellent with a huge variety of choices. The country felt very safe, and we were happy to go out into the towns in the evening. We would recommend Booking-Tours to anyone wanting to tour Israel and would especially recommend going to Galilee, Masada and the Dead Sea and only wished we had stayed on in Tel Aviv which is a young vibrant city with great beaches for a couple of days relaxation before heading home.
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  Trip date: January 2020
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  Megan

  · December 18th, 2019
  We had a fantastic guide that went out of his way to help us with anything and everything we needed. All of the tours were so informative and well worth the cost. The ship was quite dated and our bed a bit uncomfortable, but the staff was wonderful. Everyone was so friendly and helpful. The food and entertainment were nothing to write home about, but that didn't matter as our days were packed full that we were tired/hungry enough to eat whatever was served, or skip entertainment to rest in our room.
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  Trip date: December 2019