Flexibility and Creativity leads to exceptional experience

Our delight with AMA began as we stepped into the arrivals hall at Cairo airport. Hamid immediately spotted our AMA luggage tags and already had our visas in hand. By the time we went through the typically slow clearance process (requiring six persons to check our vaccination status and passports) he had already gotten our checked bags and was able to get us through yet another security check and to our bus.

We were sadly disappointed with our room at the Four Seasons Residence in Cairo, as it failed to meet either our expectations of AMA or the Four Seasons Hotels. The room was in need of a complete makeover. I mentioned this to Walla, our tour director and the hotel staff. The hotel offered to change the room but we declined because we had fully unpacked. When we returned to the hotel a week later at the end of the cruise we were placed on a different floor and could tell it had been completely renovated the moment we stepped off the elevator. It met every standard we had come to expect.

The cruise tour exceeded our expectations, primarily because Walla and Osama were such good guides. Their tours and explanations of what we were seeing were outstanding; no amount of study or television viewing had adequately prepared us for understanding what we were privileged to see. Of equal importance, when things did not go according to plan, (not even Walla could make EgyptAir perform quickly, neither could he stop a sandstorm) quick thinking and alternative arrangements minimized any inconvenience and discomfort.

The ship is comfortable and seemed similar to AMA ships in most respects. The bathroom, leaky shower stall and all, was essentially identical to those on other ships, and there was good storage and sitting space. The food was good and ample, if not quite to the standard of that on European river cruises. And, getting access to several places not available on other cruises, such as the Abdeen Palace, added to the experience in ways we did not expect.