We booked a special group tour with Salwa for the November 12th NCL Gem cruise. This trip was unorganized from the beginning. Had a specialized itinerary planned, but not followed. Meeting place information was vague and took much longer to get to then stated. Met tour person, no introduction or information given about day. Finally sent to bus only to be moved to another bus. Again, just sat there with no information or introduction. Finally, the driver got in and took off an hour late with no introduction or information. Most bizarre excursion I have ever been on. Stopped and picked up a guide and went to museum. Hard to follow guide with no visual item to follow.
We had an unwanted hour stop at a perfume place. Next went to restaurant for lunch which they weren't ready or expecting us. Finally went to pyramid area for camel ride. Constant asking for money and mad if you didn't give enough. Ride was over an hour, way too long. My camel which was new and obviously untrained, spooked and threw me off. I was in excruciating pain. Still got me on bus, took a boat ride to dinner show. Had to be helped because of pain and collapsed on the boat deck. Dinner was horrible food and entertainment subpar. Just wanted to get back to the ship because of pain, but stuck. Finally got to van to go back 3 hours. Bus driver and husband tried to help me at rest stop, but felt like I was going to pass out, so they loaded me back on van. Excursion was not as planned and more concerned about money than customer welfare.
Went to ship clinic upon return, ended up in hospital in Turkey. Internal bleeding, 5 broken ribs, damaged kidney. Spent 8 days there before insurance sent a nurse to escort us on flight home. 1st excursion of the cruise, so rest of cruise missed.
I reached out to Ancient Egypt for a refund due injuries sustained under their care. Only asked for excursion refund, not other bills incurred due to their negligence. They said I completed the tour and hoped I enjoyed it. More concerned about reviews than my well-being. Most horrendous excursion with an uncaring company.
Know ahead of time, if you book with this company, they will not follow an itinerary, will make stops to get kick backs and by the time you make it to the pyramids, you will have limited or no time. Some in our group did not make it there in time. Also, you are taking life altering risks that this company takes no responsibility for.
