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Red Sea port berths a real let down for cruises
 
Reviewed By: hopkinson, grimsby on 12th Mar 2010
Cruise Line: Thomson Cruises Times cruised before: 10+
Cruise Ship: Thomson Celebration Sailed: March, 2010
Destination: Red Sea Age: 65+
Cabin: Inside
just returned from my first cruise to the Red Sea with Thomson Celebration and although no adverse comments re the ship and aspects of the cruise,the ports visited were a far cry from any other experiences in other countries . In Aqaba,Port Sokhna,and Safaga the berths were in the middle of industrial ports, and presented a totally unsatisfacory situation for passengers ,particularly for those that did not wish or were unable to undertake the 10-15 hours tours. In 2 ports the ship was too close for comfort to either slag heaps or chemical plants,with noise and dust.The plant workers operating only a few feet away from the ship's rails had to wear hard hats ,and the passengers really ought to have been similarly protected along with face masks. The Egyptian tourist Authorities should sort this issue out before damage is done to the tourist trade, because I guess many would not go there again to suffer such poor conditions .
Also with Thomson flights all timed to arrive and depart the airport within a very short time span, the chaos at airport was a bad experience,with unbeleivably long queues at every point , and in the heat this was very poor public relations to say the least.
Egypt may have been cradle of civilisation ,but it also needs to attend to modern times if it wishes to enhance its tourist industry.
Our Cruise was affected by the damage to the Costa Europa , causing embarkation and disembarkation by tender, but sadly this was an unfortunate event, that just added to the chaos at all the ports including Sharm on this one trip.
Quality of Food3
Entertainment5
Shore Excursionsn/a
Staff4
Children's Facilitiesn/a
Onboard Activities3
Cabins4
Overall Rating4
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Opinion: Agree Comment by North, Huddersfield (15 Mar 10 09:25) about this REVIEW
Some of the issues you faced whilst well known with research could easily be mitigated to some extent with some basic common sense
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Comment by North, Huddersfield (15 Mar 10 14:10) about a COMMENT by North (15 Mar 10 09:25)
Common sense by the ports and the flight times
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Comment by Taylor, Loughborough (13 Mar 10 18:03) about this REVIEW
60 seconds or less research on here or many other sites would have given you the information about the Red Sea ports.
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Opinion: Agree Comment by williams, wolverhampton (13 Mar 10 16:09) about this REVIEW
loved our red sea cruise in january but we knew that we were going to do all the trips so the ugly ports were not an issue for us, however, i did feel sorry for some people who did not and had not realised how bad the ports were going to be.i'm not sure that thomsons warn you enough before you book but they're very honest about it when you're on the ship and it's too late! also wondered whether thomsons could have spaced flights out more as the egyptian airport authorities clearly need all the help they can get, i should imagine that the odds of a plane going off on time at Sharm are a bit like those of winning the lottery.
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