"Worst Holiday ever Experienced"

We have just returned from "A Luxury Cruise" purchased through Classic Holidays/Orbital Travel. We had been booked on the MS Monica, however on arrival at Luxor enroute to the boat we were informed of a change to the MS TIYI. This vessel turned out to be a complete disaster, shabby, dirty, unfinished and certainly not ready to a standard to offer opulent accommodation to passengers. Once aboard we were shown to our cabin. We were thankful the curtains were drawn so we could not see the full picture!!
The cabin was dull and dirty, but we decided that we would try and make the most of it as we were a long way from home.
We opened the wardrobe door to unpack our clothes and it subsequently fell off to expose 6 mismatched hangers with clothes already on them!! I returned the clothes to reception, to be informed they must have belonged to a contractor who had been using our cabin.
After unpacking as best we could, we pushed our suitcase under the bed to be greeted by an array of electrical and plumbing fittings being pushed out the other side, proof that the room had not been cleaned properly and inspected.
The bathroom had recently been tiled, but it was not finished as it was still covered in grouting. The bath plug would not work properly and the cistern kept running...
Enough was enough. We had looked forward to this special cruise for sometime and first impressions could not have been worse.
I reported all the faults to reception, after waiting in a line of people waiting to get their various faults sorted out, and subsequently we had seven workmen in our cabin attempting to put the faults to right though not entirely successfully. Several customers left the vessel and stayed in hotels as they just could not accept the condition of the ship.
The vessel showed every sign of just having been pulled out of retirement and given a quick and very ineffective clean up.
The food was plentiful although repetitive. My wife had difficulty assembling a meal and picked at the food for most of the week. Fresh fruit seemed to run out by Thursday, and was quickly followed by Tonic, Gin and Red wine over the next few days.
The pool/sun deck was covered in a layer of dirt and the so called pool which actually turned out to be a plunge pool was filthy.
The beautiful French balconies that we expected, were replaced with a dirty sliding window. This part of the holiday was a complete and utter disappointment, and in no way fulfilled the Luxury Cruise that was advertised and paid for.
This is a word of warning to anyone considering booking this holiday. Make sure that you are receiving everything that you have paid for. The company offered everyone who complained £500.00 as a good will gesture, however they refused to consider each individual claim on its own merit, as some of us were more offended by the dirty and dreary cabins and state of the vessel than others. Classic Holidays having admitted that there were problems but refuse to compensate accordingly. Very poor customer service and public relations.

"A fabulous trip to Egypt with Orbital Travel"

We have just returned from our holiday to Eqypt which was booked through out travel agent via Orbital Travel.

Our experience was outstanding from arriving in Egypt to sadly leaving this wonderful, friendly country. We were met at Luxor airport by Ramez. who assisted with our visas etc. and escorted us to the Royal Esadora which is a lovely boat with, from what we saw of other vessels, had the best top deck area with ample shade to relax while onboard.

The excursions were extremely well run and our Egyptologist Ayman was funny, knowledgeable and extremely friendly. Be warned though that this is a grueling holiday with early starts to some of the most mesmerizing and beautiful sights on the planet. You can always opt not to do the trips but you will be missing out.

After the cruise we stayed in Luxor for three nights (Two and a half days) in the fabulous Steigenberger hotel, our transfers were great, on time and the guide even checked us into the hotel. The transfer to Cairo airport was also on time and again the guide was extremely helpful and helped us through the tight security at the airport and with our check in. We were then greeted at Cairo airport and transported to our hotel in a very comfortable, air conditioned car and again the guide assisted with our check in at the hotel. The same happened with our transfer to Cairo airport for our return flight to London.

All in all everyone we encountered were extremely helpful, friendly, professional and efficient.

Now for all you complainers about your experience with Orbital, "get a life" and read your itinerary before leaving. You can always change things if you don't like them before you go and in our experience, while you are away. I foolishly didn't organise gluten free meals for our flights but I simply emailed Orbital and John McCallum got on the case immediately and organised it for the return trip. Thank you John for you help.

"We have just returned from a Nile …"

We have just returned from a Nile cruise departing Luxor with Tour Operator Orbital Travel. Extremely well organised ,the reps met us inside departures and took us through and arranged for the visas and we paid for them a few days later on board the boat. Only approx a 25 min transfer to the Royal Esadora.The boat is very attractive and clean, cabins are spacious and quiet-we had a junior suite and as we had a late arrival-there were snacks waiting for us. The excursions were brilliant and well organised and our Tour guide Ayman Samir was knowledgeable and hilariously funny and looked after us so well. The staff on board were all friendly and attentive. Food was buffet service for breakfast lunch and dinner -all delicious. Entertainment on board was well organised and you could join in as much as you wanted to or just relax. The pool and pool deck was clean with plenty of sunbeds and shade. Altogether one of the best holidays ever thanks to the Egyptians that we met on and off the boat who were so friendly and welcoming.