Travel Weekly's Michelle Baran is aboard Uniworld's River Tosca for its maiden Nile River cruise. Her first dispatch follows.
Boarding Uniworld's River Tosca for its maiden voyage on the Nile River in Egypt, it became starkly apparent that bringing the European river cruise experience to Egypt has been challenging.
The River Tosca is a beautiful, 82-passenger, luxury ship. Uniworld boasts that it is attempting to set a Nile standard with the River Tosca, and I don’t doubt it.
But the ship has the potential to be, and probably will be, considerably improved in the near future.
There were challenges in building a new ship in Egypt. The workers' speed and quality of work fell short of Uniworld's expectations, according to the company.
Delays in finishing the ship meant that the Uniworld had to cancel the River Tosca's first four sailings. Hence, this Oct. 19 sailing is the ship’s first.
The River Tosca remains a work in progress. It reminds me of a mansion being renovated. You can see good results in some areas, while other areas need touch-ups or an entire redo.
The lobby and lounge areas exemplify modern Nile luxury. The marble lobby floors with Egyptian detailing lead to a wooden lounge with a colonial Egypt feel, complete with club chairs.
A sophisticated Arabesque shisha/cigar and game room houses an impressive collection of Egyptian literature.
But heading toward the cabins on the upper levels of the ship, the wood floors on the stairs, in the hallways and in the rooms are still coated with work dust or are scratched and chipped.
There are other little details around the ship that look as though they were rushed or finished improperly.
According to Jan Wlodarczyk, resident manager of the River Tosca, anything that needs to be replaced or touched up will be finished within the next two weeks. Uniworld transferred Wlodarczyk from its European operations team to make sure the River Tosca meets Uniworld's standards.
Despite a late start and initial setbacks, passengers are raving about their roomy cabins designed in Uniworld’s trademark boutique hotel design. Cabins have all-white armchairs, decadent fluffy beds and marble bathrooms.
And the sun deck, complete with pool and shaded cabanas, is a downright blissful location to watch the Nile River gliding by.
