Disastrous Nile Cruise ruined with illness

oliveoil54

Anyone advise?

Returned from Cosmos Nile Cruise begining of September. 16 people in British party onboard, 11 had some form diarrhoea & stomach cramps, 6 of whom incl my 24yr daughter were seriously ill, high fever, uncontrollable shaking, projectile vomit, severe stomach cramps & v. bad diarrhoea. Arrive onboard mon evening, worst affected all went down approx together on Thurs afternoon/evening. Most virtually confined to cabin until Sun. Immodium useless, couldnt get treatment till Sat afternoon got Antinal from pharmacy in Luxor. There was no member of staff onboard with any medical training, the only Rep onboard was the Egyptologist no Cosmos reps as on other boats.

We saw crew members of a sister ship next to our boat out on the crew deck chopping vegetables & also found that veg was stored in various places around boat, incl engine room & wheel house/room - also where crew slept. Restaurant was clean & staff good, though food not so good, think they may have re-cycled unused meats from previous days covered in another sauce, but cant prove this.

Last 3 days moored in Luxor in middle of 10/12 boats, with other boats surrounding - all with engines running 24 hrs, being a much smaller boat our sun & pool deck was 1 and 2 stories lower than surrounding boats - diesel fumes on sun & especially pool deck were awful. Couldnt open cabin curtains or windows as boats jammed up so tight to next one. The noise from all the engines made sleep v difficult.

Even after return we still had some stomach cramps and diarrhoea. 6 worst affected passengers incl myself and daughter, decided to complain to Cosmos. However unaware of the correct procedure in claims like this only one of us sent in a proper stool sample, which was confirmed with Shigella (dysentry). This is the only correct sample from the group, others were not admissable as not in correct bottle, & the samples were thrown away. It is now too late to provide further samples as we are now all ok.

As my daughter & I were not on the same table as the 4 other complainents, & had v little to do with them in the first 3.5 days of the holiday, it is unlikely that we spread the bacteria ourselves, especially as we had been warned about observing scrupulous cleanliness ie using anti-bacterial gel & handwipes on all occasions, only using bottled water provided onboard etc. Also as the worst affected went down almost simultaneously, our conclusion is that the bacteria was spread from crew members handling food that we ate.

We have not as yet received a reply from Cosmos as to how they intend to deal with our complaints as they are concluding their own investigation.

However, having read various posts similar to this on other forums, it may require us to take further action. One member of the group has been approached by Irwin Mitchell Law firm with regard to taking on all our cases. But I am not sure that this is the best way to go, especially as we haven't heard from Cosmos yet.

Should we have to, does anyone think we have enough of a claim to take this further & would the option of taking it to a small claims court be a better way forward. If so what would the costs be & also could we claim as a group? I think the total claim would probably be the cost of the combined holiday which would be approx £3000 to £4000 for the 6 of us.

Any advice would be welcome?

givememoney

So sorry to hear that.

I cannot give advice but I was thinking of going on such a cruise next year but you have put me off, I'll have to think again.

oliveoil54

Go to Egypt on a Nile Cruise, especially if you like history its on your very doorstep.

Advice:-
Pick large boat if you want more to do & have better facilities, our boat was quite small & apart from pool & jacuzzi there was nothing else to do, def no good for young people.

Entertainment on an evening intermittent and very predictable belly dancer, local dancers & a nutter in a grass skirt & the 'dressing up' night where we were all supposed to get Egyptian costumes at the local market - which were really quite cheap (egyptologist must have got good mark up tho!), but how often are you going to re-use these costumes?

If you like alcoholic drinks choose all inclusive price worked out at £105 for week but if there are 2 of you both have to choose AI- but a gin & tonic cost approx £6.50ish!
If you dont drink stock up with water & cans etc asap from local shops - more than half to third of price onboard.

Cabins quite spacious, plus when actually sailing the views from your windows are fantastic. Also on sun deck & pool decks you can watch the world go by.

Summer Months incl September probably just too hot to really look round the historic sites - very draining and you cant be bothered to have a good look properly. We had to get up v early in the morning to miss the heat (& still it got just too hot!).
Most of the excursions were included in our trip (those that we managed to go on). But def not for anyone disabled or having breathing difficulties - climbing in & out of motor boats/feluccas etc & walking quite long distances in heat to view the temples etc.

Great if you are happy to join up with other cruise passengers, all meals were served sharing tables of 8 - good way to get to know fellow passengers.

Check itinerary - if it states moored up in one place for more than 1 or 2 nights at most - avoid unless you like the diesel fumes on deck? Our itinerary had us docked for 3.5 days at the end of the week, surrounded by loads of other cruise boats.

Take anti-bacterial gel & wipes, esp when using Egyptian money, and only ever use bottled water.
Less pleasant onboard you can not flush waste toilet paper down the toilet - Yuck!
However most of toilets we used whilst out & about were ok - no holes in ground, biggest hassle having to pay per sheet for toilet paper - we took our own from cabin & just ignored the attendant.

Develop a thick skin & the ability to ignore or be rude to the street & stall vendors, who can be quite aggressive in their selling techniques. Dont say No Thank You (they think you want them to lower the price), just say No & dont look at them!

As part of the tours we were quite often taken to various shops etc, where we were encouraged to purchase items (which the guide no doubt got a good cut). The perfume shop in my opinion was an expensive con. The papyrus was ok & the gold was really expensive, the market might have been better if we had longer & been brave enough to go on our own, depends on your haggling ability. Our guide had worked out a deal with a few shops in market - they weren't allowed to hassle us, all the prices were displayed (so at least you had an idea what the actual cost was - most dont display any prices) & they of course got guaranteed trade & the guide must have got his %. It was much better & a few of the stalls round these chosen few, had actually copied this. But given we were a group of 16 people by the time everyone had been served we just didn't have enough time & weren't brave enough to explore on our own!

Also learn when to tip & what is appropriate - the guys at the airport in Luxor wanted £2 just to put our cases on the coach, I gave them 2 Egyptian pounds = 25p and said I didn't have any more change, on the way back I told them I didnt have any money left. They still had to unload the cases. One passenger paid £2 & the porter dropped his cases & took off after some other mug.
But was advised that £10 was a sufficient tip for the entire boat crew for the week. I actually gave more, because even though they had probably poisened me, they were all really nice & helpful. I think given the crew's prob living conditions onboard observing good health & hygiene protocols would be impossible, even if they have been trained in them - which I very much doubt.

Also if you are a young attractive female then they will also probably try to attract your attention or even touch you, epsecially if you are blonde. I had several offers for my daughter, & she got used to just ignoring them!

If you like horses dont go on a carriage drive as the way they treat & look after these poor animals is disgraceful - had to disuade my horse loving daughter from outright confrontation, & we were then followed by various drivers offering to sell her their horses!

Egypt is fascinating country, with many very nice & well educated people - a lot of whom work in the travel industry. I think it would be a wonderful place to explore in the cooler months.

The Nile Cruise (& there are thousands & thousands of different cruise boats) has many pros & if we hadn't been ill & were therefore more able to get out & explore, we would prob have thoroughly enjoyed it despite the diesel fumes & the boats being jammed together for 3.5 days. Tho being two women on our own I would have felt safer going round with other passengers or if you could afford it a reputable tour guide, I think emplying your own reputable tour guide (or maybe a few people clubbing together) you would def see more, especially of the real Egypt. Anyone planning on going I would recommend researching this option.

Pollycat

We've been on 2 Nile cruises and we were told by people who'd already done this that we'd likely be ill at some stage during the cruise.

We were - as were most of the other passengers - but certainly not to the extent that you describe (which sounds awful).

It was clear that some of the food served up on our cruises was making a re-appearance in a different guise either later that day or the following day.
You've already mentioned that you suspect this but it will be very hard to prove after the event.

We steered clear of foods that we thought might be a bit 'iffy'.

Our rep told us that if we we became ill to ask at Reception where they had tablets designed to deal with it.

You mention issues around preparation/storage of the food on other ships but do you have any photgraphs to substantiate that this happened on your ship?

Re the boats being moored 10 or 12 abreast, this is standard for these cruises and on both our trips we were made aware of it.
It's unfortunate that your boat was small so your experience was worse than it might have been but I'm not sure that this should form part of any complaint to Cosmos.

Holidaytruths have a very good 'complaints' sub forum where some pretty knowledgable people post.
You might gain a better idea of how good a claim you have from there.

They also have a Travel Law Solicitor who givesfree, impartial advice.

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/

Good luck, it's never nice being ill on holiday.

oliveoil54

Thanks for your prompt reply
Will def post on Holiday truth as well.

My 1st port of call was to get advice from Officer on Reception, he that told me there was no medical help on board. They didn't have or offer any tablets and we had to wait till Saturday before we could get further treatment from Luxor pharmacy.

Unfortunately our observation of the food prep outside occurred when we docked on the first day & it's importance just didn't dawn on us then. The storage of veg in unusual places onboard was observed by another family who dont need to claim, they had seen the sacks of veg stored. Not sure if they took photos tho, could ask if it proves important.

As to the diesel fumes at no time during our booking or subsequent to departure were we advised of problems with fumes & if I had know the boats were so close together that you couldnt open windows etc for 3.5 days - approx just under half the holiday; I would probably not have booked, I personaly found it very noisy & claustrophobic & my daughter was really fed up as she was to ill to leave the cabin. At least the day before even tho we were trapped all day in the cabin, we were able to enjoy the view, & open the windows (which did alleviate the smell a bit - vomit & diarrhoea isnt very pleasant).

Pollycat

Thinking about what you said, 3.5 days to be moored up is a long time.

How long was your Nile cruise? It sounds like it was maybe 7 days from this:

you couldnt open windows etc for 3.5 days - approx just under half the holiday

Our first one was really good, we boarded in the evening, then the following day we visited the West Bank & the Valley of the Kings.
We sailed the following day en route to Aswan stopping at the various temples.

We then returned to Luxor, moored up and spent the final day at the Temples of Luxor & Karnak.

Our cruise lasted 7 days.

AS far as I can recall, we didn't moor up anywhere longer than overnight.
Maybe yours was just not as well planned to ensure any mooring was just overnight.

I didn't mean we were made aware of diesel fumes.
We were advised that it's sometimes necessary to moor alongside other boats and cross through their reception area to get on and off land.
I guess that diesel fumes wouldn't have been an issue with a larger, higher boat.

oliveoil54

Cruise was 7 nights 8 days.
Yes we had the last 3 days back in Luxor.

Unfortunately I missed most of the trips at the end as my daughter was just too ill to leave.

I didnt want to make too much of a fuss as well, because I was concerned they would call a Doctor & that she may have ended up in Luxor hospital - which having seen the outside of the hospital building just by chance going past on the coach, I def didn't want.
I was also very concerned that if she didn't 'appear' to have improved enough she would not have been allowed to fly home on the Monday.

The only trip I did manage on the Sunday was a morning visit to Karnak & Luxor temples, but wished I hadn't gone as spent most of the time feeling hot & awful & looking for the 'loo'. In the end I gave up & went in sat in the large entrance foyer at Karnak near the toilet, & didn't really see much.

oliveoil54

Sorry for delay in replying, just heard from Cosmos, they have offered £440 each to all of us claiming (approx just under half cost of holiday), it compromises £340 total cost of accomodation (apparently 60% cost is the flight - which they wont refund), & gesture of good will of £100. But dont accept liability as there is no definite proof we all caught it onboard.
Having spoken to the rest of my fellow passengers, we have decided to accept even though we probably do have quite a good case for getting much more. Given that Cosmos have actually offered quite a reasonably good sum & fairly quickly ie within 28 days, they obviously are trying to ensure damage limitations by offering this much straight away. But have decided that we dont want the hassle of a long drawn out claim, which may only result in the same sum being offered.
Just thought I would let everyone know & thank you all for your suggestions & advice.

Pollycat

Thanks for the update.

I can see why they are not including the flight in the refund/compensation calculation.

And from your original post, you were on board from Monday evening and as you say

worst affected all went down approx together on Thurs afternoon/evening

you did have almost 3 days sailing and (presumably) visiting the temples along the Nile.

I'm just a bit confused about you saying that the amount offered (£440 per person) is just under half the cost of the holiday (so assume £900 per person) when you say this in your original post:

I think the total claim would probably be the cost of the combined holiday which would be approx £3000 to £4000 for the 6 of us.

which would make the minimum cost per person £500 and the maximum cost per person £660 - unless you and your daughter paid significantly more than the other 4 passengers.

How much did you actually pay for the holiday?

oliveoil54

No the offer was £440 per booking ie for 2 people.
The entire cost was £960 for the two of us.

Some of the other claimants had also chosen to go all-inclusive which upped their costs quite a bit, hence the £3000 - £4000 estimate.

Pollycat

Thanks for the clarification, Olive, your latest post read (at least to me) that the offer was per person, not per booking.

So the holiday cost £480 each, of which £288 (60%) was for the flight, leaving £192 to cover the boat, food and tours (assuming these were included in the holiday cost - ours were).

So they've refunded £220 per person which is £28 per person more than the non-flight element.

Have I got that right?

I think I'd personally accept it too.

Don't let your experience put you off another Nile cruise.
You probably missed the Valley of the Kings and the Temples of Karnak & Luxor.

As you learned the hard way, choosing a boat for a Nile cruise takes a lot of research.

Regards