Worst excursion and worst organization…
Worst excursion and worst organization we have ever experienced. We absolutely do not recommend Coral Travel / Odeon.
We bought a flight excursion to Cairo from our Coral Travel hotel representative. We deliberately paid more because we expected that booking through a large tour operator would guarantee good organization, professional guiding, comfort and respectful treatment of tourists. In reality, we were extremely disappointed.
The guide in Cairo seemed completely uninterested in his job. A significant part of the information was explained using a model. At the pyramids, we were basically sent to walk around on our own. At the museum, the guide showed us only a few exhibits and then gave us free time again. As a result, the actual sightseeing program was basically over before 4:00 PM, even though our return flight was not until around 9:00 PM.
Earlier, we had agreed on an additional Nile cruise so that we could spend the remaining time before our flight in Cairo instead of sitting at the airport. However, when we got into the car after the excursion, we were suddenly told that we were already being taken to the airport, more than five hours before our flight. We were not the only ones who were unhappy. Two other tourists travelling with us complained as well.
After that, the whole situation became ridiculous. The staff argued with each other for a long time, blamed one another and discussed the situation and us in Arabic, apparently assuming that the tourists could not understand them. When we made it clear that we understood what they were talking about, the staff got out of the car and simply disappeared for more than an hour.
Four tourists were left sitting in the vehicle for over an hour with no explanation of what was happening, what we were waiting for or when anyone would return. The representative who was supposed to deal with the situation never came back at all.
At around 5:00 PM, we were finally driven towards the airport. We continued to complain about being taken there several hours before departure. Instead of finding any reasonable solution, they simply drove us around the airport several times, apparently just to waste time. At approximately 5:30 PM, we were dropped off at the airport anyway.
We then spent around three and a half hours waiting there and were absolutely freezing because the airport was extremely cold. The most absurd part was that tourists who had travelled to Cairo by bus ended up returning to Sharm El Sheikh at almost the same time as we did. So what exactly did we pay extra for by choosing the much more expensive flight excursion?
The attitude of Coral Travel / Odeon became even more disappointing after we returned. We submitted an official complaint describing everything that had happened and expected the situation to at least be properly investigated. Instead, we received a response presenting the events very differently and effectively trying to blame the tourists themselves.
This was not simply a poorly organized excursion. It was disrespectful treatment of customers, terrible organization, rude behaviour and a complete unwillingness to take responsibility for a service that tourists had paid for. Selling an expensive excursion under the name and reputation of a large tour operator was easy. But as soon as a problem occurred, the staff argued among themselves, disappeared, passed responsibility from one person to another and afterwards the company simply sent us a dismissive response.
One piece of advice for other tourists: before buying excursions from Coral Travel / Odeon, take a few minutes to check independent local agencies online. There are a huge number of them in Sharm El Sheikh. We later found practically all of the excursions offered to us by Coral / Odeon through other companies, with the same destinations and almost identical programs. These offers are very easy to find online.
The same Cairo excursion was available from other agencies for more than $100 less per person, while friends of ours who travelled with other companies received a much more complete program and significantly better service.
After our experience, we genuinely do not understand what tourists are paying extra for when booking excursions through the hotel representative and a major tour operator. We paid more specifically because we expected reliability, comfort and responsibility. We received none of them.
After this experience, Coral Travel / Odeon is no longer an option for us when booking excursions. We absolutely do not recommend paying extra simply because you expect a higher level of service from a large tour operator. Compare offers from independent agencies first. We did not do that in time, and we deeply regretted it.