An insider's look at how your feedback directly impacts our adventures
Introducing a new adventure for the first time requires extensive research and planning—including arranging the itinerary, training our guides, and staging trial runs with our staff. Yet sometimes, despite our best efforts, we experience “growing pains,” so to speak, when our travelers first experience the trip for themselves. That’s why the surveys we ask you to complete after each adventure are so important. We review your feedback closely, and use it to determine whether we should make changes to an itinerary.
Such was the case with our Cruising the Red Sea: Egypt, Sinai, Saudi Arabia & Jordan Small Ship Adventure. While it was immediately clear to us that our travelers were enthusiastic about exploring this part of the world, the first groups to join us on this new itinerary gave us invaluable feedback as to how we could make a great experience even better. As a Program Service Manager in OAT’s Cairo office, I worked closely with our travel planners to make these changes happen—so I can tell you with confidence that if you’re considering joining us on the Red Sea, now is a better time than ever. Here’s why:
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Increased daylight sailing during your Red Sea Cruise. One of the great joys of small ship cruising is relaxing on deck and watching the world go by. Often, we cruise at night in order to maximize time spent at each port—yet on this particular voyage, our travelers told us they’d like more time to admire the Red Sea panoramas by day. Now, you’ll enjoy daylight sailing during two days of your cruise.
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Improved accommodations in Petra, Amman, and Cairo. In general, accommodations in Jordan are not up to the standards you’d expect in the U.S. or Western Europe. Still, we were unsatisfied with the quality of our hotels in Petra and Amman, so we’ve secured new hotels that can provide a higher level of service. The overall standard of hotels in Egypt is much higher than in Jordan—but while the quality of our original accommodations in Cairo was adequate, our travelers told us they’d prefer a more central location. Therefore, we’ll be staying at a new hotel closer to the Pyramids and near some charming neighborhoods.
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Modified experience in Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a new destination both for OAT and Americans in general, and teaching our Saudi hosts about working with our travelers has been an ongoing project. We’ve worked to provide a more authentic lunch with the Bedouins and to support our local guides in Saudi Arabia with additional training.
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Added city tour in Aqaba. In response to requests for more guided exploration in this port, where we spend a full day, we’ll now include a city tour.
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Ongoing coaching and training for our Trip Leaders in Egypt and Jordan. Time and time again, our travelers tell us that the quality of their Trip Leader is the single most important aspect of any OAT adventure. Therefore, we’re working closely with our experts here to ensure a truly excellent experience.
With these changes in place, I believe that this relatively new Small Ship Adventure is a better experience than ever—and we owe it to the thoughtful feedback of the travelers who have joined us. Thanks to all of you who responded, and rest assured that we’ll continue to monitor your feedback about this and every adventure to maintain the high standards you’ve come to expect from OAT.
Read more about our Cruising the Red Sea: Egypt, Sinai, Saudi Arabia & Jordan Small Ship Adventure.