Travel: Will we get ill on a Nile cruise?

Times Online

A question sent in to the Times Online's travel query service, with the response.

My husband and I are planning a Nile cruise for our 40th wedding anniversary. However, I hear that people doing these cruises always get stomach bugs. If we pay more and get on a bigger and better boat, should we be ok? Belinda Cassidy, Tunbridge Wells

Sunday Times travel expert Richard Green responds: Egypt does have a way with stomach bugs - and not just on the Nile ships either. But wait, there are ways of minimizing your chances of a bout, and anyway, the experience of gliding down the Nile is so fantastic that it has to be worth the risk.

See the above page for some helpful suggestions about minimizing the risks of stomach bugs.