Everything about the boat was great: service, cleanliness, food, friendliness, …

Unfortunately, from a diving perspective, there are some issues:

1. One particular dive guide simply dumped the trash that some divers had retrieved from the sea back into the water, claiming that plastic ropes make for a great artificial reef.

2. The Sudanese side of Elba was only included in one dive, and overall, the selection of dive sites unfortunately lacked the true liveaboard experience—it felt more like swimming in a bathtub. No drift dives, and only limited use of the Zodiacs upon request. The crew was very considerate of divers who just wanted a leisurely time in the water, even though they could certainly have offered a few more options.

The fact that there were no (large fish) to be seen underwater is certainly not just due to the choice of dive sites, but (and no one can be blamed for this) to the water temperature.

I still had a good time, though the diving itself was, unfortunately, a bit disappointing.

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Unfortunately, the ship couldn't set sail until two days later because the Egyptian government ordered it that way due to the "weather."
So, unfortunately, we lost two days of diving at the reefs.
The crew, however, did their best to keep us entertained.
The diving and the dive sites were excellent, and so were the dive guides.
Konrad

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We missed out on two days of diving because the ship wasn't allowed to leave the harbor due to bad weather. We had hoped for a small discount from Royal Evolution, but unfortunately, it was in vain!

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Unfortunately, the hot summer of 2024 has significantly reduced the underwater biodiversity throughout the southern Red Sea. Some dive sites were nearly lifeless, while others were still somewhat decent, but the large fish that were there 10 or 20 years ago are no longer around. The boat and crew were generally good—unfortunately, the air conditioning was outdated, noisy, and couldn’t be adjusted.

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A fantastic, very safe ship. The best I've seen in 30 years of visiting Egypt.
Unfortunately, the season and the weather weren't ideal.

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No cabin rating, as there was a strong odor due to renovation work.

Thank you; this will be resolved soon.

I consider this ship to be the best the Red Sea has to offer (I’ve been on 23 safaris in the Red Sea).

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The low rating for the cabin (103) is due to the persistent strong smell of diesel and the lack of ventilation options.
Because of the strong smell of diesel, it was impossible to stay inside with the cabin door closed.
Air fresheners in the air conditioning system and in the hallway are no substitute for a good indoor climate!!!

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The boat is well laid out and furnished. There were big differences in the cabins, we had one on the upper deck, large and fully equipped, better than the standard we are used to on other ships. On the lower deck there was such a strong smell of diesel that the cabins were not habitable and our diving friends slept in the saloon. The smell sometimes reached all the way to the top. It is therefore difficult to rate the cabins.
The positive thing was that we were all alone at the otherwise crowded spots (Daedalus, Elphinston).

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Unfortunately we were not able to dive the Elba Reef for several days as planned.
The crew is nice, but a bit strange.

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comfortable steel tanker that meets SOLAS safety standards and is therefore adequately equipped for emergencies.
My lower deck cabin had enough space and was cleaned daily. The only drawback was the handle in the shower, which came off the first time I reached for it. Once reported, it was repaired by the mechanic within 2 days, which I found very positive. In general, the crew was always very committed, friendly and interested. The food was absolutely fine, but sometimes too little was planned, which meant that the last ones at the buffet didn't have enough of everything. I would not do the trip again at this time of year due to the high water temperatures and the associated lack of large fish. In general, however, I enjoyed my stay very much and can recommend the Royal Evolution.

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An all-round perfect diving safari with only 8 divers - it doesn't get any better than this!

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Food partly super good some things could be improved (taste) but always too little in my opinion

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The cabin was good but the carpet was shabby and very unhygienic.

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The Royal Evolution is very old and not state of the art.
The boxes for the diving equipment are totally impractical. You have to bend down low to get to the parts.
The wetsuits hang right next to the diving equipment *odor nuisance due to wetsuit pinks* and next to the filling hoses.
No compartments for equipment outside the salon.
Too few seats for the breefings in the saloon.
Too few seats on the upper deck.
Tables and chairs in the saloon are arranged in such a way that it is almost impossible to sit and eat normally.

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PERFECT

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Unfortunately, the diving spots didn't live up to expectations - nobody can help it, it was just far too warm.

A dive guide (freelancer) unfortunately made sure with his dive planning that my girlfriend's & my vacation didn't go according to plan or unfortunately went negatively (was already addressed or discussed on the ship).

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Cabins / bathrooms are a bit outdated and need to be overhauled. In addition, the air conditioning in the cabins is very loud.

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For me (currently 970 TG) my best safari.
Apart from the weather, everything was perfect.
As we were unable to visit all the planned wrecks due to very high waves, good alternatives were suggested,
We had a lot of fun on board with 14 Brazilians...:))

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Nice safari, but you had the feeling that the dive guides were diving more for themselves than to show others something.
If there were any problems on the boat, they were solved immediately.
Great crew!

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We had a great time, everything was well organized. All in all, nothing to complain about.????????

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I can only recommend it to others, many thanks to the
whole crew.

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Stellungnahme von Manuel
Hallo Hilmar,

Vielen Dank für die tolle Bewertung, freut uns sehr dass es dir so gut gefallen hat!

Lg, Manuel

Everything is fine!

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Stellungnahme von Manuel
Hallo Georg,

Vielen Dank für die tolle Bewertung, freut uns sehr dass es dir so gut gefallen hat!

Lg, Manuel

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Basically a great ship with a hard-working crew, unfortunately only half of the guests had gastrointestinal complaints after half the time. Coincidence? I don't think so.
Otherwise absolutely overrated area, we were promised a lot both by the organizer and on the Internet, so our expectations were high. So we were disappointed when we landed at Elba Reef with 3 other boats. We were told that the Royal Rvolution was the only boat to visit this area.
Apart from that, there wasn't much going on underwater either. Even the usual small stuff was missing. Was it the dive guides who left us to our own devices? Or did they simply lack the motivation to show us something? Probably a mixture of both.
Conclusion: poor price/performance ratio despite a very hard-working crew and rather lousy dive sites

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A great week on MV Royal Evolution. Rarely have I experienced such a well-coordinated and cohesive crew. The ship sails great, even in wind and waves.

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The cabins are new but the bathroom is old. Problems with the toilet flushing and no hot water when showering.
The food is OK.
Peter is a dedicated dive guide.
Unfortunately, I think a few things went wrong on this safari.
The guests were encouraged to drink alcohol in the afternoon.
This in turn contradicts the briefing that you should dive responsibly as a deco chamber is very far away.
The crew and the captain do everything to make sure we are comfortable.
The Zodiacs are in a desolate condition.
After 9 booked trips on the Royal I decided it was the last time.


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The Royal Evolution is a ship that is getting on in years. For me, as a tall person (185cm), the beds were too small. Head and feet are at the ends of the mattress. A little bigger and the feet hang completely out of the bed. The toilets / showers are also too small and in our case the shower door was not tight. Therefore part of the bathroom floor was also wet. There were no facilities to hang up your toiletry bag.
The ship itself is old but ok. Special is the grass carpet floor on the whole ship. You get used to it, but I did not find it very hygienic.
It was also special that the crew and dive guides had a strict separation of responsibilities. It was mentioned that the towels were changed after two or three days and we were informed about this. This information was supposed to come from the crew. But it didn't. There were also shirts for sale, but it was never pointed out who was selling them and how much they cost. There would be better communication and better management/control.

Those who don't mind such things will be rewarded with very fine cuisine. The food was terrific. The diving reefs were also special, as you are usually on your own this far south and the reefs are therefore more untouched.


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Stellungnahme von WeDive
Vielen Dank für die Bewertung und Ihre Zeit für einen persönlichen Kommentar.
Wir schätzen Ihr Feedback sehr.

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Well organized, excellent ship with high safety standards. Very attentive crew with the best food we have ever had on a safari. Exciting dive sites with lots of variety. We would book again.

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the boat sails in a "class of its own" +++

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The ship is no longer the newest, but was recently renovated. Very well maintained, clean, absolutely in order.
Dive guides very competent, entertaining, friendly, helpful and generous.

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Stellungnahme von WeDive
Vielen Dank für die gute Bewertung und Ihre Zeit für einen persönlichen Kommentar.
Wir schätzen Ihr Feedback sehr.

Super boat with a great, very hard-working crew! Cabins, comfort and cabins also top!

Nevertheless, unfortunately I cannot recommend it. (Main) dive guide Sven (part of the regular crew) made no effort and treated the guests unfriendly. Unfortunately, it was exactly the same underwater: no guiding, no air queries, no highlights shown, instead distancing himself from the group, singing annoying songs throughout the dives and taking photos. The underwater safety factor is simply hair-raising!
Great Sven, that we were able to give you a nice diving vacation. But next time please not at the expense of the guests!

Info: At the end, the tip is given in an envelope for all crew members (including guides) - so he still gets his share (unfortunately undeserved).

PS: Dive guide Peter, on the other hand, was super and exactly how you would want him to be!

Conclusion: Under different guide control, I would very much like to go on this boat again.


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Unfortunately no big or at least medium-sized fish at all. Reefs very intact, but beyond that everything was empty.

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Unfortunately, the ship is a bit outdated. Especially the cabins on the lower deck were worn out. The crew is attentive and courteous. The food was great. Unfortunately, the dive guides were lazy. One had the impression that there was a lack of euphoria here. The diving itself was beautiful. It is a pleasure to be the only liveaboard on the reef. Unfortunately, the reefs are already struggling here too.

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"Elba Reef - Egypt as it was 30 years ago" was the description for this tour. Unfortunately, we cannot confirm this. It can no longer be overlooked how badly our planet is doing. Environmental changes and certainly tourism are also leaving their mark on these regions.

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The ship is getting on in years and - in my opinion - could do with a refurbishment. Two of the three guides didn't take the guiding very seriously, so we weren't shown anything special. As a result, we certainly didn't see everything the dive sites had to offer and they seemed rather mediocre to us.

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Stellungnahme von WeDive
Vielen Dank für die Bewertung und Ihre Zeit für einen persönlichen Kommentar.
Wir schätzen Ihr Feedback sehr.

Sensational tour to the Elba Reef. The yacht is really highly recommended, great crew and top captain! We felt very comfortable and were spoiled rotten - especially by the chef ...
True luxury: we were alone on almost all the dive sites. In addition to the already completely redesigned saloon, all cabins (very spacious, by the way!) are now also getting a facelift, making the RE one of the top ships in the Red Sea including Sudan :)

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We got exactly what we ordered. Many thanks at this point to the team at AAA. The ship has now been at sea for 17 years and this does not come without changes, it should be overhauled at some point. However, the crew made up for this with absolute dedication and service to the guests. We had a very pleasant stay in Egypt and Sudan.

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The upper deck cabin 303 would benefit from a renovation, especially a new carpet would be urgently needed

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The handling of the diving equipment when it is pulled into the inflatable boat after the TG and the storage in it could be done with more care.

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The second visit to the Royal Evolution was again absolutely TOP! After two weeks in Sudan (2022) it was now a Wreck&Brothers tour, where the guides again did a super job. The whole team is enormously experienced and accordingly well planned and guided dives. 3 guides on board, resulted in small dive groups and a lot of comfort. The crew is very helpful in all matters. The food is very varied and very tasty! The Royal Evolution has an enormously experienced captain and the boat sits sensationally in the water and smooths out pretty much every wave. In addition, the beds are much more comfortable than in most safari boats. This makes nights and long stretches extremely comfortable.
This was my liveaboard #30 worldwide and I will be more than happy to come back.... Hopefully soon again Sudan:-)


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Stellungnahme von WeDive
Vielen Dank für die gute Bewertung und Ihre Zeit für einen persönlichen Kommentar.
Wir schätzen Ihr Feedback sehr

The dive spots were great, the crew as well. The dive guide knew his stuff,

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Briefing at the beginning was good, but decreased significantly in the course of the trip.
Dive guide Sven could not convince. Has unfortunately often forgotten who is a paying guest and who belongs to the staff.

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For vegetarians excellent cuisine, the chef responds to every request.

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All in all, a successful trip. The Royal Evolution is very spacious. The two sun decks also offer plenty of shade.There are towels and bathrobes. The boat is quiet in the water. We were lucky to be only 14 guests. There was always plenty of fruit,snacks etc. Beautiful dive sites with very many schools of fish. With the hammerhead sharks was not quite as lucky as hoped. But we were almost always the only boat . The crew was friendly ,helpful and not pushy.

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Tour to Port Sudan - Umbria and reefs north of Port Sudan.
Although you can see the years of service on the ship, everything is in a functional condition on a high level - repairs are tackled immediately and if possible done on the same day.
Most of all, I and my diving friends were thrilled by the food and service on board. Here the team of the Royal Evolution certainly sets standards. A great experience.
With the dive guides there are qualitative differences in experience and motivation. With his over 10,000 dives, his decades of experience and his impressive competence in UW fauna, specializing in snails, instructor and UW photographer Sven Kahlbrock sets the highest standards in professional diving.
Unrestricted recommendation for this boat and this tour!

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One of the two dive guides was absolutely useless.
His breefings were e.g. as follows: the current comes from the south, but can also come from the north and can vary at different depths...

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Elba reef, beautiful and pristine. However less marine life as in northern red sea. Lovely quiet with no other liveaboards around.food and crew top notch!

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I have known the R.E. for many years... Service and equipment for me optimal... unfortunately we had in Sudan hardly current and very warm water, which means little shark sighting and also otherwise "little going on"... that was a pity for the very long journey... organization of the trip was top

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After a trip to Sudan in 2012, this was the second time on the evolution. Good boat, very helpful crew, the current captain was a Zodiac rider and still recognized me :-)
One of the guides had an acute appendicitis after the check dive and had to leave the boat. With only one guide the tour was very professional, it was certainly helpful that all but one guest knew the spots. All in all it was a very good trip, even though the big fish sightings were moderate due to the high water temperatures (30-31 degrees), but still school of hammerhead sharks on Daedalus.

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Positive
- Arrival & departure, transfer went without major problems.
- Sufficient space on board, since only 11 guests
- Spacious cabins
- Staff was very friendly and helpful
- Very good and sufficient food
- Good and flexible route (2nd day Daedalus) and trouble free rides.

Negative
- First and foremost the rental equipment:
o The pre-ordered rental material was not available. No jackets available in the size ordered.
o The received equipment (BCD & Regulator) was in miserable condition. The BCD/Regulator were mostly defective or in a catastrophic condition. The equipment leaked in several places (Inflator, Octopus, BCD quick release valves, etc.) and was patched up provisionally. It seems that the equipment was old, poorly maintained and not well cleaned. Some of the equipment was completely calcified, so that the inflator could not lock in place properly. When testing the regulator, you had your mouth full with some dirt.
o Furthermore there was no reserve material to have a backup in case of defective equipment. Neither for the unsuitable jackets nor for the unreliable regulator there was a replacement available. Not even spare lead belts were available. Even these were defective and had to be provisioned provisionally from other belts.
- No safety briefing on board at the beginning of the trip
- Only 1 dive guide for 11 divers
- Permanent repairs on the ship (WC flush/air conditioning)
- Payment was somewhat surprisingly possible with the credit card only in dollars or then in cash. All prices are in Euro.


Especially the rental equipment left a bad impression. Safe diving is different and it is worrying that the Royal Evolution compromises on equipment safety. From our point of view an absolutely unnecessary risk and irresponsible towards the guests.

Due to your preliminary information about the Royal Evolution, we expected certain deficiencies on the ship, but not the described experiences with the rental material.


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You get the best dive sites in Egypt (e.g. St. Johns Caves) as well as the great dive sites in Sudan (shipwreck of the Umbria, Shaab Rumi with Cousteau's Precontinent II) on one tour. From the border to Sudan you are then alone at the sites. On 36 dives we had encounters with schools of hammerhead sharks on 13 dives!

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Has already been on the road 10 times with this ship, I can only recommend

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