Nile Ship Godfather & Top Viking Seller Michael Consoli Shares Nile River Tips in a Q&A With Anne Kalosh

Photo caption above: Viking Sekhmet godfather Michael Consoli and Capt. Elwy Atta applaud their newly named vessel (Photo – Anne Kalosh)

Getting to Know Top Viking Seller Michael Consoli

By Anne Kalosh

Michael Consoli knows a thing or two about Viking cruises. Running his own Cruise Planners franchise since 2010, he's been the company's No. 1 global-producing travel advisor for 10 years running.

Consoli just served as the godfather for new Egypt vessel Viking Sekhmet, which sails from Luxor as part of Viking's 12-day “Pharoahs & Pyramids” cruise-tour that bookends a Nile voyage with hotels stays and touring in Cairo.

Consoli is among a notable group of Viking Egypt godfathers. For example, Edward Herbert, godfather of 2024's Viking Hathor, is the great-great-grandson of the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, who was British archaeologist Howard Carter’s benefactor and co-explorer. Their 1922 excavation uncovered King Tutankhamen's tomb near Luxor, causing a worldwide sensation.

The Carnarvon residence, Highclere Castle in Hampshire, England, was the filming location for “Downton Abbey,” and a place Viking travelers can visit on a pre- or post-cruise extension. One optional add-on to Viking's Nile program is “British Collections of Ancient Egypt,” with four nights in London and Oxford for visits to collections not normally open to the public, including the Egyptian exhibition in Highclere's cellars.

READ MORE: Here's Anne's report on Viking's recent naming ceremony plus details about the line's prolific growth.

Amsterdam Festivities

During Oct. 15 festivities in Amsterdam, Viking ushered in seven new river vessels, each with its own godparent. Two of the ships and all seven of the godparents and captains were in Amsterdam. The other five vessels were spread across Egypt, France and Germany and beamed in by video link on big screens.

Michael Consoli, accompanied by Viking Sekhmet Capt. Elwy Atta — who cut a dashing figure in his jellabiya, a traditional long, flowing garment — stood on stage and uttered these words: “I name you Viking Sekhmet. May your passengers and crew always be safe and may you always have a hand's width of water beneath your keel.”

With that, Consoli hit a large red button that triggered the release of a bottle of Norwegian aquavit that smashed on the hull of Viking Sekhmet, half-way around the world in Luxor. The newly named ship blasted its horn and the crowd there and in Amsterdam cheered.

The next morning, he sat down with QuirkyCruise for a Q&A focused on Viking's Nile cruises.

Q: How did it feel to be selected as the godfather of an Egypt ship?

This is the pinnacle of my career. It's a big honor. I was very excited because I had just experienced Viking's Egypt product for the first time. And it's such an amazing experience. I love that the ship that's going to bear my picture is such a unique product.

Q: What were your emotions when you on the naming stage?

I'm glad I got through it without crying. I was excited and nervous because I was the first one. It was very very fulfilling. I'm very proud. And proud of my team and my clients who helped me get here.

Q: Talk about your interaction with the captain.

He didn't speak a lot of English. All he could say to me was “Sekhmet, Sehkmet.” But he was very kind. (Capt. Elway Atta and Viking Ptah Capt. Mohsen Mostafa were at the Amsterdam festivities, together with the head of Cairo's Massara Shipyard, where Viking builds its Nile vessels.) I think the captains were having the best time. They went to a stroopwafel class. (A stroopwafel is a traditional Dutch cookie that sandwiches caramel between two thin waffles.)

When we were taking pictures on the top deck, a tourist boat went by with some Egyptians and they saw Capt. Atta (in his jellabiya) and they screamed and waved.

Q: Is that what the captains wear on the ship?

Yes. One of the things they do onboard is take you to the market where you can buy your own outfit, which is not expensive. They have a party and you all dress up. It's a lot of fun.

Q: Talk about your Viking trip in Egypt.

I loved the whole Viking bubble. As soon as we got off the plane, we were met by a Viking representative, and you feel very comfortable from the beginning. You know you're going to be taken care of. Traveling to a foreign country is one thing. Traveling to a country where you don't speak the language is another. And then knowing you have to go through the visa and immigration process, somebody was there to help us with all of that. It made it very comfortable.

I invite my clients to sail with me two or three times a year and they sign up to be part of a group. It's kind of a client appreciation trip. They pay for their trip but we make it very special and unique.

On our group trip in November 2025, we took almost the entire ship; I think there were six guests onboard who who were not with us.

We were on Viking Aton, the sister to Viking Sekhmet, the same design. It has all the features of the Longships (Viking's larger European vessels) — the Aquavit Terrace, a lot of outside areas — but it's a very different ship. It has a small pool, which is unique to the Egypt ships because the others don't have them. It has a lot of public space and places to lounge. It only holds 82 passengers so it's a smaller, a more intimate setting, especially for dining.

As a surprise event for our guests, we rented out the entire Grand Egyptian Museum for four hours for them to explore. And it was a week after opening. They had been closing the doors midday because they had so many people there, and my guests got to experience it without anyone there.

We arranged it a year in advance. I don't know they would do it now that they know how popular the museum is. It was an expensive endeavor but it was something my guests have not stopped talking about.

We ended with an event in Luxor for our group at the hotel where Agatha Christie wrote “Death on the Nile.” We threw a party for them. They loved that, too.

Q: You saw some of the world's greatest historical treasures. What grabbed you?

In Cairo, the pyramids and the Great Sphinx. Those are all things we studied in school as children and you get to see those iconic landmarks. It's incredible. You get to ride a camel in front of the pyramids. Those are experiences you're never going to forget.

In Luxor, we went to the Temple of Karnak, the Valley of the Kings, Luxor Temple at night. It was incredible, the whole thing. The Egyptologist goes with you and tells you everything you're looking at and what it means.

There are three or four Egyptologists, and they travel with the group the entire time, from the moment you get to the hotel. It's the Viking experience from beginning to end.

Communication is very important, especially when you're in a country where you don't know the language. They were very good about everybody understanding what's happening: “Precisely at 7:15 tomorrow, we're doing this …”

People want that comfort level of knowing what's going on.

Q: What was the food like?

Great. It had local items and everyday things familiar to the American palate. You could be as adventurous as you wanted.

Q: Viking its own docking position in Luxor. What does that add?

They've been very strategic to have those docking locations wherever they operate. The proximity to the city makes a huge difference to the guests. In Luxor it makes a difference because they start and end in Luxor. The guest is familiar with the port the second time around.

Q: Is Egypt safe?

It's a trip where you're with a Viking guide and security team the whole time. You're not going off on your own. It's not something I would recommend. Because when you're with Viking, there's security with you and the guides, the historians — the Egyptologists — I think it's very important to stay within that bubble.

It's safe the way Viking and other tour companies do it, to stay within that bubble and not break out of it.

Q: Other cruise operators, including ocean lines like Seabourn, are going back to Egypt. It's interesting because the Middle East is in turmoil. What do you think it is about Egypt that people still feel comfortable going there?

Their tourism has always been somewhat volatile. They've overcome that by making sure the tourism has security. That's true of all the tour companies there. They're used to dealing with it.

Also, the Middle East is a huge area. You look at a map and you explain this is where Iran is, it's completely different. (Editor's note: The countries are 1,427 miles/2,297 kilometers apart as the crow flies.)

Q: What are some extra services you can provide that a person booking directly would miss out on?

With Viking we are able to look outside the Viking bubble so if a guest needs a specialized air itinerary or they want to do something in addition to what Viking offers, like a custom pre- or post-cruise experience, we're able to do that.

We can provide insurance options if they don't want to use the vendor insurance or they don't want to use the vendor. We're able to give them a comparison.

We work very hard to find the best value. And value doesn't mean price. It's what they're getting for what they're paying. Everybody has a different idea of value.

Some people love to be met at the airport, have their luggage taken care of, a car take them to the hotel, and they want to be greeted at the hotel. Some people don't see value in that. They've been around the world 50 times and are used to doing it themselves.

Everyone sees value differently and we have to find what the guest values and help them with their experience.

Q: How long is the typical Viking Egypt trip?

The “Pharoahs & Pyramids” itinerary is 12 days. With a pre- or post-cruise tour added, that would be another two or three days at the beginning and three days at the end. It can be an 18-night trip.

People love the pre- and post-cruise extensions and take advantage of these because they're not likely to go back to Egypt. Viking recently added Alexandria. It's been very popular and sold very quickly.

Travelers can also stay in Istanbul before, which is nice because it breaks up the flights a little bit. It's an eight- to 10-hour flight from the States and then from Europe to Cairo it's another five hours.

Viking's become pretty creative with the extensions they offer. Besides Alexandria and Istanbul, there's the Britain extension and Petra in Jordan. In the past, they offered Jerusalem (currently unavailable).

Q: What are a few tips for someone considering an Egypt trip?

Work with a travel advisor who knows and has been there. They're going to be able to give you their own tips and lead you in the right direction.

Go between October and March. Otherwise, it's blistering hot.

Book at least a year in advance, especially if you want to go during the months when the weather is good and bearable, because it the summer it can be 110 degrees.

Make sure to bring a lot of one dollar bills. That's what they tip with: U.S. dollars. When you go into the Valley of the Kings, for example, someone's going to hand you a fan because it's very warm in those tunnels. When you come out, you're going to want to have a dollar to give them. They're very helpful. They're a very assisting culture. You feel like you need to give them one or two dollars.

Q: What does an Egypt trip cost?

For Viking, a Nile River cruise-tour combo starts at about $5,999 per person. That is for the lowest cabin in the low season. When you go to better weather, the pricing is going to be higher. The airfare can run about $1,500 to $1,900 for economy, depending on where you're coming from. Viking only offers economy and business, and business usually starts at around $5,900 per person.

Like many of the Viking products, once you pay that, there is not much extra to pay for. For the Egypt product, most all excursions are included. The only ones you'd pay extra for is a balloon ride in Luxor, and to go to Abu Simbel, there's a flight involved.

Q: Is it worth it to add those?

For sure. The balloon is super-unique and something you're going to talk about forever. Abu Simbel is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, definitely not something to be missed.

I didn't do the balloon ride but only because it started at 4:30 in the morning. (He laughs.)

Q: I assume an Egypt trip is pretty intense?

It's well-paced but regimented. A lot of things are planned for you. You're not choosing a lot of alternate excursions.

There is a mobility limitation. If people have mobility issues, it's really not the right fit for them. It's walking up a lot of steps. In the Valley of the Kings, you're going down tunnels that are warm. At the pyramids, you're walking on sand.

Getting on camels though, is quite easy. They bend down. You've just got to get on. (He laughs.)

Q: When are you going on Viking Sekhmet?

I'm planning another trip for my friends and family and clients in 2029 because I want to be able to take the whole ship and Viking is already sold. So I have to wait and the 2029 dates have not opened yet.

Q: When it comes to other Viking trips, do you have a best-seller, or what would you recommend for a starter?

For river, I encourage people to start with the Rhine or Danube — “Rhine Getaway” (or “Romantic Danube” (each eight days) — because it gives the best flavor of river cruising. You dock right downtown and can go off and explore on your own if you want to.

For ocean, their most popular itineraries are “British Isles Explorer” (Bergen – London/Greenwich, 15 days), “Mediterranean Odyssey” (Barcelona – Venice, 13 days) and their flagship sailing is “Viking Homelands” (Stockholm – Bergen, 15 days).

Q: Are you bringing new people to cruising?

Most of our business is repeat and referral. We ask our guests to refer new people and they do. It's very organic for us. That fits our model. We are very relationship-driven, service oriented, and we want our guests to come to us for that service.

Referrals are a great way to grow the business. We want to grow the business organically, not steal a customer from one vendor to take to another. We want to grow the base of each vendor.

Q: River cruising is booming. So many companies are coming in. What are your thoughts?

There's enough business for everyone. There really is. Viking has created its own market. For their precision and the value they include, I think it is unique. They know their customer and their target market.

Celebrity coming into the marketplace is going to open river cruising for a younger, more active market. We're not stealing clients from one vendor to another. They're actually creating a different product that's going to appeal to a different demographic. And that's great for us because we're going to do more business.

Q: Are river cruisers generally older?

Everyone says Viking's affiliation with “Downton Abbey” — they were a major sponsor of the  PBS series — really catapulted the river cruise market. It also make the demographic a little bit younger. Any time you can appeal to the mass market, and that show really did, they got a lot of recognition and the growth of the industry is attributed to that affiliation.

Viking's market is retirees, educated travelers. And Celebrity's market is going to be more of that 40- to 55- to 60-year-old market, and that's great for us.

Viking obviously is our go-to. I think it's a great product for a great price. It's an excellent product. We like vendors who stand behind what they sell and Viking does that very well.

Q: Besides sailing on your Egypt vessel, what's another wish-list trip for you personally?

I have always wanted to go to Dubai. A cruise from Singapore to Dubai would be on my bucket list but that's going to require that the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf open to travel again.

Hope You Enjoyed Getting to Know Top Viking Seller Michael Consoli

If you'd like Michael Consoli's expert assistance with planning a Viking cruise-tour on Egypt's Nile River and beyond, show your interest below and he'll be glad to help you.

 

 

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