Cruising the Nile
 

My husband and I are thinking of a Nile Cruise in December. We are travelling from England and looking for a good quality ship with good european food. Never been to Egypt before. What can we expect?

Many thanks.

There are lots of threads on this board regarding travel to Egypt and Nile cruising. You can do a "search" on the top of the page under those titles, press go (on the right) and read thru the list of threads that appear. You'll find trip reports regarding hotels, boats, sites, food, etc.

These should give you an idea from those who have first hand knowledge. Also a good guidebook will give you an idea of what to expect.

As to European food? What in particular. We found the food was Continental, but it's not unusual that some boats might have an "Italian" nite, or some other ethnic-type food.

Unless you choose to go with a tour operator in the UK, you will find in the posts that come up in your search names of tour operators, many of them in-country Egyptian companies that you can contact for specifics and their prices are likely to be less expensive. It's important to note to expect prices for travel in December to be higher then other times of the year.

My husband and I took the Oberoi Philae Nile cruise this past March and it was outstanding. The boat was Edwardian in design,in pristine condition, and just beautiful with its wood panelled walls. The staff was very professional, but friendly at the same time. Each cabin has a balcony so you can sit outside your room and watch the banks of the Nile as you cruise. The food was good but not out of this world. One nice touch is they would hand you cold towelletes when you came back on board from sightseeing. Very refreshing. Oberoi Philae also has it's own dock at all the stops, so you don't have to go through 4 boats to get to shore.
I highly recommend you research your choice of boat very carefully. You will see here on Fodors many posts where people were not happy with their boat. There are over 300 boats cruising the Nile, so there are a lot of choices out there.
I agree with Sandi that you will get a better price by using an in-country Egyptian tour operator. Plus, the money then stays in Egypt and they need it so badly.
Lori

Lori,
How did you book the Oberoi Phalae? On internet? In Egypt? Travel agent?
I think Egypt is my next destination and I would like to not have to take a guided tour!
Jane

Hi Jane:

We booked the Philae through an Egyptian tour operator called Experience Egypt (www.experience-egypt.com) as part of our 2 week trip there in March. I found this company through the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism website. I don't know what the cost was, as we paid for all our hotels, etc together. Oberoi Hotels has a website and you can book the boat through there, but you will most likely get a much better price if you go through an Egyptian operator. Definately stay away from U.S. tour operators as you will surely pay twice as much. If you'd like more info, feel free to email me at [email protected].
All the best,
Lori