Nile River Cruise
 

2 married couples are planning an 8 day/7 night Nile River cruise, departing from Luxor and returning back there. I have reviewed the posts on the forums, but still have some questions. Would some of you good Fodorite Nile cruise veterans be kind enough to help with the issues noted below relating to visiting the cities/towns along the river?

1. With 3 meals a day provided onboard the boat, how many times should we plan to eat off the boat? The names of any cafes, restaurants and/or other local establishments you wish to recommend will certainly be appreciated.
2. We like to try the local food, see the local color and always like to go where the locals go, but is that something you do in Egypt, and especially along the river where we will be cruising? If so, all suggestions are welcome.
3. Even though we are in our 60s and don't stay out all night dancing, we enjoy watching the people and asorbing the local culture where ever we travel, and historically we have enjoyed doing this after touring during the day. Other than visiting the temples, sites, dams, etc., is there much happening in Luxor, Aswan, Edfu or anywhere else along our route after the tours are done or at night for us to see, or is it best just to go back to the boat and relax? Comments on what you did and enjoyed will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any responses!!!

I've been on 6 Nile cruises over the years, but not since 2010. Things are different since the revolution and subsequent unrest. Do you have a tour company already? If not, which are you considering. If you do, where are you docking? You mentioned going for meals -- do you mean while you are cruising? The boat will provide all your meals, unless you choose to skip some. But often you are cruising during the mealtime, so there wouldn't be any way you could be off the boat. The only places I can think of where you would be docked and could eat would be Luxor and Aswan. The bazaars used to be good people-watching places. I imagine they still are. I'm not at all sure what safety precautions must be taken now, since the unrest. My guess is that both Luxor and Aswan continue to be great places to stroll around in. As far as street food, I've always been told to avoid it in Egypt because of the bacteria in the water used and in the food. You might be better off stopping at a cafe and ordering tea. They usually have tables outside. Perhaps someone else will reply with more up-to-date information. Have a wonderful time. Egypt is a great place to visit ;-)

Just realized I didn't address your last question. In Luxor, Luxor Temple is a wonderful site at night. It's lit up beautifully and great to visit. The bazaar used to be open at night. Also along the corniche, where you are docked, will be some shops and cafes. I can't recall if Aswan has a similar corniche, as I usually have disembarked there, rather than being on the boat. The dahabiya I was on docked along the shore away from the city. It was great just sitting on the deck, having a drink, and looking at the stars. Often, the boats schedule some entertainment in the evening, too. That can be fun. Do you dock in Edfu? I'm thinking it might be Esna. Not much for tourists to do in either place, other than the temple visits. You will have some very early morning wake-up calls (6 or sometimes even earlier), so may not need a lot of late night entertainment!

PamR, if I can jump onto this thread with a question, I see you have done a dahabiya cruise. My wife and I are planning a trip to Egypt in the fall and are considering a 4-night dahabiya Luxor-Aswan. We decided the standard cruises were not for us, especially after seeing pictures of 4 or 5 of them docked alongside each other, like this:

http://www.pbase.com/byrontilly/image/43058098

Is the dahabiya docking always different than that scene? From your description it sounds a lot nicer!

Hi Breevesms

Second all what PamR has told you and my thinking about it is also below if it helps some ..........

"1. With 3 meals a day provided onboard the boat, how many times should we plan to eat off the boat? The names of any cafes, restaurants and/or other local establishments you wish to recommend will certainly be appreciated."

As Pam has said you shouldn't need to eat anywhere if you are having your 3 meals on the boat. There is normally plenty of stuff to choose from and you will probably end up eating more a day than you usually would back home there is so much. You can always take a bit of fruit, bread etc back to your cabin if you need a snacky thing in the night or pick up some bits from the local supermarkets. Other than that I don't think you would be looking outside for more food. Make sure you choose a good boat so you know that the food is safe and won't give you a tummy upset.

"2. We like to try the local food, see the local color and always like to go where the locals go, but is that something you do in Egypt, and especially along the river where we will be cruising? If so, all suggestions are welcome."

You can go to the local markets in Luxor or Aswan, plenty to see and do at those. Can also try some local cafe's if you wanted to try out the water pipe or strong coffees etc. Be careful though eating off boat in case you get a bad tummy as food hygiene might not be great from street sellers.

"3. Even though we are in our 60s and don't stay out all night dancing, we enjoy watching the people and asorbing the local culture where ever we travel, and historically we have enjoyed doing this after touring during the day. Other than visiting the temples, sites, dams, etc., is there much happening in Luxor, Aswan, Edfu or anywhere else along our route after the tours are done or at night for us to see, or is it best just to go back to the boat and relax? Comments on what you did and enjoyed will be appreciated."

Your cruise should have shows on at night, not big fancy cruise boat liner types of shows but entertainment all the same, like when you are in Aswan you will probably have a traditional nubian night where they do the nubian dancing, music, belly dancer and the likes, and on the other nights they usually have something going on on the boat as well to keep you entertained (and in the bar!) :-)

other than that then they have sound and light shows in Luxor and in Aswan which you can go to if you are interested in that sort of thing, or you can take a good walk around town in Luxor which has a few shopping type streets, cafe's, bars and restaurants or fast food places like mcdonalds, kfc, pizza hut.

Dahabiyas are much smaller than the cruise boats of course so you won't probably have the bigger entertainment on it that you would have on your cruise boat, but they are a real nice way to do the cruise - but much more costly. I think you are better spending the money on a better class of cruise boat, much more food options, entertainment, more people to chat to or mix with.

But it depends what you want yourself really, Dahabiya's are much more relaxing sailing and feeling a bit like agatha christie :-) but will be more expensive for what your getting on a regular cruise boat. IMO. :-)

As Pam says as well, if your going during the hotter weather you will definately start early in the morning for your trips so in the night you kind of just want to eat, have a few drinks and get to bed for the next early start.

Scotsgirl

Sorry Nelson, Dahabiya info was for you, must stop clicking submit before previewing :-)

Thanks scotsgirl, appreciate the info. We are OK with paying more for the dahabiya if it gives us the experience we are looking for. The big cruise boat scene is definitely not for us, especially after seeing photos of how they dock.

One of the options we are considering is dropping the Nile Cruise altogether so we can spend more time in Luxor, Aswan, and Abu Simbel then simply take day trips, with at least one of those being on a felucca.

Have you ever heard of anyone getting seasick on the Nile? My wife is <i>highly</i> prone, the result of inner ear damage after being struck by lightning many years ago. We think being on the Nile will be OK.

While it can be offputting seeing how the boats are lined up at Luxor or Aswan, from what I've seen... the more lux/expensive boats, have private tie-up areas at the corniche... some even away from the corniche, such as the Movenpick boats that dock at Crocodile Island where they have a lovely hotel. They offer a free shuttle bus to/from the corniche or a short inexpensive taxi.

We spent one afternoon sitting outside one of the hotels for 'sundowners' and 'people watching' - then indoors for 'afternoon tea.' Later we walked into the souk for dinner and though we got lost departing, some older men doing the hubble-bubble were glad to 'direct' us to our way out - lots of hand movement as they didn't speak English, nor we Arabic... interesting. From here we got into a caleche (horse driven carriage) to Luxor temple for the Light & Sound Show. So, if you plan properly... you can keep yourself busy.

At Aswan, the Nubian open-air museum is great and as I recall opens late afternoon when it cools somewhat. Also the bazaar here is fun.

When it comes to feluccas, have to consider the wind as during our cruise lots of them weren't going anywhere... just dead in the water. Most of them right next to our boat waiting on at minimum a breeze (hopefully :) as we didn't see any motor boats coming to rescue them.

As you'd never find me on a traditional cruise ship, the only reason I did the Nile was because the river isn't deep, water was calm though I'm sure there are times when it might have a few small waves, flat bottom boats, could see both shores (you felt you could touch them). I was sold and it was lots of fun for a few days.

We started at Aswan on return from Abu Simbel, where we spent a day sightseeing (museum/bazaar), then on board where the boat did most cruising at night when we were asleep, or when during the day while enjoying lunch... so no hanging out on shore... we'd never be able to keep up if running besides! Sightseeing on land was conducted early morning or late afternoon when it wasn't too hot. Passing thru the Esna 'locks' was quite fascinating... then we docked at Luxor and did things as mentioned above.

There were less than 100/paxs on board... a few small tour groups, others where either 2, 3 or 4/paxs (couples/friends) or small families... overall a fairly nice group from all over the world. The boat provided guides who spoke various languages, though most selected to go with English, yet we were never more than about 10-12/pax... easy enough to handle and we were provided more than enough time at sites to wander on our own.

One evening there was a Nubian Party (dress like an Egyptian, which attire could rent from the boat shop, or you could purchase some items during shore stops, i.e., gallabayas which come in all sizes/colors/styles, inexpensive and great gifts for friends/family and even kids at home) with participation by both boat crew and guest... lots of laughs.

One women from a tour group took ill, nothing serious... but it wasn't seasickness, maybe something to do with the meds she was taking, and she was fine the next morning. They had a great tour leader whom I actually met up with a few years later where he had a group in Kenya for safari... you just next know?

sandi, thanks for your enjoyable travelogue, sounds like a fun trip. I'd like to do the Dahabiya cruise, seems like a classic journey to make in Egypt, but my wife is a little less sure. We have some time to decide, either way it should be great being in the area!

Since I started this, thanks to everyone for the input.

Another question now. I have reviewed the 4 night and 7 night itineraries departing from Luxor. The 4 night ends at Aswan while the 7 night returns to Luxor from Aswan. For those choosing the 7 day cruise, do you feel that the extra 3 nights going back from Aswan to Luxor was time well spent?

Again, thanks for any responses!!!

I'll be curious to hear the answers as well. I can't imagine why anyone with limited time in Egypt would choose a 7 night cruise. You repeat the same sites on the river, and you never get away from the boat food. For both of those reasons I'd be wanting off after a maximum of 4 days. There is SO much more to see in Egypt, be it in the desert, or on the Red Sea. And....food should be experienced here. It can be so good, and so much better than buffet boat food.

Having said that, there are one or two boats that actually don't do every meal as a buffet, but still, there is so much variety to try, I say, get off the boat and enjoy the rest of Egypt. :)

Sorry I haven't checked back here. Lots of knowledgeable people contributing! Love to see that. Personally, I could be happy cruising along the Nile for the rest of my life, getting off at times to explore ancient sites! It is such a wonderful experience, except for one thing -- and that is/was the fact that you could not get away from a string of 50 or so large boats traveling alongside you. When you docked, you very well might be docked in a stack of 4 or so boats, so you have to walk through each one to get to shore! I once lay down for an afternoon nap, sunlight reflected off the water, dancing on my face. Woke up to see my window facing another boat's window, and someone inside their cabin looking out at me! Perfect way to ruin a cruise. BUT now that tourism in Egypt is so limited, I understand there are very few boats along the Nile, so my guess is your experience would be like it was in the "old days". Re the dahabiya, they generally dock in different places. One of the pleasures is they can dock in areas where a larger boat couldn't. Thus you can experience much more. An important thing is to have a good guide. My dahabiya tour was with Kent Weeks, a noted archaeologist. I wish such an experience for anyone who loves Egypt. I don't know if any good tour operator currently is giving dahabiya tours, but you could check -- AWT is one company that had one last year. (They are out of England.) Another thing to consider -- there used to be a "long cruise" from Cairo to Aswan, or vice versa. It hasn't been offered for many years. Sailing along the Nile in uncrowded parts, where all you see are birds, people fishing on the shores and working the fields, and ancient graffiti on cliffs ... is a most wonderful experience. AWT is currently offering that cruise. (I went on one AWT tour and would recommend them.) Sorry to be going on for so long, but you can see how much I value the Nile river sail. Everyone is different, of course. Best wishes.

Thanks for the info PamR. It all sounds like fun except for stack of boats! When we saw those picture that became a show-stopper for us. The dahabiya option still sounds OK.

I'll share your response with my wife.

Nelson, I was remembering all the good things about the dahabiya cruise, and forgot the one really bad thing. The dahabiya did not sail but was pulled by a motor boat alongside it. This made for noise and fumes. We were told that the fumes were due to a faulty engine, but they didn't have another boat to replace the one. This may or may not have been true! I would check about whether this would be the case with your company. We were told the government did not permit dahabiyas to sail under their own power, because they could get stuck and tie up traffic on the Nile. Again, may or may not be true. Even though we were disappointed about this, and not pleased with the noise and fumes, I had forgotten all about it, since being on the dahabiya was so great otherwise. Just something for you to consider.

Thanks PamR. I actually watched a YouTube video of a dahabiya being pulled by a motor boat and wondered about exactly what you point out: possibility of noise and fumes. Still, there's no question we'd prefer that than a typical cruise boat, but it bears taking into account.

Skipping the cruise all together and spending more time staying put longer in a Luxor/Aswan hotels has appeal. So we'll see - my wife has final say in some of this - but having this good information is important.

Thanks.

PamR - I LOVE that you "get" that what you were told, "may or may not be true". That pretty much occurs a lot here.
Before I ever moved here, my sister told me that Egyptians will tell you what they think you want to hear, and that is so true.
It's very cool that you had such a great time over all though that you had completely forgotten the one really ugly side of the dahabayia portion. The good part over rode that so well, it seems!