Which Egypt/Nile Cruise line?
 

I just read that there are 100 or so cruises that go to Luxor, Aswan, etc. Which is the best for a 5 or so day cruise?

Cruises are usually 3 nights (Aswan to Luxor) or 4 nights (Luxor to Aswan) or 7 nights (Aswan to Aswan/Luxor to Luxor).

You see the same sites on the 3 night cruise and the 4 night cruise - apparently there is a law about the minimum number of nights for a cruise (3) but it only takes one night to actually cruise from Aswan to Luxor so it's really just a floating hotel, sitting at the dock in Aswan or Luxor.

By "best" do you mean most luxurious? There is a rating system that is pretty universal (I think) from 4 star to 5 star ++ - here's an interesting website that has more info on cruises.

http://www.ask-aladdin.com/cruisetips.htm

We were on the Oberoi Philae in January 2008 - really enjoyed it and can recommend it.

The 7/nt doesn't necessarily have to be Aswan/Aswan or Luxor/Luxor, some go north of Luxor to the temples at Abydos and Dendera.

I still want to know why anyone that hasn't been here before would waste 3 or 4 perfectly good nights repeating the same trip? There is so much to see!

Casual Cairo, I guess I don't understand your point. I am in the beginning stages of planning a trip and any help would be much appreciated.
I thought we could fly to Cairo, spend 3 or so nights there. Take the train to Aswan, fly to Abu Simblel, then the cruise to Luxor. If there is a better idea, I'd love to hear it.

Huh? Is there a cruise line now that goes from Abu Simbal to Aswan and then to Luxor? I don't think so. There may be some that come from Abu Simbal and dock south of the dam, then more that go from downtown Aswan to Luxor. If you are doing that, that might be an interesting trip.
What I was talking about are the people that go north from Aswan to Luxor on one cruise, and then turn around and repeat the same trip back to Aswan right away. What a waste unless the cruise is free and you've seen EVERYTHING else in Egypt already.

I believe as koryandleslie writes, they will
-train from Cairo to Aswan
-from Aswan fly to Abu Simbel
-fly from Abu Simbel to Aswan
-board boat in Aswan and cruise to Luxor
then assume train (or fly) to Cairo/homebound

that makes sense and what many do.

Believe what Casual_Cairo meant and I agree, unless you have plenty of time and money, doesn't make sense to spend a 7/day cruise going up/down the Nile stopping/visiting the same sites/temples.

The 3 or 4/nt cruises are more than sufficient between Aswan/Luxor or Luxor/Aswan. Though not all days/nights are crusing, some are spent overnight in Luxor or Aswan.

Thanks Sandi. That's what I meant. Just wondering if that would work.

No 7 night, just a 4 or so night. There is a 6 night I may be interested in on Oberoi Philae.

Just trying to get the paramaters set.
Thanks again!
koryandleslie

You know there are many varities of a cruise down the Nile.

If you cruise from Luxor to Aswan and then ( after flying to Abu Simble and back to Aswan) ..you might cruise back to Luxor and then

from Luxor fly to Cairo.

This would mean crusing from Luxor to Aswan and then turning around and crusing back to Luxor...BUT

what this back and forth cruise entails is that on your way from Luxor to Aswan....you miss stopping at say, Edfu and or Kom Ombo...and then on the way back you stop off at these two places.....

this is done for a more relaxing,slower paced cruise and you have 1 or 2 days where you just slowly cruise the Nile.

In the travel brochures there are so many permutation and combination that it can get confusing at times.

Good Luck.

Having just survived a Texas-style Homecoming weekend......what I wouldn't GIVE to be on a 7-day cruise of the Nile.

Calgon....take me AWAY..........................

:)

Hey Grcxx3, I'm just a few hours north of you. Deep E-Tex!

Here's what I'm looking at.......is it too much for a cruise? Hitting the high points here, leaving lots out.

Arrive Cairo, 3 nights here. Giza, shopping, museum, Red pyramids, etc. Then train to Aswan. Fly to Abu Simbel. Tour it, fly back to Aswan. Board boat in Aswan and sail to Luxor. Fly back to Cairo and then fly home.

Here's the cruise:
Ship: Oberoi Philae

Board in Aswan
See the dam, sail to Komombo, see temple. Sail to Edfu, see temple
Sail to Essna, see the locks
Go to West Banks (Valley of Q & K)
Visit Karnak and Luxor Temples (overnight in Quina)
Temple of Dendera
Disembark in Luxor

Suggestions?

Just a quick question - why "train it" to Aswan and then fly to Abu Simble? Why not just fly to Abu Simbel?

Oh - and the Oberoi Philae is one of the best!

I guess I didn't think of that. So, I could do a few days in Cairo, fly from there to Abu Simbel, then faly to Aswan to catch the cruise. Once I get to Luxor, how should I get back to Cairo? A train would be something different. Is that a choice here, or should I do air also?

Is all of this too much for about 12 days?

Can you tell me about the Oberoi Philae? Is it worth it?

The train from Cairo to Aswan is an overnight. There are advantages to that. No idea about Luxor to Cairo.

If you look into tour company websites , they'll give you an idea of what is doable in 12 days. Trafalgar, Tauck and iexplore all do some nice trips (I'm not a tour kinda girl, but I use them for ideas all the time!)

I am also interested in a small ship for a Nile cruise. Any info on the Philae or other small ships would be helpful. Looking at the Nile Adventurer, too.

Personally, I had no desire to take a train in Egypt, but many have and have been pleased. If you do a search on here (Egypt + trains or something similar), you should come up with several threads. I always preferred to fly. Just easier, especially with kids in tow.

We were on the Oberoi Shaharazah, which I'm not sure is still sailing. Our boat was wonderful, but at the time, the Philae was THE boat to be on among my friends. We were traveling with family visiting from the US, and they didn't want to spend the extra $$. So, I can't tell you anything from personal experience - just that my pickiest of friends loved it!

You've probably already checked this out - but here is a website for it.

http://www.oberoiphilae.com/Hotel/Ga...Downloads.aspx

I'd also fly CAI to Abu Simbel. Sometimes the plane stops at Aswan, but more often most of the paxs are going to AS so the flight is straight on. Plane often waits at AS for the paxs to tour the site then flies them back to Aswan where you board your Nile cruise boat. Likewise, from Luxor, I'd fly back to CAI.

You can certainly do what you indicate in 12/days.

The Philae is the premier ship of the Oberoi line, Shaharazad is next. Believe Oberoi has 3/boats. Sonesta also has about three boats, with one of them being the newest (don't recall the name). If you want a real small boat, with only about 25/cabins, there are a few, but these do tend to be a bit more expensive. Movenpick, which has a number of lovely hotels in Egypt (CAI, LUX and ASW), also has a few quality boats on the Nile.

I know there is a list of the various boats that ply the Nile, but (sorry) you'll have to do a search for that site.

We really enjoyed the Oberoi Philae - here's a link to our blog with some pics

http://lizandrichardsa.typepad.com/l...c_nile_cruise/

It has been 5 years since I was on the Philae so can't give you an update on the ship. I believe Oberoi has a newer ship now plus the other two.

We did a tour with Maupintour which included a 6 night cruise. There were only 7 of us with the same guide going with us the whole trip. It was great when we got to the attractions where the lineups were very bad and he was able to go to the front and get tickets for us. I absolutely loved the whole trip. Cruising was so enjoyable and we never visited the same place twice. I just checked their current price and it is $4,600 for 15 days including on tour flights although we drove back and forth to Alexandra. Their website says "independent" now so not sure what that entails.

One thing to consider is that some companies have single-ship docking like Oberoi. Others are stacked side by side and might total four ships. If you are on the outside you have to walk through the others or you might be in the middle with a ship on either side of you. I would think that would be very unpleasant and might be something to check out. Happy planning!

We want a wonderful Nile cruise through Travel in Style out of San Fran. Highly recommend - terrific service, outstanding boat and great guides!

We cruised on the Sonesta St George from Aswan to Luxor. The ship is very good and it's the newest of Sonesta ships.The service and meals were also excellent. An advantage is that it has private docks at both Aswan and Luxor.
Sonesta has other ships of different prices. You can check their web site.