HIRING A CRUISE BY THE NILE (TIPS AND EXPERIENCE)

You want to navigate the legendary waters of the Nile but you don't know where to start hire a cruise on the Nile? In this post we are going to tell you about our experience and we try to help you decide what best suits your tastes.

Each travel package to Egypt offered by the agencies includes the Nile cruise. That said, it may seem very touristy and away from a real trip, and in part it is true, because the river is filled with these eighty cruises loaded with foreigners. However, even then it is still a special experience.

Sail for a few days along the legendary Nile River, float slowly over its waters, see how life unfolds on both sides, visit millenary temples, contemplate sunrises and sunsets from the deck ... For us it is highly recommended.

OK. But what is the best cruise on the Nile? For me the answer is: all XD since they all offer exactly the same. All you have to do is choose what type of cruise you want, depending on the budget you have, of course. Surely if you have in mind to do so you will be invaded by a lot of doubts, so in this post we will summarize what exactly this trip consists of according to our experience and we give you a few tips for hiring a cruise on the Nile. Spoiler: you're going to have a pipe!

We traveled in December and we thought it was a great time: it is very hot during the day, without being overwhelming. Of course, in the mornings and evenings a coat is almost mandatory. Therefore, the best time would be between november and february. In the rest of the months, and especially in summer, temperatures can be a big problem, reaching almost 50 degrees! Of course, we do not touch the pool!

If you do not travel with an agency package from Spain you have two options when hiring the cruise: do it online or at the port. Our recommendation is online! They told us that it can be quite an odyssey to do it at the port, between commission agents and scammers. Civitatis sells cruises with Dunas Travel, the local agency we travel with and our experience, taking away the cons that we have below, was positive. The 4-night one costs € 250 and you can hire it here.

Super tip: it is best to book the cruise that includes Abu Simbel, this way the excursion will cost you € 60 instead of € 70. So for € 310 you will have the 4 nights cruise with the excursion to Abu Simbel. Believe me, you will not regret it!

They are larger than we imagined, although the bed may be a bit fair for tall people (it is not our case haha). You can choose between rooms with a double bed or two single beds, and they have a bathroom (with a fairly large shower and a shower of those for massages), a fridge, a table with chairs, flat screen TV, air conditioning, and most importantly: a super window which opens from which you can enjoy the views while browsing (all rooms have it).

Tip: it is best to try to be on the top floor (third or fourth) and as far as possible from the boat (the smaller numbers), to be away from the engines. For example room 401 would be the perfect one (we only consider the numbering of our ship)

There are of different categories (5 standard stars, 5 luxury stars, 5 great luxury stars). Ours, Miss Egypt, was a standard 5 star but it really was better than we expected. We pass through several reception rooms and, in general, they are all very similar (you should see the rooms and the food service).

Ours had 5 floors: in the one below (1) is the restaurant, in the main one (2) the reception and a few rooms, the 3rd floor was only for rooms (it is where we were), the 4 was destined to a bar where shows and parties are held at night (in addition to more rooms) and on the 5th floor is the deck, with a bar, swimming pool, jacuzzi and tables and sunbeds where you can take the sun and see life on the Nile.

Has it been the best cruise on the Nile? For us yes 🙂

There are 4 meals: breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. All are included in packages except drinks. Even if you don't worry, the budget won't shoot for this. Below we put the photo of the menu (as you see, the prices are correct). € 1 = 20LE

• The breakfast It is buffet and has salty hot dishes, cold dishes, sweets, eggs, cereals and fruits. There are also juices (bad ones, those of dusts), coffee and tea. It is served from 07am. In the event that you have to hit the early morning of life, they will give you a bag with water, juice, a few rolls, jam, olives, fruits and sweets.
• The food It is served at 13 and consists of a free buffet with veal, chicken, fish, vegetables, salads, cheeses, pasta and quite a variety of desserts.
• At 16 on the deck they serve coffee and tea with biscuits. It's great to go because it's the most amazing views ... stay until sunset, it's worth it!
• The Dinner It is at 20 and offers the same food options, there is always a plate of chicken, another of veal, another of fish and another of vegetables. Besides, there is a salad buffet, a couple of hot soups and a dessert buffet (obviously the dishes are different from those at noon, although the same ingredients are often reused and we think it's great).

In general the Food quality It is not to shoot rockets, yes, there is enough variety, so you will always find something to your liking. Come on, hunger you will not pass. We do not know if it was for food or water (we brush our teeth with tap water) but we got pretty bad from the gut, and like us a few more from the group. Take fortasec with you and primperan in case the "revenge of the pharaoh" is dyed on you XD

We did it from Luxor to Asuan and the truth is that we recommend: ending Abu Simbel is the icing on the cake! Although most likely you will get a championship early morning: we woke up at 1.30am and at 5am we were already there, before dawn (from Aswan it is about 3 hours by bus through the desert).

Doing the opposite means that the cruise lasts one day less and visits are concentrated in less time.

Most cruises include the same visits. These are:

• In Luxor we visit: the Karnak temple, the Luxor temple, the Valley of the Kings, the Hatshepsut temple and the menmon colossi.
• In Edfu: The temple of Edfu.
• In Kom Ombo: the temple of Kom Ombo.
• In Aswan: Abu Simbel * and the Temple of Philae.

In this post we will talk in more detail about the best temples in Egypt.

* Abu Simbel is not always included, it depends on the package you hire. As we anticipated before it is better to try to be included since the excursion is expensive: it is 300 km from Aswan! If your cruise does not include it, they will probably offer it during the course of the trip, but at quite high prices. You can hire it here for € 70.

Every night they also organize something. What if costume party, what if belly dance, if you dance dervishes. Although we, between dying of sleep, that we were ill and that we had to get up early, we missed them all. We are sosainers that you don't see.

Yes, yes and yes. The early morning was brutal: we woke up at 1.30 am and after about 3 hours of traveling through the desert (we all took the pillow to sleep, so the desert did not even see it), we were the first to enter. A point to thank the guide, at first it may bother you a little sleeping, but then the reward was brutal. We entered the temple at night, practically alone and saw the sunrise there ... it was brutal.

Is the excursion expensive? Yes. But surely you have a way to save those € 70 because believe us: you will not regret it.

They also offered us optional excursions: Luxor night tour (€ 12), but as it was done in a buggy we decided NOT to sign up. Tour through the Nubian village In Aswan (€ 45), we did not do so either because it included a camel ride and home visit with crocodiles as “pets”, and Aswan night tour (€ 10) This we did, it consisted of a bus tour with stops in a mosque, in a Coptic church, in a spice shop (we had been told that it was an example market) and stopped in a cafeteria where we had tea and We smoke shisha (included in the price).

In Luxor there were those who made the balloon flight (we were not even raised since we were late), and we are sure that it is an unforgettable experience. It is also not very expensive: on the way back we control prices on the internet and we saw that in Get your Guide you can hire for € 65. Carla and Adrián de la Maleta de Carla did it and they loved it (no wonder hehe).

The truth is that we do not know how to tell you for sure ... having tried only the "cheap". Of course, keep in mind that most of the time you will be hiking or enjoying the atmosphere of the deck: we use the room almost exclusively for showering and sleeping! In our opinion if you want to save something, hiring the cheapest cruise is a good option, and allocate that part of the money to do more activities and excursions.

When we went, in the middle of the high season, there were 3 groups on the cruise. Ours of about 15 people, another more or less equal and another smaller. There were almost more staff, including waiters, housekeeping and guides than passengers. As a result of the attacks that Egypt suffered, tourism dropped considerably and it seems that it is starting to rise now. They told us that there was a time when there were hundreds of cruises on the Nile, now they don't reach 30. The time we saw more ships docked in a port, there were 9.

We were very lucky with the group that touched us, there was a good roll and the people were very nice ... the truth is that it does a lot!

Only in one temple did we have the feeling of being too many tourists at the same time. It was in Kom Ombo, and it is famous for watching the sunset from here, so we were all in the same place at the same time.

As always there are good things and others that are not so much ... In general we believe that doing a Nile cruise It is very worthwhile, and when measuring on a scale, the pro weigh much more than the counter. Let's see them one by one:

Pros:

Price. If you calculate that the price of the cruise is € 250 (4 nights) and that it includes all meals, accommodation, tickets, guided tours in Spanish, transfers ... it comes out very, very well priced!

Transfers: By having all the visits contracted and the transfers included you will avoid eating your head haggling and finding someone to take you to your destination.

Guides: something that surprised us a lot is that in the temples there was no possibility of hiring local guides, as for example it can be done in all the archaeological sites of Mexico. If you want to visit the temples of Egypt with a guide, you must first take care of finding it. Come on, having a guide included was a luxury (and one less problem).

Navigation: Now just to navigate along one of the most legendary rivers in the world, this cruise is worth it! By the way, if you are worried about dizziness, you can rest assured: you hardly notice that the ship is moving.

Cons:

Quick visits: it is what we liked least, having a fixed schedule to meet and many visits on the same day ... In several temples we had very little free time and of course, that reduces the charm of the visits.

Guide: Here is a matter of luck. We really didn't have it very good. Our guide did not look very motivated and, fortunately, before the trip we had read a lot about the history of the country and about the temples we would visit. Of course we learned things with him, but not as much as we would have liked. However, with us it was always nice and correct, but it was not cut at the time of putting some ladies in strips :-p There was even someone who asked to change groups. We repeat, it is a matter of luck ... Other guides of the same company were much more coiled.

Dumb stops: 20 free minutes at the Karnak temple, but on the way to the Valley of the Kings we stop at a craft store for more than half an hour, pereeeeza. For us this was a weak-loose point. Nor did we like that, on the Aswan night excursion, we were told that we would stop at a spice market and the market turned out to be a shop (called Karefur haha). It is also true that there you know new things and it is another experience. And I piqued in the perfume museum (museum = shop) and now I am perfumed as Cleopatra haha.

The general tips of the cruise are already paid with the rates that you will have to pay on arrival (if you travel with an agency package). If you hire the cruise separately through a website, the general tips are usually € 25. It does not hurt that you leave a tip to the waiter who has attended you every day or to the housekeeping staff if you think they deserve it.

What is not included here is the amount of tips for the guide that accompanies you every day. There we read that they are between € 5 and € 10 per person per day. All the members of our group decided to give a unique envelope with everyone's tips. This is quite personal and depends on how it has been worked out (both in the explanations, and in the level of involvement with the group, problem solving, etc ...).

So far our experience in what for us has been the best cruise on the Nile. Sure, ours hehe. If you have more questions do not hesitate to leave us a comment. We know that such a trip has many unknowns, but the most important thing is that it will be an unforgettable experience, one of the best you can live in Egypt.