I think that, after much debate, we have decided that we are going to be brave and book a Nile Cruise and Stay in Egypt. Can anyone please let me know which company they would recommend for a top quality nile cruise - have looked at some of the boats with Thomas Cook and they look really good.

Thanks for your help

Hi Presto2
While you are waiting for a more specific answer have you looked at the various reviews HERE they may give you some help.

I haven't been one any of their boats but I believe that the cruise boats operated by Movenpick are very good, I know their hotel in Luxor is very nice and of a high standard.

http://movenpick-nilecruises.com/index.html

Regards
Graham

We are thinking of taking my 89 year old mother on a nile cruise. Are any of the trips suitable for the partially abled? My brother (who is paying) insists on luxury. Any ideas will be welcome.

The Valley of the Kings is all ramp access as far as I can remember, although I think that Hatchepsut's palatial tomb may solely be up steps... tbh it's the view of the sheer size of it that's amazing. As for the temples, most of them have flat paths for entry as far as I remember... eg Karnak (amazing place) is almost all on one level.

I've only been from Luxor to Aswan and up to Dendera, so I couldn't tell you about anything in Lower Egypt (eg Cairo, etc). Also, we're all fairly able-bodies so TBH I wouldn't notice if anything was particularly difficult... I do remember seeing wooden ramps though.

ETA I'm assuming that if the person is partially-abled, the tour operator may be able to provide a wheelchair for assistance. You'd obviously need to check. It's very hot, particularly for the elderly, so it would definitely be advisable for someone who isn't too steady on their feet.

hi presto
im probably too late, but we did a nile cruise and stay last year. One week on the Nile and another in Hurghada. Now i loved it. We stayed on the Nile Marquis, which is one of the older boats. You may want to avoid this one if you are looking for luxury. However it was very clean the food was ok and the staff were lovely.

When we parked up we did pass through some newer boats and i did try to make a mental note of the names, my age has got me though i forgot them!! The boats are all similar, just some newer than others. Just don't expect world cruise type luxury though, these are river boats.

We have booked to go back again in April and to be honest i would have used the same boat again but couldn't find it so have booked on the etoile du nil. I suppose as the saying goes you get what you pay for and last year we got a cruise, full board, inclusive of trips on the upper deck. Plus a week all inclusive in Hurghada and only paid £570 per person. This year we have paid just a little more £629 which i still think isnt half bad for the price.

Another tip, yes you may get a jippy tummy..........but don't bother with the immodium, just go to the chemist and get some antenol (i think that is what they were called) one tablet immediately and another 6 hours later. My son's had cleared before he even took the 2nd tablet. Also the food.........bear in mind you are in egypt, its not like spain and the food is not always very hot. We stayed in 3 different accomodations last year and one was very high class and they were all the same, however, my cheeky son told me on the last day his meals were all hot because he took his food from the centre of the turin...........over the burner........of course!!! why did i not think of that

Thanks for that Lotty!

No you are not too late! We haven't got sorted yet - still not hundred percent sure of what to do!

Decisions, decisions !

Thanks for the info - all help appreciated!

Hiya all. Has anyone been on ms Orchid with first choice because we are going in October for our 30th anniversary, Then we are going to Cairo for 2 nights at Intercontinental Pyramids Park , Then jollie villi Luxor for 5 nights, If so when you embarked on the Orchid did they give you a drink and did you get something to eat or was it to late. And when your cruise finished did anyone go on to a resort if yes what time did you leave the boat did you have to wait around for hours or did they make it so you could go straight to your resort. What was the entertainment like on the boat was there something on every night or was it just an egyptian night. I would appreciate any input.
Thanks Eilean

eilean
I havn't been on the boat youare going on but they seem to be similar itineries. We landed at Luxor airport around tea time, we were took straight to the boat and we had time to wash and change before going for tea. After tea we went to the welcome meeting where we were given drinks. We had our second week in Hurghada and there were no problems at all, we had breakfast on the boat and the bus picked us up at lunch time. Some people who were going to Cairo from the boat flew early morning to Cairo I don't know if your's will be a similar flight time.
Entertainment on the boat we had the Egyptian night which was really good fun, we bought galybayos off the boat which were dead cheap. Another night they had Nubian dancers and another belly dancers. To be honest though nights on the boat were quite low key, I don't know if that was down to the time of year. We went in march and there were a lot of older travelerrs on the boat. Also some of the trips set off quite early in the morning so I guess people wanted to get off to sleep.
Hope this info helps you

Hi Eilean

I have been on this boat and have a review on THIS page, and there is also another review a couple of posts above mine.

I have some picture of the MS Orchid and they can be found HERE

Also take a look at these 2 posts on another site that has a lot of info on the FC Nile cruises

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g1-i10703-k999442-First_Choice_Nile_cruise_on_M_S_Orchid-Cruises.html

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g294205-i9426-k1569153-Cruise_with_First_Choice-Luxor_Nile_River_Valley.html

You will probably have to wait until lunchtime before going on to your hotel stay in Luxor, the hot air balloon flights for those that are going on them are on the Monday morning and you have to wait until the passengers return before anybody gets transferred.
On the subject of balloon flights I would highly recommend you do one, it is fantastic. If you are going to take a flight read my review & posts for information on booking them.

You will get a drink and also a hot towel to refresh yourself when you arrive on board the ship.

Yes there is some form of entertainment on every night.

We enjoyed our trip so much last year we are going back in January to do the cruise and stay in Luxor again.

If you want any more info just ask
Graham

Hi I am one day thinking of going on a Nile cruise, not this year due to family ill health but I shall prob go in next few years and would be going prob on my own, dreading the single supps i know il find when it comes to booking.

Does anyone know what the food would be like for a vegan? I dont eat any meat/fish/dairy/eggs etc... Im guessing id be living on salad and rice? Just wondering if it is going to be a major problem being vegan on a Nile cruise?

Thanks

Hi eilean when in October are you doing the Cruise and Stay,

Im doing the exact same trip with First Choice as you, one week on the Orchid, 2 nights at the Intercontinental Pyramids Park in Cairo then 5 nights at the Jolie Ville in Luxor, Departing from Gatwick on 13 October.

I have been trying to find info about this for ages, i have read about the cruise and it sounds great and saw the jolie ville on my last stay in Luxor i just dont know anything about the Cairo part of it such as time of arrival in Cairo and excursions offered by First Choice in Cairo.

suzie.

Hiya Suzie
Sorry we won't see you Suzie because we are going on the 27th October, We are also looking forward to going can't wait it can't come soon enough. Does anyone know how much it is for a pint of lager at the Jollie Villi, We are half board I hope the food is ok Thanks everyone for replying to me. Eilean

Hi,we are thinking of booking nile cruise and stay sept.Please has any one been on the ms lady mary and also stayed at the steigenberger nile palace in luxor.interested to know whether upgrading to ai on the boat is worth it and what the food was like ,thank you Hassie
ps 50th birthday so want some thing special.

hiya
i have just this minute been looking at ai nile boats for my parents who want to go same time as us. Personally if you are fb i wouldnt bother upgrading its not ai all the time like in the hotels. its really strange, you get your drinks only while the boat is sailing 3 days when its moored you only get them at meal times. and even on the 3 days its just until some strange time not all night. we were full board last year and again this year. food is ok usually something for all tastes. drinks can be pricey but between u and me a lot of people on our boat took their own from duty free and just bought a can of coke or whatever to mix it. they must have been before ha ha. beer was approx £2.50 for a can. not sure about wine and spirits. hope this helps you

Thank you lotty 944,have all ready booked and upgraded now.We have booked the ms lady mary and nile palace.Not going until september but needed to sort dates out for work.I'm sure we'll get our monies worth was
£49 to upgrade.Thanks again hassie

I was due to go on a NIle Cruise wiith First Choice last year but had to cancel at the last moment due to a serious illness. We made another attempt a few weeks ago. Be very very careful indeed when booking with First Choice. They operate TWO boats and it make a BIG difference which boat you are allocated to.

I have just(well on 3rd March) returned from a Nile Cruise with First Choice. Like many others FC do not let you know what ship you are booked onto until arrival at Luxor. After my experiences from the trip I would recommend that you do find out what ship-- it is important for a few reasons.
I will not go into which boat is better etc- I'll leave that to another day to discuss that

My wife and I were allocated the M/S Tulip on an AI basis. Both the Tulip and Orchid were moored up by each other in Luxor.
The Orchid left that evening for the lock at Esna and probably arrived early(very sensible indeed!) to be at the front of the queue to go through the lock.
The Tulip for some unknown reason to me at the time left at 0615hrs the following morning. Thus arriving at Esna Lock about 10am at the back of a very long queue. We eventually went through the lock at 0630hrs the following morning. As a consequence of this all our excursions were out of synch so to speak. The Orchids excursions were as it was as shown on the FC website. The Tulip's should have been exactly the same!
What this actually meant, and the Egyptologist who takes over as FC Rep on the Tulip could not explain why, was that the last and main excursion to the Valley of the Kings etc was done on Monday morning the day of departure. Anyone who has done a Cruise will know that this can be a very tiring excursion. More importantly to me and many other FC passengers on board, we were then NOT able to do the balloon trip which so many of us were looking forward to.
On that Monday morning every FC passenger on the excursion(mostly all of us- about 40) were given a call at 0500am to leave at 6am. All our luggage had to be packed and left outside the cabin by 6am. Breakfast had to be had before 6am. We arrived back at the boat at 1230pm after being rushed along during the morning. Lunch was available then. About three cabins were put aside for all of us to share etc to wash/shower and change. All our luggage though was out in the reception area. To be fair that was well organised by the very good on-board staff. The bus came to take us to the airport at 3.30pm.

Nearly evryone was annoyed by having the West Bank trip on the last day. Many like myself were driving back home from Gatwick. The last day, as advertised on the FC website itinerary for the trip, was supposed to be relaxing-- rubbish! I was completely knackered driving home to Wales.

The FC Rep, who spent ALL her time on the Orchid was noticeable by her absence on the Tulip.

If anyone is booked on the Tulip I would suggest you make completely sure with FC when the boat leaves Luxor. If they cannot then on arrival at Luxor make a big fuss with the FC Rep abouit what time the boat will leave. It is very very important.
Spending more or less a whole day in the queue at Esna was not a nice experience. You could actually taste the diesel fumes inside the ship that built up.The other excursions were OK. My wife and I actually spent a few hours at the Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan watching the sun go down.
We are going back to Luxor later in the year under our own staem, so to speak. We are going to stay in an Egyptian style hotel on the West Bank away from the maddening crowds. It is so much nicer to stay on that side.

We visited Edfu Temple of the way to Aswan. When we reached Aswan a few of the passengers actually leave the boat. More groups are booked on the Tulip from Aswan to Luxor. Personally, that is where it all falls down. The Tulip is more interested in waiting for paying passengers than keeping to a schedule. I would not be surprised if that is why it always leaves Luxor very late. The orchid does not have that problem as it is fully booked the whole trip with FC passengers. That must be better.
The ship then stopped again at Edfu on the way back to Luxor for the new passengers to do the trip. More time lost here as well.
The entertainment, if one can call it that. Ok- it wasn't too bad on the way to Aswan but it is then duplicated for the new passengers on the way back. This is when it all fell very flat. The 2nd galabaya evening was a complete disaster as was the 'staff' show. The new passengers were Japanese and USA based Indians who had no 'get and go' for the evenings.
The plus sides of being on the Tulip. WE got to know nearly all the FC passengers(about 40 of us) very well indeed. We all went on the excursions together.
The food on the Tulip was in my opinion, very good indeed. I think most passengers agreed with this. The staff were absolutely excellent.
We were actually moored up against the Orchid at Luxor on our departure. I over heard some of their passengers, who were looking around the Tulip, saying that it appeared a better looking boat especially the bar area. I looked around the Orchid and did agree. having said that- it is the staff and fellow passengers that make it for me. AND of course -- the schedule.
I am sure the food and staff were equally as good on the orchid.
One really sour thing which was very distasteful. The Egyptologist who doubled up as a FC Rep on the Tulip, was 'on the make big style'. Future Tulip passengers NEED to be aware of this. He will NOT book you on any excursions unless you pay a supplement of £7 , that is UK £'s!, EACH-- not per couple or cabin but EACH. Apparently, according to him, it is for tipping the drivers. He said it would make it much easier for ourselves. Hi did not mention that it probably did not do him any harm either. He collected probably £UK 250plus!!!! just to tip the odd driver! Do me a favour!!!
I did see him from time to time slip the driver some money but it was no more that EL50. As 'Del Boy' would say-- 'He had a nice little earner'.

On our return to the UK my wife was admitted to hospital for 5 days with heatstroke and dehydration. The hectic schedule on the last two days , did, in my view, contribute to my wife's illness.

I have written a letter of complaint to First Choice highlighting all what I have pointed out above. I wonder if I will get a reply?

We are going with first choice on October 27th, I think our boat will be the Orchid we did phone first choice up but they are arn't very helpful can you tell me if you can get snacks and drinks on AI any time of the day, Were the costumes for the Egytian nights expensive and can you get them in all sizes.
Eilean

Hi Eilean,

I assume that the AI is the same on Orchid as it was on the Tulip.

Snacks on our boat were served from 10am to 11am in the bar and from 3pm to 4pm up on deck. This generally was tea/coffee and small cakes. Quite nice though.

Costumes for the galabaya evening can be purchased on the boat but they are obviously more expensive. At least you can take them back to your cabin and try them on etc before deciding to buy. I bought a nice 'outfit' consisting of two pieces wita Fez-- they said it was the 'King Farouk' look. I paid £10uk for mine. He wanted £15 but I knocked him down a bit. You can still do the haggling on the boat regardless of what the Rep may tell you! My wife's was a bit more expensive at £15 but it was very nice and probably the best they had. They wanted £18 at first. We both liked our costumes and will look after them to use on fancy dress etc or take them on a cruise again!

Of course you can buy these probably much cheaper from the stalls or from the boats that come nearby when at Esna Lock. The problem with that is you may want to try a few on but you can feel the pressure from all that. I saw some people's galabayas that were bought from the boat people and they looked small or too large etc. I would say if I did manage to get exactly the same costumes for me and my wife from the boat people we would have paid about half of what we had paid. Depends on the hassle and stress factor that you are willing to put up with. Personally we were glad we spent time trying on so many and deciding on the ones we liked at our leisure rather than be rushed to save a few bob.

You don't really have much time to buy from stall holders that surround the Temples etc. The Egyptologist will try to rush you through all them.

At the end of our trip we were moored up against the Orchid. It looked very nice to me. I am sure you will have a good time but be very careful with the rip offs by the Rep and Egyptologist. They try to spread the gospel about locals ripping you off BUT they are the worse. The 'con' they have of making everyone pay £7 each to tip the drivers is despicable. That did reflect the amount I tipped at the end of the week. They will try to tell that you have to pay as a minimum £25 to the Rep/Egyptologist and £20 to the staff. Don't be pressurised into doing this.

Hope this helps. Any more questions then just ask.

Hiya Pedrogooner
Thanks for that info did you have to pay £7 each for each trip or was it just the first trip. How many bars were there and could you fetch your own drinks or did the staff bring you them at meal times, In the day time when you were relaxing by the pool was it bar service so that you would give them a tip or could you get them yourselves.
Thanks Eilean