Hi all

For anyone thinking of a Nile cruise for the first time (like myself) I thought you might be interested to know there is a really useful e-book on the subject which I have just downloaded.

There are three books available:

Nile cruse.

Around Luxor.

Photographing the ancient sites. (all published 2005)

They are priced at £5.50 each or £13.50 for all three.

I have just downloaded the Nile cruise e-book and it is full of very useful advice and tips. As well as explaining exactly what to expect.

You can find these at
http://www.ancientnile.co.uk/egyptian-ebook.php#cruise.

Well worth a look. Gives it as it is. Not through the travel companies view.

P.S on the site you can have a preview of the contents before you decide to download.

Hi Julie

Thanks for the link, it works fine. you had missed one letter of the other link

Vone
we have just returned from a Nile cruise with our teenage daughters (13 and 15). and I can report that they really enjoyed all aspects of the cruise - sight seeing (although we did hear 'not another temple' once), sun bathing, and also the evening entertainment, and dancing. Being girls they attracted a fair amount of attention from the Egyptian men, and they weren't too keen on the hassle you get around the shops, as it interfered with their shopping activities which usually involves inspecting all the goods!

I forgot to say, they weren't the only teenagers on our boat - there were two others! Definitely in the minority, though.

Carol

Thank you very much for your reasuring information.

We have never been on this sort of holiday, and immediatley after booking I was having second thoughts.

Any further information or advice you could offer would be very much appreciated.

Thanks
Vone

hi,
me and my wife planning to visit egypt in end of may/early june with two kid around 10 yrs old.
just wondering is it going to be very hot? please help. as we are thinking of taking a nile cruise, also please suggest a cruise line or ship , 5 star category.
thanx.

Vone
To be honest I spent weeks browsing the topics on this web site before going on this holiday. Like you it was our first time on this sort of holiday, we usually organise ourselves, and were a bit concerned about being stuck on a boat, and being organised on guided tours. But it wasn't a problem at all, our guide was very informative, and without the coach trips and guided tours we wouldn't have been able to access all that we did.
Be aware though that you are not cruising all day, every day, and one person I spoke to was disappointed by this, and the standard of the boat, which is quite different from some of the huge cruise ships which you might find on the Med or in the Caribbean. When docked at Aswan or Luxor (or anywhere else) you may be surrounded on all sides by other boats all of which have engines running all the time, and I did find the diesel fumes a problem.
Having said that, we had a wonderful time, and I would recommend this type of holiday - I hpoe you have a great time.

hi, travelling with my wife and kids to egypt in may end & june, also planning to take a nile cruise, please suggest is it the right time of the year? or is it too hot?
also please suggest where on net i can book a good cruise ( 5*)
thanx

Hello,

Has anyone cruised the Nile on the MS Ibis? I go 2 weeks today!

Thanks

V

Hi chhaviadi
June will be quite hot (it does get a bit hotter) but it really depends on your tolerance, but it is a dry heat. June is not a good time for Nile cruises because they close a place on the river called 'The Esna lock' this means that no boats can go down the river (towards Aswan) or up (towards luxor)This lock is closed for the whole of June. The tour operators position their boats to be past this lock (Aswan side) prior to it's closure. This severly restricts the amount of cruising involved, but you will still see all of the temples & sites of interest. The main difference is that you will be taken by coach from your boat to the sites below the lock (towards Cairo). this will be in the region of a two hour transfer. A lot of operators do not include June in their itinery for this reason. However, there are some good bargains to be had due to the lock being closed. I have done the cruise a few times but never during the closure period but I would certainly consider it if I just wanted a relaxing boat cruise. I.M.H.O. The main operators are the best people to deal with for this type of holiday. I would personally suggest a look at the Thomsons (Tui) site. Also consider a two centre holiday ie. 1 week cruise & 1 week for the kids at somewhere more lively, say Sharm.
Tez

I'll be going next Friday (17th) to Egypt (Cairo and Nile Cruise).

Can you give me a few answers?

Any help on the usual first night dinner on the boat? Is it really necessary to take very formal clothes?

Besides the usual pack of excursions do you recommend any others in the Cruise?

I'll be transfering by plane between Luxor and Cairo? What's the usual plane the get us into?

I'm a football fan. Can you tell me if it's possible to visit the NAtional Stadium in Cairo where Al-Ahly plays?

Thank you all for your help.

Hi Bracarus,
Unless you are on a 5* Plus cruise, the dress code will be 'Smart Casual' that is: shirt & slacks for the men with ladies choosing their attire from evening dress, to a nice skirt & blouse combo, or trousers & blouse. Gents do not usually wear a tie; a smart casual open neck shirt, with trousers is the norm.
I would recommend that (if it is within your budget) the optional trip to 'Abu Simbel' alternatively try to visit the Nubian Museum in Aswan & the Luxor Museum. Also at Aswan, the 'Unfinished Obelisk' & Kitchener Island. I think that your question is "what type of plane is used for the flight between Luxor & Cairo"? I cannot remember the type, but sufficient to say that they are usually 'Egypt Air' and their planes are modern and very nice. As to the football question, I have to pass (no pun intended) I have no idea but I am sure someone will help with this.
Tez

Hello Mike
Unfortunately we're booked on the Etoile du Nil departing 20th March and unable to alter our booking! Thanks for being so honest so we've got plenty nescafe sachets, imodium tablets and cup a soups ready for our trip. There are a couple of things we were wondering about what amount and who did you tip on the boat, did you enjoy the included tours, and if any, were there any extra excursions you would recommend. Not exactly looking forward to the experience but hey the weather must be better than here!
Thanks

*Edit the above was posted in response to Mikes Nile Cruise in reviews which you can read on the following link - Briar
http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=47977&start=20

Marylyne,
don't be too worried, rememeber, my posted comments express my opinion only. There were many people on the boat who enjoyed all aspects, including the food - and my wife and I never suffered any stomach problems at all.

Tips: we were first informed, prior to boarding the bus at the airport, not to tip the men loading the bags into the transfer coach. There "tips" were included in the transfer fees pre-paid. On the boat, Hassan and George, our two Medhotels reps and Egyptologists explained, during the welcome meeting on the second day, that a tip of £25 (sterling) per person was the accepted figure. This was to be placed in an envelope (given out by the reps towards the end of the week) and would be shared amongst all employees - not just those dealing directly with passengers.

Our dining table of 8 discussed this amongst ourselves and came to the conclusion that £50 per couple was way over the top. £2500 per week for the entire boat, with something like 50 employees (including engineers, the Captain - who we never saw - etc. etc.) would have provided each with £50. Given that average earnings are reputed to be £15 a month this would amount to one massive bonus - £215 a month.

We agreed that £20-25 per couple was more realistic. We placed £25 in the envelope and handed it to the reps on the penultimate day. In addition, we gave several US dollars to our cabin steward as he was particularly good - his inventiveness with the towel "characters" was amazing.

Tours: we pre-paid £50 for about three trips - Karnak Temple in Luxor, Philae Temple up at the Aswan high dam and Kol Ombo Temple.

We actually skipped the Karnak temple tour in Luxor as it was scheduled for early morning on the first full day after arrival. We didn't fancy getting up early. After returning to Luxor one week later we visited Karnak with two of our dinner table friends, walking there and back and paying £4 sterling per person for the entry. Of course, we had no guide but were able to pick-up snippets of info. from other tour groups and purchasing a guide book would provide more info.

Aswan was a pleasant trip, although spending 40+ hours in the Town affords enough time to arrange your own trip especially if a group of 4 can share a taxi. The old dam (low dam, built by the British in early 1900's) and the High Dam (built with Russian assistance more recently) are OK - but a dam is a dam. Philae is impressive enough as temple go.

Kol Ombo was within walking distance of the boat as we moored very close by. About 2 minutes walk to be precise. Entrance to the temple was £3.50 - some of the guys on our table did this trip themselves and hence had no guide but spent minimal cost. Again, a book and a self-tour would be fine here.

We declined to purchase the Valley of the Kings/Queens, Hatchepsut Temple and Colossi of Memnon as the costs seemed high. Somebody said the total cost using T.O. trips would be £99 per person. $ guys on our table found an enterprising local who offered to take them over the river from the Pyramisa Isis hotel to the West Bank, then by air-conditioned taxi to Valley of the Kings, then Queens, Hatchesput Temple and finally, the Colossi of Memnon before boat back to Pyramisa. Cost was quoted at £5 (sterling) per head with a half deposit payable upon booking. They booked and told my wife and I and the other two on our table. We also booked. Word spread and on the day of the trip 20 people had booked. The Egyptian fellow (Saed) and his brother had arranged two 10-seater minibusses and the boat (Blue Moon) was able to ferry all 20 of us over the Nile in one trip.

On the boat over, Saed explained that temple and tomb entrance fees would be additional, and worked out at 55 Eg£ per person (£5.50). He asked one of our party to collect the money. Each of the 10 couples paid 110 Eg£ and handed the lot to Saed. In the minibus, Saed explained that someone had mistakenly paid a 50 Piastres (5pence english) note rather than a 50 Eg£ - hence he was almost 50 Eg£ (£5) light. We all agreed to pay 5 Eg£ per couple extra. I mention this as I'm (too) cynical and wonder if this isn't a "regular" problem.

Arrival at the Valley of the Kings and Saed purchases the 3-tomb tickets - distributing one to each of us. A small road train takes you up into the valley but not before they extract a further 1 Eg£ (10p) from each person for the return trip. It's about a 4 minute ride uphill.

The ticket permits entry to three tombs of your choice - but Tutankhamoun (spelling ? - sorry) is additional cost. Avoid the first tomb on the right as you head into the valley - it's small and unimpressive compared to the others further in the valley.

We had 1.5 hours here before the two min-busses would take us to the Valley of the Queens. It would have been better to spend 2 - 2.5 hours as we hadn't time to visit Tut's tomb. Saed did NOT accompany us - appears only authorised guides are permitted (Egyptologists) and I guess Saed was simply an enterprising businessman who "facilitated" our transport and itenerary for the day.

On a couple of occasions one of the two busses departed to take other passengers to places and whilst this didn't really affect us I felt we were working to Saed's schedule rather then he to ours.

Hatchepsuts Temple (again, spelling might be suspect) was more impressive - kind of typical Egyptian as expected from seeing films. It was particularly hot here and our 2 x 1.5 litres of water carried in a coller bag were essential thoughout the day as was head and shoulder coverings.

The Colossi were impressive - but both had scaffolding erected around them which rather spoiled the effect. At some point in the day we were "delivered" to an alabaster factory for a 10 minute tour, drink and purchase opportunity.

On the boat back over to the East Bank a small tip was suggested and we complied with a couple of quid per couple and the lads on the boat were very happy.

All in all an enjoyable day, made more so by the relatively small number compared to an official trip, but baybe 8 or 10 would have been a more manageable number. Total cost per couple was about £25 as compared to almost £200 for T.O. trips and we did it all in one day rather than 2 sep. days.

Extra Excursions: The balloon trip was highly recommended - check out Jolley's travel just near the Old Winter Palace on the Corniche just south of the Luxor Temple and Mumificaton Museum. £45 per person paid by a couple off our boat and with 20 passengers on the balloon they are obviously quite large (you get some breakfast on board as well I believe).

Didn't try a felucca boat ride - wind often drops and many seem to become stranded until a motor boat attached a rope and tows.

Didn't try a Kalesh (horse drawn carriage). Main reason was the hassle factor although many of the horses looked unkempt and thin. Have heard stories of these taking you to out of the way places and demanding more money than originally agreed. Heard one story of a couple on our boat - taken to a jewelery shop, lady locked inside, husband outside and demand she purchase goods before being "released".

Luxor Museum we visited on our own. Walked to and from the Museum from Sonesta - it's a straight road, quite safe and took about 20 minutes at average pace. It's about 1 - 1.5 miles each way max. Worth the £4 or so entrance fee per person - all artifacts are clearly described in English and hence you do not need a guide book. A 7 minute pre-visit, continually playing film narrated by Omar Sharif provides some historical info befoe entering the Museum proper.

Weather: we had glorious sunshine for all 14 days. The boat was a little cool at night (10:00pm onwards) whilst on deck as the Nile has a cooling effect. On land during the second week this was not the case and it was very pleasant to eat outside at the Sonesta even at 9:00pm

I expect late March will be even hotter.

If you enjoy white wine I suggest you take a box (less weight than bottles) as the local stuff really is bad. The Red is OK. Some on our dinner table purchased duty free whisky at Luxor airport upon arrival (or on the plane outbound) and brought some up to the deck in coke cans as if they had purchased the can on board. This must happen quite a bit and the waiters, whilst suspecting, seemed to turn a blind eye to the practice.

Take a torch with you. You will need this in the room in the middle of the night should they persist in turning off the electric, and it's useful in at least one of the tombs to view a mummified baby and a mummified croc at Kol Ombo temple.

Take cheap biros and small blocks of soap if possible for the kids - they love these. We took plenty of 1 dollar (US) notes to give out as tips. It worth abouy 60p or 6 Eg£ and is easier for them to change than £1 coins. Take a pair of binoculars if weight permits. The cabins have 230volt European style power sockets - take an adapter. Mobile phone signals are good all up/down the Nile. There are shops in Luxor that can download pictures from digital cameras onto CD's should this be needed. If you are staying a second week in Luxor and need English language books, visit the Sonesta, find the pool and there's a couple of shelves full. Put your own finished books in place of ones you borrow - I might read yours when I'm next there.

Have a great time - and don't worry too much about the food. I'm fussy as we both cook a lot and appreciate really good food.

Mike

Thank you very much Tez. Abu Simbel will probably be a little of budget but I'll try the museums.

Viking2. Has anyone been on this nile boat, and how did would you rate it.

Going in May.

Hi Everyone

Here is a site we have found for the Orchid (also Tulip/Jasmin and Tamr Henna)

http://luxurynilecruises.co.uk/Orchid/Orchid-index.html

We have booked the Orchid for a week in November so hope all your holidays go well.

Maurice & Helen

We were on this boat in February this year. We were meant to be on the Nile Treasure, and I had read some bad things about it, so I was happy to be on any boat other than that one.
Viking 2 ( and 1 and 3) is quite a bit smaller than a lot of the boats we saw on the Nile. The advantage of this is that there are only about 60 passengers on board so you get to know a bit about every one during the week.
The reception area and other public areas were clean and adequate, though not as impressive looking as some of the other boats. The cabins were small and functional, with the smallest en-suite I have ever seen! There was often a musty/damp smell along the corridor and in the cabins, and the staff were often seen spraying 'febrese' on the carpet in the corridor. There was enough space to put your clothes away, though obviously you had to keep things tidy and ship-shape!
If you want plush, smart etc. this is not the place, BUT the staff were lovely - very friendly, always ready for a joke and full of smiles. If you asked for anything they were happy to oblige.
The food was probably the same as I have seen described on other reviews on this web site. Breakfast - freshly baked rolls, croisants, cereal, some hot stuff (Hash browns?) and omelettes cooked to order. Lunch - salad, cheese, vegetables, beef, fish or chicken, fresh fruit. Dinner - soup and rolls, salad, vegetables, fish, beef, and chicken and puddings. The beef was chewy beyond belief and I don't eat fish, so I was chickened out by the end of the week!
The boat has a Cristal award for food hygiene, and hand hygiene on boat was encouraged more than in most NHS hospitals. Even so there were some incidences of the dreaded Tutenkamens revenge, including my poor husband. Following advice on this forum I went to get some wonder medicine from the reception for that, which worked quickly.
The egyptologist guides on board were good, informative and very friendly and helpful. They don't always work on the same boat, so you might have someone different. We did all the excursions, except for the trip to the perfume factory because we were fed up with people trying to sell us things, though the report from other passengers was that it was interesting. Enjoyed all the temples and tombs, and really enjoyed the felucca ride. The only extra trip we did was the one to the Nubian village, just so that we could ride a camel, which was an experience, but not one I plan to repeat!
If your plan for a cruise is 5 star luxury, lounging by the pool all day, then maybe you will be disappointed. I have to say that my family of 4 really enjoyed every aspect of this holiday (well maybe not the diarhhoea and vomiting), and I would go again anytime. In fact as I watch the snow coming down I wish I were there Now.

Thanks Mike for all the information it will be invaluable and stop us from falling down lots of potholes on our Nile journey! What a pity you didn't have a 'Mike' to help you before your holiday. I'll post our experiences on our return after 3rd April.