Nile and Lake Nasser Cruises

[marcc]

We are heading of to Egypt in late February for a cruise along the Nile and on Lake Nasser. Has anyone had any recent experience cruising in Egypt?

Would you have any tips or suggestions?

 

Thanks

 

Marcc

[40yearcruiser]

Enjoy your cruises! We were in Egypt in Oct. 2010 so were there before the protests began. We were with OAT travel and had a wonderful time. At that time there were many ships on the river, but from what I hear the tourist industry is having a tough time and river traffic has decreased. As for tips, try to be outside on the decks at least part of the time to watch the scenery as you float by. It was very hot when we were there so sitting outside could be uncomfortable. The temples you will visit are just amazing. Have a wonderful time.

[Sekhmet]

First, if this is your first trip to Egypt, I would strongly recommend doing plenty of bakcground reading on the ancient history. Your guides will be really knowledgeable, but 3000 years can be confusing, and you will get so much more out of the visit if you have a head start.

If you're sailing to Abu Simbel, make sure you're out on deck when you approach - it looks at its best seen from the water, as originally designed.

 

A couple of tips for starters, please ask if you have more.

[NavCom]

We are heading of to Egypt in late February for a cruise along the Nile and on Lake Nasser. Has anyone had any recent experience cruising in Egypt?

Would you have any tips or suggestions?

 

Thanks

 

Marcc

 

We did Lake Nasser on the MS Kasr Ibrim this past November and after that went down the Nile from Aswan to Luxor on the Dahabiya ***** Kolthoum.

 

Both cruises are highly recommended. A Dahabiya cruise is a tad more expensive but is absolutely fantastic and worth every penny. Who you arrange your tour through and your guide make all the difference. E-mail me if you have more questions (e-mail in my signature block).

 

Oops, you have already gone. OK, how was your trip: met all of your expectations and more I do hope.

[marcc]

2 days in Cairo (Pyramids and Museum)

4 days on the Nile (M/S Alyssa)

4 days on Lake Nasser (Omar El Khayam)

3 Days in Jordan ( Including Petra)

 

All amazing.

[Happy Canadian]

My husband, myself and friends did the Jewels of the Nile land tour and cruise with Insight vacations in Sept 2009. We then travelled to Jordan and toured independently.

 

We had been to Egypt before in the early 80's and were very keen to sail both the Nile and Lake Nassar. Definitely include Lake Nassar in your plans. The Lake is what the Nile was 30+ years ago.

 

The Lake cruise is very peaceful, very few ships and wonderful temples to see. Sound and Light show at Abu Simbel and sailing past Abu Simbel early next morning make the Lake Nassar portion special. Insight uses Movenpick "Primce Abbas" ship on the Lake. Our research thought us that many of the Egypt tour companies use the same ship regardless of the price of the tour. We were on a ship called the "Norma" for the Nile portion. This was also used by other tour companies. At supper time round tables of 8 were "reserved" by tour company i.e. Insight might have access to 5 of the 20 tables in the diningroom.

 

At the end of our Egypt portion of the trip we added a day trip to Alexandria. Hotel in Cairo was the Marriott - interesting checking in.

 

We arrived in Cairo from Canada at 11 pm only to discover there were no rooms available. Yes, they had our reservation but they were waiting for people to check out! We waited about an hour and were "lucky" to have someone that just checked out of a room on a high floor with wonderul views of the Nile. Others on the tour had similar experiences. One couple ended up with a deluxe suite and another couple in one of the rooms at the back of the hotel rather than in the towers.

 

My dh and I have been to Jordan twice before so we talked our American friends into an independent trip with us. We hired a car from the Amman airport, drove to the Dead Sea (stayed at Movenpick Resort - wonderful) and then continued to Petra stopping at the many wonderful sites along the way. On the way back to Amman we continued north to Jerash.

 

Jordan is a wonderful, friendly country. Two roads running North and South so very easy to drive (unless you want to extend your visit and see the desert castles east of Amman). We are Canadian born, do not speak the language and had no difficulties (only wonderful memories) of our three independent trips to Jordan. Note: Jordan was a welcome relief from the hustle and bustle of Egypt both on the Nile and in Cairo.

 

Obviously a favourite subject for me.

 

Danielle

[Daisy4235]

Yes I see our replies are too late to help Marcc but may be of interest to anyone contemplating this trip. We did the Nile and Lake Nasser just before the riots and loved every minute of it. The Nile is very busy and full of tourists but still great. Don't pass on the Lake Nasser cruise though, it was like being in another world. Not a soul for miles and miles and you didn't have to share temples with thousands of tourists. And a previous poster is correct, be up on deck for sailing into Abu Simbul. Our boat was the MS Eugenie and they played opera etc as we sailed past. Just fantastic!

[goleta]

We did an OAT cruise as well in 2010 and loved every minute of it.

[cruising cockroach]

Did the Kasr Ibrim cruise 5 years ago from Abu Simbel to Aswan. I'd pick the 4 night cruise over the 3 night as it gives you more time.

 

Arrived boarding day at Aswan and we could board the ship early (mid morning) though the cabin wasn't ready. Excellent food and service.

 

Day 0. Board, had lunch, afternoon tour of Abu Simbel (included), dinner.

Day 1. We did a sunrise tour of Abu Simbel by oursevles and got back to the ship before sailing time (the ship just leaves). Sails to a nearby site (can't land there), and cruises leisurely (lunch on deck) to the overnight stop.

Day 2. Visit couple of sites accessible pretty much only by boat.

Day 3. Pretty much a full sailing day with nighttime arrival at Aswan. Way too windy on deck to have lunch.

Day 4. Breakfast and then a visit to a site at Aswan. Disembark.

 

The dock at Abu Simbel is down a rough path so you have to be mobile.

 

Arranged the cruise through Fayed tour company (de Castro) who offered a much lower price than the cruise company.

 

Kasr Ibrim is a more modern ship than the other ship in the line, Eugenie, though that one with outside verandah and only two decks is of a more classic design.

[Daisy4235]

Just another comment to anyone doing Egypt. The people operate very differently to us but they are wonderful and deserve our respect. I know we get tired of them hassling us to buy from them but I was trying to haggle a price down once and the shopkeeper said to me "But Madam I know 5 pounds is not much to you but it is a lot to me". I felt quite ashamed as 5 Egyptian pounds was about $1NZ. Now I wish I had bought more to support them.

[newlondon]

Excellent point made by cruising cockroach. The path to the dock at Abu Simbel is no walk in the park and 2 of our fellow passengers needed a fair amount of assistance to get up to the temple.

We were on the Eugenie and loved it. Very atmospheric and good food. Imo Lake Nasser is a must do especially to see the temple from the water.