Nile Cruise/A&K vs. Oberoi Philae

[SantaAna,CA]

I've been looking on the internet for Nile cruises, will probably take one next year (2006) in the spring. I received A&K's brochure, and see a couple of very positive reviews of their tours here on this board. However, the Oberoi Philae is incredibly beautiful, AND seems much less expensive than A&K's tour. I also prefer the look of their ship to the SunBoat. Also, I am more interested in the Nile cruise than the land portion of A&K's tours (although I will probably come into Cairo and spend at least a day looking at the pyramids before embarking on the cruise)!

 

Am interested in anyone who has cruised with other Nile cruise lines, my one concern is, I'm more confident in A&K overall than booking a completely foreign ship by myself, if you take my meaning! They do have a great reputation. Any opinions welcome.

 

Thanks!

 

Jane

[japiscopo]

We have travelled with A&K five times. Although we haven't gone the route of only a Nile Cruise, during our trip to Egypt and Kenya, we did do a 3 day cruise down the Nile. I can't say enough about A&K, they are great. They have just the best in country guides. In Egypt we had a gentlemen who used to do digs for artifacts in Egypt. He even showed us where he had dug. On our Nile cruise, he was a great companion and guide. One day when he was transcriping the hyroglifcts (spelling?), we asked if he could do one while we videotaped it. He did, and we have a great time viewing this and remembering Mohammed. I don't know anything about the other cruise line, but you can't go wrong with A&K.

 

Mary Lou

[Artemis]

Hi, Jane,

 

I'm one who gave thumbs up to the Nile cruise on A&K's Sun Boat IV. It was pretty wonderful. However, I agree, the Oberoi Philae looks very nice, and it was on our short list of operators when we planned our trip.

 

To echo Mary Lou's comments, the A&K guiding we experienced on the Nile cruise was out of this world. I think the top priorities for most Americans traveling to Egypt should be guiding and comfort. (Security is a non-issue in my opinion, as security is assigned to all incoming Americans.) Certainly, the Oberoi will provide the desired level of comfort. I honestly don't know about their guiding, as I didn't research it--I encourage you to evaluate reviews based on that factor & try to email some fellow travelers with specific questions. Most people who go to Egypt are enthusiastic about talking about their experience with others who want to go because (a) they fell in love with Egypt!, and (b) they understand how challenging it is to find first-hand information about travel to Egypt.

 

Just so you know, a Nile cruise is treated by travel vendors like a hotel booking, so you can actually cruise with company A and do your land with company B. Don't know if that helps you with your travel planning or simply complicates things?!

 

Re-reading your post, I see that your primary interest appears to be in the cruise. Note, however, that very few cruises are more than 3/4 nights. Carefully read about the 7-night cruises, as the conclusion I drew about them was that the lower Nile (between Luxor & Cairo) has less of interest to offer the casual tourist. Of course, you may be looking for some slow days! The Aswan-Luxor stretch is pretty jam-packed with activities and adventure...definitely not a vacation cruise.

 

Last, if you are flexible about when "in the spring" you go, I encourage you to research the timing of your trip and select the time that best balances climate and tourism. We had to go in June because of our kids' school schedules--it was hotter than blazes, I couldn't recommend it to anyone! However, our bonus was no crowds. I think I ended up preferring the extreme heat to the prospect of waiting in line at every site!

 

Good luck in your research and planning.

[SantaAna,CA]

As always, I'm grateful to the experienced reviews on these boards...I can't thank you enough for your good advice.

 

I am printing out all responses and will think carefully about all that was said.

 

Thanks again!

 

Jane :)

[loum140]

We are planning a trip to Egypt with a 7-night Nile River Cruise in the fall. We love the cruise experience and specifically chose a tour company that offered 7-nights aboard ship because there is so much to see along the Nile, and the weather so hot, that a leisurely sail back and forth between Luxor and Aswan will allow us to tour in the a.m., then relax on board later. There are two companies that offer this option.....GETours, and Grey Line Tours, though the boat used by GETours seemed more luxurious. Good luck!

[Artemis]

Thanks, loum140, for posting about the 7-night cruises that make the Luxor-Aswan-Luxor trip. I was not aware of those itineraries. I agree, that will provide for a more leisurely approach to a cruise trip so different than anything you've ever experienced before!