Luxury Nile Cruise?

[jennytea]

Hi, all! I am having a tough time finding the right Nile cruise for my husband and I. We have already arranged flights to Cairo but want to do a cruise. We are on our early 30's and quite adventurous, and we want luxury as this is our 'big' annual holiday. Tried to book Oberoi Phillae and A&K but both were full (we're going in October). Can anyone recommend a high end option for a Nile cruise?

 

Thanks,

Jenny

[steamboats]

Jenny,

 

The Oberoi Philea would have been a great choice.

 

Viking is offering the Mövenpick Royal Lotus but only on the German market (not on the US website). So I´m not sure whether you can book it.

 

Here are some other options which sound more luxury than the usual cruise lines

 

http://www.steam-ship-sudan.com/ (French TA)

 

http://www.vjv.co.uk/themes/theme.html?dsid=17 (British TA offering two steamships on the Nile river, SS Karim and SS Misr which has been recently restored and put back into service)

 

http://www.kasribrim.com.eg/

 

steamboats

[smeyer418]

gate 1 had the royal lotus with airfare and some other odds and ends ....and at a special until a few days ago....

[Chairsin]

Jenny,

Try Lindblad ( http://www.expeditions.com) --they have a very luxurious vessel, the Triton, that they use for the Nile -- swimming pool and large suites with bath tubs. Furthermore, every Lindblad trip we have taken has been wonderful -- extremely competent guides and natualists.We are set for a January trip in Baja and the Copper Canyon(on one of their not so luxurious ships but know the trip will be terrific anyway. ) They have three departures in Ocotober from Cairo - Oct 18 or 22 for the 10 day trip or Oct 10 for the 15 day trip ( which is on our list of upcoming trips).

Chairsin

[HRHMadonna]

Does this ship have balconies? Thanks!

[murphysmum]

Hello...

 

Having obsessively researched luxury Nile cruise ships last year, I can tell you that the Triton does not have balconies and I was told by Triton that their windows don't open because of air conditioning.

 

We booked and LOVED everything about the Oberoi Philae. If you've been told that they're full, you may want to try directly with Oberoi Hotels (It's listed as one of their hotels) and check for a cancellation. It's quite simple to book directly and have a tour company plan the rest of your trip around your booking.

 

As well as being a first class ship, it is one of only two ships on the Nile with it's own dock at each stop. This means that you are not side-tied to several other ships and walking ship to ship to debark for each tour. Requesting a cabin with a Nile view from the dock area (depending on where you embark) will guarantee you a lovely quiet experience from your balcony at night as well as in port while on the ship.

 

Whatever you decide to do, enjoy yourselves!

 

murphysmum;)

[HRHMadonna]

Attention Murphysmom:

I have another question about the Oberoi Philae....Wondering about how much time each day was spent sightseeing and how much time just relaxing around the boat....Hubby is rather high maitenance, likes to stay busy & active and quite frankly doesn't even realy like to cruise that much! We are for sure going to do this cruise...I'm just trying to decide between the 4-day and the 6-day trips. We also plan to include Abu Simbel and Petra extension..Should this be enough to keep him from getting bored....Truly the man cannot sit still!

 

Thanks for sharing your info and experiences on this lovely cruiser!

[murphysmum]

Hi...

 

I don't think that your husband will be bored on this ship. The itinerary was quite port intensive and the tours were excellent with great guides.

 

Rather than crowding people into huge buses, cruise guests were separated into groups of about 10 and we were transferred in smaller bus/vans (air conditioned) to all tour sites with our own private guide assigned for the entire trip. When you get back from your tours you'll just have time to change for dinner.

 

The only afternoons that I remember having at leisure were one on the river going through locks and another in Luxor when we went off with another couple for a preview of Karnak Temple and the Museum.

 

My husband is also very hard to keep still, used to running 10 miles a day and working long hours. He enjoyed the entire trip and we plan to go back. We did only the four day cruise. The next time we'll do the six day as the ship was so enjoyable and we actually wished that we'd had a bit more time to enjoy the upper deck and relax in some of the common rooms.

 

I think that you'll be very pleased with your trip choice and if you have any more questions I'll be glad to answer them.

 

murphysmum (Janed);)

[Spikesgirl]

Another choice you might want to look into is R Crusoe and Sons. The offer a tour call "Luxury Tour of the Nile". Their website is: www.rcrusoe.com. We've been looking for awhile and think that this is the one that will offer us the biggest bang for our buck.

 

Charlie

[HRHMadonna]

Murphysmum...Thanks so much for your information...I am feeling so much better about the 6-day Oberoi Philae after reading about your experiences and your husband...Perhaps our guys should travel together...Mine would much prefer climbing Mt. Kilamanjaro or trekking in Nepal to cruising! But Egypt has long been on our "list" and a Nile Cruise seems to be the best way to see the highlights. We plan to add the Petra extension.

 

I am finding prices on the Oberoi Philae to be "all over the map"...Still waiting for some more info from two agencies before making decision. :confused:

 

Spikesgirl...Thanks for the suggestion on R Crusoe...Their package looks great, but I'm just set on having a balcony for the Nile cruise. Bon voyage!

[Spikesgirl]

We also have friends that are doing Grand Circle Travel and if you go to their website - they will send you all sorts of freebies, like a huge catalog (large, not so much long) and a DVD and a pamplet about cruising on smaller ships. Guess I should have though of this for the first response, but we have pretty much decided upon the other (if all goes well). I choose it because we spend the morning at the museum with an afternoon free. I intend to go back to the museum for a private docent tour. They also visit the tomb of Hepshetsup and I really wanted that as well.

 

Whatever cruise you decide upon, please do come back and let us know about your experiences. We all learn when one of us travels!

 

Charlie

[murphysmum]

Hi...

 

I laughed when I read your reply about your husband's preferences. They should travel together...mine also prefers trekking in Nepal, crawling through African thickets to find gorillas, sitting in ice houses waiting to see polar bears, etc. We're in California now, but I see that you're from Kentucky and he went to school there....Something in the air?

 

However, I think that your husband is "safe" with the Philae; while our group toured three tombs in the Valley of the Kings, my husband added two on his own and trekked all over the place...all he had to do was be back at a certain place by a certain time. Same with most other stops.

 

I do hope that you get to enjoy some time on the top of the ship; it's really a lovely place to watch the scenery or relax at night while the ship's moving. Something for everyone...

 

FYI....I noticed on the Oberoi site the other day that they're building a new ship...VERY modern....not at all with the historical charm of other Oberoi hotels and may appeal to those who enjoy another type of decor. I hope this doesn't mean that they're going to stop using the Philae. I'm talking to my husband right now about booking again as I'd really miss having that experience again.

 

Enjoy yourselves.

 

murphysmum (Janed);)

[HRHMadonna]

Omigod! You are not going to believe this....My husband has also done the gorillas and the polar bear migration too! He wants to sleep in a tent on the ice in Antarctica next...and here I am dragging him off to a luxury cruiser on the Nile.

 

And...Our younger son went to school in California - Loyola Marymount - stayed to work with Fox Television in LA. Son was always been quite the athlete, but after 2 days biking, 2 days hiking and 2 days rafting in Costa Rica with his Dad, he told me "Dad works too hard on vacation..relax is not in his vocabulary." After that experience my son declared he was more of the "Princess cruise type" and that he would vacation with me next time!

 

Hope I can get plans for Egypt finalized this week.

 

Thanks again for all your help.

Carol

[NYLady]

This is another great thread for my Egypt cruise research. I am learning to book for what I want as soon as booking opens. I may be a little ahead of myself, since I am pretty well booked for the next year and a half...but there is always so much to learn.

 

This is great information. I didn't know about "luxury" in Egypt...that would be highly desirable.

[travelbugs]

I'm a little afraid to ask this question (at this point, since we leave in 3 weeks). Has anyone ever used Ya'lla Tours? I've been reading the threads and after checking out rcrusoe's website, aside from the private jet everything else looks the same. Our Travel agent is going through them for us, but it is a tailor made trip for the 5 of us (4 days Cairo, 2 Luxor, 4 Nile (on M/S Nile Festival), flight to AbuSimbel,last night near Cairo airport), with our own Egyptologist (he will be travelling with us the entire trip), driver, escort, visas, and usual meals included came in far cheaper than the other guy. Maybe I'm comparing Carnival to QE2? It's okay as none of us have ever been there so we have nothing to compare it to!

[Spikesgirl]

I would advise you to go an have a wonderful time, then come back and let us know what did or didn't work. I, for one, would love to hear how Y'alla did. It's not a company I'm familiar with, so the more info, the better!

 

Charlie