Nile River vs. Light & sound

[harrtchr]

We are doing the Alexandria/Port Said shore excursion overnight. I was looking over suggested sites to see through Egyptian Express. Seems there are two evening choices, one is a short ride on the Nile River and the other is the Light & Sound show. Does anyone have expereince with both or heard feedback from those who have attended as to which experience they preferred and why?

[JordanF]

We went to the light and sound show last December. It was not that special--and more than a bit hokey.

[cruisemom42]

We did the Sound and Light show. I agree it's hokey. However, I've also heard that the river cruises can be a little disappointing as well. Don't expect to see a lot. It's more about the dinner and the (generally second-rate) belly dancer.

 

What night of the week are you going to be on the overnight? If you are lucky, you may be able to see the free performance of the Sufi dancers (takes place on Wed. and Sat. nights IIRC in a place in the Khan el Khalili bazaar. I can give you more info if you want.

[Toto2Kansas]

We did both the sound and light show and the Nile Cruise on our overnite last month.

The sound and light show is done in different langauges so make sure if you are interested that the night you will visit is in a language you will understand. If it's not, then it definitely would not be worth the effort. I am glad we saw it, but once was enough. If you are seeing if for the first time, it is quite interesting, but more than once would be a bit much, I would think.

 

The second day we did a Nile Lunch Cruise which I think is a lot better than the dinner cruise. Unless you only want to see lights along the Nile, a lunch cruise gives you much better views along the way.

 

Just be very careful of the foods you consume if you do the Nile Cruise for a meal. Many on our tour ate things besides the cooked foods (ie-salads) and the pharohs revenge got them good. We stuck to only hot, cooked items and desserts and didn't have a problem one. Others weren't so lucky though. :(

[MercedMike]

We loved Egyptian Express. http://www.egyptianexpress.com/ They tailored our tour expressly for us. We opted to skip the sound and light, which gets very mixed reviews. Instead we had a leisurely dinner and great desert atop the Nile Hilton with a marvelous view of the city. Then the next morning we got up and walked across the street (an experience in itself!) to the Nile and sailed in a traditional felucca. It was very nice.

 

Check out our review and pics at http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/holyland2.html

 

Have a GREAT cruise!