Hamdy is a wonderful guide and the whole cruise experience with Here Egypt was A+
Our Nile Cruise was a true highlight of a wonderful three weeks in Egypt. The experience started with Hamidy, our meet and greet handler who communicated with us via Whatsapp and punctually met us in downtown Aswan to take us to the boat docked at the far North end of the Corniche. Apparently the boats don't get assigned until shortly before the departure date when Tripadvisor or Viator will tell them how many passengers have booked for how many days. Some of our fellow passengers were booked on 3 or 5 day cruise packages, so the manifest is always in flux. The boat would have held 200 but we ran about 80 total passengers, many from India as well as from France and other European countries. As a couple from Canada the ship put us together in a tour group with 4-6 other English-speaking North Americans. With Hamdy as our shepherd we became a tight group and enjoyed one another's company greatly for the duration of the cruise.
We were aboard the the 5* Nile Cruiser, the Nile Marquise by 11.30 and were shortly assigned our spacious top floor cabin with beautiful view out the window, clean bath, big bed and nice lighting. The room steward kept our cabin in excellent order throughout the voyage and sculpted the most amazing towel animals! Lunch was ready at 1.30 which we gobbled in time to meet our tour group for the Aswan High Dam and Philae Temple at 2pm. This was our first meeting with Hamdy (not the meet and greet Hamidy but an Egyptology trained guide) who would remain with us throughout the cruise. The temples are crowded but Hamdy knew how to guide a group under such conditions giving us an overview of the site outdoors, a tour of the temple interior with explanations of select reliefs which added so much to our understanding of the temple's purpose and place in history, and then leaving us sufficient time to explore the temple on our own. He gave just the right amount of explanation so that we were not overwhelmed but could still take away something memorable and interesting from each site. His English was very good and he was not only knowledgable about the history but also undertook so much care for the logistical aspects of our travel and for passenger welfare -- and always with lots of grace and good humour. The 5pm site closing at Philae dictated our hour of return. We were back on board by around 6 with 2 hours to while away on the top deck before dinner. Kemo, the on board masseur, made the rounds offering a free 5 minute shoulder or foot (reflexology) massage with traditional Egyptian essential oils. I booked for a massage the next day. His technique was excellent.
Our included Abu Simbel road trip required a 3.45am meet time in the ship's bar where coffee and cake were provided. A breakfast bag was also provided to consume in the tour bus. Our English-speaking tour of 5 passengers was augmented by 6 other passengers from another ship, and after a short police clearance procedure we were able to start down the desert road to Abu Simbel (about 3 and a half hours of driving). The Abu Simbel temples are AMAZING, but also very crowded at this hour due to the fact that the road closes at night and ALL the day-trippers arrive to tour the site from around 8-10am. Hamdy wisely gave all of the explanation outside and let us explore the interiors on our own. Arrival back at the boat was around 2pm and lunch was waiting for us. The chef provided soup, meat, chicken, fish, and pasta, potato, rice and vegetable dishes at every meal service with a nice blend of Egyptian and Western fare and a large array of salads and desserts. Desserts and salads were a little samey but with such an array the food cannot be faulted. Labels on the food were in French.
It's amazing how smoothly and silently the cruise ships move. I think the sail-away from Aswan was during lunch but was so smooth I didn't notice. Afternoon tea was on the top deck from 4pm till 6pm, by which time we'd docked in Kom Ombo and were ready to go ashore for our temple tour. Two more Canadians had joined the ship just prior to the Aswan sail-away on a 3 day cruise package, so their addition to our 6 person group made 8, from Kom Ombo till the Valley of the Kings. Kom Ombo temple is within walking distance of where the boat docks, and although it was after dark the temple was nicely lit. It is a very interesting one, jointly dedicated to the gods Horus and Sobek. I had done a Nile Cruise 23 years ago, but was thrilled to see all the additions to the sites since then. There is a whole collection of mummified crocodiles at Kom Ombo displayed in a museum which was also part of the temple entrance (site entrances and a small tip from each passenger for the tour bus driver is not included with the price of the tripadvisor booking. Most entrances range from 160-200le at the time of writing but are vastly variable due to the instability of the Egyptian currency).
After Kom Ombo we were back on board for 8pm dinner and the ship sailed again toward Edfu, where it docked around midnight. We were up and out by 5.30am again in order to make it to the Edfu temple (by caleche!) for 6am opening. This is another incredible temple, HUGE! dedicated to Horus. Busy, busy inside. Back to the ship for breakfast and then a whole relaxing day to enjoy the cruise-life. Passage through Esna lock around noon took about 45 minutes. Otherwise life on the banks was bucolic with children herding donkeys, men herding camels or fishing. Solar panels and cell phone towers are the big landscape change from 23 years ago. For those who are in Egypt to shop, the shopping will come to you, even while sailing the river. Merchants in small boats sidle up to the cruise ship and throw their wares up to the top deck for inspection. If a price can be agreed you throw the money down, if not you return the item. Around 6pm the ship docked in Luxor and we went ashore to see Luxor temple, floodlit in the dark. The sphinx avenue and hypostyle courts here are amazing. It's also been used continuously as a worship site by various religions for over 3000 years -- to the present. I don't know how the tours of the temples would be arranged on a cruise done from Luxor to Aswan. The temples look dramatic in the floodlighting, but I think I would prefer to see them in the daytime. We were also disappointed that Luxor temple was not a location where the Luxor pass could be bought. We were going to be spending 3 days in Luxor after the cruise and decided it was worthwhile to buy the all-inclusive entrance pass to the archaeological sites and museums, especially as we had done the same in Cairo and were now eligible to buy the Luxor pass at a 50% reduction. But it is only sold at the Valley of the Kings and at the Karnak temple, so we had to pay our Luxor temple entrance a la carte, although it would have been included. Dinner aboard the boat at 8pm -- liver, an Egyptian delicacy on offer tonight! -- and once again early to bed for our 4am departure for tomorrow's balloon flight (though some stayed up to watch the belly dancing and tannoura cultural show in the ship's bar).
The fourth day of the cruise was the best in our opinion. Wow, wow, wow! The balloon flight was FABULOUS and by 9am its splendour had already been eclised by the wonder that was Karnak and then, back to the West bank for some of the richest archaeology that can be viewed anywhere in the world. Incredible! Our one negative experience during the whole of the cruise came on the morning of the balloon flight. We had decided to be responsible for our own wake-up using our own alarms, but three other members of our group had relied upon the ship's reception desk to give them a wake up call. It didn't happen and so we were waiting in the ship's lobby for half an hour and the balloon company was getting very anxious about its non-appearing tour-participants, given that the timing for these flights is at dawn and tightly controlled by air traffic. Finally the balloon company rep contacted the front desk, who contacted the passengers saying "get up NOW" and within 3 minutes they were out of their cabin and down at reception, very apologetic for keeping the group late, though it was the ship's fault. It takes a very long time in Luxor to get to the East to the West Bank by road, as the only bridges are way South or way North, so the balloon company co-ordinated our transit by a short bus ride to a passenger ferry dock on the East bank, a ferry ride across the Nile and a pick up by another touring bus on the West bank. About 40 balloons were all laid out in a field, getting inflated. At a certain point the 28 person baskets got filled and air traffic gave each balloon a clearance window of about a minute to take off, before it was the next balloon's turn. We were very impressed with the balloon company. It seemed they were paying attention to safety (not something we had observed overmuch in the rest of Egypt!) and were experts both at changing the height of the craft to take advantage of directional currents, and at commentating on what we were seeing below. I had previously done a balloon flight over all the fairy chimneys in Cappadocia, Turkey, but this 35 minute flight was better -- for the variety of altitude and the explanation we were receiving, as well as much less expensive. All the West bank archaeological sites were there to view, the active archaeological digs, as well as the sharp demarkation line between the desert-based archaeology and the green agricultural belt. If you are in any doubt as to whether to go on this included tour, DO IT. It is not scary -- incredibly smooth actually, even the landing -- and what an incredible thing to see the sun rise over ancient Thebes.
Next we retraced our steps by bus, motor boat and bus to the cruise ship which hurriedly served us breakfast and insisted that we have our luggage ready for disembarkation by 8.30. New passengers were coming aboard and the cabins needed to be gotten ready. We thought, from the fact that the final meal service included with the cruise package was breakfast that our fourth tour day might be concluding in the early afternoon, but no, it was a FULL fourth day -- and what a day! -- right up until 5pm. Hamdy, who had gotten to spend the previous night with his family in Luxor, was back with us for this whole final day and looked after getting us lunch, (45le alexandrian style shwarmas) with a taste of the local libation (sugar cane juice) paid for from his own pocket. Karnak is Hamdy's favourite temple and his enthusiasm really shone through in the orientation he gave us to this incredible site, after first showing my dear husband (DH) and me where we could purchase our Luxor passes. We were able to use them for entry at Karnak and at the rest of the site on the West bank today, and the 15 minute process of creating the pass did not hold up the group because the person selling them took our money our passport sized photograph and a photocopy of our passport, and created the pass while we were off touring the site, for pick-up on the way out. Now we had to get to the West bank again and this time it was the long drive over the bridge by bus. We arrived at the Colossae of Memnon around noon for a stop of 15 minutes or so (very cheap prices on basalt figurines here from the salesmen in the parking lot, 3 for 100le), then onward to the temple of Queen Hatshepsut. There are no mandatory "shopping stops" with Here Egypt, but Hamdy asked us if we would like to visit one of the many Alabaster factories on our way to Valley of the Kings. I don't think anybody bought anything and the pressure to do so was not very great, but we did enjoy a refreshing hospitality drink of fresh lemon juice. It was around 2.30 or 3pm by the time we arrived at the last site: the Valley of the Kings, and we stayed right until 4pm closing. This is a great time of day to visit the valley of the Kings as most of the tour groups from Hurghada come in the early morning. We got out ahead of the crowds arriving at Karnak too thanks to Hamdy's knowledge of the touring patterns in his native Luxor. The Valley of the Kings was a case of saving the best till last. The entrance ticket included 3 tombs which could be selected from among the 11 or so that are open and included with the general ticket (some of the tombs are open but require an extra ticket like King Tut 300le, Ramses V and VI 150le and the very expensive Seti I 1000le). Hamdy selected Ramses IV to show us which was fairly accessible and absolutely gorgeous, Merenptah, which was not as impressive but contained a sarcophagus and a long climb down to the burial chamber, and Ramses III which was a moderate climb and the most impressive of the three, with deeply carved hieroglyphics and lots of phantastical snake creatures. Close to the tomb of Merenptah is the famous tomb of King Tutankhamun. Hamdy told the story of how this tomb was discovered and the reason for its fame (that its treasures (now in the Egyptian museum in Cairo and shortly to move to the GEM) were not looted in antiquity but were found intact), though, as tombs go, it is not the most impressive in the valley of the kings, either for its small size or its artwork (painted, not carved in relief). My DH, Luxor pass in hand, scampered down quickly and brought up some photos for the group to see. We would return the next day on our own and both see it at greater leisure, but the group didn't think they had missed much by not seeing it, and I guess if I had only been able to visit the King's Valley as part of the cruise tour, I would feel that way as well. More bargains on basalt and souvenir picture books in the obligatory bazaar which you have to pass through on the way to the bus park. Then we were done except for the drop offs. Hamdy was incredibly obliging in making sure we had as much help as possible with our onward plans after the cruise tour broke up. For others in the group that meant a night train back to Cairo which was all co-ordinated through Here Egypt, or a transfer to the Hilton hotel on the East Bank. As for us, our accommodation was on the West Bank but we had evening plans on the East bank which included a dinner reservation at Beyt Ward (a lovely Nile-view restaurant within walking distance of Karnak temple) and the Sound and Light show at Karnak. So Hamdy asked the driver to stop for a minute at our West Bank accommodation so we could drop our bags, and then transferred us to the East bank, dropping us at the restaurant. The Sound and Light show was expensive (500le) and not worth doing, but that wasn't the fault of either Here Egypt, Hamdy or the Cruise Company. Hamdy did give me detailed instructions on how to get the public ferry back to the West Bank after the show and even phoned ahead to the restaurant we had selected for lunch the following day to make a reservation for us. All in all he couldn't have been more helpful. Hamdy was helpful in telling us the correct amount to tip bus drivers (usually 20le a head) and the ship's crew at the end of the cruise (200le per person) but he did not give a guideline for how much we should tip him. We gave $20US per person, which I hope was alright. He did ask us for a review and encouraged us to make it a five star one if possible. I am scrupulous about only leaving honest reviews, because I think my primary responsibility is to the trip advisor community, but in this case I was happy to award 5 stars as our experience of the Nile Cruise, the Marquise vessel, the Here Egypt tour company and Hamdy could not have been better.
I am aware that this review will be too long for some to bother reading, but when I was searching viator and trip advisor (I actually booked through Viator but tripadvisor was offering the same price), looking at a vast array of different Nile Cruises I could not find ONE that gave a DETAILED itinerary of how all the sites would be seen. Perhaps this is because the tour companies need to remain flexible with so many vessels plying the Nile. Although guests were not made to bother their heads with all the behind-the-curtain co-ordination that was going on between bus drivers, guides, ships' crews, river traffic control authorities etc, we were aware that there was such communication happening. There is a lot to co-ordinate. What time the boat gets to Luxor, for example, depends on what time the boat gets clearance to go through the Esna lock and apparently if it is early enough in the afternoon it is possible to tour both Karnak and Luxor temples on the third night. Perhaps the meal service hours are different aboard different vessels. But this was our experience, and I think it is fairly standardized. I would have loved to come across a review with this amount of detail when I was planning our trip, so I offer it in case it might be helpful to just one other detail-obsessed trip planner. The price for our January 2023 cruise was $407cad when booked in June of 2022. You don't have to book that far ahead because it we heard lots of touts along the Aswan Corniche offering to arrange Nile cruises for departure the next day -- if our boat was any indication (sailing at 1/3 full occupany), there is lots of room to book at the last minute. But I don't know if you would find the best price. This exact cruise is selling now (March 2023) for $520US, so we are not sorry we booked when we did. There is a vast variation in cruise vessels and in the tour companies that put passengers on them. Here Egypt guarantees a 5 star vessel and seems to have an excellent track record. I would have confidence booking with this company even if they used a vessel other than the Marquise. Even if you are not an afficionado of the "cruise experience" I would defy anybody to take a Nile Cruise and say it wasn't a highlight of their time in Egypt. The distance covered is relatively short, so the itineraries are beautifully balanced between the sight-seeing experience ashore that active travellers want, and the relaxation sailing down this iconic river. DO schedule a day or two in Aswan and Luxor at either end of the Cruise. Many of our fellow passengers came directly off the night train from Cairo and were very tired their first day. Also there is LOTS you can see independently in both places.
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Aswan
Pickup offered
Mobile Ticket
Offered in: العربية
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